Vranduk Fortress

Vranduk is a medieval fortress and a historic village in the municipality of Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

It is situated on the Bosna River canyon, just downstream from city of Zenica, at the site called the Vranduk Pass. The main road Sarajevo-Zenica-Doboj (M17) passes through the canyon and the village.

Archaeological excavations to date on the site of the fort showed no signs of fortifications dating from the prehistoric period or antiquity, or prior to the medieval times. The village itself is one of the oldest and well preserved settlements of Bosnia and Herzegovina, dating back to the 14th century and times of medieval bans and later kings of Bosnia. Vranduk village was established around a medieval citadel of the same name, and together constitute a protected architectural assembly, and as such it is a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina, well preserved and maintained in good condition by local and state commissions for national monuments, and managed by a local tourist organization.

A small mosque was erected below the citadel after the Ottoman conquest of the Bosnian Kingdom which still is standing today in good condition. The mosque was dedicated to and named after Sultan Mehmed II, conqueror of Bosnia, and is also referred to as the Imperial Mosque or Emperor's Mosque. In 1963, excavations were undertaken by Branka Raunig to explore the impact of the Roman empire on the village.

On 25 January 2005, the Vranduk fortress and surrounding area are designated a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina by KONS.

Text adapted from “Vranduk Fortress” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Vranduk Fortress ranks #5,357 of 8,133 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #33 of the 38 mapped in Bosnia and Herzegovina. 1 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Sarajevo, 63 km away. See how Bosnia and Herzegovina compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗