We begin our journey to the south of Herzegovina, with one of the better known tourist spots around the city of Čapljina: Mogorjelo.
Mogorjelo is a so called Roman villa rustica. A Roman villa was originally a Roman country house built for the upper class during the Roman republic.
The area is currently protected by the state and is surrounded by a park and a horse farm, which we didn't get to visit on this particular day. The nearby horse riding club was founded 2004 and attracts over 300,000 visitors per year.
Part One: Mogorjelo, the Roman country house
Part Two: The Kravice Waterfalls
Part Three: The River Trebizat and Lunch
When we arrived on the site, it was already 12 in the afternoon.
The building of Mogorjelo started when an Italic settler had a private manor complex built for agricultural purposes on this site in the mid first century.
This site consisted of the aforementioned salient on the hill (which housed the agricultural complex), and a residential building.
Coins discovered on this site, were minted by Honorius in 388, so it can be assumed that Mogorjelo fell into enemy hands some time after 401 with the Visigoth invasion of these parts.
The Visigoths were branches of the nomadic tribes of Germanic peoples who flourished and spread during the late Roman Empire. They emerged from earlier Gothic groups who had invaded the Roman Empire beginning in 376 and had defeated the Romans at the Battle of Adrianople in 378.
To judge from various conversion works within the buildings, it appears that they were converted to residential use.
The outer walls are a perfect spot for gazing into the distance.
Small woods surround the complex.
A path leads to the parking spot and a local restaurant.
I really like this broken-up wooden fence, that is located on the far end of the complex.
Many stone engravings can be found on the site, like this one in the image below.
End of Part One
To be continued...
I hope you enjoyed this look into the past of Bosnia and Herzegovina, that is really rich and full of undiscovered secrets.
In the next part we will visit the Kravice waterfalls, just a couple of miles away from Mogorjelo.
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I always enjoy a wander round ruins and these look as if they could keep me amused for a day.
ReplyDeleteThe site offers up a nice place to explore for an hour maybe, and then you have a lovely restaurant in the forest right next to the site where you can relax and have a beer.
DeleteI've been away and am catching up today with Blogland so haven't commented on all individual posts but, Like Adrian, I love wandering around old ruins and one of the things which our countries share is a very rich history of different cultures over the centuries and their legacies in buildings and so on.
ReplyDeletei like the 3 of you looking out from behind the wall.
ReplyDeleteThanks! That was a spontaneous one. :)
Deleteyou already know i love the stone walls, the trees are magnificent. i love trees and sunshine and it looks like the sun was shining perfectly for your photos...
ReplyDeleteThumbs up on the idea of three people peeking behind walls. You were lucky to visit such a site. Looks like you had fun here.
ReplyDeleteJM, Illinois-U.S.A.
We really did. Thank you for your visit!
DeleteWhat a great visit, Mersad!! Marvelous captures as always and wonderful history! Incredible trees and such beautiful blue, blue skies!! Looks as though a fun day was had by all!! Thanks as always for sharing the beauty, history and the fun!!
ReplyDeleteVery cool series!
ReplyDeletethese are superb as always, love the fun one especially with you all peeking around the rock walls! it must feel amazing to stand where something so old is!
ReplyDeleteThey built quite sturdy in those early days! Love the leaf/wheat pattern at the end.
ReplyDeleteIf ruins could tell the things they have seen during these past two thousand years.... Ruins make me always curious to know and understand history.
ReplyDeleteExcellent series of photos.
Wil, ABCW Team.
What a marvellous place to wander around, it looks a large complex, and remarkably well preserved.
ReplyDeleteNice pics, though the peekaboo one made me chuckle.
ReplyDeleteROG, ABCW
Thanks for visiting Roger!
DeleteYou have lots of great shots there. It's a beautiful place for a country home!
ReplyDeleteAll are great shots, but love where she is walking alone among all the green. Stunning!
ReplyDeleteIt is beautiful. I am envious that you always have such fine models when you want to do portraits.
ReplyDeleteWonderful post. I'd love to explore old ruins like these, we're too young a country to have any.
ReplyDeleteIt's wonderful to be able to explore it and wonder what it once was.
DeleteI love ruins, so visited some UNESCO Heritage sites. Those rock walls look reconstructed and not the very very old original ones. Your posts remind me of my previous friend who is from Croatia, she was my classmate in one of the seminars in Strasbourg. I miss this Ruztica but i forgot already her surname.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great site... I love the image of the 3 of them in a row, so much fun
ReplyDeletemollyxxx
A great place to wander, and the pictures are great. I like the 'three in a row' ... you do set your scenes in a lovely way.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Valerie.
DeleteIt's great that the ruins are being protected! And it's also great that tourists are able to see it up close.
ReplyDeleteI never thought about the Romans being in Herzegovina but of course they would be! These ruins are amazing. What a treasure to still have this much of the villa. Love the acanthus leaf scrollwork design. Love the stonework! great photos of everything...and yes, that lovely wooden fence! :-)
ReplyDeletethanks, mersad!
ReplyDeleteHow interesting! I really like the stone/rock fences. You always take us on the most wonderful tours! (I'm back from my week in Alaska baby-sitting my two granddaughters. I'm still worn out. LOL! Hope you didn't give up on me.
ReplyDeleteThose stone walls are so beautiful. I'm with Theresa, the shot of the 3 of you peeking out from the stone wall was delightful. Also enjoyed the neat wooden fences as well. Can't wait to see the waterfalls.
ReplyDeleteOh my....from the mid first century! Amazing history to be able to visit
ReplyDeleteHello Mersad, these are wonderful images.. My favorite is the 3 looking out from behind the wall. Cute!
ReplyDeleteWhat a unique entry for the Good Fences. Great shots.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this post and the history that goes so far back with the Romans there. The stone walls are amazing. We saw the Hadrian's Wall in northern England and also the Roman bath ruins in Chesters, England in 1992. Great photos for this meme.
ReplyDeleteFantastic sights, beautifully captured!
ReplyDeleteHow lucky that we can still get glimpses of Roman life and good to hear the area is protected.
Excellent! And wonderful ruins!
ReplyDelete