Middle Ages The area was part of the medieval Serbian state of the Nemanjić dynasty; it was part of the
Grand Principality of Serbia under
Stefan Nemanja (r. 1166–96). In the Middle Ages, Dobrun was a place within the border area with Bosnia, on the road towards Višegrad. After the death of emperor
Stefan Dušan (r. 1331–55), the region came under the rule of magnate
Vojislav Vojinović, and then his nephew,
župan (count)
Nikola Altomanović. The
Dobrun Monastery was founded by
župan Pribil and his family, some time before the 1370s. The area then came under the rule of the
Kingdom of Bosnia, part of the estate of the
Pavlović noble family. The settlement of Višegrad was mentioned in 1407, but started to be mentioned more often after 1427. In the period of 1433–37, a relatively short period, caravans crossed the settlement many times.
Ottoman period According to Turkish sources, in 1454, Višegrad was conquered by the Ottoman Empire led by Osman Pasha. The
Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge was built by the Ottoman architect and engineer
Mimar Sinan for Grand Vizier
Sokollu Mehmed Pasha. Construction of the bridge took place between 1571 and 1577. It still stands, and it is now a tourist attraction, after being inscribed in the
UNESCO World Heritage Site list. In 1875, the Serbs from the area between Višegrad and Novi Pazar revolted and formed a volunteer military corps, which fought in the valley of the
River Ibar in 1876. In 1882, a Jewish cemetery was established in Višegrad while in 1905, the first Jewish
synagogue was built in the town. Višegrad remained under Ottoman rule until the
Berlin Congress (1878), when Austria-Hungary took control of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Austro-Hungarian period The
Bosnian Eastern Railway from
Sarajevo to
Uvac and
Vardište was built through Višegrad during the
Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Construction of the line started in 1903. It was completed in 1906, using a
track gauge. Having costed 75 million gold crowns, which is approximately 450 thousand gold crowns per kilometer, it was one of the most expensive railways in the world built at the time. This line was eventually extended to
Belgrade in 1928. Višegrad is today part of the narrow-gauge heritage railway
Šargan Eight.
World War II On 18 April 1941
Ustashe murdered ten Serbs including Dragiša Jakšić, the president of the Dobrun municipality. Many Serbs were executed by the fascist Ustashe regime along the Drina Valley for a month during the
Genocide of Serbs, especially near Višegrad.
Jure Francetić's
Black Legion killed thousands of Bosnian Serb civilians and threw their bodies into the Drina river. In 1942, about 6,000 Serbs were killed in the villages of
Miloševići and Stari Brod near
Rogatica. In November 1941, with the help of the
Italians, the Serbian royalist
Chetniks established a civil and military government in the area of Višegrad, and engaged in genocidal killing of local
Bosniaks. Thousands of civilians were massacred in Višegrad in December. In March 1942, 42 Bosniak villagers were burned to death in the village of Drakan. During the
Battle for Višegrad in October 1943, the Chetniks attacked a German garrison and captured the town whose Axis garrison had 350 dead and 400 wounded soldiers. 2,000 Bosniak civilians were killed after the capture of Višegrad. The Yugoslav Partisans took control of Višegrad on 14 February 1945.
Bosnian War Višegrad is one of several towns along the River
Drina in close proximity to the Serbian border. The town was strategically important during the conflict. A nearby hydroelectric dam provided electricity and also controlled the level of the River Drina, preventing flooding of downstream areas. The town is situated on the main road connecting
Belgrade and
Užice in Serbia with
Goražde and
Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a vital link for the Užice Corps of the
Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) with the
Uzamnica camp as well as other strategic locations involved in the conflict. Eventually on 12 April, JNA commandos seized the dam. The next day the JNA's Užice Corps took control of Višegrad, positioning tanks and heavy artillery around the town. The population that had fled the town during the crisis returned and the climate in the town remained relatively calm and stable during the later part of April and the first two weeks of May. According to victims' reports some 3,000 Bosniaks were murdered in Višegrad and its surroundings, including some 600 women and 119 children. Bosniaks detained at Uzamnica were subjected to inhumane conditions, including regular beatings, torture and strenuous forced labour. Both of the town's mosques were razed. With the
Dayton Agreement, which put an end to the war, Bosnia and Herzegovina was divided into two entities, the
Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and
Republika Srpska, the latter which Višegrad became part of. Before the war, 63% of the town residents were Bosniak. In 2009, only a handful of survivors had returned to what is now a predominantly Serb town. On 5 August 2001, survivors of the massacre returned to Višegrad for the burial of 180 bodies exhumed from mass graves. The exhumation lasted for two years and the bodies were found in 19 different mass graves. The charges of mass rape were unapproved as the prosecutors failed to request them in time. The cousins
Milan Lukić and
Sredoje Lukić were convicted on 20 July 2009, to life in prison and 30 years, respectively, for a 1992 killing spree of Muslims. File:Manastir Dobrun, Republika Srpska.JPG|
Dobrun Monastery File:Кула Краљевића Марка.jpg|
Prince Marko's tower File:Mehmet pasa bridge boat.jpg|
Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge on the River
Drina File:Narrow-Gauge-Railway Ostbahn Station-Visegrad.jpg|Višegrad railway station in 1906 File:Višegrad Synagogue.JPG|Višegrad Synagogue, 1905 File:Višegrad 010.jpg|Monument dedicated to the fallen soldiers of the Bosnian Serb Army ==Demographics==