Location: Maglaj, Zenica-Doboj canton Map
The Maglaj fortress is one of the largest and strongest
fortifications in the Bosna river valley, and as a settlement
developed around the town very early on, which over time grew
into the center of the nahija (district), this led to the fact
that this town-fortress from the medieval period maintained in a
fairly good condition until today, changing, of course, the form
and content in accordance with the changes in the way of
warfare.
According to the strategic conditions of the
time in which it was founded (in the XIV century at the latest),
the city was built on a steep and steep igneous rock, which
strongly stands out over the right coast of Bosnia. The old town
got its current appearance during the Turkish era, only in the
18th century. Although in its long life of at least six
centuries, it experienced numerous minor and major changes and
went through several phases of construction, the Maglaj fortress
basically preserved its medieval core. In the 14th and 15th
centuries, Maglaj was a real medieval town. Keeping up with the
times, i.e. adapting to the increasingly strong cannon fire, the
medieval town increasingly turned into a fortress of the new
age. Nevertheless, it continued to serve its purpose, primarily
as a defense center for the internal security of the nahija,
until finally in 1878, having lost all military significance, it
was abandoned as a military-defense antique. Abandoned to the
ravages of time, abandoned by people and without constant
supervision, the city deteriorated more and more after that.
The city was repaired more thoroughly in 1782, while all
subsequent interventions were modest and partial. The decay of
the city became even more intense since the people left it in
1878. Finally, in 1962, the Institute for the Protection of
Cultural Monuments of the SR Bosnia and Herzegovina in
cooperation with the SO Maglaj provided funds and began a
detailed archaeological examination and rehabilitation of the
town. The examination could not establish continuity from Roman
or even prehistoric times, as is the case with numerous cities
that developed precisely on the sites of prehistoric
fortifications.
Medieval Maglaj, the one from the 15th
century, represents an already developed type of town with a
defense tower. The city was not entered from the north side like
today, but from the west, along a path that came from the south
side, from Zagrađe, from where it climbed over a high rock to
the city. The road, cut into the rock, 2.5 to 3 m wide, was
partially destroyed after the Second World War by quarrying. An
enemy who would try to approach the city this way would have his
right side completely uncovered, and this was a great advantage
on that steep terrain above Bosnia, for the defenders who could
easily hold the entrance under the fire of arrows through the
crowns on the ramparts.
A well-preserved clock tower stands in the vestibule of the Maglaj
old town (fortress), which struck the hours according to Central
European time. As this building is built on a cliff, its front side is
slightly higher than the opposite side. In horizontal section, the tower
is a square with a side of 3.07 m; the height of the front side is 17.10
m, and the opposite side is 14.77 m.
In 1955, five more clock
towers were in operation, namely in Sarajevo, Prusac, Foča, Maglaj and
Tešnje. The first two worked according to Turkish time, and the others
according to Central European time. The clock tower in Maglaj was built
on October 17, 1697. year which is shown on the engraving.