Vrhbosna ( sr-cyrl, Врхбосна, ) was the medieval name of a small region in today's central
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...
, centered on an eponymous settlement (
župa) that would later become part of the city of
Sarajevo
Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...
.
The meaning of the name of this Slavic
župa is "the peak of Bosnia". The only known fortification in the area at the time was
Hodidjed.
The existence of a significant individual settlement of Vrhbosna was recorded in the 14th and 15th centuries.
Vrhbosna was first attacked by the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
in 1416,
and it was finally taken in 1451.
Vrhbosna persisted shortly after the
Ottoman conquest of Bosnia in the name of local ''vilayet'', but soon the name went out of use.
In 1550, a
Venetian traveller Caterino Zeno was the first westerner to use the term ''Sarraglio'' (Italianized form of Sarajevo) instead of Vrhbosna to describe the place.
It is nowadays known as the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vrhbosna
The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Vrhbosna (also known as the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Sarajevo) is an ecclesiastical archdiocese of the Catholic Church. Its territorial remit includes the eastern parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the entiret ...
, which is the archdiocese that currently serves the Catholics of Sarajevo.
References
Literature
*
{{Historical regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Historical župas of Bosnia and Herzegovina
14th century in Bosnia
15th century in Bosnia
History of Sarajevo
Župas of the medieval Bosnian state
Principality of Bosnia (early medieval)