Story
The story of Pliva Waterfall

The river Pliva tumbles over a great barrier of tufa and pours into the Vrbas. The waterfall was once 30 metres high. But after an earthquake during the Bosnian War and attacks on the power plant further upriver, the area was flooded, and today the drop is 22 metres.
It is described as the only waterfall in the world that lies in the centre of a town, and counted among the 12 most beautiful waterfalls in the world. The riverbed and the falls are both formed of porous tufa, and judging by its amount, the waterfall is thought to be 50,000 years old. Its decay has been noticed for almost 100 years, especially when the bed dries out in summer or when very high water rushes through, and neglect and rubbish have added to the damage.
Repair works on the crest of the falls were carried out in 2011, and the pool below was deepened, giving Jajce a new attraction: jumping from the waterfall.
This story is compiled from Wikipedia and other open sources; dates and numbers are checked against the source. The text is shared under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. Source ↗
Hear this story on the spot, in a natural voice
On Sightlore, the story of Pliva Waterfall is narrated in a natural voice in 5 languages. When you arrive, say "I'm here" and get your passport stamp.
5 more stories from Jajce in the app
More highlights in Jajce
- Museum of the Second session of the AVNOJMuseum founded in 1953 in the building where the second AVNOJ session laid the foundations of postwar Yugoslavia in 1943; one of Europe's few museums of antifascism.
- Jajce CitadelJajce Citadel, or Jajce Fortress, is a major medieval fortress in Jajce, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- Jajce MithraeumThe Jajce Mithraeum, or Jajački Mithraeum is a mithraeum, or temple of Mithraism. It was rediscovered in an archaeological dig in 1931 in Jajce, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- Catacombs of JajceThe Jajce Catacombs, also known as the Jajce underground church, or simply Jajce crypt in Jajce, Bosnia and Herzegovina, is the historic burial site of Hrvoje Vukčić, a Bosnian nobleman who founded the city and ordered construction of the underground chapel with the crypt…
- St. Mary’s Church with St. Luke’s BelltowerSaint Mary's Church, later Sultan Suleiman's Mosque or Fethija, was a place of worship in Jajce, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Along with the remnants of the adjoining Saint Luke's Bell Tower, it is a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina.