Ostrovica Fortress (Kulen Vakuf)

The Ostrovica Castle (Bosnian: Stari grad Ostrovica, Ottoman Turkish: Ostroviçe kalesi) is a large medieval structure situated above the small village of Ostrovica near Kulen Vakuf, Bihać municipality, Bosnia and Herzegovina. 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 of ancient fortification which dates back to ancient Roman times or even earlier. In the Middle Ages, Ostrovica belonged to the Kingdom of Croatia and its Lapac County.

The first mention of the castle was in a charter from 1407, in which King Ladislaus of Naples, confirmed possession over Ostrovica to a Bosnian magnate and Grand Duke, Sandalj Hranić, who most likely rebuilt the fortress at the beginning of 15th century on a foundations of an ancient fortification, which dates back to ancient Roman times or even earlier. In 1523 it was conquered by the Ottomans.

Text adapted from “Ostrovica Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Ostrovica Fortress (Kulen Vakuf) ranks #3,842 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #15 of the 33 mapped in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The nearest day-trip guide is Banja Luka, 91 km away. See how Bosnia and Herzegovina compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗