Ferhad-Pasha’s mosque
Mosque from XV century
The mosque was covered in led, it was around 17,5 meters tall and the minaret was 40 meters tall. It is located near the Kastel Fortress.
Ferhadija, or Ferhad-pasha's mosque, was built from 1579 to 1580. During the battle of Sisak in 1575 Ferhad-pasha beat the Austrian army and killed Austrian commandant Herbert fon Auersperg. Ferhad-pasha captured his son Engelbert. His mother managed to gather 30 000 ducats and buy her son's freedom. Ferhad-pasha used this money to build the Ferhadija in Banja Luka.
History
It is one of the most significant cultural-historical monuments of the oriental culture in Bosnia and Herzegovina, built in the same way as the school of famous Turkish architect, Sinan. Ferhad Pasha Sokolovic was the member of famous Sokolovic family, who marked a part of Bosnian history, in the time when the Ottoman Empire was on the peak of its power.
During four centuries the mosque was damaged and repaired several times, and it suffered the biggest damage during the 1969 earthquake. It was destroyed during the Bosnian war in 1993 and fully restored in 2016.
