Feel the beats of the soil
Can a man wish for more beautiful surrounding than forests, clean rivers and immense fields? In that natural wealth Slavonia and Syrmia grew, giving us totally new dimension of life full of emotional and esthetical revelations. From Spačva, the biggest complete autochthonous forest of Slavonian oak tree on the area of 40 thousand ha, through magnificent several centuries old trees in Forest office Gunja in forest area Južno Radiševo, you can see the unbreakable bond between the nature and the man that has lasted for centuries. Slavonian red oak tree has marked the life near forests, and even today specialists from all over the world admire its beauty and quality. It is an extremely long-living type of tree; people say it grows for a hundred years, lives a hundred years and then dies for a hundred years. Its crown hides protected animal species like oak longicorns (Cerambyx cerdo), stag beetle (Lecanuc cervus), white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla), collared flycatcher (Ficecula slbicollis), middle spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos medius), black stork (Ciconica nigra)… The area of Spačva forest pool is rich in watercourses, among which the most important are Virovi (Whirlpools), protected landscape and heaven for lovers of effusive and intact nature. With almost two km in length and 60 m in width they embrace a part of the river with the same name, representing the typical Slavonian landscape and area rich in unique flora and fauna, and thanks to groundwater they have never dried out nor has the beauty of tame Slavonian and Syrmian nature included in the emblem of the Vukovar-Srijem County vanished. In its center there is a deer with a golden ring around its neck, resting, behind it there is the Slavonian oak tree, tree deeply rooted in the tradition of this region, and blue lines represent three rivers: Danube, Sava and Bosut, that have each marked in its way the Slavonian man.
Curiosities
Lovers of nature will be delighted with the fact that only in Croatia, in preserved and picturesque landscape, they can see the imperial eagle, and that there is one of the rare examples of gingko biloba tree in Ilok Park, the tree that has been often called the “living fossil” since its kins died out 200 million years ago. Within the protected natural treasure of the Monument of park architecture of the Odeschalci castle, a rare kind of lizard was found - Ivanjski rovaš (Ablepharus kitaibelii), and not far from Ilok, in Mohovo the only fossil remain of young wooly mammoth over 10 thousand years old.
One of two pairs of sakers (Falco cherrug) in Croatia has been recorded in the area of Municipality Tordinci. This is the most wanted type for hunting. The fact that the white-tailed eagles whose wing-span in female reaches up to 2,5 m proves that area of the County is rich in birds. Caspian yellow racer (Coluber caspius), one of the most poisonous snakes in Europe lives in semi-prairie areas, and recently a rare fish type from the family of sturgeon was caught in Danube. It is believed that it is the Acipenser nudiventris, a type last time registered in Croatia 130 years ago. The only Pannonian prairie , “salty” pasture in continental part of Croatia spreads in the area of Municipality Trpinja with distinctive types of plants like Panonski zvjezdan (Aster tripolium), Syrian climber (Camphorosma annua), plantain Slatina (Plantago tenuiflora)...
What to visit
You should visit the Forestry Museum in Bošnjaci. Driving on a tourist boat St. Catherine in Nijemci you can watch birds, explore intact nature and try to discover which way the river Bosut flows. Explore Syrmia by bike on bike routes Danube and Syrmia or try out a new hobby playing golf in Principovac in Ilok. Enjoy oak tree shade driving in eco cars through Kunjevci forest near Vinkovci or row in a kayak on the powerful Danube. Using your sultan power go along the European walking route „Sulatains train“. Try your skills and play paintball in Cerna and Novo Selo near Vinkovci. Swim in Danube on nicely arranged beaches in Vukovar and Ilok or in Indoor swimming pool in Vinkovci. Discover the highest peak in Vukovar-Srijem County in fields and vineyards while enjoying hiking trail Liska near Ilok with the same name. We recommend big-game hunting and fishing to specialists and professionals, adventurers and hobbyists. Identify yourselves with the forest – camp at Spačva in mighty Spačva.
