Heritage & Art
Stone Houses & Art Colony
Počitelj · Herzegovina
QUICK INFORMATION
- CATEGORY
- Heritage & Art
- COUNTRY
- Bosnia & Herzegovina
- REGION
- Počitelj · Herzegovina
- DURATION
- 1 day
ABOUT THIS ATTRACTION
The old stone houses of Počitelj are the fabric of the village, climbing the hillside in tiers to form the stone amphitheatre that is the village’s defining image. Built in the local limestone in the Ottoman tradition, with stone roofs, overhanging upper floors and small courtyards, they are the everyday architecture that holds the ensemble together. Several of the houses host the Počitelj art colony, an artists’ residency that has brought painters and sculptors to the village since the 1960s and that helped keep the buildings in use during the decades when the settlement was depopulating. The houses and the colony spaces are scattered across the hillside rather than concentrated at one point, so no single location is given here; the coordinate of the village itself should not be substituted for a specific building.
HISTORY & BACKGROUND
The story behind it
The stone houses belong to the 16th-to-18th-century Ottoman development of Počitelj, built in the local limestone tradition of Herzegovina. As the village depopulated in the 20th century, many houses fell out of regular use; the establishment of the art colony, which began adapting the Gavrankapetanović residential complex for artists’ use from 1961 with the conversion completed in the 1970s, helped keep a number of the buildings maintained and occupied. The houses and the colony form part of the ensemble placed on the UNESCO Tentative List in 2007.
WHAT TO SEE
What to see here
The stone houses — the limestone houses climbing the hillside in tiers, the fabric of the amphitheatre.
The art colony spaces — the houses and studios adapted for the artists’ residency that has brought artists to the village since the 1960s.
The lanes between them — the steep stone lanes and stairs that thread the houses on the climb up.
The details — stone roofs, overhanging upper floors and doorways of the Ottoman domestic tradition.
WHY IT MATTERS
Why it matters
The stone houses are the substance of Počitelj — the ensemble is made of them — and the art colony is the modern use that has kept a number of them alive. For a visitor the houses are not a single sight but the fabric through which the whole visit moves.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before you go
MAP & LOCATION
Stone Houses & Art Colony
Stone Houses & Art Colony, Počitelj, Herzegovina, Bosnia & Herzegovina
MORE ATTRACTIONS
More to see in Počitelj
THINGS TO DO
Things to do nearby
FOOD & DRINK
Where to eat nearby
Simple Herzegovinian fare in the small cafés and konobas around the lower settlement — grilled meat, pies and Bosnian coffee
River fish — trout prepared simply, a specialty of the Herzegovinian rivers, where available locally
Bosnian coffee served the slow way, the natural pause on any visit to the village
Nearby Čapljina and Mostar offer a wider choice of restaurants for a sit-down meal before or after a visit
HOTELS & STAYS
Where to stay nearby
Počitelj has limited local accommodation compared with Mostar or Čapljina; most visitors come on a day trip
A small number of guesthouses and restored stone houses in and around the village may be available — check current options locally
Mostar, about half an hour away, is the practical base for a visit, with the widest range of hotels and guesthouses
Čapljina, the nearest larger town, offers additional accommodation and is convenient for combining Počitelj with Kravica and Međugorje
NEARBY DESTINATIONS
Continue the journey
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PART OF
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