Saturday 20th August 2022, Sarajevo
We set off for the two-and-a-half-hour journey just after 10am. It had rained the night before, so the temperature in Sarajevo was moderate. The 5th largest city in the country, Mostar would take us towards the south. This meant the weather would be much warmer in Mostar, our driver told us.
Magnificent mountains graced the scenery on either side of us. The alpine scenes were breathtaking. It is no wonder that the grand Mufti of Pakistan, Mufti Taqi Uthmani had described Bosnia as the ‘Paradise of Europe’. The aqua-blue water of the lakes and rivers surrounding the mountains shimmered in the summer sun. Small white houses seemed to cling on to the mountains, like little dolls’ houses glued on to a scenic background as part of a child’s play.
A brief history of Mostar and the Stari Most Bridge
It is hard to find a non-biased version of the historic events that took place in Mostar and what became of the famous bridge. Many accounts seem to ignore the fact that there was a genocide in which Muslims were targeted specifically. What is more, very little is known about the efforts that went into reconstructing the bridge and the city.
Stari Most Bridge
The iconic Stari Most bridge is a monument from the Ottoman Empire’s Golden Age. Described as “unparalleled” by the Ottoman traveller Evliya Celebi, the bridge was completed in the final year of the reign of the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. It was deemed an architectural masterpiece. However, 427 years later, the bridge was bombed to oblivion by Croat soldiers. It took more than 60 missiles and 3 days of targeted bombing to destroy Mostar’s most important symbol of its heritage. Once the bridge was no more, the Croat soldiers were seen celebrating, by shooting bullets into the sky.
The dreadful footage can be seen below.
Reconstruction of the Old Bridge and city
His name is Amir Pašić . A Bosnian architect, Pašić was a visiting scholar at Harvard University in the USA when he first heard about the bridge’s destruction. He wasted no time in campaigning for the bridge to be rebuilt. His efforts caught the attention of UNESCO and other trusts and organisations. 11 years later, with the collective contributions of scientists, heritage experts and Ottoman experts, the Old Bridge was recreated exactly as it was before. The bridge took 4 years to build, and was completed on the 23rd of July 2004. As part of this project, the old city was rebuilt aswell. It must be mentioned that Professor Pašić’s defiance was highly admirable; he refused to let the Croats take his heritage away.
Below is some footage from my phone. There is a tradition where daredevils jump off the bridge to entertain tourists in exchange for money. The video shows the divers preparing themselves.
I just about caught it on camera!
Famous misinterpretations of the Mostar Bridge
The famous English archaeologist, Sir Arthur Evans wrongly attributed the Mostar Bridge to Emperor Trajan in his 1897 book Through Bosnia and Herzegovina. He claimed the Bridge simply had to be Roman, that it was too grand to have been built by the Ottomans. A similar Islamophobic attitude is also summed up in the Bridge’s description by the 19th-century painter Charlotte de Lazen. Having fallen in love with the bridge, she remarked that the Stari Most bridge was a ‘marvellous remnant of Latin civilisation in the midst of “Turkish barbarity.”‘ This was all despite the original date of the bridge attributing its construction to the reign of Sultan Suleiman. Such was the strength of their prejudice that they were blind to the obvious facts.
In Mostar
Upon arriving in Mostar, we were welcomed by the call to Dhur prayer that could be heard from the 16th-century Hadži-Kurtova džamija mosque. A praiseworthy feature of the Ottoman mosques was that they had an outdoor prayer area for both men and women, known as the traveller’s mihrab. This area was used when the mosque was locked outside of scheduled prayer times.
A fun day out
In stark contrast to its heartbreaking history, Mostar is now a tourist hotspot, with Gulf Arabs in particular flocking here for the lush greenery. Burka-clad women can be seen perched together on benches near the springs and waterfalls, taking in the beauty of nature.
I delightfully splashed water on my face from the water flowing towards the waterfalls.
The Spring of Buna and the Blagaj Tekke
We stopped at a restaurant by the River Buna. One of the strongest springs in Europe, the River Buna springs icy and pure water from the mouth of a cave.
Another famous tourist attraction by the River Buna is the Blagaj Tekke, also known as the ‘Dervish Monastery’. Nearly 600 years old, it is situated under the cliff near the Buna River. The Tekke was built by Ottomans who had arrived in the area in 1520, and wanted to create a space for peaceful worship. They picked a most perfect location!
We headed back to our hotel in Sarajevo just after 6pm. Our visit to Mostar would be a day to remember and recount.
Please note that my account of the history of the bridge has been summarised from Tharik Hussain’s book called Minarets in the Mountains. I have previously written a review on his book for British Muslim Magazine. To read the review, click here:
Minarets in the Mountains: A Journey into Muslim Europe
To buy Hussain’s book, click on the following link:
You might also like to read his 2018 article below. If you scroll down, you will find some information on Mostar and its iconic bridge, the Stari Most.
The Progressive Learner 