An Ottoman bridge symbolising ethnic diversity and reconciliation - Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar 946
What and Why
Mostar is famous for its gorgeous Old Bridge (Bosnian: Stari Most) which connects the eastern and western part of the city across the river Neretva. The bridge is significant in many aspects: It carries history when it was built in the mid-16th century CE and stood for 427 years until it was blown up during the Bosnian War in 1993 CE. It carries a visceral and dignified message of ethnic harmony as it connects the Muslim community on the east bank with the Christian community on the west. It is of course one of the most elegant Ottoman constructions built in European soil, when Europe was ruled by the Ottoman Empire (Ottoman Turkish: دولت عثمانيه, Devlet-i ʿOsmānīye).
The bridge had been a symbol of harmony and multi-ethnicity of Bosnia (Bosna), so when it was destroyed by tank fire in 1993 CE by Croatia during the bitter civil war, this was an extremely sad moment for the locals.
Toponymy
Mostar derives from the Bosnian word 'mostari' meaning 'bridge-keeper', commemorating those who guards the bridge during mediaeval times. Although the word 'mostari' also refers to the two bridge towers on each bank.
See
Old Bridge (Stari Most)
The bridge was built to replace an older wooden suspension bridge of dubious stability and quality and caused a lot of troubles in trade. Construction began in 1557 CE and took nine years: according to the inscription the bridge, led by the architect Mimar Hayruddin (Ottoman Turkish: معمار خير الدين), coincidentally the apprentice of Mi'mâr Sinân (Ottoman Turkish: معمار سينان), the builder of the other 'slightly' less famous bridge in Višegrad.
The bridge is hunchback in shape, and rises approximately 12 m from the base. It is 4 m wide and 24 m above the river, and the span and height of the bridge made it an engineering marvel. Legend had it that after a number of failed bridges, the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman I (Ottoman Turkish: سليمان اول, Süleyman-ı Evvel, né سليمان شاه بن سليم شاه هان, Süleyman bin Selim Şah Han) vowed to execute the architect Hayruddin if his bridge collapse too. The day the bridge’s wooden supports were due to be removed on its opening, Hayruddin had already begun to dig his own grave when he found out the bridge had survived. In fact it stood for another 400 years until it was purposefully destroyed by the Croatian force.
While initially the Croats claimed that the bridge was destroyed because of its strategic locations, it has been argued and agreed that the bridge held little actual strategic value and that its shelling was an example of deliberate cultural property destruction as the bridge served in connecting diverse communities.
After the war, the bridge was rebuilt immediately through combined international and UNESCO collaboration, using many of the same limestone blocks that were salvaged from the river, although many of the stones were found unusable after a few years in water. The reopening of the bridge rekindles the symbolic meaning of the bridge: peace and ethnic harmony and in the new era, reconciliation. Remnants and the psychological scars of the 90’s CE conflict remain in some of the dilapidated buildings, although this is slowly evaporating through the tourism boom.
Dive (Roniti)
One of the main sights to watch is the diving from the bridge. It is traditional for the young men of the town to leap from the bridge into the Neretva. The river is actually quite shallow and cold and the feat is in fact quite dangerous, with a number of casualty every now and then. When we visited, as the video above shows, the boys were practising for its traditional annual diving competition held every year during summer.
Muslibegovića House (Muslibegovića Kuća)
Constructed 300 years ago, Muslibegovića House (Muslibegovića Kuća) is considered the most beautiful house from Ottoman period in the region. Part hostel, part museum now, the house is more Mediterranean than Ottoman style.
Koski Mehmed Pasha Mosque (Koski Mehmed-Pašina Ddžamija)
A tiny but pretty Ottoman mosque built in the early 17th century CE but destroyed during the war and rebuilt with financial support from Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye). One can climb the minaret for spectacular views over the town and the Old Bridge.
Buy and Do
Bazar Kujundžiluk
The town around the two banks have become major tourist shopping areas, known as Bazar Kujundžiluk, where the locals sell all sorts of souvenirs, but honestly nothing genuinely local. The two banks are cobblestone and rock-hewn areas and are pleasant to stroll around and still retains its Ottoman-era charm.
Eat and Drink
Bosnian cuisine (Bosanska kuhinja)
Bosnian food is more of a mish-mash between Turkish, Mediterranean and other Balkan cuisines, along with some Central European influence. It generally feels light with lots of mixture of vegetables and spices. Meat is mainly served in ćevapi form, the local kebab, although my short stay in the city does not give me enough to say about its cuisine.
We had our simple dinner in the famed Kulluk Restaurant, which had a good view of the bridge. Perhaps it was tour-food, the food is nothing to shout about.
Travel Suggestions and Logistics
The area is largely walkable. One cannot drive near the bridge of course. Mostar is 120 km away from Sarajevo where we stayed.
As blogged in Višegrad, the trip is best combined with Višegrad and Sarajevo, with a stopover in Sarajevo to form a three-day trip. I mentioned about the need for caution in travelling around Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosna i Hercegovina) in the blog.
UNESCO Inscription
The historic town of Mostar, spanning a deep valley of the Neretva River, developed in the 15th and 16th centuries as an Ottoman frontier town and during the Austro-Hungarian period in the 19th and 20th centuries. Mostar has long been known for its old Turkish houses and Old Bridge, Stari Most, after which it is named. In the 1990s conflict, however, most of the historic town and the Old Bridge, designed by the renowned architect Sinan, was destroyed. The Old Bridge was recently rebuilt and many of the edifices in the Old Town have been restored or rebuilt with the contribution of an international scientific committee established by UNESCO. The Old Bridge area, with its pre-Ottoman, eastern Ottoman, Mediterranean and western European architectural features, is an outstanding example of a multicultural urban settlement. The reconstructed Old Bridge and Old City of Mostar is a symbol of reconciliation, international co-operation and of the coexistence of diverse cultural, ethnic and religious communities.
References
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Please share your thoughts and comments about the blog. If you need suggestions to build a travel itinerary, please let me know. More than willing to help. I would also like to build a bespoke-travel community around UNESCO WHS and ICH.
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