Tour 2 in Foča

There are several picnic spots nearby Foca where the citizens from Foca regularly spend time and enjoy in their natural beauties. During the summer months beside clean and fresh air, the rare plant species can be seen there and some of them are protected. It was not enough time to tour all these locations but the students could enjoy in the beauties of the “Mountain home” in Zabrana, “Hunting lodge” in Prevrać, “Brioni” in Dragočava, Sand Pyramids in Miljevina and they could feel the coolness of the cave “Ledenjača”.
The participants could see the hunting trophies in “Hunting lodge” and on that way they could get to know the fauna of that region. The meeting with the live wild boar, used for training of the hunting dogs, was the most interesting.
The guide briefly introduced the students with various healing plants that grow in this area. The interesting fact was that the large yew tree grows in the school yard, and it belongs to protected plant species. The yew tree is solid, firm and elastic. Its wood is the most commonly used in the art of carving and joinery works, making wooden posts and cutlery.
Sometimes, its wood was used in shipbuilding and for making tap for the barrels. Folk belief
says that yew protect against evil spirits, and in the places where the yaw grew people used to stitch up a piece of the yew’s wood in their clothes or wear it around their necks in the shape of the cross. The yew’s wood also was used for making utilitarian and decorative items like spoons, sticks, necklace etc. The magic power of the yew was explained by its longevity. It grows slowly and is the long-lived species, it can be 2000 – 4000 years old. It is believed that the mass cutting and use of the yew, and the People’s belief in its protective power, almost contributed to its extinction. The yew is now legally protected species.
In the area Miljevina, the students beside the different plant species could see and enjoy in the natural beauties of the two locations: Sand Pyramids and the cave “Ledenjaca”.