BH cities: TOMISLAVGRAD

Tomislavgrad (former name Duvno) – the city and the centre of municipality in south-west part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of the municipality which belongs to Livno district. It is a part of Herceg-Bosna county.

In 1925.king Aleksandar Karađorđević marked 1000 year anniversary of Croatian kingdom by naming this city after Croatian king Tomislav. It is assumed that he was crowned at Duvanjsko polje (Duvno field) in 925. The city kept this name until 1945. Since that year until twenties of the 20th century the city is called Duvno again. However the city regained its name Tomislavgrad in the end. In the honour of the first Croatian king Tomislav there is a bronze statue of him in the city. Beside monuments the city has beautiful basilica dedicated to St. Nikola Tavelić, the first Croatian saint. There are a few statues of other saints near basilica.

In Duvno area, high mountain area of south-west Herzegovina is subsiding towards Adriatic Sea. Duvanjsko polje is typical table – land aroused in ancient geologic time by tectonic subsiding of the ground and lake sedimentation and detritus of constant and occasional water-flows. Big sedimentation of coal originated there. It is situated on 860-900 m height above sea level. It is lower than Kupreško polje (1100-1200 m), and higher than Livanjsko polje (709-808 m). The field is 20 kilometres long and 12 kilometres wide. It has surface of 125 square kilometres.

Geologically, by composition of its ground, this is the area of extremely big Dinaric rocky area. By its location, composition of the ground as well as by physical and mental features of its inhabitants, it is more a part of Dalmatia and Herzegovina than of Bosnia. And it is also possible to say that it is a three border point which divides and connects. So the fact that its inhabitants come from all three areas is not surprisingly.

Duvanjsko polje is suroundined with mountains on every side. On north-east and east it is bordered with Ljubuša, Vran and Smiljevača, Gvozd on the south; on the south-west and west lies Midena and lower Grabovica, on the north and north-west Tušnica and Jelovača arises. Most of these mountains are bared.

Although it rains a lot here, there is still a lack of water, because enormous amount of water loses underground. The only river Šujica is underground stream which has spring in Šujica and sinking in Ponor, and rises again in Prisoje as Ričina. Today it fills Buško Lake. Its affluent Drina flows only during little part of the year. The main source for the city and nearby villages is stream Ostrožac which never runs dry. Two thirds of Buško Lake are in Tomislavgrad′ s municipality.