Herzegovina is the southern part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, bordering Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro.
The village of Blagaj has a very ancient history, here settled first the Illyrians, then came the Romans who founded an important castrum, so much so that the emperor Justinian made it a fortified citadel.
To see the fame and splendor of Blagaj at the highest level, however, you have to wait until 1400 when the Ottoman Empire made it a large town, in which seven mosques were built.
It then became an important economic and religious center. But what makes Blagaj famous is the Tekhjia Dervisha.
The Tekhija was a place of worship, a monastery where an Islamic religious community lives, but also a place of rest and contemplation historically intended to host pilgrims.
In the case of Blagaj the Congregation that inhabited this Tekhija was that of the Dervishi.
The first written traces of the Tekhija of Blagaj date back to the second half of the 1500s. Inside, the ancient Monastery is spread over two floors.
The rooms, in perfect Islamic style, are all covered with carpets and there are some prayer areas.
Today, inside the Monastery, there are no more religious. Dervishi activity was banned throughout Bosnia after World War II, and the Tekhija became a museum complex.
Currently it is entrusted to the local Islamic community that after renovating both the ancient Monastery and the houses intended to accommodate pilgrims, is trying to propose it again as a place of worship.
