MOSTAR

The unofficial capital of Herzegovina, largest town in Herzegovina and the second largest in the whole country, southern region of Bosnia-Herzegovina, centered around its famous stone archy "Stari Most" bridge, built in 1566, binding two banks of the emerald Neretva river.
This is a city of poetry, a city of stone, sleepy, harmony, narrow, winding streets, the city of academe, friendship, love, and Velez, a local soccer darling team.
This is a city where a traveller from the North feels first dashes of Mediteranean air imbued with scents of citrus and sea.
This is a city where a traveller from the South reaches first glimpses of the continent beyond. Here is where southern rains may change into northern snows at any moment in late fall. In true sense of the word, this is the city where West meets East meets North meets South, it is a real melting pet of cultures and traditions.
The town is exceptional for its dwellings and monuments assembled harmoniously over the centuries thanks to favourable geographical conditions and a sound economic climate.
This town has developed on the basis of a small settlement existing already in antiquity.
The multiethnic character has been preserved, in spite of ethnical cleansing which has been effectuated during the war conflicts.
Mosques and churches alike have been rebuilt and museums have been reopened.
Its cobble stone streets in the old town are once again filled with visitors from all over the world, the cafes are teeming with the young and old enjoying the fresh air and breathtaking views of the Neretva and the surrounding mountains.

The Old Bridge

The "Old Bridge" enhanced the town's development and prosperity. Despite reinforcement works sometimes incompatible with modern restoration principles, this construction was in a perfect state of conservation before the outbreak of military hostilities in the region.
Mimar Hajruddin, a pupil of the famous architect Sinan (considered as the father of classic Ottoman architecture), constructed the bridge in 1566. It consisted of a humpbacked arch with an opening of 27 metres, and was 4 metres wide and 30 metres long. It stood 20 metres above the maximum water level in summer. The bridge was flanked by two fortified towers, the Halebija Tower on the right bank and the Tara Tower on the left bank, both dating from to the 17th century.

Kriva cuprija

Beside the famous Stari Most (Old Bridge), there is another ancient bridge in Mostar: the Kriva cuprija (or the Crooked Bridge). It crosses the Rabobolja creek, a right-bank affluent of the Neretva River. The exact date of its construction and the name of its founder are not known, but it is older then Old Bridge.
Kriva cuprija is a stone one-arch bridge of small dimension and closely resembles the Stari Most. The arch is a perfect semicircle 8.56m in width and 4.15m in height. The frontage and vault are made of regular stone cubes incorporated into the horizontal layers all along the vault. The space between vault, frontal walls and footpath is filled with cracked stone. The bridge footpath and the approaching roads are paved with cobblestones, as is the case with the main roads in the town.