Novi nalazi na srednjovjekovnom gradu Visoki
New Finds in the Medieval Town of Visoki

Summary/Abstract: On the Grad hill (Visočica) overlooking the Visoko Field to the southwest from the present urban centre of the town of Visoko, there are remains of medieval fortified town Visoki. The time of its construction can not be established with certainty. In addition to its military, i.e . defence function, it was also the place of residence of Bosnian rulers and the residence of the great knez of Bosnia. It was first mentioned in 1355 in the Charter of Ban Tvrtko. From the half of the 14th and until the haIf of the 15th century, it was one of the most famous fortified towns controlled by Bosnian kings, with developed town parts outside the fortification walls and one of the biggest trade centres of medieval Bosnia. The fortified town of Visoki has not been systematically explored. Its remains had about 50 years ago already suffered big damage, and they are today completely forsaken. Contributing to its state of dilapidation was inter alia the shelling, especially intensive in the period 1993-1995 during the aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina. This caused great damage of the surface layer on many spots and on the remains of the fortification walls. In the summer of 1994, during the excavation at the site, the archaeologists discovered architectonic plastic fragments, that is doorposts and lunette of a small ponal. Preserved on them are details of relief decoration done in the Gothic style. The mentioned archaeological finds have largely contributed to and changed the existing knowledge about this important medieval fortification. They are important for the analysis of the architectonic structure of the fortification and for its chronological determination. They document the presence of Gothic style architectonic plastics in the artistic outfit of some buildings within the fortification and connect it to the medieval cultural domain of central Bosnia together with Bobovac, Kraljeva Sutjeska and Mile. Given the role and importance of the fortified town of Visoki and its surrounding in the history of medieval Bosnia, we could state that these newest finds only provide an ever greater justification for the realisation of systematic archaeological excavation at this site. The research results would add missing pieces to our notions of historical circumstances and manifestations of the mentioned cultural domain, and at the same time contribute to the adequate cultural and historic valorisation of the fortified town complex.

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