Travnik

For about a century and a half Travnik was the seat of the Ottoman governors of Bosnia, which gave a modest town in a narrow valley a run of grand buildings and a reputation it has never quite lost. A medieval castle stands on the hill above with a round tower and views down the valley, and in the town below is the Šarena džamija, the coloured mosque, unusual in the Balkans for the painted floral decoration on its facade and for the bezistan, a covered row of shops, built into its ground floor. Beneath a rock face at the top of the town the Plava Voda springs out cold and clear into a stream lined with terraces. The writer Ivo Andrić, who won the Nobel Prize, was born here, and the town appears in his work.

History

Roman graves, forts and early Christian basilicas show settlement here in the first centuries AD, and in the Middle Ages the area was the župa of Lašva in the Bosnian kingdom, first mentioned by Béla IV of Hungary in 1244, with the fortress that is now the old town. After the Ottoman conquest the town grew quickly, and when Sarajevo was set on fire by the troops of Prince Eugene of Savoy in 1699 Travnik became the capital of Ottoman Bosnia and the seat of its viziers until 1850, with French and Austrian consulates; in September 1903 a spark from a locomotive started a fire that destroyed most of the town, leaving the fortress untouched (Wikipedia, Travnik).

What to look for

• The castle - the medieval fortress on the hill with its round tower.
• The coloured mosque - painted floral decoration and shops built into its base.
• Plava Voda - the spring bursting from the rock at the head of the town.
• The vizier tombs - the domed turbes of the Ottoman governors.

When to go

April to October is mildest for walking up to the castle; the valley is green in spring and colourful in autumn. It sits on the main road across the country, so it works well as a half-day stop between Sarajevo and the north.

Before you go

The modern town around the historic core is unremarkable and traffic-heavy, and the walk up to the castle is steep. Museums keep short and inconsistent hours. It is a stop rather than a destination, and half a day covers it comfortably before moving on.

Nearby

Jajce and its waterfall are an hour northwest; Sarajevo is ninety minutes southeast.

Key facts