Mostar Information Information
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The city of Mostar is situated in a beautiful valley bedded between high mountains of Herzegovina. It is thanks to the river Neretva that Mostar was able to develop as a city in the desert-like landscape of Herzegovina. Neretva’s size turned Mostar very early in to a trading centre of the region. What makes this city known is it’s famous bridge. The Old Bridge was built by the Ottoman empire in 1565. It was the great architect Mimar Hajrudin who had succeded with the impossible mission to cross the Neretva river with a single span stone bridge. It not only connected the city physically but, by the 20th century, had come to symbolize the coming together of many nationalities and ethnicities. Stari Most (Old bridge) is a humped back bridge. It is 4 meters wide and 30 meters long. At its highest, it is 24 meters over the River Neretva. The arch of the bridge is constructed from a local stone called tenelija.
On July 23, 2004, festivities with music, dancing, and international guests celebrated the completed restoration of the landmark bridge to its original form. This reconstruction project is one piece of a larger effort to restore the historic district of Mostar after its devastation by bombing.
Flanked by two fortified towers, the Halebija Tower on the right bank and the Tara Tower on the left. These towers are called mostari, or "bridge keepers", and it is through these towers that the town Mostar derived its name. The Tara Tower was constructed in the 16th century on the east bank, the Halebija on the west bank dates from the 17th century. The green-roofed building near the Tara Tower was used as a mosque for the Muslims working on the bridge during the years of reconstruction. It also houses exhibition of photos of the old bridge, its destruction and reconstruction which is definitely worth a look.
With its hot summers and mild winters, Mostar is also one of Europe’s sunniest cities.
Handicraftsmen played a huge part in Mostar’s development in the early years of its existence, and have continued to do so even today. Now they have one of the key roles in the city’s tourist offer. On the left bank of Neretva we can find Kujundziluk. The name came from Kujundzije or in English “coppersmiths”. This is a tradition very well preserved even today. Unlike then you can now find them everywhere in the old town and not only in Kujundziluk, as well as you can find other kinds of shops in Kujundziluk that are not necessarily coppersmiths. In Mostar there were also many tailors (terzije), and at last Mostar’s biggest industry, tanners (tabaci). The last two mentioned are today unfortunately as good as gone. “Tabhana”- the palace where the tanners used to process their leather is now a line of cafés. It’s an excellent place to have the morning coffee in an old Turkish atmosphere.
Every year in the mid summer, young man from Mostar (people call them "Liske" - leafs) have organized jumping off the Old Bridge. As the time passed by, skill of fight against hight and swift, cold Neretva has been improved. Only several places in the world can be proud of such spectacle. There are some "Leafs" who will jump off for you if you pay them 10 (in summer time) or 20 (in winter time) Euros.
Stari Most and its surrounding heritage structures were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July, 2005.
