Maskovica Han

Jusuf Mashkovic rose from this village to become an admiral of the Ottoman fleet, and in the 1640s he began building here a han - a fortified inn for merchants and their animals - intending to retire to it. It was never finished: he was executed in Istanbul in 1646, and the complex stopped where it stood. It is regarded as the westernmost monumental Ottoman building in Europe, a stone courtyard block with a fortified wall, a bath and a residential wing, and it was restored between 2010 and 2016 and reopened as a hotel and restaurant with part of the structure kept as an exhibition of the building and its patron.

What to look for

• The westernmost Ottoman monument in Europe, as it is regarded - begun in the 1640s.
• Left unfinished - its patron executed in Istanbul in 1646.
• A fortified courtyard inn - with a bath and residential wing.
• Restored by 2016 - now partly a hotel with an exhibition inside.

When to go

Year round; the restaurant and hotel operate through the seasons. Two hours.

Good to know

Much of the building is a working hotel, so what visitors see is limited to the exhibition and public areas. The village of Vrana is small with little else. Lake Vrana nearby is a nature park with separate access.

Nearby

Vrana lake nature park is behind; Biograd is on the coast west.

Key facts