Nevesinje () is a town and municipality located in the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, the town has a population of 5,162 inhabitants, while the municipality has 12,961 inhabitants.
Geography and climate
Geography
The municipality of Nevesinje covers and is located in southern part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A large polje called Nevesinjsko polje dominates the municipality, and is encircled by mountains of Crvanj at the north-northeast, Prenj at the northwest, and Velež at the south-southwest. The entire municipality, as well as the entire region of eastern Herzegovina beyond municipal borders, is an elevate at the average above the sea level.
History
The annals of the Patriarchal Monastery of Peć mentioned Nevesinje in 1219, which is the earliest appearance of Nevesinje in preserved historical sources. The župa (county) of Nevesinje was held by Serbian prince Stefan Konstantin between 1303–06.
Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja mentions Nevesinje in the 12th century, as a part of the Podgorica župa.
Numerous contracts between craftsmen and other service providers from modern-day Nevesinje and the Republic of Dubrovnik are stored in the Dubrovnik archives.
The Nevesinje area was the scene of numerous robberies and crimes in the Middle ages, which has been recorded several times in the Dubrovnik archives.
The region was under the rule of different medieval lords until the end of the 15th century. The most significant ruler of Nevesinje from this period was Bosnian nobleman Stjepan Vukčić Kosača, known as Herceg Stefan. The whole land Herzegovina was named after him. His lands were under constant threat from advancing Ottoman forces in the 15th century. Herzegovina, and thus Nevesinje were gradually incorporated into the Ottoman Empire by the first quarter of the 15th century (1422).
There is a large number of stećak tombstones in the Nevesinje area. Every village in the Nevesinje municipality contains a number of stećak tombstones, while the village of Krekovi has the most medieval necropolises in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In 1463, the Ottoman headquarters was established in the vicinity of Nevesinje. Within a few years they had conquered and placed under their administration the whole župa.
The Ottomans conducted a census of the villages by villages first 1468–1469 and then 1475–1477. Most of the villages mentioned in the Middle Ages contained the same names to this day. The voluntary conversion of part of the population to Islam has also been noticed in the available defectors, most likely due to high taxes and other levies.
Under the Ottoman Empire, Nevesinje was mostly part of Bosnian Pashaluk and was a seat of a qadi. The Great Eastern Crisis was ignited at Nevesinje, with the outbreak of the Herzegovinian rebellion of 1875–78 when Serbs of the region rebelled against Ottoman tax collectors. The rebellion soon spread to the rest of Herzegovina and to Bosnia and other parts of the Ottoman Empire.
Neighboring states, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria got involved in the conflict which in turn pulled in great powers of the time. The conflict ended with Congress of Berlin in 1878 and the province of Bosnia and Herzegovina was placed under the administration of Austria-Hungary. At the same time Romania, Serbia and Montenegro were declared independent principalities.
In 2019, Nevesinje experienced a power outage that was named one of the worst crises in the country of Bosnia.
Settlements
Aside from the village of Nevesinje, there are 55 other settlements that comprise the municipality: