April the 25th, 2026 – There are secret Croatian bunkers located in the very north of the country that not only never appeared on any maps, but were heavily guarded. Today, you can visit them for free in the dense forest they’re hidden in.
As Putni kofer/Ivana Vasarevic writes, Kalničko gorje, located in the very northwest of Croatia, is adorned with thick deciduous forests and impressive bare rocks. It isn’t surprising that it’s a natural lure for walkers, hikers and climbers. Its highest peak is Vranilac, which lies at 643 metres above sea level, and on its western side is the picturesque town of Novi Marof.
In its vicinity, more precisely in the dense old forests of Možđenec and Sudovac, there are abandoned military bunkers. These secret Croatian bunkers never appeared on any maps, and date back to the Cold War era. Even for the residents of the surrounding villages and settlements, they were always shrouded in a veil of secrecy.
secret croatian bunkers as a defence against a potential russian invasion
These military facilities in Kalničko gorje were built back during the 1950s and 1960s, primarily due to fears of a Russian invasion that potentially threatened Croatia from the direction of neighbouring Hungary. The mysterious bunkers were strategically placed along the main roads in order to defend and monitor the entire surrounding area. Some of them were also equipped with sleeping quarters, had their own air supply systems, drinking water supplies, electricity, heavy metal doors, and in the event of a nuclear attack, they would be converted into atomic shelters.
The bunkers all had multiple entrances and exits, and although they’re now abandoned and have been left to the elements, they remain quite easily accessible to any walker. They first appear as weird, heavy concrete slabs, behind which long, with creepy corridors hidden behind them. Some refer to them as artificial speleological sites. They’re overgrown with thickets as nature slowly takes over, but the curious adventurers among us do not care at all about getting a little scratch or two. Abandoned bunkers around the world are becoming an increasingly popular attraction for those on the hunt for something different in a world where almost everything has become much too easily accessible.
a future tourist attraction for northern croatia
In the very small, densely forested area around Novi Marof, there are at least six bunkers. Some of them are larger and some are somewhat smaller. They’re still shrouded in mystery and are waiting for some new life to be breathed back into them. We hope that they will never need to be used for their primary function. For now, people visit them on their own, but that will soon change.
New life is indeed on the cards for these secret Croatian bunkers, as historical data research and facts important for their proper presentation and interpretation is currently underway. These bunkers provoke intense fascination, especially because in the not too distant past, they could not be approached at all because they were always heavily guarded.
