Kakanj

As of 2013, the town has a population of 11,796 inhabitants, with 38,937 inhabitants in the municipality. It is situated in central Bosnia and Herzegovina, north of Visoko and southeast of Zenica. It was built along the slopes of wide hills on either side of the Zgošća river.

History

Neolithic artifacts have been found in Obre, a nearby village. Thus, whole culture that covered central Bosnian river basins was named Kakanj culture. It is Europe's oldest continuously inhabited settlement, carbon dated to 6795 BC.

Settlements in the region are very ancient and contain historical landmarks of the early Bosnian state. Kraljeva Sutjeska, a Franciscan monastery, is of particular historical note. Near the monastery is Bobovac, scene of the last stand of Bosnian Queen Katarina Kosača and medieval residence of Bosnian kings. In Kraljeva Sutjeska is one of the oldest mosques in Bosnia, built by order of Sultan Mehmed II the Victorious during his expedition to Bosnia and conquest of Bobovac. The Kakanj area enjoyed a renaissance during the rule of the Kotromanić dynasty.

One of the most beautiful tombs ever found in Bosnia, with a carving of a hunting cavalier, was found in Kakanj; it is currently displayed in the botanic garden of The State Museum in Sarajevo.

Kakanj was mentioned in 1468 as a settlement with 90 houses. The Kakanj coal mine was founded in 1900 under Austro-Hungarian rule around a developing coal mine, which began production in 1902. In the next hundred years, Kakanj developed organically without any urban planning, initially around the coal mine, and later along the banks of the Zgošća and Bosna rivers.

The town was also home to Rudstroj, a manufacturer of mining and industrial equipment that was part of the Kakanj brown-coal mine until 1993; it was privatized in 2002 and entered bankruptcy in 2017.

Bosnian War (1992–95)

The situation in Kakanj at the beginning of the Bosnian War was rather quiet, confronted with the frontlines in the area of Zavidovići. The town was in the middle of the Bosnian government-controlled territory, along the communication path with Zenica. Most of the Serb minority soon left the town, while Bosniak refugees from Serb-controlled towns arrived.

Between March and June 1994, Croats and Bosniaks signed the Washington Agreement, forming the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The situation in Kakanj improved, but refugees did not came back. Health and sanitation conditions were poor; a hepatitis epidemic was recorded in 1994. Food Security was under control, thanks to humanitarian aid, even though the overall prices remained prohibitive and most of the families survived with company-organized distribution and kitchen gardens. Almost all productive activities were stopped.

Post-war

On 29 September 1999, the High Representative (OHR) Wolfgang Petrisch removed from office the mayor of Kakanj, Kemal Brodilija, for obstructing the implementation of the Dayton Agreements and pursuing an extra-legal agenda.