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History of Kresevo


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Famed for his Christian writings and as a master of the Croatian language, Father Grga Martić was recorded in history, particularly Franciscan history, as one of Bosnia's greatest writers. He taught and wrote in a remote valley tucked below the Bitovnja and Lopata mountains in the tiny town of Kresevo.

The Franciscan monastery there has been serving its community for centuries and the Catholic traditions here are very strong. The monastery has a rustic museum, library and gallery, and, as in most Franciscan monasteries in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Franciscans Fathers are very welcoming to visitors. Famous student of Franciscan seminary in Kresevo was Albanian poet Gjergj Fishta.With no more than a few thousand inhabitants, medieval Kresevo expanded with the arrival of German blacksmiths. In several areas of Bosnia, small German and Dubrovnik mining communities were established. The noble families of the Bosnian state were keen to exploit the plentiful resources of gold and silver but they didn't have the skills to do so. The craft was passed on from these migrant miners and can be found today in the old town.

Kresevo is known for its old Bosnian architecture. The walls are made of clay and straw plaster and the roof tiles are specially treated cherry-tree shingles. The village of Vranci, just a few kilometers from Kresevo, is home to the finest examples of this old type of building. There is also an interesting 'holy spot' at a medicinal water spring at Dezevice called St. Jakov Water, named after a 15th century Bosnian vicar
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