- Type
- Ruin
- Style
- Romanesque architecture
- Coordinates
- 43.2600°, 17.9023°
History
The hill above Blagaj was already fortified in antiquity and the early Middle Ages, while the present fortress dates from the 14th–15th centuries. In the 15th century it was one of the main seats of the magnate Stjepan Vukčić Kosača, who took the title of herceg (duke) in 1448 – the country came to be called Herzegovina after him, and the fortress Stjepan-grad. The Ottomans took Blagaj in the 1460s, kept a garrison here and repaired the walls several times. At the foot of the crag, by the Buna spring, a dervish lodge was built in the Ottoman period. The fortress was abandoned in the first half of the 19th century and is now a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
What to see
A stony path climbs from the village to the top of the steep crag, which rises more than 250 m above the Buna. Walls with towers and a gate survive around an irregular courtyard, and the summit looks out over the Neretva valley and the outskirts of Mostar. At the foot of the rock, don't miss the powerful karst spring of the Buna and the dervish lodge (tekke) beside it.
Wikipedia article Wikidata Q4923842
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