THREE MORE HISTORIC TOWNS

Bosnia and Herzegovina has a wealth of beautiful towns lined with cobbled streets and brimming with historical relics — head beyond Sarajevo to experience more architectural and cultural highlights

Jajce

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s former capital has witnessed key moments in the nation’s history: it was here that the Turks executed Stjepan Tomašević, the last Bosnian king, in 1461. The site of his crowning was renamed Mehmed II Mosque, then St Mary’s Church; today, it’s simply called the Clock Tower. Duck into the shadowy Jajce catacombs — the burial site of Jajce’s founder, Hrvoje Vukčić Hrvatinić — on your way up. Further down the hill, the AVNOJ Museum is on the site where Marshal Tito signed documents to found the second Yugoslavia in 1943, kick-starting the reassembly of a country dismantled by the Nazis. It’s right next to the town’s waterfalls.

Mostar

The gravity-defying arch of Mostar Old Bridge is perhaps the most photographed sight in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and something of an emblem of the country. It has a history as staggering as its engineering. Ottoman architect Mimar Hayruddin’s creation stood for more than 400 years until shelling by Bosnian Serb forces brought it crashing into the Neretva River. The bridge was rebuilt between 2001-2004, after which it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It’s best viewed from the minaret of the Koski Mehmed Pasha Mosque. Watch locals making the death-defying leap into the waters below; there’s even an annual bridge-jumping festival in July.

Stolac

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s 28 stećci (medieval tombstone graveyards) comprise the second of the country’s three UNESCO cultural sites; the third is the Mehmed

Paša Sokolović Bridge in Višegrad. Stolac’s Radimlja necropolis is perhaps the best preserved, with 133 stones carved with warrior figures and symbolic motifs, and also has a small visitor centre. Some 20 miles from the coast, Stolac is a pleasing jumble of cobbled streets and fig trees, very much a classic Mediterranean town. Climb up to Vidoški old town; at the centre, you’ll find the residence of its former governor, Duke Stjepan Kosača, now a tumbledown fortress ringed by pines.

MORE INFO

visitsarajevo.ba visitkonjic.com tourismbih.com usaid.gov/bosnia wineroute.ba

HOW TO DO IT

Wizz Air offers direct flights from Luton to Sarajevo. wizzair.com

Trains between Sarajevo and Konjic take one hour and run twice daily. zfbh.ba Intrepid Travel runs a seven-night Bosnia & Herzegovina Expedition tour from £1,165 per person, visiting Sarajevo, Jajce, Mostar and Konjic. Includes accommodation, excursions and some meals but not flights. intrepidtravel.com/ uk/bosnia-and-herzegovina

Stari Most, also known as Mostar Old Bridge, Mostar