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Archaeologists denounced a "cruel hoax" a decade ago when
amateur digger Semir Osmanagic said he had found pyramids in the
small Balkan nation, at a place where others only saw pointy
hills.
Ten years on, the amateur archaeologist whose hobby and
ubiquitous hat earned him the nickname of the "Bosnian Indiana
Jones" has gone one step further, actually turning the site into
a park aimed at visitors seeking a spiritual experience.
The European Association of Archaeologists in 2006 called
Osmanagic's pyramid theory a hoax, saying it was not based on
any genuine science. Since then, it has repeatedly criticized
Osmanagic's work.
But during a recent visit at the park, which opened in mid-June,
dozens of volunteers and visitors looked undeterred, with
several insisting they felt there was a special energy in that
place.
Croat volunteers worked on the botanical garden, while a group
of Czechs laid stones in a spiral shape. Austrian visitors
meditated on the top of a hill and others in tunnels, their
hands on huge ceramic blocks. One man even claimed a pain in his
arm had vanished.
The project, which Osmanagic, a U.S. businessman born in Bosnia,
says he finances with his own money, is not supported by
authorities either. But locals in this far-flung area welcome it
as a source of income.
"I have lived off this project for the past 10 years," said
Nedzad Secerovic, who runs a small souvenir shop at the foot of
one of the hills which Osmanagic calls a pyramid.
While the crowds there are not as big as when Osmanagic first
said he had discovered pyramids, he estimated some 5,000 have
visited the park since it opened on June 18.
(Editing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
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