Visočica (hill)
Hill near Visoko, Bosnia and Herzegovina
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Visočica (pronounced [ʋi.sɔ̌.tʃi.tsa]; also known as Brdo Grad, pronounced [br̩̂dɔ ɡrâːd], "Hill Town") is a 213-metre-high hill in Bosnia and Herzegovina which is the site of the Old town of Visoki [ʋǐsɔkiː].
Since at least 2005, the hill has been the subject of a pseudoarchaeological belief that it is part of an ancient man-made pyramid complex. This notion is rejected by archaeologists and geologists.
Old town of Visoki
The Old town of Visoki was a medieval royal castle town during the fourteenth century, located in Visoko, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The first mention of the town was on 1 September 1355, in the charter "in castro nosto Visoka vocatum" written by Tvrtko I of Bosnia while he was a young ban.[1] The town appears to have been abandoned before 1503, as it is not mentioned in the Turkish-Hungarian treaty that was established that year.[2] In the year 1626, Đorđić mentioned Visoki among abandoned towns.[3]
Pseudoscientific pyramid claims
Visočica hill came to international attention in October 2005, following a campaign to promote the scientifically unsupported idea that it is the largest of a group of ancient man-made pyramids. This idea originated with Houston-based expatriate Bosnian author and businessman Semir Osmanagić who has since turned the site into a tourist destination.
All scientific investigations have concluded that Visočica hill and the surrounding hills are natural geological formations known as a flatirons, and no scientific study has demonstrated the existence of man-made pyramids in Bosnia.[4][5][6] Archaeologists have criticised the Bosnian authorities for supporting the pyramid claim saying, "This scheme is a cruel hoax on an unsuspecting public and has no place in the world of genuine science."[7]
As of 2017, Osmanagić continues to run his project at Visočica, and to link the hill to long-standing non-scientific notions such as free energy and ancient astronauts.[8]