Trebinje – Sunny Jewel

Trebinje, the cultural and economic center of eastern Herzegovina.

By Nick Last updated Nov 23, 2022

Trebinje

Trebinje is barely 30km from Dubrovnik, Croatia, but in tourist terms it’s a world away. And vastly cheaper too, such that smart travelers have started ‘commuting’. But Trebinje is worth visiting in its own right at least for a day. As well as a small very ‘lived in’ walled Old Town and a historic stone bridge, there are wine tastings, Serbian-Orthodox churches and a lovable square with French-Provencal vibe. The city’s old town quarter dates to the 18th-century Ottoman period.

Green Destinations, a non-profit foundation for sustainable destination development and recognition, awarded the first place for 2022 to the city of Trebinje. You can read more about that here.

At the Wanderlust Awards gala event held in London in November of 2022, Bosnia & Herzegovina cities Mostar and Trebinje were won recognitions. Trebinje Tourism Board was placed among the top 10 sustainability initiatives. You can read the Wanderlust article here.

There is barely a town in Herzegovina that was not erected alongside a freshwater river. Trebinje is no exception: its old town lines the banks of the Trebisnjica River that flows through the heart of the city. The river and the city have always been known for the enormous old mills treading the Trebisnjica. Although they are not fully functional today, they remain a symbol of Herzegovina’s not-so-distant past when everything was directly connected to the power of nature.

In Trebinje, that power of nature was bigger before the river had been curtailed by the Grancarevo dam, some 15 km north-east from Trebinje, built in 1965. This dam was bound to swallow the Arslanagic Bridge. To save this beautiful example of Ottoman stone bridge building, it was taken, stone by stone, from a village seven kilometers up the river, and rebuilt in downtown Trebinje in 1972. Arslanagića bridge is 92.25 meters long, and its width is 3.60 meters, extending up to four meters in certain places. Trebišnjica riverbed is bridged by a massive stone construction with two large and five smaller arches, and three river pillars. Large arches are 15 meters above the normal water level.

The Serbian Orthodox church in Trebinje, Saborna Crkva, was built between 1888 and 1908. The Hercegovačka Gračanica monastery, a copy of the Gračanica monastery in Kosovo, was completed in 2000. The churches are located above the city, on the historic Crkvina Hill.

The 15th-century Tvrdoš monastery is located two kilometers south-west of Trebinje, including a church which dates back to late antiquity. The monastery is famous for its great wine.

The Cathedral of the Birth of Mary in Trebinje is one of four Roman Catholic cathedrals in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Old Atik Mosque was built in 1719 on the order of Ottoman Sultan Ahmed III. It was destroyed in 1992 to be rebuilt in 2014 as the exact replica of the original mosque.

Although not well preserved, the Austro-Hungarian Strač Fortress of is a must see when in Trebinje. The fortress can be reached in 1.5 hours from the center of town via a well marked and scenic hiking trail. The fortress itself is huge – spend an hour exploring the ruins and admiring the stunning mountain views.