EVLIYA CELEBI ON THE NAME OF THE TOWN
The famous Turkish travel writer Evliya Celebi (1611-1682) visited our town twice: in 1660 and in 1664. In his well-known book, this is what he wrote about our town’s name: „Balneum is Latin for spa (Tur. Ilica). Since there is a thermal spring on the outskirts of this town (Tur. Sehir), the spring was given the name Banja (spa). And the sehir in its vicinity was named Luka. Two words became joined in the vernacular and the town was named Banja Luka.“
