Radimlja necropolis is the best-known site in Bosnia and Herzegovina, containing stećci, the medieval tombstones. It is located 3 km west of Stolac, along the Stolac – Čapljina road, in Vidovo polje, near Paprati village.
The Stećci are monumental medieval tombstones that lie scattered across Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the border parts of Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia, although almost exclusively following the borders of the medieval Bosnian state. An estimated 60,000 are found within the borders of modern Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the rest of 10,000 are found in the adjacent countries.
Appearing in the 11th century, the Stećci reached their peak in the 14th and 15th centuries, before slowly disappearing during the Ottoman Empire. Stećci - tombstones belonging to the medieval Kingdom of Bosnia and the Bosnian Church (Bosnian heretics), which was part of the European rebellion against the Vatican. The Epitaph on the Stećci tombstones is written in the old Bosnian Alphabet(the so-called "Bosančica" ) .
The Stećci have been nominated for the UNESCO Heritage List,
The Radimlja necropolis is among the most valuable monuments of the medieval period in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The characteristics underlying its value are: a large number of samples, variety and representativeness of all basic forms, relatively high artistic quality of work, variety of plastic ornaments, reliefs, and titles mentioning historical personalities, as well as its availability and location.
The necropolis includes 133 stećci, many with valuable ornaments on them. The characteristic motives of stećci of this necropolis are: architectural ornaments on all four sides of stećci, stylized crosses, human and animal figures, grapevine, hunting, and weapon motives.
The characteristic feature of this necropolis is a male figure with a raised arm and relatively big hand and fingers, as if indicating to the traveler that he or she will find welcoming and friendly people in this harsh and karstic Herzegovinian area.
