The Old Bridge, also known as the Mostar Bridge, is a rebuilt 16th-century Ottoman bridge located in the city of Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It spans the Neretva River and connects the two parts of the city, which is named after the bridge keepers (mostari) who protected the bridge during the Ottoman period. The bridge was commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1557 and designed by Mimar Hayruddin, a student of the architect Mimar Sinan. It is an example of Balkan Islamic architecture.

During the Croat–Bosniak War, the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) used the bridge as a military supply route. This led the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) to attack and destroy the bridge on November 9, 1993. The bridge was later rebuilt and reopened on July 23, 2004. In 2017, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) determined that the bridge was a legitimate military target.

Characteristics

The bridge crosses the Neretva River in the old town of Mostar, the unofficial capital of Herzegovina. The Stari Most is arched, 4 meters (13 feet 1 inch) wide, and 30 meters (98 feet 5 inches) long. It stands above the river at a height of 24 meters (78 feet 9 inches). Two strong towers guard the bridge: the Halebija Tower on the northeast and the Tara Tower on the southwest. These towers are known as "the bridge keepers" in the local language, called "mostari."

Instead of foundations, the bridge has limestone abutments connected to wing walls along the cliffs near the river. The abutments are built to a height of 6.53 meters (21 feet 5 inches), measured from the summer water level of 40.05 meters (131 feet 5 inches). From this height, the arch rises to its highest point. A molding that is 0.32 meters (1 foot 1 inch) tall marks the beginning of the arch. The arch rises 12.02 meters (39 feet 5 inches).

History

The stone single-arch bridge is a great example of Balkan Islamic architecture. It was built by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1557. The bridge was designed by Mimar Hayruddin, who studied under Mimar Sinan, a famous architect who built many important buildings for the Sultan in Istanbul and other parts of the empire.

As Mostar became more important economically and administratively under Ottoman rule, the old wooden suspension bridge over the Neretva gorge needed to be replaced. The old bridge was made of wood and hung on chains. It swayed so much that people who crossed it felt very afraid. In 1566, Mimar Hayruddin designed the new bridge, which cost 300,000 Drams (silver coins) to build. The two-year project was supervised by Karagoz Mehmet Bey, the Sultan’s son-in-law and the patron of Mostar’s important mosque complex, the Hadzi Mehmed Karadzozbeg Mosque.

Construction began in 1557 and took nine years. According to an inscription, the bridge was completed in 974 AH, which corresponds to the time between 19 July 1566 and 7 July 1567. Little is known about how the bridge was built, but it is thought that mortar mixed with egg whites was used. Most information about the construction comes from stories and the name of the builder, Mimar Hayruddin. He was threatened with death if he failed to build a bridge of such large size. It is said he prepared for his funeral when the scaffolding was removed from the finished structure. When it was completed, it was the widest human-made arch in the world.

In the 17th century, the Ottoman explorer Evliya Çelebi described the bridge as "a rainbow arch soaring up to the skies, extending from one cliff to the other." He said he had traveled through 16 countries but had never seen such a high bridge.

During the Croat–Bosniak War, the Bosniak Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina used the Old Bridge as a military supply line. Slobodan Praljak, the commander of the Croat Defence Council, ordered the bridge’s destruction. It collapsed on 9 November 1993 due to shelling by Bosnian Croat forces. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia stated the bridge was a legitimate military target because the opposing army used it for military purposes.

A temporary bridge was built on 30 December 1993 by Spanish military engineers working with the United Nations. This bridge was later improved three times and replaced with a more secure cable-stayed bridge until the Old Bridge could be rebuilt.

Sarajevo-based newspapers reported that more than 60 shells hit the bridge before it collapsed. Praljak published a document claiming an explosive charge or mine was placed under the bridge and detonated remotely, in addition to the shelling. Most historians disagree with these claims.

Some scholars believe the bridge had little military importance and that the shelling of the old town center was a deliberate act to destroy cultural heritage. András Riedlmayer called this destruction “killing memory,” or memoricide, where shared cultural heritage is intentionally destroyed.

Croatian media reported claims that the bridge was destroyed by Bosniak forces, citing materials from Praljak’s website. These claims included conspiracy theories about Bosniak units destroying the bridge to blame Croats.

On 6 April 2023, a video showed footage of more than 50 projectiles fired by a Croatian Defence Council tank. Voices identified as HVO soldiers were heard cheering as the projectiles struck the bridge.

After the war, plans to rebuild the bridge were made. The World Bank, UNESCO, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, and the World Monuments Fund worked together to oversee the reconstruction of the Stari Most and Mostar’s historic city center. Additional funding came from Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey, Croatia, the Council of Europe Development Bank, and the Government of BiH. In October 1998, UNESCO formed an international committee of experts to guide the design and reconstruction. They decided to build a bridge as similar as possible to the original, using the same technology and materials.

The bridge was rebuilt in two phases. The first phase, led by Hungarian army engineers, involved lifting submerged materials for reuse. The second phase included removing the temporary bridge, a task done by Spanish engineers, and rebuilding the Old Bridge using Ottoman techniques by a partnership of civil engineering companies led by the Turkish firm Er-Bu. Tenelia, a fine-grained limestone from local quarries, was used. Hungarian divers recovered stones from the original bridge, though most were too damaged to reuse.

Reconstruction began on 7 June 2001. The rebuilt bridge was inaugurated on 23 July 2004, with the cost estimated at 15.5 million US dollars.

Diving

Stari Most diving is a traditional event held each year during midsummer, which is the end of July. It is a custom for young men from the town to jump from the bridge into the Neretva River. Because the water is very cold, this activity is dangerous and needs practice and skill. According to TripAdvisor, some tourists also participate in the dives. A formal diving competition was started in 1968 and has taken place every summer since then. Enej Kelecija was the first person to jump from the bridge after it was reopened.

Since 2015, Stari Most has been a stop on the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series. In 2019, the diving event was shown in Series 2, episode 3 of The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan.

In popular culture

• The Turkish rock band Bulutsuzluk Özlemi's 1996 song "Yaşamaya Mecbursun" (literally "You have to live") describes the destruction of Stari Most.
• The play Old Bridge, written by Igor Memic, who won the Papatango New Writing Prize, examines personal and historical stories connected to the importance of the Old Bridge in Mostar. It first performed in 2021 at the Bush Theatre in London and was honored with the Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre award at the 2022 Olivier Awards.