The Bosnian medieval capital where a waterfall drops into the town centre and kings were crowned for 200 years
Jajce is one of Bosnia's most visually striking towns — a medieval fortress town at 415m where the Pliva River plunges 21m into the Vrbas River in a waterfall that sits, improbably, directly beside the old town market and bridge. The waterfall (Pliva Waterfall) is the centrepiece, but Jajce was also the capital of the Kingdom of Bosnia from 1377 until its fall to the Ottomans in 1463, and the royal necropolis, stećak tombstones, and royal church remnants make it one of the densest collections of medieval Bosnian heritage in the country. The lakes above the town (Pliva Lakes) — two glacial lak…
Jajce was founded in the early 14th century and became the Bosnian royal capital under King Tvrtko II in 1377 — the last Bosnian kings before Ottoman conquest were crowned here. The town's fortifications were among the most advanced in the Balkans, which explains why it held out for years after the rest of Bosnia fell; the Ottomans finally captured Jajce in 1463. The Ottoman period left a mosque (now converted to a church) and the layered religious history visible in the town's architecture. During World War II, Jajce hosted the November 1943 AVNOJ (Anti-Fascist Council of National Liberation…