Serbia: money for a barrel

A Serbian craftsman from Trnavac has established an ecological production from old wine barrels. And these are not souvenirs, but quite utilitarian products: jacuzzis, saunas, barns, bungalows and even residential buildings. Huge wooden containers are used, which Srdjan Ckatovic finds in abandoned cellars.

In ancient times, winemakers in Serbia used wooden barrels with a volume of 6,000 to 14,000 liters. Today they have been replaced by metal tanks, and the obsolete containers have been abandoned as unnecessary. It was the Serbian carpenter who began to deal with the "utilization" of this "trash" in his family workshop.

Srjan, together with his father, does the main difficult work, while his wife and daughter decorate the finished products. Their products are in such demand that buyers from Bosnia and Croatia flocked to Serbia for barrel houses. Now in many ethnic villages of the Balkan region you can find renovated barrels, which the Chkatovich family gave a second life.

The authors of the idea are also preparing to open their own ecovillage. Bungalows are already standing on the shore of the fish lake, ready to receive the first guests. In addition to fishing and visiting a farm, tourists will be offered organic products here. And, of course, the original local wine.