Ferhat Pasha Mosque (Ferhadija)

The Ferhat Pasha Mosque, known locally as the Ferhadija, is the most important Islamic monument in Banja Luka and one of the most significant Ottoman mosques in the western Balkans. Built in 1579 using the ransom paid for a Habsburg prince, it was a masterpiece of 16th-century Bosnian-Ottoman architecture before its deliberate destruction in 1993.

The rebuilt mosque, reopened in 2016 after years of painstaking reconstruction, incorporates original stones salvaged from the rubble after the war. It stands as both a religious site and a powerful statement of cultural resilience. The courtyard is peaceful and open to respectful non-Muslim visitors outside prayer times; women should bring a headscarf.

The mosque is a short walk from the city centre in the Stari Grad area, near the cathedral and the pedestrian zone.

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A story
The original Ferhadija Mosque, completed in 1579, was one of the finest examples of Ottoman architecture in the western Balkans. In May 1993, during the Bosnian War, it was demolished with explosives by Serb forces — along with fifteen other mosques in Banja Luka on the same night. Reconstruction was completed in 2016, with stones from the original building recovered and incorporated where possible. The imam who led the first prayer in the rebuilt mosque had last prayed there as a child before the war.