Bosanska Otoka, a place in the Bosnian Krajina, in one aspect is different from all other places in Europe; it is the only one that can boast of having a mosque on a riverside.
The first mosque at this location on the Una River was built in 1565. It was made completely out of wood. Despite frequent floods along the river, this mosque was never flooded, but it has been destroyed and rebuilt four times, the last time at the beginning of the aggression on Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the start of the war, the aggressor bombed it to the ground, but it was reconstructed and officially re-opened, on 29th of April, 2001.
With 153 light bulbs decorating the ceiling of the mosque and 153 steps in the mosque’s minaret, this place of worship honors and symbolizes the 153 martyrs who died in the last aggression on Bosanska Otoka.
Yet, surrounded by greenery and the river Una, Otoka’s town mosque at this time of the year looks beautiful and peaceful, as you can see in the photographs.
As for the Una River, it will simply take your breath away with its beauty as always…
‘’It was Una. The father is laughing, thinking that I was scared, standing by my side and telling me not to be afraid, that the bridge is hard, but I’m not afraid: just floating, all enlighten by the Una, this invisible miracle, that I am only able to say, beauty, beauty, I don’t have enough of eyes to watch, nor enough lungs to breathe,’’wrote Skender Kulenović about the Una.
