Walled city of Jajce

The Walled city of Jajce is a medieval fortress with long defensive walls and a large citadel, situated in Jajce, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It constituted the fortified capital of the Bosnian Kingdom.

Geography
The fortress was built on the top of a hill, surrounded by a small settlement on the eastern slopes, at the end of the 13th and beginning of the 14th century. It was repaired, rebuilt and enlarged many times since, until it encompassed the entire settlement underneath with its large walls. The fortress became a citadel which covers an area of 11200 m2. The combined length of the walls is 1300 m. The whole area is geographically and historically interesting.

History
The fortress was built by Hrvoje Vukčić Hrvatinić, the founder of Jajce. However, city became the seat of the Bosnian kings, hence the royal coat of arms decoration on the citadel entrance. A part of the wall was founded by the Hungarian King, while the Ottomans erected the powder magazine. The walls are high and the castle was built on a hill that is egg shaped, the rivers Pliva and Vrbas also protect the castle. There is no rampart on the south and west.

Jajce was first built in the 14th century and served as the capital of the independent Kingdom of Bosnia during its time. The town has gates as fortifications, as well as a castle with walls which lead to the various gates around the town. About 10–20 kilometres from Jajce lies the Komotin Castle and town area which is older but smaller than Jajce. It is believed the town of Jajce was previously Komotin but was moved after the Black Death.

The first references to the name of Jajce in written sources is from the year 1396, but the fortress had already existed by then. Jajce was the residence of the last Bosnian king Stjepan Tomasevic; the Ottomans besieged the town and executed him, but held it only for six months, before the Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus seized it at the siege of Jajce and established the Banovina of Jajce.

Skenderbeg Mihajlović besieged Jajce in 1501, but without success because he was defeated by Ivaniš Korvin assisted by Zrinski, Frankopan, Karlović and Cubor.

During this period, Queen Catherine restored the Saint Mary's Church in Jajce, today the oldest church in town. Eventually, in 1527, Jajce became the last Bosnian town to fall to Ottoman rule. The town then lost its strategic importance, as the border moved further North. Jajce was the last Bosnian town that, in 1528, fell into the hands of the Ottoman Empire.

Jajce passed with the rest of Bosnia and Herzegovina under the administration of Austria-Hungary in 1878. The Franciscan monastery of Saint Luke was completed in 1885.

National monument
Walled city of Jajce is declared National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina. There are several churches and mosques built in different times during different rules, making Jajce a rather diverse town in this aspect.