Old Bridge Area Of The Old City Of Mostar: World Heritage Site

The Old Bridge stood for 427 years before it was demolished by the Croatian Defense Council on November 9, 1993, throughout The Croat–Bosniak War.

Later, a reconstruction project was launched, with the restored bridge opening on July 23, 2004. Suleiman the Magnificent commissioned the bridge in 1557, and it is regarded as an exceptional example of a Balkan Islamic building.

Mimar Hayruddin, a disciple and associate of engineer Mimar Sinan, who created many of the Sultan's iconic places in Istanbul, designed the building. Mostar has been noted for its Turkish homes and the Stari Most Bridge.

However, during a battle in the '90s, most of the ancient town was destroyed, including the Old Bridge, which Sinan, the renowned architect, created.

With the help of an international scientific commission arranged by UNESCO, the Old Bridge was repaired recently, and many religious edifices in the historic town have been rebuilt. Mostar's renovated Old Bridge and city symbolize peace and harmony between various religious backgrounds and diverse cultural communities.

Geographical Location

With its extraordinary multicultural architectural traits and good interplay with nature, the Old Bridge area of the Old City of Mostar is an excellent demonstration of cultural history and multi-religious communities. The site's construction qualities have been proven by extensive scientific research following the devastating war damage and subsequent works of regeneration.

These have demonstrated remarkable technical precision in the old buildings' expertise and quality, particularly the Old Bridge.

The Radoboija stream that reaches the Neretva River on its right side is particularly significant. In addition to providing water to the expanding settlement, these canals were also used for agriculture and powering water mills.

Human habitation between Velez Mountain and Hum Hill on the Neretva River has been documented as a historic city, as evidenced by the discovery of fortified enceintes and cemeteries. Underneath the current town, there is evidence of Roman Civilization.

Even though the Christian churches and cathedrals of earlier centuries were still in use, nothing is known about Mostar in the medieval period.

Mostar gets its name from the Mostari, which indicates the establishment of a wooden bridge from the provincial town on the left river bank utilized by traders, troops, and other travelers.

As it was on the supply line between the mineral-rich areas of central Bosnia and the Adriatic at the time, it was the seat of a Kadiluk, and the village grew to the right side of the river.

With the entry from the east of the Ottoman Turks, it became the dominant historic town in the Sanjak of Herzegovina and the center of Turkish rule.

The global harmony of life events represents ages of cultural continuity through the bridge and fortifications, with rich pre-Ottoman archeological strata, residential zones, religious edifices, agricultural areas, dwellings, bazaars, and public life on the roads and waterways.

From 1520-1566, the town was fortified, and the bridge was reconstructed in stone. The most important time in the growth of Mostar, was the latter half of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century.

Religious communities and civic buildings were built in a religious complex on the left bank of the river.

History: Destruction & Reconstruction

The first bridge was built to replace a shaky wooden retractable bridge. According to the inscription, the bridge was finished in 974 AD.

Construction began in 1557 and lasted for nine years. Very little is known about the bridge's construction, which may have been done with egg-white mortar, and everything else has been opinions and tales. Hayruddin reputedly planned for his burial on the day the scaffolds were eventually removed from the construction.

He had been forced to create a bridge of such extraordinary dimensions, under the sorrow of loss. It was the world's biggest man-made structure at the time that the bridge construction was finished.

The unstable wooden suspension bridge over the Neretva Canyon needed to be replaced as Mostar's financial and social importance expanded in tandem with Ottoman control.

The old river bridge was constructed of timber and suspended on chains, and it shook so violently that those passing by were terrified. Mimar Hayruddin planned the bridge in 1566, which is said to have cost around 300,000 silver pennies to construct.

The son-in-law of Sultan Suleiman, Karagoz Mehmet Bey, sponsor of Mostar's most prominent mosque, the Hadzi Mehmed Karadzozbeg, oversaw the two-year construction operation.

The Old Bridge was demolished on November 9, 1993, during the Bosnian and Herzegovina War, after a 24-hour standoff. The first makeshift bridge, built by Spanish military architects deployed to the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) operation, opened on the remnants of the Old Bridge on December 30, 1993.

The makeshift structure was renovated several times, eventually connecting the beaches with a more stable wire bridge, until the Old Bridge was properly rebuilt.

Following the demolition of the Stari Most, a Croat spokesman claimed that the Croats did so on purpose because it was strategically important.

Academics have claimed that the bridge had no strategic use and that its destruction was an intentional act of cultural property damage. Given the proximity of churches and mosques in Mostar, the Old Bridge was chosen for its symbolic significance in uniting diverse cultural populations.

According to Andras Riedlmayer, the destruction was an effort of killing a memory, in which proof of a common cultural history and peaceful coexistence was purposefully erased.

Following the end of the war, plans were made to rebuild the bridge. UNESCO, the World Bank, the World Monuments Fund, and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture formed a coalition to oversee the repair of the Stari Most and the old town center of Mostar.

The Netherlands, Italy, Croatia, Turkey, the Government of BiH, and the Community of Europe Development Bank, contributed additional funds. UNESCO created an international council of specialists to supervise the design and repair activities in October 1998.

UNESCO constructed a bridge as close to the source as possible, utilizing the same materials and expertise. UNESCO listed the reconstruction as a World Heritage Site in 2005.

The bridge was rebuilt in two stages; the first, under the direction of Hungarian government engineers, involved the rising of submerged particles for repurposing; and the second, which involved the deconstruction of the wooden bridge, a mission allocated to Spanish military engineers, and the restoration of the Old Bridge using Ottoman construction methods by a collaboration of civil engineering firms, and limestone from locally sourced quarries.

Significance

The bridge crosses the Neretva River in the historic town of Mostar. The city is the country's fifth-largest, serving as the administrative headquarters of the Federation of Herzegovina and Bosnia's Herzegovina-Neretva Canton and the informal headquarters of Herzegovina.

The Stari Most is hump-backed. Two defensive towers guard it, Tara Tower on the southwest and Halebija Tower on the northeast. Both are known as the 'bridge keepers'.

The everyday life of Jews, Muslims, and Christians were depicted in the architecture as a sign of acceptance. Synagogues, mosques, and churches coexisted in this region for more than 400 years, suggesting that the Sephardic Jews, the Eastern Orthodox Serbs, their Byzantine culture, and the Roman Catholic Croats, and their Western European culture, coexisted alongside Bosniak-Muslims.

World Heritage Site

The regulations on the Implementation of Actions of the Committee to conserve National Monuments of Herzegovina and Bosnia, the regulations on the Conservation and Use of Natural, Ethnic, and Cultural Heritage of Herzegovina and Bosnia, and the regulations on Land Use and Planning at the Federation Level of Herzegovina and Bosnia, are all related to the harmonized set of laws for the protection of listed national monuments.

Furthermore, the ancient urban structure of Mostar was designated as a World Heritage Site, with bounds corresponding to the inscribed property's area.

The strategy for the Old City of Mostar was executed in terms of management. This four-part document (planning, finance, execution, and governance), along with the master plan, was created to conserve and protect the property's exceptional universal value.

The plan also lays out the steps that must be taken to ensure good management, long-term care for the World Heritage Site following its exceptional universal significance, historical and cultural aspects, and long-term conservation and protection of cultural values.

Also, it emphasizes the property's engagement in enhancing the local community's living standards and life quality. The Herzegovina and Bosnia's Federation governments have approved the master plan.

Regarding operations, the City Council of Mostar formed the 'Stari Grad' (Mostar) Agency, which is in charge of conservation, growth, maintenance, and supervision. The agency works closely with other heritage-protection organizations.

The government of Herzegovina, Bosnia, and the City of Mostar fund most cultural preservation projects.

In addition, the city of Mostar executes projects aimed at improving the city's infrastructure. To ensure that the efforts to site preparation do not jeopardize the integrity of the land and its outer zone, heritage protection agencies must take appropriate steps to preserve and reduce such harmful consequences.

Other Miscellaneous Facts

Despite the other Ottoman monuments, Stari Most, also known as the Old Bridge area of the Old City of Mostar, is the most identifiable urban structure in Mostar and throughout the country. It has been used for 427 years and connects two towns by crossing the Neretva River.

The Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar was designed by Kodja Mimar Sinan, a prominent Ottoman architect, and was erected in 1566. Architect Hayruddin, one of his students, built his design.

Apart from Stari Most, several other significant Ottoman monuments were constructed in Mostar. These structures of considerable importance are the Neziraga Mosque, Cejvan Cehaj Mosque, The Crooked Bridge or Kriva Cuprija Bridge, Koski Mehmed Pasha Mosque Complex, and the Hammam and Tabhana.

The Crooked Bridge is a little stone arch bridge that resembles a miniature replica of Mostar's Old Bridge. It was erected near the Old Bridge in 1558.

The Radobolja Creek runs into the Neretva River near the Old Bridge, and the Crooked Bridge crosses it. The bridge uses limestone abutments, instead of foundations, connected to side walls along the water's edge.

Abutments are raised to a height of 21.4 ft (6.53 m) from the summer water level of 131.4 ft (40 m), from which the arch rises to its highest point.

A molding 1 ft (0.32 m) in height emphasizes the arch's beginning. The arch rises to a height of 39.4 ft (12.02 m).

The courtyard of the historic Turkish home, erected in 1635, is a beautiful specimen of Ottoman design.

Mostar's old city is also noted for its ancient Turkish buildings, which were constructed during the Ottoman period. The current bridge is a restored Ottoman bridge from the 16th century; the original one stood for more than 400 years before being destroyed during the Bosnian War.

The World Bank, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the World Monuments Fund, and extra money from the Netherlands, Italy, Croatia, and Turkey, helped rebuild the bridge in 2004.

FAQs

Where is the Old Bridge in Mostar?

The Old Bridge is located in the city of Mostar, in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

How old is the Old Bridge in Mostar?

The Old Bridge in Mostar is 427 years old.

Who destroyed the Old Bridge in Mostar?

One of Bosnia-Herzegovina's cultural monuments was destroyed in the war in 1993. During severe fighting in the Bosnian war, shells fired by Croatian gunners demolished the Old Bridge in Mostar.

What is the Old Bridge in Mostar famous for?

The Old Bridge is famous for its symbolic significance in uniting diverse cultural populations.

What is the size of the Old Bridge in Mostar?

The Old Bridge is 98.4 ft (30 m) long, 13.1 ft (4 m) wide, and stands 78.7 ft (24 m) above the river.

When and why was the Old Bridge in Mostar declared a World Heritage Site?

The Old Bridge in Mostar was inscribed in 2005, because of its post-medieval European and urban environment, representing the region's unique culture. The town's heterogeneous background enriched its cultural history and was preserved and protected by UNESCO.