7- DAY TOUR 6 – 13 AUGUST 2019
Bosnia
and Herzegovina & Dalmatian Coast – Croatia
This
was an amazing trip! Spectacular scenery dominated by lush forests lining the
highway, hundreds of picturesque villages, an incredible history and welcoming
people. Despite Bosnia’s history of so many wars and bloodshed, this corner of
the world enjoys peace and prosperity today. I was particularly interested in
learning about the Muslim culture.
The
Dalmatian coast in Croatia is beautiful. All along the coast there are villages
on the shores of the crystal clear Adriatic Sea.
It
has been a real challenge writing this account and we could not have done it
without Joze’s help in unravelling this incredibly complicated history. Nevertheless
I highly recommend this trip.
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
PROVINCES TODAY
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Pink
shows the two Serbian provinces within Bosnia. The major population are Bosnian
Serbs with Orthodox churches and religion. There is also a small number of
Muslims and Croatian Catholics who live in these Serbian provinces.
Blue
shows the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the middle is Sarajevo the
capital (of all provinces) where the main population is Bosnian Muslims but
some Bosnian Serbs, Bosnian Croats and Bosnian Jews live in the middle of the
Province too. All the religions seem to Enjoy a peaceful coexistence.
Herzegovina
is part of the Federation. The main town of Herzegovina is Mostar. About 48% of
the population are Croatian Bosnians who are Catholics, while 44% are Bosnian
Muslims, and 4% are Bosnian Serbs who are Serbian Orthodox.
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Yugoslavia
broke up in 1991 and all the former Yugoslav Republics became independent Republics
The
Turkish Ottoman Empire conquered the territory of present day Bosnia and Serbia
in the 14th century. Even though the Serbs in Serbia were ruled by the Turks
for over 400 years, they did not accept the Muslim religion. This was not the
case with the population in present day Bosnia where Turks managed to convert
the population to the Muslim religion.
Bosnia
and Herzegovina was one of six Yugoslav Republics and the capital is Sarajevo.
There are 3 main religions Muslim, Serbian Orthodox and Roman
Catholic
and a strong Jewish community in Sarajevo. There are 2 Serbian Provinces, one
in the West part of Bosnia and one in the East part. The middle of the country
is mainly inhabited by Bosnian Muslims. Herzegovina is in the South and the
main town is Mostar. Herzegovina is inhabited by Bosnian Croats and Bosnian Muslims.
Both
Serbian provinces in Bosnia made up 50% of Bosnian territory. With the help of
Milosevic
they wanted to conquer all of Bosnia.
When
Yugoslavia broke up in 1991, Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic used the
official Yugoslav army to bomb Sarajevo and attack Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian
Croats but also Croatian towns in Croatia. The local Serbian leaders from both
provinces joined the army and attacked Bosnian Muslims. Karadzic and Mladic
massacred over 8000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica July 1993.
On
the other hand, Croats were fighting with Serbians in Croatia. In Herzegovina
Bosnian Croats were fighting with Serbs and Bosnian Muslims and bombed the
famous Mostar pedestrian bridge built by the Turks in 1567. The bridge over the
Neretva River connected the Muslim and Croatian parts of Mostar. The bridge was
a symbol of the Bosnian Muslim people. It was so famous and unique and was
under UNESCO heritage. The bridge was newly built in 2004. They found the
original architectural drawings in Istanbul.
With
the strong support of US President Bill Clinton, on November 1 1995, the Dayton
Agreement was reached by Serbs, Croats and Muslims that ended the 3-1/2 year
Bosnian War. The Agreement was confirmed December 14, 1995 in Paris.
Sarajevo
is still the capital today and Bosnia and Herzegovina are led by a Presidential
Board
of 3 leaders, one from each Province. The currency is Convertible Mark.
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| Lush forests line the
highway
WALLED TOWN
OF JAJCE built in the 14th century where we stayed at Stari Grad Hotel and received a
wonderful welcome!
The first day
it took us 7 hours to get from Ljubljana to the town of Jajce situated in the
heart of Bosnia
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