Počitelj

Pocitelj makes a convenient and interesting stop, on your way to or from Mostar.

The historic urban site of Počitelj is located on the left bank of the river Neretva, on the main Mostar to Metković road, to the south of Mostar, in the territory of Čapljina Municipality. In the middle ages, Počitelj was the administrative centre and centre of governance of Dubrava župa (county), and its westernmost point, which gave it major strategic importance.  It is supposed that the fortified town and its attendant settlements were built by Bosnia’s King Stjepan Tvrtko I in 1383.

This unique settlement is listed as the UNESCO heritage site. Nearby is a 16m Ottoman clock tower, while further up the hill is a partly ruined fortress, capped by the octagonal Gavrakapetan Tower. You can climb up the tower or save your energy for even better panoramas from the uppermost rampart bastions.

Počitelj represents one of the few urban ensembles in Bosnia and Herzegovina that were preserved in their integrity to the present times. The town can be compared with some of the noted world heritage sites as: Old Bridge Area of the Mostar’s Old Town (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid region (the Republic of Macedonia, City of Safranbolu (Turkey), Museum-City of Gjirokastra (Albania), etc. Počitelj’s layout and use of building materials put it into the group of Ottoman-Mediterranean types of small settlements.