Vranduk

Interesting hour-glass shape

Wooden Mosque

That stool is leather, the quill is a feather, and the monk...

We drove to another fort today. It sits about an hour and fifteen minutes away, near Travnik, our first castle. We even took the same road, E73, which is a highway, most of the distance. There is a power plant beside the road, which has an enormous smokestack, the kind of enormous that is hidden from us normal Americans by barbed wire and safe distance. We drove through Zenica, pulled off too soon, and found ourselves in a familiar intersection. There was a terrible accident earlier this year which we saw on the internet. It was eerie.


Anyway, the temperature was cool and overcast with spots of drizzle, covering the tops of the mountains. Changing leaves colored the hills and mountains dark reds and yellows. It was the perfect castle hunting day.

I will summarize the history of Vranduk: First mention of it appears in documents around 1410, the area was the trade route from Hungary and Austria to the Adriatic coast (the same coast we saw in Drabrovnik, probably the same route that our other favorite castle, Pocitelj is on- but that fact I need to double check). There are many medieval towns in the region around Zenica. The Old Town is made out of a citadel with its main tower and the town wall’s leftovers. There is a mosque built close to the tower and according to some sources, it was built on a medieval church. The tunnel under Vranduk was built during WWII. (Thank you Selma for translating from Bosnian!)

The fort is small, with two towers. The large tower has been rebuilt to what seems to be a good historical representation and serves as a museum. The very top has a small room set up for a monk doing some scribing. The thrushes and straw on the floor is a great historical touch. Below that is the dining area, with solid wooden floors, rugs, tables, rugs on the stone benches running along the walls, low beams, and thrushes on the floors as well. One the main floor- the museum, we bought a cool little book that gives some history, as well as local fables. On the main floor is also original weapons, a mace, spears, shackles from the Ottoman rule (who eventually took the fort over), and cannons. I held an actual round-headed mace that was used 500 years ago in defense of the castle. The literature says that during the summer there are all kinds of cultural events that deal with music, food, and even a picture of someone on a horse with a sword.

As we were leaving, prayer time in the wooden mosque (wooden mosques are rare) was about to begin. Here is the list of why everyone knew I was a foreigner as we finished and walk back to the car.

1. Wearing a hat, not even a beret like the old men wear.

2. Maroon jacket instead of black, khaki, or grey.

3. Hiking boots instead of soccer shoes or patent leather shoes.

4. Beside me was a wife with an uncovered head.

5. I was not smoking.


Surrounding country side


One of the folk tales is about the time of “Baton uprising”. When Baton entered Vranduk, young maidens, in a fear of being taken into captivity by Roman soldier, threw themselves from a nearby rock into the river Bosnia. Even today, we can’t be sure which rock was the one, now nowadays it represents a constant challenge to imagination and curious people to try to find it and mark it for the future generations.

The wall structure is typical- rock sides with packed gravel
and filling on the inside. And at least 8 feet thick.

Another folk tale is a tale about “gazija” hero who was in a great battle decapitated by an enemy soldier. Even without his head he didn’t surrender, and he was riding his horse for about 4 kilometers to the city of Zenica. He was buried on the spot where he fell from his horse, and on that spot, a Turbe (a monument) was built.