Location: Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, Čapljina Municipality Map
Constructed: in 1383 by King Stjepan Tvrtko I
Počitelj Castle is a medieval citadel situated in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, Čapljina Municipality of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Village of Počitelj played an important role in the medieval times serving as a administrative center of governance of Dubrava župa (county). Due to its role Bosnian King Stjepan Tvrtko I fortified the town in 1383 against possible aggression. In 1471 the castle along with surrounding lands fell to the relentless Ottoman invasion. From 1782 to 1879 it was the center of a local Turkish kadiluk (Ottoman Turkish judge). After Russian army defeated the Ottomans in 1878 much of the Balkans gained its independence.
It is located on the left bank of the Neretva River, on the main road from Mostar to Čapljini.
In the Middle Ages, Počitelj was the administrative center of the
Dubrava parish, in the Hum region. There is no reliable information
about the builder. It is assumed that the builder was the Bosnian king
Tvrtko I, but this claim is disputed in the literature.
It was
first mentioned in written documents in 1444, in the charters of King
Alfonso V and Frederick III. In the period from 1463 to 1471, Počitelj
was home to a Hungarian garrison. In 1471, after a short siege, the city
became part of the Ottoman Empire, in which it would remain until 1878.
In the period 1782 - 1879 it was the seat of the Kadiluk, and in the
period 1713 - 1835 the seat of the Počitelj captaincy.
The complex of the fortified town - Počitelj, was created
successively from the 16th to the 18th centuries. The preserved stone
remains of the city represent an architectural fortification unit whose
development can be distinguished into two stages: medieval construction
and construction during the Ottoman Empire.
The oldest part of
the fortress is the medieval core, a tower tower with a smaller
enclosure, from the end of the 14th century. From the second half of the
15th century, there is a keep, Gavrankapetan's tower, polygonal
foundations (originally preserved only in the lower part, walls about 2
m thick) and a small walled courtyard with an entrance to the south.
Since the terrain on which it was built slopes steeply towards the
river, the fort did not have a moat.
In the second medieval
construction phase, the area of the second courtyard was surrounded by a
rampart, a small square tower was built to the left of the main entrance
and part of the wall was built on the west side, south of the fountain
in the fortress. Shortly before 1698, the fortress was significantly
expanded and strengthened with a larger defense system: a square tower,
two tabias (Mehmed Pašin and Delibašin), Dizdar's house, barn, fortress
mosque, "water tower" - fountain, two large gates and two small ones
door.
The old town of Počitelj was declared a national monument
of Bosnia and Herzegovina.