The municipality of Berkovići is a border municipality in Eastern Herzegovina, in the southeast of Republika Srpska, i.e. in the southern part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It covers an area of 264 km2, altitude from 100 to 1300 m. It is located on the regional road R1-6101 Stolac-Berkovići-Bileća.
The municipality of Berkovići has significant tourist potential, which is reflected in the preserved environment, rich historical and cultural heritage, rural, hunting and adventure tourism. The grounds are suitable for paragliding, hiking, extreme sports, cycling (primarily mountain), and numerous birds and other small and large game are a prerequisite for the development of hunting tourism.
Traditional dishes such as cheese from the bellows and the possibility of producing healthy food in small rural households favor the development of rural tourism. The old town of Koštun (Greek Kostran and Latin Kostrum – camp) from the early Middle Ages, built of very large stones, was declared a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2004. There are also a large number of stećaks – necropolises in Podkom, Hatelji, Dabrica. Practically every village has a stećak necropolis. The stećak necropolis in Donja Bitunja (Potkuk) is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The necropolis of Stećak Radovac in Potkom was declared by the Government of Republika Srpska as a cultural asset of great importance.
Many caves and karst pits may be of interest to tourists, but many of these natural forms have not been sufficiently investigated or have not been explored at all. In the village of Potkom, there is the Ratkovča cave, which has been partially explored by the locals. With minimal equipment, you can move up to 2 km through the cave. It consists of several halls, a lake and is rich in cave jewelry.
Next to the cave, there is an attractive waterfall (active in winter) about 150 m high, which turns into a fascinating ice figure in harsher winter conditions. Straževica Elevation is an artificially created mound on a mountain peak that rises at a height of about 1,050 meters above Dabarski polje. According to tradition, there is a buried church in which there is gold. The same tradition says that all excavation attempts were unsuccessful and that anyone who did this work would have some misfortune in their family. Every year, in the summer, the church ceremony is reflected in the newly built chapel next to the hill. As a natural phenomenon under the mound, at a distance of 50 meters, there is a source of drinking water that never dries up.
In the village of Potkom there are remains of the church of St. Elijah, which dates back to the 14th or 15th century. The founders of this church were the Pićević family from Plećmi. The way in which the church was discovered is interesting. There is the testimony of a local resident, Voj Radan, who in a dream had a vision of a priest telling him that there used to be a church in their village and that stone should not be taken from the mentioned pile for houses, but that they should uncover it and fence it off, and that the troubles they were having would end. had in the village then. He gathered the neighbors and together they encountered the wall of the old church and a tomb covered with a stone slab in the first action. Since then, father Simeon has established a ministry at Agne Marija.
