Blagaj was also famous for another reason: it was the capital of medieval Herzegovina before it was formally fused with Bosnia. Without going into too much detail, medieval Bosnia from the early 15th century until the Ottoman Conquest in 1463 was basically an autonomous kingdom which had several leading noble families who's land and assets rivaled that of the king's. These were the Hrvatinić family, who controlled much of west-central and north-western Bosnia and a significant part of the modern Dalmatian coast (including the important modern Croatian city of Split), the Radenović family (after 1416 known as Radenović-Pavlović) who controlled a huge expanse of land in eastern Bosnia, including Vrhbosna (modern Sarajevo)and the Kosača family, who controlled all of today's Herzegovina, plus parts of today's southern Bosnia, western Montengero and south-western Serbia (Herceg Novi, Nikšić, Pljevlja etc.)as well as parts of modern south-eastern coastal Croatia. The king himself controlled roughly all of central Bosnia (Visoko, Kreševo, Jajce etc.) The people in these regions all spoke distinct accents of Serbocroatian and held some of their own local traditions. By the second or third decade of the 15th century, the Kosača family rose to become the most powerful of these three noble families.
The term "Herzegovina" itself arose in 1446 when Duke Stjepan Kosača dropped the title "Vojvoda (Duke) of Bosnia" and adopted the German title "Herzeg", effectively turning his back on the Bosnian king and making Herzegovina an independent state. From then on until the present day, "Hum" became known as "Herzeg's Land" or "Herzegovina".
Blagaj was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1466 and the medieval fortress and court of the Kosača family quickly fell into disuse. Sometimes referred to as "Stjepangrad" , its ruins are located on the outskirts of Blagaj. Below is a picture which I took of it in August 2009. Much of the present structure dates from the 14th and 15th centuries.
On this occasion we visited the actual town of Blagaj and its historic core. Our first destination was the source of the river Buna (a tributary of the Neretva) where the famous Blagaj Tekija (Muslim religious house/monastery) is located. The story goes is that the new Ottoman rulers were so delighted and amazed by the source of the river Buna that they immediately ordered the construction of the tekija. Since the building was (and still is) made largely of wood, it was damaged or destroyed several times by fire, and the present structure dates from about the 18th century, whereas the original was built at the end of the 15th century. Nevertheless, it is an extraordinary piece of Ottoman architecture which is heavily influenced by the local Herzegovinian and Dalmatian styles of building to create a truly well proportioned and harmonious structure. All parts of the tekija are open to visitors, though parts of the upper level is still used as a place of worship and because of this one is required to take off shoes before going upstairs and females are required to cover their hair. The lower level is mainly occupied by a gift shop and a small cafe. Anyway, enough talk, here are some pictures!
The cliffs above the tekija are just as spectacular as the building itself!
This last picture is particularly interesting, for it shows a natural shower-when it rains the water is broken up by the star shaped holes and one can wash!
After a fascinating but alas brief visit (there is only so long you can gawp at the various rooms and their contents, after all) we went outside to one of the restaurants for some food. The specialty here is fish, to be specific trout, which is fished locally from the rivers Buna and Neretva. I can honestly say I have never tasted better Herzegovinian style trout in my life!
The source of the river Buna-just look at that colour!!!
My meal-when I am next back in the area (probably September or October) I will definitely pull all the stops to come here and eat this again!
After lunch, we walked along the Buna and back into Blagaj town. Note the typical Mediterranean landscape and vegetation.
This spectacular Ottoman era bridge was, according to the information plaque next to it, built on the site of a medieval river crossing on the old road to the town of Stolac to the south. It was badly damaged in 1849 and a local rich Muslim woman, Belfe-Kadira, daughter of Ali-bveg Velagić, provided the funds to repair it. It is known as Karadoz-beg bridge, after its original founder.
This is the Caerva Dzamija (Tsar's Mosque), the main and oldest mosque in Blagaj, built in 1520 in honour of the Ottoman sultan Sulejman the Magnificient. After its contruction the historical core of Blagaj rapidly urbanised as neighbourhoods grew around the mosque.
Note the ancient Bosnian Muslim gravestones around the mosque. The modern town is also largely Muslim-current estimates are that at least 80% of the population in Blagaj are Muslim.
The streets in Blagaj are full of old, Herzegovinian style houses such as these. Some have been turned into cafe's and restaurants. Blagaj, unlike large parts of Mostar outside its historic core, retains a medieval-Ottoman feel for it largely escaped development and industrialisation in the late 19th and 20th centuries. The second image shows an ancient water mill. Some damage was inflicted on the town by both Serb and Croat shelling during the 1992-5 War, but much of the damage has since been largely repaired.
At this point, it was getting dreadfully hot (over 35 degrees) and all of us had had enough so we decided to call it a day and go back to the car. Perhaps next time I will venture more around Blagaj and take more pictures, which I will of course share here. Thank you for reading! =)
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