Livno

Livno lies at the edge of the great karst polje that carries its name, at the point where the Bistrica springs emerge from beneath the Cincar mountain and run through the town, which is why the settlement is here. The old quarter runs along the water with mosques, a clock tower and Ottoman houses below the ruins of a fortress on the rock above. Livno is known nationally for its cheese, a hard sheep's milk cheese made on the surrounding pastures, and for the herd of free-roaming horses on the Krug plateau above the town, descendants of animals released decades ago, now numbering several hundred and visited on tracks across the plateau.

History

The Livno plain has been lived on since about 2000 BC, and the Illyrian Dalmatae left hillforts along it, the most important Velika gradina, Mala gradina and Kasalov gradac; in the 20s AD the Romans built a road from Salona to Servitium across the plain with two stations, Pelva and Bariduo, the latter at Livno. The town counts 28 September 892 as its founding date, from a document of Duke Mutimir, and it was the centre of the Hlebiana county of the Kingdom of Croatia named in the 10th-century De Administrando Imperio; from 1326 until 1463 it belonged to the Bosnian Kingdom, before the Ottoman conquest (Wikipedia, Livno).

The main sights

• The Bistrica springs - the water emerging at the town and running through it.
• The fortress ruin - the walls on the rock above the old quarter.
• The wild horses - the free-roaming herd on the Krug plateau.
• Livno cheese - the hard sheep cheese made on the surrounding pastures.

When to go

May to October for the plateau and the horses; the herd is easiest to find in the morning. Winter brings snow to the plateau and cold in the town. Autumn is clear and quiet.

What to expect

Reaching the horses needs a vehicle capable of rough track and some searching; sightings are not guaranteed. The fortress is an unmanaged ruin. The town has limited facilities for visitors. The plateau is exposed and has no shelter.

Nearby

Busko lake lies south; Kupres is northeast.

Key facts