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Showing posts with the label tekke

Croatia and a couple of balkans, Day 4 a Dervish monastery

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After lunch we moved from the Republic Srpska into the Hercegovine area where the road became higher with views sweeping across to a distant castle. Rubbish removal did not seem to be high on the list of priorities here and we found a small herd of goats dining from a tip on the side of the road. I played around with 'perfect goat placement' for a picture and thought that they looked quite biblical. Coming downhill a sign appeared to Blagaj and its monastery so we followed it. We passed a Muslim graveyard on the way with its curiously shaped headstones. And also some historical stone buildings. The Dervish monastery or tekke, which is still used for prayer, was built under a cliff by the source of the River Buna in around 1520 and is a national monument. There was a cafè on the bank where we had a cup of rather disgusting raspberry tea before we commenced our tour. A Dervish is a member of a Sufi Muslim sect known for it's po