Fethija Mosque

The Fethija Mosque is Bihać's oldest surviving building and one of the most architecturally interesting in the town. Originally a fifteenth-century Gothic church, it was converted to a mosque after the Ottoman conquest in 1592 and has remained one ever since, its double identity still visible in the hybrid architecture.

The building stands near the river in the old town, close to the Captain's Tower. The interior is modest, but the exterior shows the Gothic ribbed vaulting and pointed windows of its original construction alongside the later Ottoman elements. Non-Muslims are generally welcome to look inside outside prayer times. There is no formal admission charge, though a small donation is appreciated.

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A story
The Fethija Mosque was originally a Catholic church dedicated to St Anthony of Padua, built in the sixteenth century. When the Ottomans captured Bihać in 1592, the church was converted to a mosque — "fethija" is derived from the Turkish word for conquest. It is one of the few buildings in Bosnia where you can see this conversion still clearly in the architecture: the building retains its Gothic windows and Franciscan layout beneath its Islamic adaptations.