Esma Sultanija Mosque

The Esma Sultanija Mosque, built in the mid-18th century (1749), is one of the most valuable sacred buildings in Jajce and the only major mosque in Bosnia and Herzegovina named after a woman. Located in the very heart of the čaršija, between the Travnik and Banja Luka gates, this domed beauty is recognizable by its 29-meter-high stone minaret and architectural harmony, which includes a fountain and a mekteb. Its construction is linked to one of the most beautiful Bosnian legends about the sultan’s daughter who, seeking a cure for a serious illness, sold her expensive jewelry to build the mosque and the bridges on the Pliva, believing she would recover by doing good deeds “where one prays and where one loves.” Although it was completely destroyed in 1993, its faithful reconstruction in 2008 restored to Jajce this symbol of nobility and spiritual continuity.