Somewhere
in the mountains of eastern Bosnia, in
the country of Serbia, is , Srebrenica
(pronounced Srebreneetsa). It takes its
name from the Serbo-Croatian word for
silver, “srebro”; Srebrenica
therefore means "Silver City".
The Romans called it "Argentaria",
a variation of the Latin word for silver.
It has been known by such name since the
Romans mined the region for the precious
metal twenty centuries ago. Today the
day is the ruins of a castle, but it was
once a Roman garrison that once stood
on the site of the town. The castle was
built as the town developed, and the legends
say that it was once owned by a woman
named Jena. Jena was apparently the widow
of a Serb lord and lived to the day she
died until the day she died. According
to the legend, the castle was built by
slaves. Each night a different slave was
brought to Jerina's bedroom. Each morning,
the exhausted slave was thrown to his
death from the top of the castle.
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