Wind Organ, the First in the World

Those who read our articles have surely come across parts of the text where we express our fascination with the diversity of nature in Croatia. We don’t claim that it doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world, but so far, we haven’t discovered an area that has so much natural and climatic diversity in such a small area as Croatia. The Neretva Valley only confirms this fact. It is a place totally different from anything else in Croatia and hides a multitude of interesting things that are more, less, or not at all known. Lakes, backwaters, hills, fertile plains, and sandy beaches…

Readers of our articles surely also know how often we criticize human influence on nature. In this area, man has always been quite active in coexistence with nature. Some of his works are not very commendable, but some have beautifully enriched parts of the space and completed it, both in a functional and an artistic sense.

Wind organs (vjetroorgulje) are one of the positive examples of how man can create something interesting and beautiful without great harshness or disregard for the environment.

Just as Zadar used the exposure of its waterfront to sea waves and created the Sea Organ, which instantly became a major tourist attraction, the Neretva Valley took advantage of its openness to winds from all directions and built wind-powered organs on Trovro hill near Rogotin.

The day we chose for the visit was not particularly windy, so we pinned all our hopes on the afternoon mistral. We had no special expectations, as we thought the organ would most likely be silent without a truly strong wind. But we were wrong!

Rogotin is a small settlement in the Neretva Valley just a few kilometers from Ploče. The car can be left in many places on the waterfront along Lake Vlaška. This is one of the five remaining lakes out of many that once existed in the Neretva Delta. Through a 3.6 km long canal, it was connected to the sea, thus becoming a lagoon. Above this lagoon on the southern side, Trovro hill rises. It is possible that the name comes from the word “trovrh” (three peaks), as the hill has an interesting shape consisting of a small peak from the west, then a medium one, and finally a large one called Veliki Trovro, 114 m high.

You need to ascend exactly that much (114 m) along a 900 m long path to reach the wind organ. The path starts from an educational eco-garden. Paved with stone, it is very pleasant for walking. Along it, a Way of the Cross has been placed, which ends at the top with a large crucifix over seven meters high!

Below the cross is a beautiful viewpoint with installed binoculars, which work excellently and for which you don’t need coins! The stunning view in all directions will leave no one indifferent. To the southeast, you can see small lakes and the Neretva river with its delta, adorned with picturesque hills, and to the southwest Lake Parila and the protected ornithological-ichthyological reserve of the Neretva Mouth.

The entire plateau is decorated with dry stone walls that are perfectly integrated into the landscape.

These are the first wind organs in the world. The idea came from engineer Željko Škorić and met with the understanding of local authorities. Ten years passed from the first idea to its realization.

The organ builder is Slovenian organ master Antun Škrabl, who has so far produced hundreds of organs for churches across Croatia. The first pipes were made by Kvaternik Organ Building from Koprivnica, and the sound was “tuned” by one of the world’s best organists.

The organ has three sections, facing the three most dominant winds—bora, sirocco (jugo), and mistral. The sections have different tonalities, and to our great joy, the sound could be heard even with the relatively weak mistral blowing that day! We found information online that the minimum wind speed to which the organ reacts is 20 km/h or 2.7 m/s. It’s obvious that someone miscalculated this conversion.

We don’t know which speed is correct, but one thing is for sure—something is always blowing in the Neretva Valley, and there is a high probability that you will hear the sound of the organ, even if you have to lean your ear in a bit closer to listen!