Trebinje: the Arslanagić bridge, Tvrdoš, Leotar and the Trebišnjica

The Arslanagić bridge, Tvrdoš monastery, Leotar and the Trebišnjica are all in Trebinje or close to it. The facts about these places are taken from the portal of the Tourist Organisation of Republika Srpska, the decision of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, the Trebišnjica hydropower company and the Republika Srpska register of protected areas.

In short

• The Arslanagić bridge was built in 1574, flooded in 1965 and rebuilt in the centre of Trebinje in 1972 (TO RS, Bridges of Trebinje). According to the KONS decision, it has been a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina since 2006 (KONS decision).
• Tvrdoš monastery is 4.5 km from Trebinje on the road to Mostar (TO RS, Monasteries of Trebinje). The tasting room of the monastery cellar seats up to 150 people, and advance booking is required (Herzegovina Wine Route).
• Before the hydropower plants were built, the surface course of the Trebišnjica varied between 35 and 90 km depending on flow, because water sank into ponors in the riverbed (HE na Trebišnjici).
• South of the river lies Orjen Nature Park, protected in 2020 (e-priroda RS).

The Arslanagić bridge

The Tourist Organisation of Republika Srpska says the bridge was built in 1574 as an endowment of Grand Vizier Mehmed Pasha Sokolović and served as a trade link between Herceg Novi and Dubrovnik. It was flooded in 1965, when the hydropower plant was built. The following year the water level was lowered so the bridge could be removed, and it was rebuilt in 1972 in the centre of Trebinje (TO RS, Bridges of Trebinje).

According to the decision of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, the bridge originally stood 5 km upstream of Trebinje, near the medieval town of Mičevac. Between August and September 1966 it was dismantled, with every stone marked, and it was reassembled from 1970 to 1972. It is about 92 m long, with two large and five smaller arches (KONS decision). It is enough to tell guests that the bridge does not stand where it was built. It was moved stone by stone when a reservoir flooded the valley.

Tvrdoš monastery and its cellars

The Tourist Organisation of Republika Srpska says the monastery has existed continuously since late antiquity (4th to 6th century), destroyed and rebuilt several times (TO RS, Monasteries of Trebinje). According to the same portal, traces of the Tvrdoš wine cellars go back to the 15th century. The monks have taken over the care of vineyards in Trebinjsko polje and Popovo polje, and the monastery winery makes dry red Vranac, white wine and grape brandy (lozova rakija) in the traditional way (TO RS, Tvrdoš monastery cellars).

Monks live at Tvrdoš, so plan the visit as a visit to a monastery. The tasting room seats up to 150 people, and visits and tastings must be booked in advance: phone 059/246-810 or 059/246-811, email tpodrumi@teol.net, tvrdos.com (Herzegovina Wine Route). Ask about opening hours and the dress code for groups when you book.

The Trebišnjica

The Trebišnjica rises near Bileća. The Trebišnjica hydropower company describes the river before the system was built: the bed is full of ponors, and in summer, at low flow, the water disappeared into ponors near Trebinje and largely reappeared at the spring of the Ombla (Rijeka Dubrovačka) near Dubrovnik (HE na Trebišnjici). Today, downstream of Trebinje, it runs in a regulated channel, most of it lined with concrete (HE Trebinje II).

The Tourist Organisation of Republika Srpska gives a length of 98 km, or 187 km including underground courses (TO RS, Trebišnjica). The 35 to 90 km range refers to the surface course, while 187 km includes the underground courses, so when you give guests a figure, say what it covers. If you mention the Trebišnjica as the largest sinking river in Europe, say that this refers to the river as it was before the hydropower system was built (ERS).

Leotar and Orjen

Leotar is the mountain above the town. Ask the Tourism Organisation of the City of Trebinje about access, paths and viewpoints.

Orjen Nature Park was declared in 2020 and lies almost entirely in Trebinje. Its northern boundary is the Trebišnjica, that is, Trebinje lake, and the highest peak of Orjen in Republika Srpska is Velika Jastrebica, 1,865 m. A management plan for 2026 to 2036 was published in the Official Gazette of Republika Srpska 30/26 (e-priroda RS). The park is managed by the Trebinje karst management centre of the public forestry company Šume Republike Srpske (Šume RS). Pavlova cave near Trebinje has been a natural monument since 2013 (e-priroda RS).

What to offer guests

• Half a day in town and by the river. The Arslanagić bridge and the story of its move, a walk along the Trebišnjica, then lunch on the farm with your own products.
• Tvrdoš and wine. A visit to the monastery and cellar booked in advance, followed by a tasting at your place with cheese, prosciutto or honey from local producers. Stakeholders on the platform also offer local products from around Trebinje, for example Seosko gazdinstvo Miroslav Kisin, Domaćinstvo Šegrt and Gazdinstvo Šišić. For the rules on selling wine, see the articles "Labelling and selling wine in Republika Srpska" and "Wine tourism in Herzegovina".
• A day on Orjen. For walkers, with a guide who knows the terrain. Ask the park manager about visiting conditions.
• A summer evening on the Trebišnjica. The Tourist Organisation of Republika Srpska mentions summer bridge jumps. Ask the Tourism Organisation of the City of Trebinje whether and when they take place this year.

Who to contact

• Turistička organizacija Grada Trebinja (Tourism Organisation of the City of Trebinje), Preobraženska ulica bb, 89101 Trebinje; tel. +387 59 273 410; gotrebinje@gotrebinje.com (gotrebinje.com).
• Tvrdoš monastery cellar, tel. 059/246-810 and 059/246-811, tpodrumi@teol.net (tvrdos.com).
• Orjen Nature Park manager, JP Šume Republike Srpske, Centar za gazdovanje kršom (karst management centre), Bilećki put 1, 89101 Trebinje; tel. +387 59 261 423; cgk@sumers.org (e-priroda RS).

Sources

• Commission to Preserve National Monuments: decision declaring the Arslanagić bridge a national monument (page sometimes unavailable)
• Tourist Organisation of Republika Srpska: Bridges of Trebinje
• Tourist Organisation of Republika Srpska: Monasteries of Trebinje
• Tourist Organisation of Republika Srpska: Tvrdoš monastery cellars
• Herzegovina Wine Route: Tvrdoš Monastery Wine Cellar
• Trebišnjica hydropower plants: before the system was built
• Trebišnjica hydropower plants: HE Trebinje II
• Elektroprivreda Republike Srpske: hydropower potential
• Tourist Organisation of Republika Srpska: Trebišnjica
• Tourism Organisation of the City of Trebinje: contact
• e-priroda RS: Orjen Nature Park
• e-priroda RS: Pavlova cave natural monument
• JP Šume Republike Srpske: Orjen Nature Park