Do the hills have lies? Digging for truth at Bosnia's valley of the pyramids
Exploring the Ravne Labyrinth underneath Bosnia's Pyramid of the Sun complex. Literal pyramid scheme of New-Age nonsense, or ancient marvel?
The alien’s eyes looked at me accusingly, as though it were saying: “Are you an idiot or do you see?” The problem was, I didn’t know which answer would make me a fool, and which one would make me wise. If I believed that these pyramids were real, and one day that turned out to be true, I’d have the smug satisfaction of saying I knew it all along. And if I believed they were a hoax, and that one day turned out to be true, I’d have the equally smug satisfaction of saying I could tell it was a load of crap all along. I honestly had no idea what I believed - but wasn’t that why I was here after all? My purpose in going down this rabbit hole wasn’t in pursuit of smugness, but to satisfy my curiosity.
In this case, the rabbit hole was a literal cave found steps away from the cardboard cut-out of a skinny-limbed and bug-eyed alien, propped outside of a café just ahead of the entrance of the Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun. At a height of 220m, it’s not the only pyramid in the area, either: nearby are the Pyramid of the Moon and the Pyramid of the Dragon, and together, they’re said to form a perfect equilateral triangle with a 2.170m distance between their peaks. The area is also home to pyramidal structures called the Pyramid of Love, and the Temple of Mother Earth. They’re all found in Visoko, a small town northwest of Sarajevo, the Archeological Park of the Pyramid of the Sun Foundation claims that a cluster of hills here is not a natural formation, but that it actually contains the world’s largest and most ancient pyramid.
The claim was put forth just 20 years ago, in 2005, by Semir Osmanagić - a Bosnian-American businessman and amateur archaeologist who is mostly based in Houston, Texas. Since then, the site has been excavated and turned into a tourist attraction, with the explorations funded by a combination of both public as well as private donations. The debate continues about whether they are real or not, with a number of Bosnian as well as foreign officials embracing the concept, while others - including several archaeologists and geologists - remain skeptical, insisting that they are merely flatirons. Tourists can buy a ticket to go into a network of tunnels and caves defined as a “prehistoric underground labyrinth” that have been unearthed here, with it all being declared to have unique healing powers. Officially speaking, it’s considered a pseudoarcheological theory.
These caves, and the water found deep within them, are said to contain powerful healing energy. Related scientific studies on ultrasound, Schumann resonances, and other investigations into the electromagnetic energy within them have resulted in statements that these tunnels contain an exceptionally high concentration of negative ions, and that the very air here vibrates with frequencies and conditions that help human cells self-heal and regenerate more easily.
While many insist that it’s poppycock invented to make a scammy buck off of tourists interested in New Age spirituality, thousands of others are resolute that a visit there has helped them heal from health issues such as hypertension, diabetes, asthma, and even cancer. One notable figure that believes it’s a special place is Novak Djokovic. The sporting legend has been there more than once, describing it as a “paradise on earth”, and has reportedly said that the special oxygen here within them is really beneficial for athletes. Although Djokovic has made tabloid headlines in the past for his uncommon approaches to health and “new age spiritual beliefs”, he certainly does stay at the top of his game, and few can argue his reputation as the best tennis player of all time. His espousing of the healing properties of these pyramids and the water within them has certainly boosted their popularity.
Was it a scam? There was only one way to find out - or at least satisfy my curiosity.
I grabbed my ticket from the stall opposite the entrance to the caves, for a guided tour of the “Prehistorical Underground Labyrinth Reserve.” Also known as the Ravne tunnel, the entrance of this underground network of caves and tunnels is around 2.5km away from the Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun. There was no line, and the ticket-seller urged me to hurry - the next guide to begin an English-speaking tour was already at the mouth of the cave, so I had to run to catch up. In order to enter, I had to put on a helmet, and turn my phone onto airplane mode, or switch it off. A sign proclaimed that this was for my own health, as well as “for not polluting the Ravne tunnels and diminishing the beneficial health effects other guests might have from visiting.” Another sign stated that entry is not allowed without an official guide, that there is no smoking allowed, and food or drink are not allowed. The safety hats were obligatory, and professional cameras are only allowed with the Foundation’s permission. Under no circumstances should any materials or artifacts be removed from the caves. The final warning: “Enter at your own risk.”
Risky or not, I ran from the entrance of the cave to the third section of the hallway, to catch up with the voices ahead of me. The floor was a little slippery and the tunnels were dark. I braced myself for what would likely be a claustrophobic experience filled with musty air - but to my surprise, the air was cool and fresh, so much so that for the first time all day, I felt like I could breathe easily with my full lungs.
The guide explained that the air in these tunnels was “different.” It was more pure than air you’d find elsewhere, he explained, connected to the special resonance and frequencies found here. At various stops along the way, signboards proclaimed the area’s Schumann Resonance and level on the Bovis Scale - a method of measurement created by a French scientist to measure vitality through vibrational frequency. According to the Bovis scale, a healthy person measures at 7,500 Bovis and above. A poster near me illustrated these figures alongside that of a “Tibetan Temple” (just that, no specific temple named) coming in at 14,000 Bovis, and an illustration showing that the chamber next to the egg-shaped block by which we stood measured 20,000 Bovis. So far, so woo-woo.
The egg-shaped block in question was a ceramic block that had supposedly been unearthed there, to claims that it had not been made in nature. A sign next to it stated: “Concentration of Negative Ions - 20,000 - 30,000 neg. ion/ccm.” I had no idea what that actually meant. Our guide explained that it not only professed exceptional healing frequencies, acting as a conductor of sorts, but that the long, rectangular block next to it - also found as-is, he claimed - featured seven holes on it to represent the seven chakras, or energy centers.
To my surprise, the guide spoke quickly, and didn’t encourage us to stop for photos. He didn’t stop us from taking any, but he truly seemed more interested in telling us about the place than having us record its social-media-worthiness - or maybe it was just a scheme to get us in and out more quickly. Who knew. But hurry he did, and we sped past room after room labelled meditation chamber, through dark tunnels that warned us to step carefully, and past silent areas labelled special breathing zones. Along the way, we passed by two exceptionally curious displays of vaguely-explained historical evidence, with plenty of mystery to keep us intrigued.
One was an 8-ton megalith that visitors were invited to place their hands over, to feel the magnetic energies and ultrasound frequencies that it generates vibrating through their palms and fingers, when hovered over it. The megalith has been named “Eternity” and is used for meditative purposes.
Another was a block featuring a series of runic symbols. “This block was mostly under the conglomerate until 2007,” a sign said, continuing: “Symbols have been carved on its surface that match runic writing.” The block in front of us was one of several to have been found so far, but it was the only one that has yet been deciphered. “The initial translation teams say it speaks of a cosmic gate from an ancient civilization,” our guide said. He explained that the tablet is said to read as follows:
The gate is closed; we have come to a standstill.
We will have to fight, to defend and conquer;
Until we can reopen the Stargate to go through it again.
“So… aliens? Like in the movie Stargate?” someone asked. The guide shrugged, but smiled knowingly. This was where he lost about 70% of the group. Up until this point, most of them had said that they did indeed feel the vibrations in the megaliths. Whether placebo or not, we did all feel really good in there, with the air in the tunnels being some of the freshest and most revitalizing we’d breathed in a while.
The meditation chambers allocated throughout the tunnels are for people to reflect, pause, and breathe in, available as an unguided visit that can be enjoyed separately from an actual guided tour. Some skeptics say that the tunnels are simply left over from long-ago gold mining efforts. Believers say they are consistent with other pyramids around the world, which also all had treasured, healing springs deep inside them.
Deep down below the tunnels, there is also a natural spring that is claimed to have special healing properties. Various studies of the water have been conducted, including by Dr. Masaru Emoto - famous for his experiments and books on how human consciousness, emotions, and other energetic factors can affect the molecular structure of water - that align with the claims of healing energies from both the water and air around these pyramids and the tunnels underneath them.
The water from the springs - simply called pyramid water - is also sold in a souvenir shop outside of the tunnels, at 10KM (5 Euros) per bottle. While the shop does sell a range of “New Age spiritual” items like crystals, medicinal functional mushrooms, and so on - which are often found adjacent to places that take advantage of holistic healing ideals in an attempt to scam modern healing junkies with their own pseudo-scientific programs - the shopkeeper and tunnel guide both said that if one were to pour a capful or two of the pyramid water into a glass/bottle of tap or other water, and leave it for 8 hours, the frequency of the other water would also rise. “So you don’t have to buy lots of it; you can just continue spreading its good energy on your own, if you wish,” the shopkeeper added. I had raised an eyebrow considerably high after flipping through some of the books in the store (with very questionable content), but when she said that, I did think that if this was indeed a commercial scam, then telling people how to recreate their own pyramid water without spending more money at their shop feels rather then opposite - especially in a world that constantly encourages us to buy more of everything.
I had to buy and try some of the Pyramid Water, obviously. Not all water tastes the same, and this was very nice-tasting water. As for its healing properties? I can’t say, but from my own empirical testing, I did get over a recent flu in a remarkably fast timeframe while drinking some of this…
Whether you believe in it or not, and whether it is fair or not, having a hut like this (below) outside of the tunnels certainly doesn’t help defend against those pointing fingers accusing it of being a New Age scam. If anything, the fact that there is such a concentration of these ideas in one place already screams “modern wellness red flag.” Calling it a museum was also a bit of a stretch.
Still, despite the fact that at a first glance it looks incredibly touristic from the outside, in practice this place does seem to be run with a respect for the location more than the desire to boost tourism - at least in my experience. All of the guides, and the shopkeepers, seemed to be more interested in helping people discover the place (to make up their own minds) than simply pushing sales. At least with me (and the group of strangers I explored it with), they cared more about having others experience it in person, and talking to other people about the place, rather than creating Instagrammable spots for photo-ops for instance, or pushing people to buy things, or buy more. Which was actually quite refreshing.
Alas, I walked away without an answer to my initial question. Who knows if it’s real or not? If these are natural or man- (or alien-) made? If this is all a hoax or if there’s any truth in it, whether all of it or just in some parts? All I do know is that while there, the air was genuinely so fresh that my lungs were happy. And despite having arrived feeling exhausted from a rather long drive all the way from the Herzegovina region, I did feel much more energized while in there - and by the time I left. I’d have loved to take some devices down there that could show me the difference and reputable measures in frequency down there, but if anything, the air quality in those tunnels was pretty awesome.
Either way, I’m glad I went. Turns out I didn’t actually need an answer to whether they were real or not - what I got instead was better: A reminder that there are still so many mysteries on this beautiful for us to keep discovering, whether on a personal or global level. And anything that keeps us inspired to be more curious and explore more is always going to be a good thing to me.
