The Legend of Klek
Klek (1181 m) is a mountain which belongs to the Velika Kapela massif.
Klek is a special mountain. Apart from being the home of all the witches in the world, it is believed by the local people that it is filled with gold that is guarded by a snake. The treasure is hidden deep within the mountain and it was not yet found. But young men get the chance of finding it every hundred years. That is when the rock opens and a brave young man has to go inside, find the snake and kiss it. She will then, as you may presume, turn herself into a beautiful princess with rich dowry.
This and many other stories are connected to the magical and mystical mountain since the stream running beneath it runs to the town of Cesarovec where it becomes the fount. The people will tell you it is fairy water since it comes from the place where the fairies are gathered. If a girl drinks the water from the fount, she will forever be beautiful, young and kind. If a man drinks the fairy water, he will definitely marry a woman from Ogulin.
There is also a legend about the forming of Klek, which happened a long time ago – when gods and giants lived on the Earth. Gods kept all the food and drinks to themselves. That made the giants angry. One of them – the giant called Klek went into war with god Volos, who had the power to turn everything into stone using his magic sword. Volos turned Klek into stone in the place of today’s mountain. Before he turned to stone, Klek swore to wake up one day and have his revenge. The giant is on his back, his head is the top of the mountain, and his legs are two cliffs called Klečica. The legend says that during stormy nights all the witches and fairies of the world gather on Klek screaming and dancing, trying to wake the sleeping giant. Who knows… one of these days they might do it.
These same witches make mysterious potions and oils on the top of the mountain. They put them on themselves, drink them, fly, dance and use their sorcery for many different mischiefs. These are not merely legends, but also testimonies of women accused of being witches as well as witnesses and judges on actual trials in the north-western Croatia during 17th and 18th century.