The Old town of Visoki ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Stari grad Visoki, Стари град Високи, ) was a medieval royal

castle town A castle town is a settlement built adjacent to or surrounding a castle. Castle towns were common in Medieval Europe. Some examples include small towns like Alnwick and Arundel, which are still dominated by their castles. In Western Europe, a ...

built during the 14th century on the top of the hill overlooking town of

Visoko Visoko ( sr-cyrl, Високо, ) is a city located in the Zenica-Doboj Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, the municipality had a population of 39,938 inhabitants with 11,205 liv ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

. The first mention of the town was on 1 September 1355, in the charter "''in castro nosto Visoka vocatum''" written by

Tvrtko I of Bosnia Stephen Tvrtko I ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Stjepan/Stefan Tvrtko, Стјепан/Стефан Твртко; 1338 – 10 March 1391) was the first king of Bosnia. A member of the House of Kotromanić, he succeeded his uncle Stephen I ...

while he was a young ban. The town was presumably abandoned before 1503, as it is not mentioned in the Turkish-Hungarian treaty from the mentioned year. In 1626, Đorđić mentioned Visoki among abandoned towns.

Location and size

The Old Town of Visoki is at the top of

Visočica hill Visočica may refer to: * Visočica hill, a hill in Bosnia and Herzegovina near Visoko * Visočica (mountain) Visočica ( sr-cyrl, Височица) is a mountain range in central Bosnia and Herzegovina. Geologically, Visočica is part of the Di ...

, high. Its position provides an excellent view at the plains below. The entry to the castle is on the southwest side, with two lookout towers. Passing through the entry you enter a part that is called ''

Podvisoki Podvisoki ( cyrl, Подвисоки) was a medieval settlement, a castle town (in ), as part of wider area just beneath of the fortress Visoki, located on the Visočica hill above modern-day Visoko, Bosnia and Herzegovina. History Podvisoki w ...

'', which was quite small, measuring and has signs and remains of early medieval houses. The thickness of the castle town walls is about . Its position provides an excellent view at the plains below bordered by the mountains Romanija,

Jahorina Jahorina ( sr-Cyrl, Јахорина, ) is a mountain in Bosnia and Herzegovina, located on the tripoint of the municipalities of Pale, Trnovo, Republika Srpska and Trnovo, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Part of the Dinaric Alps, it borde ...

Treskavica Treskavica ( sr-cyrl, Трескавица) is a mountain range in Bosnia and Herzegovina, situated in Trnovo municipality just south of city of Sarajevo. Mala Ćaba (Đokin Toranj) peak at 2088 m (6850 ft.), which makes Treskavica the tallest ...

and

Bjelašnica Bjelašnica ( sr-cyrl, Бјелашница, ) is a mountain in central Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is to the southwest of Sarajevo, bordering Mount Igman. Bjelašnica's tallest peak, by which the mountain group got its name, rises to an elevatio ...

in the east and southeast, Bitovnja in the south, the mountain Zec and

Vranica Vranica ( sr-cyrl, Враница) is a mountain range in the Dinaric Alps of central Bosnia and Herzegovina, located between the town of Gornji Vakuf in the west and the town of Fojnica in the east, within the territory of the Federation. The hig ...

in the Southeast, Vlašić in the west, and Tajan and Zvijezda in the north.

Historic importance

The primary function of the old town of Visoki was defense, but it was also a place where a lot of medieval

Bosnian rulers This is a list of rulers of Bosnia, containing bans and kings of Medieval Bosnia. Duke (1082–1136) Bans (1136–1377) Kings and queen (1377–1463) All Bosnian kings added the honorific Stephen to their baptismal name upon accession. , ...

issued various documents and charters. The first mention of the town itself was in a charter written by the young Tvrtko I named ''in castro nosto Visoka vocatum'' on 1 September 1355. The final document of importance signed there was by Tvrtko Borovinić in 1436, showing that it was also of high importance to Bosnian nobility.

List of written documents

* 1355 – Tvrtko I Kotromanić writes charter ''in castro nostro Visoka vocatum''. * 1398 – Priboje Masnović, duke who was accepted as Ragusa citizen. * 1402 – Bosnian king

Stjepan Ostoja Stephen OstojaHis name in Bosnian is rendered Stjepan Ostoja (), while in Croatian it's Stjepan Ostoja. In Serbian, he is called Stefan Ostoja (). ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Stjepan Ostoja, Стјепан Остоја; died September 1418) ...

writes charter ''pod gradom Visoki'' (beneath town Visoki). * 1404 – Bosnian king Ostoja writes charter ''pod Visokim'' (beneath Visoki). * 1404 – Two papers were published which were subject of law dispute in Ragusa. * 1420 – Great Bosnian duke

Batić Mirković Batić Mirković ( sr-cyr, Батић Мирковић) was a prominent 15th century Bosnian nobleman and magnate. His father was Bosnian knyaz, Mirko Radojević, the Radojević-Mirković family senior, who had a brother Radič Radojević. Ba ...

became very ill; he was buried in village of Kopošići. * 1429 and 1436 – Duke

Tvrtko Borovinić Tvrtko may refer to: * Tvrtko I of Bosnia, medieval king of Bosnia * Tvrtko II of Bosnia, medieval king of Bosnia * Tvrtko Jakovina, Croatian historian * Tvrtko Kale (born 1974), Croatian-Israeli footballer See also * Tvrtko of Bosnia (disamb ...

written papers ''na Visokom'' (on Visoki). These papers were last direct sources of old town of Visoki.

References

External links

Old town of Visoki becomes a national landmark
{{National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina History of Visoko Buildings and structures in Visoko Castles in Bosnia and Herzegovina National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina Archaeological sites in Bosnia and Herzegovina Medieval Bosnia and Herzegovina architecture