JAJCE, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA -If your journey takes you to Jajce, don’t miss the opportunity to get to know this little paradise on earth — Mlinčići, located near small town of Jajce in the hearth of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Anyone who has been here before knows what is all about. Something indescribable that cannot be experienced almost anywhere. Like in a real fairy tale, mills remind you of small wooden houses. Interesting to mention that on the first instance they were originally built without roofs. This is exactly what will be discussing in the text below, because there is an interesting legend about their origin.
Mills may have evolved as a result of a single occurrence. In the distant past, there were only two mills without a roof. As events unfolded, the mills “grew” with them. Today, this location is a popular tourist attraction in Jajce, as well as a sightseeing destination known throughout the world.
The Mlinčići – “watermills” are located 5 km from Jajce, between the Small and Great Pliva Lakes. They represent a national monument, attracting tourists from all over the world. Next to the mill there is a park with benches, a summer bar, springs, ducks, a picnic area and the Bridge of Love.
Construction of Mlinčići
According to one legend, the roofs on the small houses were only added later.
There is an interesting, somewhat, sad story about the first mills that everyone visiting these mlins definitely want to hear. A legendary story that has been told for centuries, and it best explains the origin of the water mills.
The legend about the origin of the mill in Jajce
These wonderful mills or watermills were built in the Middle Ages and there were 24 mills at that time more than 400 years ago, i.e. the year 1562 is mentioned. According to the data, in the 17th century, six of them were not in operation.
Mlincici were built by experienced craftsmen, and it is precisely on these mills that the beautiful art of carving and construction can be seen.
Associated with various legends and stories about their origin and construction these mills are a real small art.
A man named Asif Nafizandić from Travnik came to Jajce in 1973 and started making stone movers on the river, hoping to earn more ducats by grinding grain for others. His servant Nusret was with him. However, the business did not go well at all, so Asif thought he was cursed. One day sitting near the mlins, Asif realized that the stone movers’ ceiling was missing on top of the mlins. Thats how he start building roofs on each and every one of the small mlin houses and people got back at his mlins to grind their grain after.
The story continues that one day a rich man came to ask the hand of Asif’s daughter Hatidze. Assif has approved the marriage without telling to his daughter.
However, his servant Nusret and Hatidze were in love, so Asif once met them near the water mills and chased them away from the house. According to stories, since then his work has stopped and he has never recovered.
Because there were only two small mills in the area at the time, the people remembered Hatija and Nusret’s love and erected eighteen more of the same type of mills. These mills still exist today, after several centuries, in Jajce, on Pliva.
What do grinders look like and what are they made of?
As you can see in the photos, these are adorable “little houses” that are built next to each other and together with the natural landscape form an oasis of peace.
They are built of oak, have no attic, and no windows. Most of the houses are there as a decoration or tourist attraction, but most of them are not functional. Next to them are small springs, clear water, bridges, wooden paths, trees, grassy terrain, ducks.
These water mills, or at least few of them, are working, and life and other things are being ground on them so that tourists can “experience” the tradition of Bosnia and how life used to be.
The mills that you see today burned down a few years ago, so they were rebuilt, and in addition, they were occasionally decorated in order to attract as many tourists as possible.
You will admit that this is a real little paradise, where you are simply speechless by the beauty you see. Photos can convey to you only a small part of this paradise on earth.
What exactly were the mills in Jajce used for in the past?
For centuries, people from the surrounding areas brought full sacks of grain and wheat on horseback, which they ground with grinders.
They went home with quality flour. They are lined up next to each other, and in the past they fully performed their function as water mills.
The sound of water and stone passing over grain and wheat speaks of the fact that even the development of industry and the fast way of life cannot diminish the significance and function of the mills, because in fact, as we wrote, several of them are still in operation today.
Who do the grinders belong to today?
Mills were made in families, and each family had its own watermill that was used by the entire lineage.
They have not been in operation for about 80 years, and due to the impact of industrialization and rapid development since the Austro-Hungarian period, there were no conditions or need for the use of these mills.
What is interesting is that minčići are still owned by the families who used them in earlier years.
There is also information that there was a certain day of the week when the millers could use the mill, and they were obliged to give 10% of their production to the owners of the mill.
Grinders on a postage stamp
One of the five postage stamps released by BiH Post in 2017 featured Pliva lakes and a mill complex near Jajce.
The stamp with the motif of Plivske jezera and the mill complex was another example of how the Municipality of Jajce is actively promoting the town’s cultural and historical heritage.
The regular postage stamp “Pliva lakes with the complex of mills on Pliva near Jajce” was prepared under the theme “National monuments/cultural landscape” and circulated in 200,000 copies. Abdulah Branković created this stamp, which has a nominal value of 2.70 KM.
In addition, due to accelerated industrial development, the importance of grinders in this sense decreased over time, and over time they stopped being used. That’s how the roofs began to collapse, and thus the mills were also damaged.
In 2005, the municipality of Jajce, bearing in mind the great historical importance and significance of the mills, renovated all the mills and put six into operation.
Restoration of Mlinčić as a national monument
The Cultural Heritage without Borders Foundation (CHwB) organized a two-week regional restoration camp in Jajce a few years ago, in which more than 50 people and lecturers from Great Britain, Sweden, Montenegro, Greece, Macedonia, Kosovo, Serbia, BiH, Croatia and Romania participated.
According to the foundation, the participants of the camp acquired new knowledge in the field of protection and preservation of cultural heritage, restoration and management, use of traditional materials in the restoration of such monuments and their economic importance through theoretical and practical components.
During the practical part of the camp, the participants worked directly on the restoration of four mills at Plivski Jezeri in Jajce, which were declared a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2009.
The Cultural Heritage without borders Foundation is a Swedish non-governmental organization that works to preserve and protect cultural heritage damaged by conflict, neglect or natural or human causes. The Foundation’s offices are located in Sweden, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and Kosovo.
Jajce – the town where Mlinčići were made
The valley of Pliva and Vrbas was inhabited since ancient times. However, the town of Jajce only developed in the Middle Ages (14th and 15th centuries). The founder of the city is Hrvoje Vukčić Hrvatinić.
According to travel writers, Vukčić Hrvatinić decided to build Jajce after the castle of Jaje (Castell del Uovo) near Naples, which is how this town got its name.
Although, there are also some legends that during the construction of the fortress, they put eggs in the mortar to make it stronger, which is how the name of the city came about, while there is also a legend that the city was built on an egg-shaped rock.Jajce is known for Mlinčići, but also for these beautiful locations
Mlinčići is certainly a place that everyone will recommend to you if you say you are going to Jajce. As we have already emphasized, this is heaven on earth and it would be a real shame not to visit this place.
Jajce exudes tradition and the spirit of past times, like natural landscapes and beautiful locations.
What else you can visit is the Pliva Waterfall, which is one of the most beautiful waterfalls in the world, then the Temple of God Mithras, as well as the beautiful fortress. In addition, there is the Bear Tower, the Catacombs, the Old Town of Jajce.
Jajce really abounds in many beautiful locations for which it is famous, and of course perhaps the most in Mlinčići.
It is worth mentioning some other locations because when you are already in Jajce, take a few days to visit all these beautiful places, some of which are Dizdar’s or the women’s mosque.
A Franciscan monastery where, believe it or not, the last Bosnian king is in a glass case. There is also the king’s grave under the tomb of Stjepan Tomašević, as well as the Museum of the Second Session of the AVNOJ.
As you can conclude, Jajce is a city worth visiting. You will need several days for all these locations if you really want to experience them.
Jajce is also called an “open-air museum”, which it certainly is.
Great location – friendly staff – Excellent stay – Booking hotel in Jajce by Trivago
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