The monument to Stefan Tvrtko I Kotromanić is located in the center of Banja Luka, and was officially opened on September 26, 2024. It is located at the intersection of Obilićevo, Lazarevo, Centar and Kočićev vijenac, near the Kastel fortress.

The monument is about 10 m high, and represents Stefan Tvrtko I Kotromanić, who is facing west with a saber on horseback. On the pedestal is the inscription: Stefan Tvrtko in Christ God King of the Serbs and Bosnia and the Coast, as his title was.

Who was Stefan Tvrtko I Kotromanjić?

As the great-grandson of King Stefan Dragutin, Tvrtko, after the disappearance of the Nemanjić dynasty, claimed the Serbian throne, and was crowned king in 1377 at the Mileševa Monastery. With the coronation, he also took the royal name Stefan, which was worn by all Nemanjić rulers, thus continuing their tradition. His full title was "King of the Serbs, Bosnia, the Littoral, the Hum Land, the Lower Krajina, the Western Sides, Usora, Soli and Podrinje and others". Tvrtko crowned himself with the so-called "sugubi wreath" – a double crown, Serbian (Raša) and Bosnian – by which he saw himself as the legitimate heir to the Nemanjić crown and tradition. Unlike Emperor Dušan, who put the adjective "Serb" in the first place in his imperial title in order to legitimize the usurped imperial title, Tvrtko placed his new royal title in the first place, before Bosnia. This is explained by the fact that there was no ethnic difference between Bosnians and Raša like there was between Serbs and Greeks, so Tvrtko did not feel the need to suppress the new title in favor of Bosnia – it was considered that the ruler of the Serbs had always legitimately belonged to the royal dignity.