TOWN HALL – HEART OF KOSTAJNICA AND KEEPER OF TIME

KOSTAJNICA, SEPTEMBER 11 /SRNA/ - In the very heart of picturesque Kostajnica, a small town located in the northwest of Republika Srpska, on the banks of the emerald Una River, rises the Town Hall, a picturesque monument of history and one of the most recognizable symbols of this local community.

With an existence spanning more than a century, it is a witness to turbulent times and a gem that increasingly attracts the attention of tourists, travelers and lovers of cultural heritage.

Situated on the right bank of the Una River as a border local community, Kostajnica has been a crossroads of civilizations, cultures, and powers for centuries. Its streets and buildings, built in more peaceful eras and destroyed in riots and wars, tell the story of change, survival, and beauty that defies time.

Kostajnica fell under the rule of Austria-Hungary in 1878, and then the modernization of the city center took place, and buildings emerged that still adorn the city on the banks of the Una River today.

The most significant building from this period is the Town Hall, whose construction began in 1885.

The building was registered in the land registry in 1887, and its first owner was the then municipality of the town of Kostajnica.

Built in a pseudo-Moorish architectural style that combined oriental heritage and new, modern European administration, the Town Hall is an architectural attraction that leaves no visitor indifferent.

The building is adorned with horseshoe arches, a two-tone striped facade with alternating red and yellow horizontal stripes, and decoration with plant and geometric elements.

The angular position of the building is emphasized by a beveled corner and a balcony with a richly decorated railing divided into two fields, in which the central motif is a six-pointed star in a circular field.

The authentic part of the interior, which has been preserved to this day, is the polychrome painted ceiling of the Town Hall, divided into geometric fields decorated with floral motifs.

Over time, the building changed its purpose and survived wartime destruction and earthquakes, but it never lost its beauty and character.

When Kostajnica lost its municipal status in 1963, the building housed, among other things, the local community office and a cafeteria where retired people gathered to chat over coffee at a slightly lower price.

According to statements from the Municipal Administration employees, the building was damaged in shelling during the last war, when the roof suffered the most. The damage was repaired, and in 1995 Kostajnica was restored to its municipal status and this building once again became the seat of the municipality.

The building suffered the most recent damage in the earthquake on December 29, 2020, so municipal institutions and seals once again left the building.

Today, the Kostajnica Town Hall is entering a new chapter. Its reconstruction is underway, with the aim of becoming a cultural and information center.

At the end of last year, the reconstruction of the building began in order to breathe new life and purpose into it. The reconstructed space should house Radio Kostajnica, the Tourist Organization, the Potkozarje Cultural and Artistic Society, the Veterans Organization and other institutions and organizations, which will bring this building back to life - now with an emphasized tourist and cultural function.

Thus, the Kostajnica Town Hall will remain a symbol of this municipality for years to come, attracting the gaze of travelers with its beauty.

For anyone who wants to get to know the soul of a city and feel the scent of history, the Town Hall in Kostajnica is an unmissable destination, because it not only talks about the past, but also invites you to become part of its future. /to be continued/