Castles in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Počitelj Castle

In the middle ages, Počitelj was the administrative centre and centre of governance of Dubrava župa (county), and its westernmost point, which gave it major strategic importance.  It is supposed that the fortified town and its attendant settlements were built by Bosnia's King Stjepan Tvrtko I in 1383. The walled town of Počitelj evolved over the period from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. Architecturally, ...
Founded: 1383 | Location: Čapljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Walled city of Jajce

The Walled City of Jajce is a medieval fortified nucleus of Jajce in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with citadel high above town on top of pyramidal-shaped steep hill, enclosed with approximately 1,300 metres long defensive walls,. It is one of the best preserved fortified capitals of the Bosnian Kingdom, the last stronghold before the kingdom dissolved under the pressure of military advancement at the onset of Ottoman Empire ta ...
Founded: 14th century | Location: Jajce, Bosnia and Herzegovina

White Fortress

The White Fortress (Bijela Tabija) is an old fort overlooking the historic core of Sarajevo. It is a protruding part of the wall of what was historically known as the old Vratnik City, and dominates the Eastern, the natural entrance to Sarajevo. It is built of stone and it used to house a gun-crew and an ammunition storage. Its thick walls have openings for cannons. As far as the precise year of construction goes, differ ...
Founded: 1550 | Location: Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Srebrenik Castle

Srebrenik castle is located on the northeastern slopes of Majevica mountain in the village of Gornji Srebrenik, about 5 km away from the city centre. It is built on a steep, almost inaccessible rock, with a deep trench dug underneath, with the only entrance being a small bridge. No current historical sources identify the exact year of its construction or who its constructor was. Earliest records date back to edicts of St ...
Founded: 14th century | Location: Srebrenik, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Travnik Castle

Travnik Castle, locally known as Stari Grad Castle (old town castle), is a medieval town-fortress complex in the town of Travnik. Dating back to pre-Ottoman Bosnia when the former Christian Kingdom ruled the region, there is no historical data as to the construction date of the Medieval fortress. However, the construction type and other characteristics indicate that it was built sometime in the second half of the 14th ce ...
Founded: 14th century | Location: Travnik, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Kastel Fortress

The Kastel Fortress in Banja Luka is medieval but is situated on the site of previous fortifications going all the way back to Roman and even pre-Roman times. The fortress is relatively well-preserved, and is one of Banja Luka's main attractions, situated on the left bank of the Vrbas river in the very center of town.  The site has been fortified since Roman times, but the current walls and architecture were made mainly ...
Founded: 15th century | Location: Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosanska Krupa Castle

A delightfully-accessible 13th-century fortress that now lies in ruins above Bosanska Krupa, this should be your first stop when in town. There isn’t a huge amount to see within the ruins (they are ruins, after all), but that intangible sense of history that only decrepitude can create is most certainly here. The views are stunning too, extending over both side of the city with the rivers playing a starring role. The fo ...
Founded: 13th century | Location: Bosanska Krupa, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Gradačac Castle

Gradačac Castle has a fort with walls 18 metres high, built between 1765 and 1821, and a watchtower 22 metres high, built in 1824 by Husein-kapetan Gradaščević on foundations made originally by the Romans. It is finished in the 19th century. In 1831 general rallied the Bosnians against the Turkish occupation and drove the Ottomans out to Kosovo, winning Bosnia its sovereignty for the coming year. Therefore, fortificat ...
Founded: 1765-1821 | Location: Gradačac, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Ostrožac Castle

Ostrožac Castle is a castle located in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Una-Sana Canton just outside the town of Cazin, in the village of Ostrožac. The castle dates back to the 13th century when Ostrožac was part of property of the noble house of Babonić family. In 1592 it was captured by the Ottoman Turks and established as an Ottoman province of Bosnia. The castle was built between 1900 and 1906 by Major of Bihać Loth ...
Founded: 13th century | Location: Cazin, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Zvornik Castle

Zvornik is a medieval castle located in Zvornik, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the mountain Mlađevac overlooking Drina Valley. The medieval town of Zvornik called 'Đurđevgrad' or 'Kula Grad' was first mentioned as a property of Bosnian medieval feudal family Zlatonosović in 1410 when Hungarian King Sigismund was in the area. It was probably built in the 12th or 13th century and is one of the largest ...
Founded: 12th century | Location: Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Doboj Castle

Throughout its turbulent history, the Doboj fortress has been burned and ransacked at least 18 times as per official records. One of the most important defenses in the medieval banate/duchy of Usora, this large stone structure was built in the early 13th century on the site of an earlier, clay and wood-based structure from the 10th or 11th century. In the first period of its existence, from early 13th to about early 15th ...
Founded: 13th century | Location: Doboj, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Velika Kladuša Castle

Velika Kladuša was first time mentioned in 1280, but the castle was built by Ottomans after they conquered the area in 1633. It was in military use until the late 19th century, but is today converted as restaurant and travel use.
Founded: 17th century | Location: Velika Kladuša, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Blagaj Castle

Blagaj Fortress is a town-fortress complex built on a high, inaccessible karst hill. The archaeological material scattered above the slopes of Blagaj hill indicate that settlements existed here during the prehistoric and Roman periods. Remains of fortifications were discovered on each of the summit"s highest points: On the north-eastern summit, there are the remains of a Roman or late antique fortification or observa ...
Founded: 10th century AD | Location: Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Ostrovica Castle

The Ostrovica Castle is a large medieval structure situated above the small village of Ostrovica near Kulen Vakuf. Having been built on a heavily wooded ridge of a steep hill overlooking left bank of the shallow Una river, the castle was located on a strategic site connecting the northern and southern parts of the long Una valley. The modern-day castle was most probably built during the 15th century on the foundations o ...
Founded: 15th century | Location: Bihać, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Tešanj Castle

The foundation of Tešanj Castle was started even before the Romans conquered the region. Exact dates are unknown. It was later enhanced by the Romans, Slavs and the Ottoman forces. It has been primarily a defensive fortification. Tešanj Castle is one of the most significant and biggest castles in Bosnia, with an area of 6,296 square metres. During the Ottoman period, the destroyed castle was rebuilt castle and it had a ...
Founded: 14th century | Location: Tešanj, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Hutovo Castle

Hutovo fortress or Hadžibegov Grad is a castle in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the municipality of Neum near the village of Hutovo. The fortress is located along a narrow road leading from Hutovo Blato to Neum, below Žaba mountain and southwest of Hutovo. Strategically situated atop a hill overlooking the Prešjeci pass, it was often traversed by salt caravans from Ston traveling inland. The name Hadžibegov Grad is deriv ...
Founded: 16th century | Location: Neum, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Sokolac Castle

The castle of Sokolac is situated on one hill on the east side of the hill Debeljača on the left bank of the river Une. The oldest charter in which Sokolac is mentioned dates from the 14th century. For a long time the town was exposed to the battles between the Bosnian crown and the Kings of Sigismund of Luxemburg and Ladislaus of Naples. The Ottoman army occupied the fort in 1592. At the site of today’s fortress in t ...
Founded: 14th century | Location: Bihać, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Stolac Castle

Stolac Castle is one of the largest forts in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The complex system of stone walls and towers suggests that it was built in several stages, which are difficult to differentiate.  In the prehistoric period the north-western part of the fortress, towards the settlement outside the walls, was probably the area that was inhabited.  On the site of present-day Stolac lay the antique-era municipium of Dilen ...
Founded: 13th century | Location: Stolac, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Buzim Castle

Bužim Castle was built during the 12th century, and is located at 325 metres above sea level. It was the second-biggest medieval castle in Cazinska krajina, after Bihać. The castle is an example of renaissance architecture, and served as both a military hill fort and a residence for the nobility. Bužim Castle and a nearby old mosque are protected as national monuments in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Founded: 12th century | Location: Bužim, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Fortress of Herzog Stjepan Vukčić Kosača

The Fortress of Herceg Stjepan in Ljubuški, is a medieval fortress in the western part of Herzegovina. It is also known as the Old Town Ljubuški. Yes, it has the same ‘owner’ as a more famous one in Blagaj. The fortress is located on the top of the karst hill called Buturovica, near the city of Ljubuški. It has a height of 396 meters above sea level and it is connected with the main road by a new macadam path. That ...
Founded: 15th century | Location: Ljubuški, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Historic Site of the week

Monte d'Accoddi

Monte d"Accoddi is a Neolithic archaeological site in northern Sardinia, located in the territory of Sassari. The site consists of a massive raised stone platform thought to have been an altar. It was constructed by the Ozieri culture or earlier, with the oldest parts dated to around 4,000–3,650 BC.

The site was discovered in 1954 in a field owned by the Segni family. No chambers or entrances to the mound have been found, leading to the presumption it was an altar, a temple or a step pyramid. It may have also served an observational function, as its square plan is coordinated with the cardinal points of the compass.

The initial Ozieri structure was abandoned or destroyed around 3000 BC, with traces of fire found in the archeological evidence. Around 2800 BC the remains of the original structure were completely covered with a layered mixture of earth and stone, and large blocks of limestone were then applied to establish a second platform, truncated by a step pyramid (36 m × 29 m, about 10 m in height), accessible by means of a second ramp, 42 m long, built over the older one. This second temple resembles contemporary Mesopotamian ziggurats, and is attributed to the Abealzu-Filigosa culture.

Archeological excavations from the chalcolithic Abealzu-Filigosa layers indicate the Monte d"Accoddi was used for animal sacrifice, with the remains of sheep, cattle, and swine recovered in near equal proportions. It is among the earliest known sacrificial sites in Western Europe.

The site appears to have been abandoned again around 1800 BC, at the onset of the Nuragic age.

The monument was partially reconstructed during the 1980s. It is open to the public and accessible by the old route of SS131 highway, near the hamlet of Ottava. It is 14,9 km from Sassari and 45 km from Alghero. There is no public transportation to the site. The opening times vary throughout the year.