Bosnia and Herzegovina – Srpska West (Banja Luka, Prijedor, Doboj) May 14, 2019
BANJA LUKA
On a rainy cold day (4°C), it was necessary to wear shoes for the first time in months, – my feet in flip-flops couldn’t handle it.
Kastel Fortress. This large, well-preserved fortress lines a long way along the river. You can drive in through the narrow gate and park inside. The main attraction is an atmospheric restaurant with small barrel-vaulted rooms and a large room with outdoor tables overlooking the river. The bastions are blocked off. There is also another new stone building inside. Free
Ferhat Pasha Mosque. Built by Ferhad Pasha Sokolović (of a wealthy Bosnian family, the most famous member was Mehmed Pasha Sokolivić, the vizier to 3 sultans; he also built 200 shops, owned land, a caravanserai, market, hamam, mill, medina and clock tower) in 1579This small intimate mosque has Persian carpets, lovely green/blue/yellow geometric stained glass windows, marble mihrab, grill and columns and a wildly colourful apse.
Outside are three turbe (mausoleums) to Ferhat and other family members that are closed but you can look in the windows to see the wood coffins. I washed my feet in the ablution fountain.
Museum of Contemporary Art of the Republic of Srpska. This is a very female-centric museum with many photos of women, footprint sandals, and an eclectic video. Free
Banski Dvor. In the NM “Castles, Palaces, Forts” series, this is a lovely performance venue. There is lots of marble and a gorgeous main hall with yellow/white carved stucco and a cut glass chandelier lit by blue bulbs. The upstairs performance hall was being renovated. Free
Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The first church was consecrated in 1939, bombed by a German plane on April 12, 1941, and completely demolished on order of the Croatian government. After WW II, a monument to fallen soldiers was built on the site but the actual church was not rebuilt until 1993 taking 16 years. Outside it is a lovely pink/yellow striped building with gold domes, one large central dome and 4 smaller ones on the corners. Carved marble arches with mosaics are over the doors. Inside it is a smaller square church with beautiful mosaics (not murals) in the side transepts and dome (with nice gold sun rays designs surrounding the central main subjects). An intricately carved wood iconoclast, marble columns with capitals and a great brass chandelier complete the lovely space. Free
Outside are the remnants of the destroyed church.
Museum of the Republic of Srpska. This has it all with a lot of history detailing all the phases of civilizations. The congress of Berlin held by France, GB, Russia, Germany, Austro-Hungaria, Turkey and Italy in 1878 “gave” the Balkans to Austro-Hungary that lasted until WW I. There are lots of documents and photos of this history, some natural history with dioramas, and ethnographic material. The WW II Jasenovac Concentration Camp was notorious as a death camp – over 700,000 were murdered there. 30 KM
Cathedral of Saint Bonaventure. One of 4 Roman Catholic cathedrals in B&H was built in 1970-73 after the original was damaged in an earthquake. It was again damaged in the Bosnian War but was repaired in 2001. St Bonaventure was a Franciscan theologian from the Middle Ages. It is modern with a glass/yellow concrete peak and cast concrete bell tower with a spiral staircase. 10 BAM
May 15 was an unbelievably successful day. I slept at a sports hall with good, free wifi. Badly in need of a shower, the security guard was unusually vigilant but the Olympic Swimming pool in Banya Luca had great showers. M16, the road between Banya Luca and Jajca followed the spectacular Vrbas River – narrow with steep limestone walls. After aggressively passing 5 cars and 2 large trucks, the twisty road was a fast drive. Upstream in a reservoir, I have never seen so much garbage in a river/lake – rafts of floating plastic sometimes covering half the river. The sides of the roads were a little better.
I had decided on a very circuitous route to Zagreb that would be almost impossible to follow in these posts as I went back and forth between the two areas. Banya Luca to Jajce and back to Srpska West and then to Croatia.