Fortresses and Falls in Jajce Bosnia

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How To Get To Jajce Bosnia

Car is the most convenient way to travel through this region. We hired a car and drove ourselves through lovely countryside. Jajce is located on the M16 road. It’s about 160km from both Sarajevo and Mostar (along different routes) and it will take 2 ½ to 3 hours to drive there. If you are driving, parking fees apply in the town’s car parks. They cost about 1 Euro per hour.

If you are using public transport, buses are available from Bosnia’s larger cities, including Sarajevo, Travnik, Mostar and Bihac.

A Brief History of Jajce Bosnia

Evidence of Roman visitors can be seen in the Mithraeum, a temple dedicated to Mithras, the sun god, which is thought to date back to the 3^rd century.

Bosnian nobleman Hrvoje Vukčić Hrvatinić founded Jajce in the 14^th century and it quickly became an important city in the region. Hrvatinić constructed a fortress and erected high walls to protect the city. When Stjepan Tomašević, of the Bosnian Kotromanićrose, rose to power in 1461 the city not only became the home of the Bosnian kings, it became the capital of the Kingdom of Bosnia.

Despite successfully repelling a number of sieges as the Ottomans swept through the area, the city eventually fell to this vast empire in 1527. After the decline of the Ottomans, Jajce was absorbed into the the Austro-Hungarian empire, along with the rest of Bosnia and Herzegovina, between 1878 and 1918.

Following World Wars 1 and 2, Jajce became part of AVNJO, the Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia, established by Tito. The second council of this organisation was convened in the city in 1943.  The delegates determined to establish a federal Yugoslavia and one of its core principles was that the many ethnic groups living in the region would be considered equal.

Jajce suffered significantly during the Bosnian war. It fell to Serb control in October 1992 and many of the ethnic groups fled. Catholic churches and mosques were destroyed. The city became part of Bosnia and Herzegovina as part of the Dayton Agreement.

Visit Jajce – Top Attractions

Jajce is a small town which it is easy to walk around. It has some lovely places to visit. We recommend visiting the tourist information centre which has free maps to aid exploration, and the friendly staff can offer suggestions for places to visit.

Pliva Waterfall

Now, sometimes your expectations can be raised before you visit a place. Our hotel hosts in Mostar told us that we were going to visit the ‘Niagara Falls of Bosnia’. While of course we weren’t expecting a waterfall on the scale of Niagara, and it is a very lovely waterfall, it was a little disappointing, but not for reasons of size.

The Pliva Waterfall is the location for diving tournaments and we felt that the concrete viewing platform, the diving board and advertising hoarding did detract from its charm.

You have to pay a fee to get up close to the waterfall at its base, if you want to admire it from the lower river and enjoy a mild spray soaking on a hot day. The cost was 4 Euros each (3 Euros in low season).

The Catacombs and Bear Tower

Below the fortress, carved into the rock, are a small set of catacombs, the burial place of Hrvoje Vukčić Hrvatinić, founder of the city. They aren’t very extensive but are worth a brief look inside to see the crypt and altars.

Some of the motifs inside, representing the sun, the cross and a crescent moon, are a memorial to the independent Bosnian church and something of a rarity because they have survived the political upheavals over the years. And apparently Tito hid inside the catacombs during World War 2. Sadly there is also a fair amount of graffiti carved into the rock.

No one is quite certain what the purpose of the Bear Tower was.

Mithras Temple

Dedicated to the god Mithras, this was built by the Romans. It was only discovered this century when building work was being undertaken in the area. The temple features a relief showing the sacrifice of a bull.

The AVNOJ Museum of the Second Session of the National Liberation Army of Yugoslavia

This museum exhibits many copies of photos and documents from the AVNOJ session, which was a key moment in the region’s history.

Visit Jajce Bosnia Further Out – The Wooden Watermills

Located around 5km from the town centre are the Pliva lakes. This is a resort area. We stayed in the Plivsko Jezero hotel, a modern hotel, half of which offers a lovely lake view but the other half looks over the main road. In the summer you can hire boats and go out on the lake, and there are gentle walks in the area.

The most delightful place to visit here is the Mlinčići, a cluster of charming wooden watermills, some of which date back to the 16^th century.

They are located between the Large and Small Pliva lakes, taking advantage of the height difference between them, as water cascades through them.

There are boardwalks which you can follow to get really close to the watermills. They are free to visit.

A Day Trip from Jajce – Una National Park

Our road trip was to take us to the marvellous Plitvice Lakes in Croatia and we travelled there from Jajce. We don’t necessarily recommend this route, as it involves a lot of driving, but we particularly wanted to see this amazing national park, so we embarked on the long journey. We weren’t disappointed and you can read our post about visiting Plitvice.

En route, and a couple of hours’ drive from Jajce, is the Una National Park, Bosnia’s largest park, set in very pretty countryside. There is a small fee to enter the park, unless your name is Una, although you’ll have to bring ID to prove it.

A Truly Splendid Waterfall

The reason for visiting this park was not only to break up our journey to Croatia but also to see the Martin Brod waterfall. This – for us – was so much nicer than the Jajce falls; set in a natural environment these delightful falls tumble into crystal clear blue waters.

Located on the river Una, the falls were named for a woman called Marta, who fell in love with a soldier, but sadly drowned in the river while she was crossing it to meet him.

You can hike around the waterfall, use the viewing platforms and if you climb to the top of the falls via a path, you can also meet some local entrepreneurs who will show you how they use the water and gravity to wash clothes and grind flour. It costs a Euro to get a demonstration of the most natural washing machine in the world. Apparently people bring their bedding and rugs here from miles around to get a good wash!

Jajce for Foodies

The town has a number of restaurants and cafes, many with outdoor seating. We enjoyed Bosnia’s national dish of cevapi (little sausages) inside a fluffy lepinja (Balkan flatbread). These are traditionally served with raw onion but don’t worry, the onions are a lot less pungent than you might expect.