Gradina Fortress

Tešanj Fortress, also known as Gradina, is one of the largest fortresses in Bosnia and Herzegovina, built on a steep rocky hill in the middle of Tešanj, by the Tešanjka River. From the top of the fortress, the entire town in the valley is visible, and on three sides the cliff is almost inaccessible. Gradina has grown through three millennia: a Roman refuge was built on an Illyrian fortress, then in the late Middle Ages a feudal town of the noble Zlatonosović family emerged, and each subsequent conqueror left its own layer in the stone.

The total area of the complex is 5,600 m², the ramparts are 390 meters in circumference, and the walls are up to 2.4 meters thick. Inside the fortress, Krnja Tower, a 70,000-liter cistern, the tabija, Dizdareva Tower and the clock tower have been preserved. Tešanj Fortress has been declared a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina and today stands proudly above the town that developed at its foot.