1995Croatian Sacral Monuments - Kraljeva Sutjeska Monastery - First Day Cover

The Franciscan monastery at Kraljeva Sutjeska, at the foot of Mt Teševo, in the Central Bosnian commune of Kakanj, is the spiritual and cultural center of the population there. According to the records of the Franciscan friar Bartol of Pisa from 1385, the oldest monastery dates from the first half of the 14th century. The monastery was mentioned in a Turkish census of 1469. In the difficult times in the 16th century the Turks destroyed and burnt the monastery. It took a long time for the monastery to be reconstructed. The Turkish authorities did not permit the use of strong building materials such as stone and brick, and the monastery was destroyed in a fire in 1658. It was rebuilt a few years later. During the 19th century it was renovated and redecorated several times, and it achieved its present appearance in 1888 – 1890.