Gacko

Gacko (Serbian Cyrillic: Гацко) is a town and municipality in East Herzegovina in the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Geography

The municipality covers an area of 736 km² (284 sq mi), making it one of the larger municipalities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The town is near the state border with Montenegro.

History

Middle Ages

In the Middle Ages, the town was the seat of a župa (county) of Serbia under the Nemanjić dynasty. In 1276, Serbian prince Stefan Dragutin defeated his father Stefan Uroš I on the Gacko field and took the throne. Gacko was at this time an important commercial centre on the Dubrovnik–Foča route. In the 14th century the region was governed by the powerful Vojinović family. In its turbulent history, Gacko often changed rulers: after the fall of the Serbian Empire, Gacko became part of the Kingdom of Bosnia, and by 1483–85 it had been annexed by the Ottoman Empire into the Sanjak of Herzegovina.

Ottoman period

The burning of Saint Sava's remains after the Banat Uprising provoked the Serbs in other regions to revolt against the Ottomans.Grdan, the vojvoda of Nikšić, organized revolt with Serbian Patriarch Jovan Kantul. In 1596, the uprising broke out in Bjelopavlići, then spread to Drobnjaci, Nikšić, Piva and Gacko (see Serb Uprising of 1596–97). The rebels were defeated at the field of Gacko. It ultimately failed due to lack of foreign support.