The oldest traces of settlements on the territory of Banjaluka are the remnants of Neolithic settlement that were exactly found on the territory of the city fortress Kastel. It is found in the central part of the city, which dominates over the left bank of the river Vrbas.
There are no confident data on the period of foundation of this object. However, many circumstances point to a conclusion that exactly on this location there was a Roman settlement Castra. The Romans were exposed to frequent rushes of barbarian nations, and they had strong reasons to defend the road that passed through the basin of the river Vrbas. On behalf of such statements there are archaeological findings that were discovered on the territory of current Kastel, and it refers to the Roman ceramics, money and architecture. A particularly important finding is the antique altar dedicated to the God Jupiter, found in 1885. Further on, on the territory of the fortress remnants of the Slavic settlements from the period of early Middle Age were found (from VIII to XII century).
Intensive construction of Kastel begins in the penultimate decade of the 15th century, in the period of Turkish occupation and the reign of the dynasty of Ferhad pasha Sokolovic (1574-1588) that apart from this fortification built series of other objects of oriental type. Ferhad-pasha firstly built his fortified tophana (arsenal) on the place of current Kastel, in order to, in some ten years later, turn the tophana into real fortified city with towers and tabiyas, which was constantly additionally built. Since it lies on the mouth of Crkvena into Vrbas, two bridges were constructed from the fortress. One lied across the river Vrbas, near the current city bridge, and the other across the river Crkvena. The bridge across the river Vrbas is saved only in one of the old engravings. The rivers Vrbas and Crkvena were connected by one huge retrenchment (ditch) so that the fortress was actually, at the time, a fortified isle surrounded by the waters of the two rivers. On the walls of the fortress there was also a large wooden billet that looked out to the river Vrbas, as well as the series of built objects from the period when the Austro-Hungarian army was in the fortress. The fortress, as well as the City of Banja Luka, especially gained on the significance in the period of the Austro-Hungarian-Turkish wars as an important geo strategic center.
Fortress Kastel is the oldest historical monument in the City of Banjaluka.
Author: MA Bozidar Dosenovic
Publisher: Poste Srpske a.d. Banjaluka
