The Kaštel walls
A little riverside town.
Mladentopich — CC BY-SA 4.0 · BrankaVV — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Jocelyn Erskine-Kellie from London, UK — CC BY 2.0 · BrankaVV — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Slavenko Vukasović — CC BY-SA 4.0
A small walled old town on the Trebišnjica in Trebinje, its walls built in the eighteenth century in Ottoman times and known as the Kaštel, holding quiet stone lanes and old tile-roofed houses. Trebinje is one of Bosnia's warmest and sunniest towns, with a Mediterranean feel close to the Adriatic coast. Inside the walls stands the Sultan Ahmed or Imperial Mosque with its white minaret, near the wall the Osman Pasha Mosque, and the Herzegovina Museum in an old military building. Outside the wall the market square lies under giant plane trees, with a morning market of vegetables, fruit, honey and local cheese and cafés spreading out in the shade. Wandering is always free. Both mosques are open to visitors outside prayer times in modest dress, with women covering their hair. Restaurants around the square serve Balkan dishes, so ask about halal. Walk the walls in the morning, then on to the Arslanagić Bridge minutes away, and climb to Hercegovačka Gračanica monastery on the hill for a view over the whole town.
A little riverside town.
With its white minaret.
Market and cafés in the shade.
On the Trebišnjica riverbank, central Trebinje
Yes: it is about half an hour by car, and many combine it in a day trip from the Croatian coast.
