Mostar, Bosnia, once medieval bridge, now new after reconstruction













Mostar is known for its bridge over the River Neretva. See the history of Mostar at http://www.kakarigi.net/homeland/mostar. The bridge as shown here looks new, and is, but it is a reconstruction of the old medieval bridge that stood here for centuries. It symbolized unity among the different cultures residing there.  It was bombarded by Croat tanks and fell in 1993, during the Balkan wars. It had stood for 429 years, constructed in 1566 by Ottomans, or orders of the Sultan to the Turkish engineer Mimar Hayruddin -- on pain of death if it fell, see http://www.technologystudent.com/struct1/arch2.htm.  Seven other bridges across that vast span also fell. See Financial Times, Profile Mostar, More than Just Building Bridges, Tues. Nov.11, 2003 at 27.
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The stone used here is from the same quarry, or dredged up from the river after the war, and it was built with the same techniques as the old bridge.
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Fellows still hover around to dive off to impress the girls, as they have also for centuries.  See the technologystudent site above. But now there are police discouraging the show, and a fence.
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Bosnia, and Croatia. Bombings and bullet holes still look fresh.
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In 1991, Mostar's population showed as 34% Bosnian Muslim, 33% Bosnian Croatian, and 17% Bosnian Serbian, and then others. By 2004, Croatians formed the majority. After the destruction of the bridge, divisions between the ethnic population groups increased, with duplicate hospitals, schools, public transportation, even waste disposal, see NYT Mon. March 15, 2004, at http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/15/world/mostar-journal-an-effort-to-unify-a-bosnian-city-multiplies-frictions.html?scp=1&sq=An+Effort+to+Unify+a+Bosnian+City&st=nyt
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The bridge area displays its English reminder of the wars, reflecting keeping its message alive to foreigners, especially Lord Ashdown, former British politician and chief international official as overseer of Bosnian affairs and the UN; and the EU which Bosnia would like at some point to join. "Don't Forget." And a plaque memorial-history. Ashdown issued decrees to end the divides and rivalries, created a single municipal assembly, and redistricted so neither community could dominate the other.  But can they become "Bosnian" rather than their ethnic identity.

The Old Bridge and the area surrounding is a UNESCO World Heritage site. See http://www.thesalmons.org/lynn/wh-bosnia/ and its history at http://www.nato.int/sfor/engineers/mostarbridge/introduction/introduc.htm.

Where to start for a minimal understanding of the impact of wars, religious crusades, political-cultural slaughters and periods of peace, and migrations of vastly disparate groups in the region.

Try this history of warfare site, at http://www.balkandevelopment.org/edu_bos.html The site covers other regions in the area as well.

The town dates from before the bridge, before the early 15th Century, and has long been a crossroads of culture as well as conflict, see http://www.rastko.rs/istorija/sanu/Conflict/Conflict15.htm