DERVENTA BRINGS ITS PAST TO LIFE: 3D FORTRESS AND VIRTUAL TOUR OF THE CITY

The Derventa City Tourism Organization has presented the project “Digital Heritage Accessible to Everyone”, bringing the city’s cultural and historical heritage to life through modern technology.

PHOTO: Ustupljena fotografija

As part of the project, a 3D visualization of the former Derventa fortress was created, along with a 360-degree virtual tour of the city center. Ten VR headsets have also been provided, allowing visitors to step into a digitally reconstructed version of Derventa’s past.

FORTRESS RECONSTRUCTED USING HISTORICAL SOURCES

Dragan Vuković, an expert associate for strategic planning and investments at the Derventa City Administration, explained that all available historical material about the fortress was used to create the 3D reconstruction, including drawings, descriptions, articles and other sources.

“We used all the facts currently available to us – drawings, descriptions of the fortress, published articles, texts from Derventski list, as well as other historical sources. Works such as Kreševljaković’s writings on the fortresses of Derventa and Travnik were also consulted. Based on verified facts, the basic structure was created and then further developed with the help of consultants and adapted for interpretation through 3D visualization,” Vuković said.

VR HEADSETS AVAILABLE TO VISITORS

Biljana Teofilović, Director of the Derventa City Tourism Organization, announced that the VR headsets intended for promoting the city will be available at the Local History Collection of the National Library.

Group visits and presentations are also planned, giving both residents and tourists an opportunity to experience the new digital content.

Derventa Mayor Igor Žunić said that the digitalization of cultural heritage represents an important first step toward developing new cultural and tourism experiences in the city.

“For the first time, we are seeing Derventa from this perspective. At some point, all of us have spent significant amounts of money to travel and discover the history of other cities, while at the same time we pass by important historical sites and stories here in Derventa that, I believe, are older and even more attractive than some found in European capitals. This project will certainly help us further enrich the tourism and cultural offer we already have,” Žunić said.

BRINGING HISTORY CLOSER TO NEW GENERATIONS

The project was implemented by the Derventa City Tourism Organization and the association “Nešto više”, with the support of the European Union in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Tourism Organization also co-financed part of the project activities.

The presentation was organized as part of the final activities of the project “Protection of Cultural Heritage in BiH with the Support of Civil Society Organization Networks – PCH (Protection of Cultural Heritage)”.

Through digitalization, Derventa’s historical heritage has gained a new and interactive dimension. By combining historical sources with 3D technology and virtual reality, the story of the city’s past is becoming more accessible to tourists and to younger generations, who can now discover Derventa’s history in an engaging and modern way.