Banja Luka: the cathedral rebuilt from nothing

Main city of the Republika Srpska, Banja Luka still bears in its center the marks of systematic destruction of places of worship during the wars of the 1990s.

The center, around the Kastel fortress, is easily walked on foot.

The Kastel Castle, a fortress on the Vrbas River dating to Roman and Ottoman times, today hosts concerts and open-air cultural events.

Just steps away, the Christ the Savior Orthodox Cathedral, rebuilt after being demolished in 1941, dominates the center with its gilded domes.

Continuing along the river you walk along the banks of the Vrbas, appreciated by residents for rafting and summer strolls along the embankments.

Toward evening, the pedestrian center comes alive with open-air cafes, in an atmosphere closer to Central Europe than to the more touristy Balkans of the coast.

During the 1990s war, all of Banja Luka's historic mosques, including 16th-century works, were systematically demolished: only after the conflict were some rebuilt stone by stone thanks to international funding.

The Vrbas River, which cuts through narrow gorges just outside the city, has made Banja Luka a base for sport rafting - a detail that surprises those who associate Bosnia only with its recent past.