When we took our trip to Belgrade and Sarajevo, we also stopped in the small town of Mostar in Bosnia-Hercegovina. We took a beautiful train ride from Sarajevo and arrived there in about two and a half hours. We had heard that the town was lovely and we knew of its famous bridge. And it did indeed turn out to be a magical place!
We arrived in the morning and immediately noticed a number of completely bombed-out buildings. Surprisingly, we had not seen this before on our travels, but we recognised immediately the results of the 1990s war.
The old town of Mostar is not large but it is very scenic. It lines both sides of the Neretva river. The most beautiful buildings date to the Ottoman period, which lasted nearly four centuries from 1468 to 1878. Because we were there in the off-season, the place seemed deserted. Many of the merchant stalls that line both sides of the river were open, even though tourists were few. We heard that it is a busy place in the summer, with buses during the day disgorging load after load of tourists.
Our wonderful landlady gave us some great recommendations, including the restaurant Urban, with a wonderful view of the bridge. We sat out in the late morning sunshine, enjoying a delicious late breakfast. We could not take our eyes off the Mostar bridge!
Now, about that bridge. It was built in 1566, on the orders of Suleiman the Magnificent. The architect Mimar Hayruddin designed it; he was a student of Mimar Sinan, whose buildings in Istanbul we came to love. It is not a large bridge but there is something about its arch and the diagonal walkway above it that is simply splendid. The bridge one sees today is not the original: that was destroyed on 9 November 1993, shelled by Bosnian Croat forces. After the war, however, UNESCO and other charitable organisations decided to rebuild it and the surrounding areas. The rebuilding took three years, and the engineers sought to use the original techniques for the new bridge. It opened on 23 July 2004.
After our meal, we spent a lovely couple of hours walking around the town and admiring the buildings. There’s also a beautiful river which flows through the town. Sadly, there were many reminders of the war, blown-out buildings, including a museum. We also noticed a diving platform on the shoreline right near the old bridge – an eyesore, if you ask us, but no one did. Mostar has an annual competition in diving, and they use this platform.
In walking back and forth in the town we noticed a wine shop right near the old bridge, which was advertising tastings and other local goodies. We couldn’t resist and we’re glad we didn’t. The place, The Spirit of Herzegovina, was presided over by Mirna, who schooled us in the varieties of Herzegovinan wine and spirits. We learned lots of other wonderful things from her as well. (She was particularly proud that the village she comes from has the tallest people in Europe – 9 mm taller than its nearest competitor!) As to the drinks, one of us did the wine flight, the other the rakia one. Both were superb, so when we left, we naturally had to gather a few samples for home.
In the evening we went to a lovely restaurant which looked out over the river and had a delicious meal to the sound of the rushing water. Among the best parts of the dinner was Bosnian Bey soup, made with chicken and okra. It was the perfect end to a magical day. (We ate this everywhere in Bosnia, and this was the best incarnation of it!)
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