Kuslat Mosque is a small Ottoman mosque atop a mountain; reaching the mosque is only possible by a foot trek up this mountain. Kuslat Mosque is the oldest mosque in all of BiH. Kuslat Mosque is the only preserved building in the medieval town of Kuslat. The mosque was burnt down during the Bosnian war and subsequently restored in 2013. More recently, stairs to the top were built in place of a previously less accessible path.

“Kuslat, as a fortified town, was first mentioned in 1345, and the inhabited place of Potkuslat in 1369. It is quite certain that they were established much earlier, because they were located at the crossroads of the old Roman roads that lead from Srebrenica to Sirmium, Dubrovnik and central Bosnia. According to traditions, it was called the Eagle’s Nest, and the name Kuslat, as a compound of Ottoman-Persian origin (kus – bird, lat – nest), most likely got it during the time of the Hungarian king Bela, who during his participation in the war in Podrinje, had soldiers from of the Turkish-nomadic Khazar tribe as part of his units. Known as an impregnable town, during the invasions of various conquerors, Kuslat served as a shelter where the local population deposited their valuables. It is not known that it was ever conquered and whenever it changed masters, it was by agreement. The last lord of Kuslat, as a fortress in the medieval Bosnian state, was the knight and duke Radivoje Oprasic, a nobleman born in the town of Vrace, today’s Rogatica, and he lived on his feudal eastate in Skugrici. It was handed over to the Ottomans after the investment in 1460. Kuslat was written about by the travel writers Kikle and Evlija Celebija, from whose descriptions we know that the fortified town had six houses, one of which was converted into a mosque, and Potkuslat had over 150 houses, shops, craft shops, custom houses, khans and two markets. The mosque was built in the fortress by adapting one of the existing buildings for the needs of the Ottoman crew, in 1460 and is probably the oldest mosque in Bosnia. It is the only preserved building in the place where there used to be a fortress and a medieval town and marketplace under it.” 

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Informational poster outside the Restoran Stara Kasaba