City with rich Islamic tradition

POCITELJ

One of most beautiful monuments of the Ottomans-Mediterranean architecture, which, in itself comprises local building and urbane characteristics, is the town of Pocitelj in Herzegovina.

Moving from south to north, ie. from the sea towards the interior Herzegovina, Pocitelj is the first major entry gate. Even before the arrival of the Ottomans, there was a small town, but today we don’t have much of the remains, so we can’t accurately determine which part belonged to that period.

There is no doubt that the original fort was rebuilt immediately, and that the infrastructure development of this city went relatively fast, although it will get its first significant outlines in the period from the second half of the 16th century until the second half of the 17th century. Pocitelj was developed due to the vision and the great endeavors of certain individuals to make a good living and a place to acquire knowledge.

A typical example of this are the largest donors of this city: Hadji Ali, the son of Musa-aga, who is connected to the construction of the mosque from 1562 and Ibrahim Pasha, who built other important facilities around 1660, such as Madrasa and Turkish bath. They both represent a very enigmatic figures. Hadji Ali was probably a descendant of an early lineage of the Bosnian nobility who accepted Islam. That best prove of his wealth was the mosque that was built, which required a large investment and was built in the mature classical style by Istambul masters. On the other hand, Shishmar Ibrahim Pasha, as well as many other Bosnians, made a successful political and military career in the Ottoman Empire.

The rest of the article you can read in the magazine.