Travnik has a strong culture, mostly dating back to its time as the center of local government in the Ottoman Empire. Travnik has a popular old town district however, which dates back to the period of Bosnian independence during the first half of the 15th century. Numerous mosques and churches exist in the region, as do tombs of important historical figures and excellent examples of Ottoman architecture. The city museum, built in 1950, is one of the more impressive cultural institutions in the region. Travnik became famous by important persons who were born or lived in Travnik. The most important are Ivo Andrić (writer, Nobel Prize for literature in 1961), Miroslav Ćiro Blažević (soccer coach of Croatian national team, won third place 1998 in France), Josip Pejaković (actor), Seid Memić Vajta (pop-singer) and Davor Džalto (artist and art historian, the youngest Ph.D. in Germany and in the South-East European region)
