Corridor: Via Adriatica
Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mostar
Type: Historic Town, Vernacular Architecture
Epoch: Middle Ages
Theme:
World Heritage: Cultural Heritage

The historic town of Mostar, spanning a deep valley of the Neretva River. Mostar has long been known for its old Turkish houses and Old Bridge, Stari Most, after which it is named. Unfortunately most of the historic town and the Old Bridge, designed by the renowned architect, Sinan, were destroyed in 1990. 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-Islamic, eastern Islamic, 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 peace, of international cooperation and of coexistence of diverse cultural, ethnic and religious communities.

UNESCO

The Stari Most has been built in 16th century and its erection continued for whole 9 years. It is believed that The Stari Most was the largest single span arch Bridge in the world at that time. Two fortified towers protected it: the Helebija tower and the Tara tower. They called them "the Bridge keepers" or natively mostari. Little is known of the building of the Bridge. And some legends mention as its builder Mimar Hayruddin. Some other questions also stay in mystery: how the supporting construction during the building was erected and it remained strong during these 9 years; or how the stone was transported from one bank to the other. May be you will manage to answer these mysteries.

Expert Network

Read more about Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar at the Unesco World Heritage List.