hout a
fortress. The 15th and 16th centuries were a period of much construction in the
city: in 1465 a monastery was founded dedicated to the Holy Trinity;
in 1569 Husein-paša’s mosque was built and during the 16th century
the city got a sewage system. When the center of Hercegovački Sanjak (Sanjak
of Herzegovina) was moved to Pljevlja from Foča in 1572, the city started to
change rapidly: urban housing increased— 72 houses in 1468, 150 in 1516, 300 in
1570; in the 17th century Pljevlja had around 650 houses in the city center and
over 400 in the surrounding area. The first Muslim religious school, Medresa,
was built in the 17th century; water-works were constructed in the 18th century.
The Russian consul visited Pljevlja in the 19th century and wrote that Pljevlja
was a very beautiful oriental city with gardens and fountains, mosques and
churches and over 800 houses in the city center (7,000 citizens) which made
Pljevlja the second largest city in Hercegovački Sanjak beside Mostar.
After two big fires that burned the city center to the ground, the city's
economy was ruined. That was the reason for displacing the center of
Hercegovački Sanjak to Mostar in 1833. After 1833 the city stagnated
in both an economic and cultural sense.
Modern history
In 1875, after a failed uprising, mass emigration took
place around Pljevlja in the direction of Užice, Valjevo and the Drina river
basin.
In 1878, Pljevlja was occupied by Austria-Hungary like Yenipazar sanjak.
5,000 army soldiers with their wives and children came to Pljevlja. That was a
beginning of a new era for the city because Austrians transformed Pljevlja into
a modern western city with hotels, bookstores, theater and cultural events. The
first modern drug store was opened in 1879, a photo store in 1892, hospital in
1880
