Monasteries in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Dobrun Monastery

The Dobrun Monastery is located in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 12 km away from town of Višegrad, in the gorge of the Rzav river near the border with Republic of Serbia. Dobrun Monastery is dedicated to the Dormition of the Virgin and was built in 1343 by Duke Pribil and his sons Stefan and Petar.
Founded: 1343 | Location: Višegrad, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Rmanj Monastery

The Rmanj Monastery is a Serbian Orthodox monastery dedicated to Saint Nicholas and located in Martin Brod in north-western Bosnia and Herzegovina, at the left bank of the Unac River near its confluence with the Una. Rmanj may come from Romani, the former dwellers of Roman Empire. The exact year of the Rmanj Monastery cannot be determined, though it is the westernmost Serbian Orthodox monastery at the end of the 16th cen ...
Founded: 15th century | Location: Bihać, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Zavala Monastery

The Zavala Monastery is a Serbian Orthodox monastery located in the village of Zavala on the southwestern edge of Popovo Polje, in Ravno. The monastery is dedicated to the Presentation of Mary. The northern wall of the monastery's church is situated within a cave. This monastery is also known as a place where Basil of Ostrog entered into monasticism. Along with Žitomislić and Tvrdoš, Zavala is one of the most im ...
Founded: 16th century | Location: Ravno, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Fojnica Franciscan Friary

Franciscan monastery of the Holy Spirit is a Bosnian Franciscan monastery in Fojnica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was founded in 1668 and it includes a library of ca. 12,500 volumes, including 13 incunabula and 156 works written in Bosnian Cyrillic. It is a designated National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is part of the Franciscan Province of Bosna Srebrena. The monastery"s museum collections holds the 15t ...
Founded: 1668 | Location: Fojnica, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Mariastern Abbey

Mariastern Abbey is a Trappist abbey in Bosnia and Herzegovina, situated near the country"s second largest city Banja Luka. It was founded in 1869 by trappist Franz Pfanner. It consists of the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1873) and the monastery of Trappist monks. It is the only Trappist monastery in Southeastern Europe. At the beginning of the 20th century, with 219 monks, the Abbey was the l ...
Founded: 1869 | Location: Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Osovica Monastery

The Osovica Monastery is located on the border of the villages of Gornja Lepenica and Seferovci, on the territory of Srbac Municipality, in the Motajica Mountain.The first mention of the Osovica Monastery dates from 1330, preserved on the imprint of the monastery seal.
Founded: 14th century | Location: Srbac, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Gomionica Monastery

The Gomionica is a Serbian Orthodox monastery dedicated to the Presentation of Mary and located at the village of Kmećani, 42 kilometres west of Banja Luka, in the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The monastery is the spiritual centre of the region known as Zmijanje. It was founded before 1536, though the exact date of its foundation is unknown. It was referred to as Zalužje in 16th-century sources, w ...
Founded: 16th century | Location: Kmećani, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Moštanica Monastery

Moštanica Monastery is one of the largest Serbian monasteries in Bosnia. Impressed by its rich and harmonious medieval architecture, visitors are usually unanimous that this is one of the most stunning monasteries of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the country. Dating back to the 12th century and being one of only two female monasteries (besides Gomionica Monastery) in northern Bosnia & Herzegovina, Moštanica is also ...
Founded: 12th century | Location: Kozara, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Dobricevo Monastery

The Dobrićevo Monastery is a Serbian Orthodox monastery built in the first half of the 13th century in the Kingdom of Serbia (modern-day Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina). The building was originally built by the river Trebišnjica and moved in 1964 to the village Orah in the municipality of Bileća because its original location was flooded after hydro power plant near Bileća was completed in 1965. The monast ...
Founded: 13th century | Location: Bileća, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Guča Gora Fransiscan Friary

The Guča Gora Monastery is a Roman Catholic Franciscan monastery in a small village Guča Gora east of Travnik in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the mid-19th century Bosnian Franciscans decided to build the monastery in the area of Travnik. On May 30, 1859, the General Minister of the Franciscan Order issued the decree establishing the Guča Gora Monastery. The monastery was damaged and vandalised by mujahideen fi ...
Founded: 1859 | Location: Travnik, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Kraljeva Sutjeska Fransiscan Friary

Kraljeva Sutjeska is a Bosnian Franciscan monastery in Bosnia and Herzegovina.It includes a museum in which it houses historical treasures, a library which keeps rare and valuable historical records. There are around 11,000 works in the library, including 31 incunabula and works in Bosnian Cyrillic. The earliest parish register is preserved since 1641. There are also a number of Ottoman Turkish documents. It also include ...
Founded: 14th century | Location: Kakanj, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Tavna Monastery

The Tavna Monastery is a Serbian Orthodox monastery located south of the city of Bijeljina in north-eastern Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The date of its foundation is unknown. The chronicles of monasteries Tronoša and Peć say it was built by King Stefan Dragutin"s sons Vladislav and Urošica. The present monastery church is built in the same place as the original one. Tavna was damage ...
Founded: 14th century | Location: Bijeljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Ozren Monastery

The Ozren Monastery is a Serbian Orthodox monastery dedicated to Saint Nicholas and located 6 kilometres from the town of Petrovo in northern Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the spiritual centre of the area of Mount Ozren. It was probably founded in the second half of the 16th century, during the office of Serbian Patriarch Makarije Sokolović, who was granted permission from the sultan of the Ottoman Empi ...
Founded: 16th century | Location: Petrovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Lomnica Monastery

The Lomnica Monastery, also known as the Lovnica Monastery, is a Serbian Orthodox monastery dedicated to Saint George and located near Šekovići in the region of Donji Birač in eastern Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Lomnica was founded around 1570, after the Ottoman Empire sanctioned the restoration of the Serbian Patriarchate of Peć. It was first mentioned in 1578 in an inscription in a liturgical book. Its ...
Founded: 1570 | Location: Šekovići, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Franciscan Friary

Franciscan monastery St. Catharine, in Kreševo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, has been established between 1521 and 1524. The monastery has been serving its community for centuries, and the Catholic traditions here are very strong. The monastery has a rustic museum, library and gallery. The monastery as an architectural ensemble, together with a number of its movable property and items, is being included into the List of ...
Founded: 1521 | Location: Kreševo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Liplje Monastery

Liplje is a Serbian Orthodox monastery dedicated to the Annunciation and located in the Municipality of Teslić in northern Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It stands at the widest part of a narrow gorge through which a little river named Bistrica flows. The earliest mention of the monastery is found in a chronicle dated to the second half of the 15th century. During the 17th century, the monks of Liplje were act ...
Founded: 15th century | Location: Teslić, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Papraca Monastery

Papraća is a Serbian Orthodox monastery dedicated to the Annunciation and located in the village of Papraća at the source of the same-named river, near Šekovići in eastern Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The date of its foundation is unknown, but contemporary Ottoman documents give evidence that the monastery existed in the first half of the 16th century. The monks of Papraća had contacts with Russian rule ...
Founded: 16th century | Location: Šekovići, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Duži Monastery

The Duži Monastery is a Serbian Orthodox monastery dedicated to the Intercession of the Theotokos and located 10 kilometres west of the city of Trebinje in southern Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was first mentioned in historical sources in 1694, when it served as a refuge for monks from the nearby Tvrdoš Monastery which was then destroyed by Venetians during the Morean War. That year the see of the Serbia ...
Founded: 1694 | Location: Trebinje, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Vozuća Monastery

The Vozuća Monastery is a Serbian Orthodox monastery dedicated to the Holy Trinity and located around 5 km from the village of Vozuća in the Municipality of Zavidovići, central Bosnia and Herzegovina. The monastery was founded by Serbian king Stefan Dragutin (reigned 1276 to 1282). It was first mentioned in 1617. After it was abandoned in 1690, during the Great Turkish War, it remained empty for more than a century. It ...
Founded: 13th century | Location: Zavidovići, 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.