Old trade roads in lower Lim valley Cover Image

Stari trgovački putevi u Donjem Polimlju
Old trade roads in lower Lim valley

Author(s): Alija Bejtić
Subject(s): History
Published by: Orijentalni Institut u Sarajevu

Summary/Abstract: Dr. K. Jireček in his well-known work Die Handelstrassen und Bergwerke Serbiens und Bosniens während des Mittelalters, Pragae, 1879, described, an the basis of the archival materials of the Dubrovnik Archives, in addition to the mines, the main lines of communication in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the period before the Turkish ocupation. This new contribution represents in a way a continuation of Jireček's study and describes the lines of communication in the next, Turkish period. The theme of the article is a description of a fairly large and characteristic area - the region of the former urban settlement of Rudo (near the present-day Rudo) on the Lim River (the Lower Lim Valley) in southeastern Bosnia. The arrticle is based primarily on the research carried out in the region itself and also on archival materials and other data. The research has shown that in the region in question there existed in the Turkish period and was used in entirety until 1878 (the Austro-Hungarian occupation) a large network of trade and travelers' lines of oommunication iiln. general. One road in this network served for inland and international traffic whereas the others were partly of regional, partly of local significance. Of inland significance was the road that led through this region, more precisely its eastern part, linlking Višegrad with Sarajevo, TraVInik, Banja Luka and the West on one side, and Priboj, Novi Pazar, Skoplje, Niš, Sofija, and Istanbul i.rtlself on the other, eastern side. This road was the most established trade and military line of communlication through Bosnia towards the East. Many travelers and writers of travel accounts traveled rby that road and left reports about it in their itineraries. In the netwovk of other, regional and local roads in this region, the former urban settlement of Rudo characteristically stands out as a place with a key position. It used to be on the left bank of the Um, opposite the present-day Rudo, but disappeared from the face of the earth in 1896 in the great flood of the Lim River. Rudo was thus linked by roads of regional category with Priboj, Višegrad, a:nd even with Užice in Serbia on the eastern, and with Pljevlja, Čajniče, and Goražde on the other, western side. The road via Čajniče led further via Foča all the way to Dubrvnik The same can be said for the road via Pljevlja and so both these routes had partly an inland significance.

  • Issue Year: 1976
  • Issue No: 22-23
  • Page Range: 163-189
  • Page Count: 27
  • Language: Bosnian