Bosnia and Herzegovina ~ Blagaj Tekija - UNESCO tentative list ~

... Wonderful B & Herzegovina’s postcard nr 2... this modest white Ottoman-era building is located at the base of extremely high cliffs... set at the spring of the River Buna whose water gushes out of a cave in a lovely clean blue-green hue is something unique... it is considered to be one of the countries most holy and ancient sites... the monastery is a tekija or tekke, (a type of Islamic religious building)  a place of spiritual retreat and reflection... it was and still is a venue for dervish Zikr praise-chanting three nights weekly... the monastery is worth a visit, but its setting and location makes it really a worthwhile stop... Big Thanks once more  Gian Luca and Raffaella! \_(♥‿♥)_/ 

The Blagaj Tekke was created between 1446 and 1520. It was first mentioned in a 1664 Travelogue by Evliya Çelebi on his travels. By the 1800’s, the Austrian-Hungary regime had all Tekke’s shutdown. The next record comes in 1851, when at the request of a Ottoman General the Tekke was reconstructed including two musafirhanas (charity houses for guests) to be used for the accommodation of travelers.

In the 1900’s the Tekke was destroyed by both rock slides (1949 & 1951) restored and then in 1952, the dervishes were expelled from the Tekke under Communist rule. Before the Bosnian wars in the 1990’s, the dervishes started to return to the Tekke as a gathering place.

Finally in 2012, formal restoration was carried out by the Turkish travel agency Fidan Tours. The Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina ceded the Tekke to Fidan Tours for use for 33 years.

 

Stamps: 

Views of Zepa 

(Issued 16-03-2023)

2020 BKZ Preporod Literary House Luminaries 

(Issued 30-11-2020)