Gradacac

Gradacac is built around a fortress whose walls enclose the centre of the town, rebuilt in the early nineteenth century by Husein-kapetan Gradascevic, the local governor remembered in Bosnia as the Dragon of Bosnia, who also raised the tower house inside them: a four-storey stone building with a viewing level at the top, restored and open, which is the town's emblem. The Husejnija mosque of 1826, also his work, stands nearby with a tall minaret. The town is known nationally for plums and holds an annual plum fair. The surrounding country is the low fertile Posavina, and the Hazna lake outside the town is used for fishing and recreation.

History

The župa of Gradačac is first mentioned in 1302 and the town in 1465, and it became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1512, gaining the status of a palanka in 1701 and becoming the seat of a captaincy in 1710. The captains of the Gradaščević family shaped the town: its fort with walls 18 metres high was built between 1765 and 1821, and the most famous of them, Husein-kapetan Gradaščević, the Dragon of Bosnia, who led a rising of most of the Bosnian captains in 1831, raised the 22-metre tower in 1824 on foundations said to be Roman and the Husejnija Mosque in 1826 (Wikipedia, Gradačac).

The main sights

• The tower house - the restored four-storey building inside the walls.
• The fortress walls - the enclosure around the town centre.
• Husejnija mosque - the 1826 mosque with its tall minaret.
• Hazna lake - the water outside the town used for fishing.

When to go

May to October for the town and the lake; the plum fair falls in late summer. The tower keeps daytime hours with reduced winter opening. Weekdays are quiet.

Good to know

The complex is small and takes a couple of hours. Restoration is extensive. Interpretation is limited and in Bosnian. The town has modest facilities.

Nearby

Srebrenik lies south; Tuzla is southeast.

Key facts