Mostar and its Famous Stari Most (Old Bridge)

 

Mostar's mosques and the Neretva River, viewed from the Old Bridge

Saturday, July 2 - Trip Day 3

We arrived in Mostar in less than 3 hours from Dubrovnik, which our guide Boris says is good timing, especially for a Saturday.  Mostar's old town is in the Muslim section and it is famous for its beautiful old bridge that spans the Neretva River.

Mostar is the fifth-largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina.  Mostar was named after the bridge keepers (mostari), who in medieval times guarded the Stari Most (Old Bridge) over the Neretva.  The Old Bridge, built by the Ottomans in the 16th century, is one of Bosnia and Herzegovina's most visited landmarks, and is considered an exemplary piece of Islamic architecture in the Balkans.

The Neretva River divides the town between the Christian (left) and Muslim (right) sectors

Minaret in Mostar's old town

The famous Stari Most - Old Bridge - of Mostar.  Rebuilt after the Bosnian War

The region around Mostar came under Ottoman rule in 1468.  The town was fortified between the years 1520 and 1566, and at that time the town's medieval wooden bridge was rebuilt in stone.  The stone bridge, Stari Most, was completed in 1566 on the orders of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.  At 92 feet long and 66 feet high, the bridge quickly became a wonder in its own time and later became a symbol of the town.

During the Balkan wars, fighting broke out in Mostar in May, 1993 and the Croat-Bosniak conflict divided the city along ethnic and religious lines. Almost 2000 people in Mostar lost their lives before the Bosnia War was settled by the Dayton Agreement in 1995.  Also, the Stari Most was destroyed in the artillery fire from the conflict.

Tourists watching the bridge jumpers

View of the Neretva River from the west side of the bridge, where the men dive from the top.

Reconstruction has been occurring in Mostar since 1995.  Over 15 million dollars has been spent, including the project to rebuilt the beautiful Stari Most, with funds donated by Spain, the United States, Italy, Turkey, the Netherlands and Croatia.  A grand opening was held in 2004 for the newly rebuilt bridge.

Foot polished marble on the bridge - slippery walking!

Polished marble cobblestones in old town

Old towers surround the Stari Most in its beautiful setting

Viewpoint of the divers, who plunge 66 feet into the Neretva River below

It has become a tradition for local divers to plunge from the top of the bridge into the Neretva River below.  They collect donations from tourists and when enough has been collected to make it worth their while, they slice through the air off the bridge and into the cold water below.

Next to the bridge, in one of the old towers, is a "Diver's House", where they hang out.  We met Vanessa, the wife of the most famous diver, Gorem.  She gave me a photo of Gorem mid -dive.  I told her she was one lucky lady to be married to such a man and she laughed - "He's lucky to be married to me!"

Vanessa, godmother of the Diver's House, shows me a photo of her husband diving