Over the years, I have developed an interest in wooden chapels and churches, and mosques with wooden minarets, that are to be seen across Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Today I travelled the short distance to Malo Blaško to see the church that is dedicated to the Birth of the Virgin Mary. This church is the most significant historical monument in the municipality of Laktaši, where we live.

There is no accurate data about when the church was built, but it is thought that it probably dates from the period around 1750.

There is an assumption that the church is even older, but that, during the Turkish-Austro-Hungarian war 1737-1739, it was damaged or burned down and then rebuilt in the fifties or sixties of the 18th century.

There are also many interesting legends about the origin of this church.

The wooden church in Malo Blaško is one of the most beautiful and interesting monuments of this type. The wooden church in Malo Blasko is a monument protected by the state.

Sadly it was closed during our visit but I will come back to see inside.

Also, a short distance away from us is Romanovci, where there is the church of St Nicholas (Sv Nikola).

If you visit you might find it closed but it’s worth the trip.

This church is special, in that it is not only a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina but also the place where Bosnian, Petar Kotić was married.

An Englishman in the Balkans

The Wooden Church of St Nicholas at Romanovci

Listen now (10 min) | On this edition of the podcast Tamara and I visit the wooden church at Romanovci. Over the years, I have developed an interest in wooden chapels and churches, and mosques with wooden minarets, that are to be seen across Bosnia and Herzegovina. Today I travelled the short distance to Romanovci, to see the church of St Nicholas (Sv Nikola…

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3 years ago · David Pejčinović-Bailey

On a similar vein, not too far from the Kastel in Banja Luka is the Dolačka Džamija, which has a wooden minarets.

From some very basic research it seems that across Bosnia and Herzegovina there are some 700 mosques with wooden minarets and 30 churches (Brvnara).

29 are Orthodox and a single Catholic Church.

I have an idea to photo document all the wooden churches and mosques.

Now that's a project!

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