Our story

The area of Ličko Petrovo selo has contained a mix of ethnicities since the 15th century when Serbs were invited to settle here to defend the borders of the Austro-Hungarian empire against the Turks.

In 1791 captain Petar Kun beat the Turks under the hill of Čelopek and the next year in 1792 Austro-Hungarian authorities settled border guards to the area where there is the village today. In honour of Petar Kun they called it Petrovo Selo (Petar's Village).

In the 20th century the village had 3000 inhabitants, a local school and even its own hotel. It was one of the first villages in Croatia to receive a water plumbing system.

During WWII the tensions between Croatians (catholics) and Serbian population of the village (orthodox christians) striked. In one terrible act of hostility 1247 inhabitants of the village have been killed as the monument opposite our hotel witnesses.

Neverthelss after WWII this was a thriving area particulary because of the construction of the large military complex nearby in Željava, the village next door. Željava air base was the most expensive military complex in ex-Yugoslavia ever built and to this date still remains the second biggest military airport in Europe.

After the WWII the population growth demanded a new primary school to be built. The school stood exactly on the grounds where our hotel is today.

However during the disentigration of Yugoslavia in the early 90s the conflict between Croatians and Serbs started not far from our village near Plitvice lakes. The war then soon spilled over accross the border to the nearby Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Now, more then 30 years later the scars of this tragedy are still visible. Not only on the buildings (many of the buildings in Ličko Petrovo selo are still full of bullet holes in their facades) but also in division in the community. After the Croatian war finished most young Serbs never returned to the village. The school that once housed 200 pupils was left with only 2 kids and hence has been forced to shut down.

In 2015 we purchased the land and built the hotel as you see it today. In May 2019 Lyra was opened.

Since then the hotel acts as a catalyst for change and reconciliation, regenerating the village economy and bringing together all the ethnic communities.

In Lyra we believe in a sustainable future. Therefore we are undertaking several initiatives.

1. We strive towards the end of racial discrimination and gender inequality and support mix ethical teams working towards a common goal. Our aim is to support the local community in particular women and to refuel the return of the younger generations to the area. Hence we source local produce for our menus as much as we can and our shop Vega offers the works of local artists, mainly women, and offers local produce from the Lika region and Croatia in general. We actively present the history and customs of the village to our clients and are assisting in the design of new tourism products in our vicinity.

2. We aim to become Carbon Zero by 2025! We already have a biological chemical device for the hotel, we are in the process of building solar panels as well as many other eco-friendly practices such as composting and more. We have also decided to become one of the first »beef-free hotels« in the World. Beef is particularly damaging to the environment and is a reason of significant land degradation and a source of 8% of all CO2 emissions due to the emissions associated with its production – not just meat preparation, but also methane emissions from cow manure.

3. We cooperated with the National Institute of Chemistry in Slovenia and we tested and demonstrated the usage of several new systems and ways how to move forward towards a more sustainable way of tourism. We invite you to test our new shampoos and body lotions marked »123 Zero« that are completely harmless to nature with no microplastics at all.