Banja Luka
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The second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) after the capital Sarajevo. It’s the main city of the Republika Srpska entity of BiH and is home to some of its state institutions, but is not really the “capital” of it, as is sometimes claimed (as that is Sarajevo for both entities). From a dark-tourism perspective it’s not such a significant place, with only a few vaguely dark aspects, but it’s a good base for tours in the surrounding lands.
More background info: Earliest records of Banja Luka go back to the late 15th century. Shortly after, from 1527, Banja Luka was under Ottoman rule, which lasted into the 19th century. In 1688, Banja Luka was torched and razed to the ground by Austrian forces, but it was quickly rebuilt.
Eventually it fell to the Austrians after all with the takeover of Bosnia and Herzegovina by the Austro-Hungarian Empire under Habsburg rule. As in Sarajevo, many Jews came to Banja Luka, and also members of the Trappist order. There is still a Trappist monastery on the edge of Banja Luka, producing, in good old Trappist tradition mainly cheese and beer (see below). The Habsburg rule also brought modernization to the city, with railroads and industrial infrastructure.
After WW1 and the end of Habsburg rule Banja Luka became part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In WWII the city was occupied by and incorporated into the “Independent State of Croatia” of the Ustaše Nazi organization under Ante Pavelić, who led a puppet regime as a vassal state of Nazi Germany. During that time Jews and ethnic Serbs were persecuted, many, including thousands of children, were incarcerated in concentration camps (especially Jasenovac, but also in less well-known satellite camps such as Stara Gradiška). Many did not survive the appalling conditions of the camps. Yet many others were murdered outright.
The main Orthodox Cathedral of Banja Luka, then called Holy Trinity, was bombed by German planes in April 1941 causing considerable damage to the apse. Afterwards the Ustaše ordered the complete demolition of the cathedral, and drafted in forced labour by Serbs, Jews and Roma to do the job, by hand basically.
Banja Luka was eventually liberated by the partisans under Tito in April 1945. After that, like all of BiH, the city became part of socialist Yugoslavia.
In late October 1969, Banja Luka was hit by a couple of strong earthquakes that caused much devastation and killed almost two dozen people. In a state-wide effort (cf. Skopje). Banja Luka was rebuilt. The period also saw a large influx of ethnic Serbs.
The Bosnian war of the 1990s didn’t reach Banja Luka as such as the front lines and battles were all fairly far away, but the so-called “Banja Luka Incident” took place near the city in February 1994, when American NATO fighter jets shot down a number of planes that – in violation of the UN-imposed no-fly rule – were operated by the Bosnian and Krajina Serb militaries to attack an arms factory. This constituted the very first official air combat operation by NATO, soon to be followed by many others in the Balkans.
In 1993, the 16th century Ferhadija Mosque (aka Ferhat Pasha Mosque) was demolished by explosives in an act that formed part of the ethnic cleansing of Republika Srpska territory from Muslims (see also Srebrenica and BiH in general), as one of a total of 16 destroyed mosques in the region. At the ICTY trials (see Sarajevo City Hall) a Serb leader was convicted for this war crime and sentenced to a long prison term.
In the same year, 1993, the rebuilding of the Orthodox Cathedral began, now as the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. This wasn’t completed until 2004.
In 2001, a ceremony by Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) for laying the cornerstone for the reconstruction of the Ferhadija Mosque were attacked by a large Serbian mob, who threw rocks and burned Islamic prayer rugs and flags. Over 30 Bosniaks were injured, some so severely that they had to be treated in hospital, where one of them died. In 2007 reconstruction efforts resumed and the rebuilt mosque was finally opened in 2016.
What there is to see: Not all that much that is decidedly dark. But read on …
On the square where the rebuilt Cathedral of Christ the Saviour stands, some of the remnants of the predecessor cathedral that was destroyed by German bombing and Ustaše demolition (see above) are on display with a trilingual text panel (in Serbo-Croat, German and English) capturing this chapter of history.
Across the road from the square a new monument was still under construction when I visited the city in April 2025. There was no indication of what it was to be, but meanwhile I have found out that it’s to serve as the main monument to fighters for Republika Srpska who were killed in the Bosnian war.
To the west of the old fortress (see below) stands the re-erected Ferhadija Mosque, but none of its dark history is in any way commodified at the site. Without my guide telling me about it I would never have known what happened to/at it.
A bit to the north-east of the city centre a little gem of a church building can be found, the Saint Bonaventure’s Cathedral, one of only four Catholic churches (for the Croat minority) in Banja Luka. This modernist church (opened in 1973) replaced an older one that had been destroyed in the 1969 earthquakes (see above). But what’s so fascinating about it is its brutalist/futuristic architectural style, especially that of the separately standing spire, which looks quite in line with some of the modernist “spomeniks” (monuments) of socialist Yugoslavia.
Across the road stands the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, also a pretty brutalist pile, but less flamboyantly unusual than its Catholic neighbour.
Those dark tourists who are into brutalism (and there are quite a few) may also like the look of the Yugoslav-era shopping mall “”boska” a bit north from the fortress.
All in all, Banja Luka may not offer much in terms of proper dark tourism, but the minor sites mentioned above are worth a look. The city is otherwise not unpleasant for a walk around the main city centre core. It is also a good base for excursions, e.g. to the grand Kozara monument and museum.
Location: in the north-west of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the middle of the western parts of Republika Srpska, ca. 140 km (88 miles) north-west from Sarajevo, and 170 km (105 miles) from Mostar.
Google Maps locators:
Cathedral of Christ the Saviour: [44.7722, 17.1917]
New war monument: [44.7723, 17.1905]
Rebuilt Ferhadija Mosque: [44.7674, 17.1873]
Saint Bonaventure’s Cathedral: [44.7751, 17.1948]
“boska” shopping mall: [44.7699, 17.1898]
Fortress: [44.767, 17.191]
Gentlemen’s Street: [44.7709, 17.1907]
Marienstern Trappist monastery: [44.8065, 17.2245]
Access and costs: easy to get to by car, not so easy by public transport overland, not too expensive.
Details: To get to Banja Luka independently from within Bosnia and Herzegovina, the only public transport option is by bus and they are slow and not the most comfortable. The train line between Sarajevo and Banja Luka was suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic and still hasn’t been resumed (as of July 2025).
From a range of places outside Bosnia you can get direct flights to Banja Luka’s own international airport, including budget flights from e.g. Vienna, Berlin and Brussels.
When I visited Banja Luka in April 2025 it was as part of a four-day private tour with a driver-guide (see under BiH) organized by the Sarajevo-based operator Funky Tours (see their sponsored page here), so transport was not an issue. Part of the package was also a walking tour through central parts of the city.
Getting around is generally quite possible on foot in Banja Luka – though there are also public bus lines.
Accommodation can be found in a range of places and needn’t be expensive. Funky Tours put me up in a rather plush chain hotel, which was still quite reasonably priced. You can also find more basic, cheaper alternatives.
For food & drink, the same applies as for Mostar or most of Sarajevo: meaty Bosnian classic cuisine rules, though the local take on the ubiquitous Ćevapi comes in a different shape in Banja Luka. Vegetarians have the usual problems as elsewhere in Bosnia, but fish is not hard to find. The smoking issue is of course also prevalent here, but when I went for a meal at the “Kazamat” restaurant inside the Fortress, it turned out to be smoke-free (maybe I was just lucky).
Time required: I had only one afternoon/evening and one morning in Banja Luka, but thought that was sufficient.
Combinations with other dark destinations: in general see under Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Banja Luka is a good base for excursions into the north-western parts of Bosnia, in particular to the grand Kozara monument and museum.
Combinations with non-dark destinations: The most significant tourist attraction of Banja Luka is probably the old fortress, aka “Kastel”, which dates back to the Middle Ages and was much expanded during the Ottoman period. The outer walls and bastions are largely intact (or restored) as are some of the towers. The largest building inside the walls is a cultural centre, most of the rest of the area inside is just a grassy lawn, except for a bit in the north-western corner, which occasionally serves as an open-air event stage. When I was there all the wooden benches were removed from their concrete legs, probably to protect them from vandalism.
The core parts of the city centre with the Cathedral and several grand government buildings (flying Serbian flags) to the north of the fortress are quite pleasant and pretty too, as are the city’s parks. The promenade along the Vrbas River is also nice.
The mostly Habsburg-era pedestrianized so-called “Gentlemen’s Street” (aka Vaselina Masleše) is at the heart of the city centre. It also features some stark architectural contrasts.
A little oddity and worth a look is Banja Luka’s own Trappist monastery located on the outskirts by the Vbrbas River. It’s called Marienstern and admits visitors. It also has a monastery shop where you can buy their own cheese and monastery-brewed Trappist beers. This could be in Belgium! Unfortunately, when I was there at Easter it was closed.
The region south of Banja Luka is also extremely scenic, especially along the Vrbas River gorge en route to/from Mostar.
See also underBosnia and Herzegovina in general.
