Novi Pazar Fortress with the old bazaar and the complex around the Altun-alem mosque
History
Novi Pazar City Fortress - the rampart with the Watchtower is one of the most important historical building complexes in Novi Pazar. It was built on the order of the founder of Novi Pazar, Isa-beg Ishaković, immediately after the founding of the city, in the sixth decade of the 15th century. The fortress existed at that time as a small fortification surrounded by a moat, an earthen embankment and a wall of upright pierced logs.
After the Austro-Turkish War, around 1692, according to preserved documents, an inner city was built within the fortress, and in 1717 stone ramparts between the towers were erected. In front of the fortification was a ditch filled with water. Within the fortress there was also the Askerli (military) mosque, which was demolished during the First World War.
Cultural site details
The Sejir Tower or the Watchtower is a real decoration inside the large and spacious Novi Pazar Wall or Fortress. The tower is located between the northern and western bastions. It served as an observation post with a wide field of vision to secure the ramparts from possible attackers. It has an octagonal base from which high walls are raised. The tower, about 15 meters high, was intended to observe the fortress from all possible positions.
The rampart that exists today is related to the year 1758, when the Bosnian vizier asked the Novi Pazar judge for the last renovation of the ramparts.
According to archaeologists, archeologists state that the city was built in phases and defended much more seriously than previously thought.