The Old Castle of Ostrožac or Stari grad Ostrožac, Cazin, Bosnia and Herzegovina

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sammy00153.99last month6 min read

Hello everyone.
Old castles are always interesting place to visit. They are history lessons and I think they are worth visiting. In my home place there are several old castles. Some of them are in better shape than others. The Old Castle of Ostrožac or Stari grad Ostrožac is very big castle and very beautiful one.
It is located in city Cazin which is in north west part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. . Croatia is very close, you can see the mount Plješavica from the Castle which is natural border between two country.
Since 2013 Old Castle of Ostrožac is on the list of National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

By its dimensions, the old castle of Ostrožac is one of the major fortified castles in Bosnia and Herzegovina, characterized by the preservation of all phases of its development from medieval defense castle through a significantly expanded castle in Ottoman period to a castle of purely resident character as it was during Austro-Hungarian administration. (it is written on the information board on the entrance)

The Old Castle of Ostrožac has very interesting history. It is located on the hill that looks on the canyon of beautiful river Una.

The Old Castle of Ostrožac has three parts. There is first part of the castle on the north. This is Medieval castle. Middle part of the castle is biggest part and this is part belongs to Ottoman period. And last addition is from Austro Hungarian period - Castle on southern part.
From east to west lenght of the Old Castle of Ostrožac is around 185 meters and width vary from 30 meters to 80 meters.

This is path the first gate.

This is fortress from the Medieval period. That is second gate and on the left is the first fortress.

According to historical data first mention of Ostrožac castle is in 1286. This is part of Ostrožac castle from the medieval period.

Stairs go to the entrance into the fortress.

You can not enter the medieval part of the castle. It is in not so good condition at the moment. With ongoing plans to reastaurate whole Ostrožac castle it would be good to visit soon and have all parts of the complex available and restaurated.

This is the middle part of the Ostrožac castle. This part was build during Ottoman period.

The castle was captured around 1577 by Ottoman empire. Ottomans expanded the existing castle.

Another fact about Old Castle Ostrožac that there is yearly event known as Colony of sculptors Ostrožac that started in 1969. This year was held 57th Colony of sculptors Ostrožac where artists come and carve sculptures in bihacite stone under open air. Around 150 sculptures is left in the Ostrožac castle over time as part of open-air Sculpture Park Ostrožac permanent exhibition.

There are sculptures all over middle part of the yard.
Some other events are held in Old Castle Ostrolažac such as concerts, shows, performances and even weddings.

At he beginning of 20th century the Ostrožac castle was bought by Isabella von Berks the wife of Lothara von Berks who was major of city Bihać at the time. Castle was reconstructed from 1900 to 1902 and new castle part was added. They started to live here in 1902.

This new addition was residential and luxurious one.

This part of the Castle is in poor condition. Here are couple of photos. I hope that restauration will be done very soon so this beautiful castle can show its real face.

In the back side of the castle there is this terrace or garden. It is faced toward canyon of river Una. Sight is very beautiful.

Even from here you can see emerald green river Una. I will share some photos from river Una on the end.

Small court between two parts of the castle.

This was my first time visiting this part of the Old Castle of Ostrožac. Last time I visited Old Castle of Ostrožac when I was a kid and I did not enter this part.

I think Old Castle of Ostrožac is very visitor friendly. It has quite easy access by your vehicle and inside of the Castle is so open and spacious. And I like that you can climb the walls for almost most of the middle part of the Castle.

Trees inside are so tall.

Stairs to climb the walls.

You can walk along this wall on the right.
So lets climb the walls.

Mount Plješavica in the far back. So you can see Croatia from here since mount Plješavica is natural border between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia.

You can climb the wall and have history lesson.
This is Medieval part of Old Castle of Ostrožac.

Here we have Ottoman part.

And this is Austro Hungarian part of the Old Castle of Ostrožac.

The walls are quite high.
Newlyweds come here a lot for photo session and the official wedding ceremony can be arrange here as well.

Exhibition of historical documents of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Old cannons.

Old Town Ostrožac fortress was strategically very important in Ottoman period so in 1833 there were 28 cannons in the fortress.

Old Castle of Ostrožac from the distance.

Old Castle of Ostrožac or Stari grad Ostrožac is place worth visiting. If you are in north west part of Bosnia dont miss it.

And as I said from here you can see our beautiful river Una. It is one of the most beautiful rivers in Europe.
Next day after visiting Old Castle of Ostrožac we spent our day on river Una.
From the Castle you could see some part of the river and its emerald green color.

Here are more photos up close. This place is around 30 minutes away from the castle.