Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards Historical Site

Address: Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards - multiple graveyards across Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia

The Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards are a transnational series of medieval cemeteries across the Western Balkans characterised by distinctive carved monolithic tombstones known as stećci, dating principally from the 12th to the 16th centuries. The property was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2016.

Stećci were produced between the later medieval centuries and reflect local burial practices, beliefs and regional artistic traditions across several medieval polities in the Balkans. The monuments were associated with diverse communities and often survive near medieval churches and settlements.

Stećci graveyards are dispersed across parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia, with examples in rural and peri-urban settings throughout the western Balkans.

• Scale: More than 60,000 individual monolithic medieval tombstones, known as stećci, survive across the western Balkans and are distributed in graveyards that vary in size and setting.

• Time visits for late afternoon when raking light makes the carved motifs on the tombstones (stećci) stand out; the low sun brings out relief details that look flat at midday.
• Seek out less-marketed necropolises off the main tourist routes-many of the best-preserved and least-visited stećci are in rural clearings or beside small churches rather than the handful of flagship sites most guidebooks mention.
• Respect site markers and local landowners-many stećci lie on agricultural land, so use established paths and local information boards to avoid accidentally trespassing and to preserve fragile settings.