Selo Krupa na Vrbasu

Krupa na Vrbasu/Крупа na Vrbasu (pronounced "kroupa na vrabasou) is the main tourist attraction in the Vrbas valley. 26 km south of Banja Luka, this village of around 1,000 inhabitants (almost all Bosnian-Serbs) is also the starting point for a 15 km rafting trip down to Karanovac. Since 2024, it has been part of the "Most beautiful villages in Bosnia-Herzegovina" network. Krupa na Vrbasu lies on the left bank of the Vrbas, along its tributary, the Krupa. This 2.5 km-long river descends in a series of waterfalls on its final stretch. These "Krupa waterfalls" (Slapovi na Krupi) are very bucolic, with wooden footbridges, log cabins, an old mill, picnic areas and the Krupski Slapovi restaurant. The village is also framed by two Serbian Orthodox buildings perched high up. To the north, 2.5 km away, the small St. Nicholas church dates back to 1735. Built entirely of wood, right down to the shingles on the roof, it is one of the last three "log churches" (crkve brvnare) in the region. To the south, 500 m from the falls, stands the Saint-Élie monastery. Founded in 1317 and destroyed four times in the ^20th century (most recently by the 1969 earthquake), it has recently been rebuilt. Everything is well indicated on site. Only the Bosnian-Serb concentration camp at Manjača (12 km to the east) is overlooked: between 1991 and 1995, more than 500 Bosnian and Croatian prisoners died here.