Počitelj is a fortified hillside village above the Neretva valley, first walled by a medieval Bosnian king in 1383 and later rebuilt by Ottoman rulers into the stone town – mosque, fortress tower and all – that still stands about 30 kilometres south of Mostar today.
From a Bosnian king's fort to an Ottoman town
King Tvrtko I of Bosnia founded the fortress in 1383 to control a merchant route running from the Adriatic coast inland through the Neretva valley. Its oldest section – a donjon tower with a small bailey – dates to the late 14th century, reinforced during a brief period of Hungarian garrison between 1463 and 1471 as a defence against Ottoman advances. The defences didn't hold: Počitelj fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1471 after a short siege, and under Ottoman administration it grew from a military outpost into a genuine town, with the buildings that define it today added over the following century.
The Hajji Alija Mosque and the town around it
Hadži Alija built the town's mosque in 1562-63, and it still sits at the centre of Počitelj's layout alongside the remains of a medresa (Islamic school), a hamam (bathhouse), and a clock tower – the kind of complete Ottoman civic cluster rarely preserved intact elsewhere in the region. The mosque took direct damage during the 1993 war, its dome and minaret destroyed by shelling, but restoration work has returned it to its original form and function. Stone steps climb steeply through the old town past stacked stone houses to the donjon tower at the summit, the oldest structure on the site, with views back down over the rooftops to the river valley.
An art colony that's still lived in
From the 1960s, Počitelj developed a reputation as an artists' colony, and small studios and galleries remain scattered through the old town alongside the handful of families who still live within its walls – a working town, not a preserved-in-amber museum piece. It sits on Bosnia and Herzegovina's UNESCO tentative list rather than being fully inscribed, but carries full protection as a National Monument.
Getting there
Počitelj sits directly on the route south from Mostar toward Kravica Waterfalls, about 15 minutes further down the same road, which is why most guided day trips stop here on the way to or from the falls rather than treating it as a standalone trip. A rental car or organised tour are the only realistic options – there's no direct scheduled bus service to the village itself.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
About 30 kilometres south, roughly a 30-35 minute drive along the Neretva valley – usually visited on the same route as Kravica Waterfalls, which sits a further 15 minutes on.
Image: Adam Jones via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)