Mostar
Stjepan Grad crowns a rocky hill above Blagaj, high over the spring of the Buna and the Blagaj Tekke. In the fifteenth century it was the seat of Herzog…
Stjepan Grad crowns a rocky hill above Blagaj, high over the spring of the Buna and the Blagaj Tekke. In the fifteenth century it was the seat of Herzog Stjepan Vukčić Kosača, the ruler after whom Herzegovina takes its name, and it guarded the route between the coast and inland Bosnia. The Ottomans took the fortress in the 1460s and kept a garrison here until the nineteenth century. Its long walls, towers and gateways still stand in part. A path of about half an hour climbs from the village, with no entry charge, and the view over the Buna valley and Mostar plain is a fine reward. Take water and good shoes, as the path is exposed in summer.