Samobor, an old medieval town, known as summer residence of Kosaca, is located in the municipality of Novo Gorazde.
It is a national monument under the state protection. Walls of the old town, which was built by the Duke Sandalj Hranic Kosaca, are on the cliff of mountain Gostun near Ustipraca at an altitude of around 800 meters, with views of the canyon of Janjina, one of the tributaries of Drina River.
“Samobor was first mentioned back in 1397, and it was built by Sandalj Hranic. Fortress Samobor is among the largest medieval fortresses in BiH, and the most widespread of all the fortresses that were in the possession of Kosaca. On certain sides it is around 350 meters wide. However, this is not surprising if we consider the significance that it has as a fortification center of the Upper Drina Valley and as one of the favorite headquarters of Sandalj Hranic and Duke Stjepan Vukcic Kosaca… Today, the main focus is on dungeon (guard) tower, irregular elliptical base whose western and northern walls are oval,” reminded archeologist Adi Dzemidzic.
The old town of Samobor, although a national monument under the state protection since 2006, is in ruins, especially the walls of the fortress and buildings, while the main tower is quite preserved. This tower is one of the most beautiful and most interesting buildings within the complex of old Bosnian forts.
The medieval town of Samobor represents a significant part of the cultural heritage of this area, considers Tomislav Carapic, an employee of the municipality of Novo Gorazde, who tried on several occasions to draw public attention on this monument.
Besides doubt that mines can be found in this area, an aggravating circumstance is the fact that this architectural complex is under the high degree of protection which means that works cannot be carried out without the approval of the Department for Protection of National Monuments of Republika Srpska and the Commission to Preserve National Monuments of BIH.
In this area, according to him, the last research that was carried out in 70’s of the last century. It was an attempt to find the remains of the mosque, and the data from 1912 indicate that it was built in this place. There was no serious research in this area since then. Carapic emphasized that this area has a very valuable cultural monuments from different periods.
”There are three national monuments of BiH in the municipality of Novo Gorazde, the Architectural ensemble – the Old town of Samobor, the Church of St. George in Sopotnica, and the Cemetery ensemble – Turbe Sijercic with the cemetery in Sijercici. The first Cyrillic printing house in BiH worked with the Church of St. George in Sopotnica in the period from 1519 to 1523,” recalled Tomislav Carapic, Head of the Department for Economic and Social Affairs in the Municipality of Novo Gorazde.
(Source: E. A./Klix.ba)
