Stari Most, also known as Mostar Bridge, is a reconstructed 16th-century Ottoman bridge in the city of Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina that crosses the Neretva River and connects the two parts of the city.
The Old Mostar Bridge was completed in 1566 and stood until November 1993, when it was destroyed during the Bosnian War. It was rebuilt from 2001-2004 using traditional techniques in an attempt to restore the bridge as faithfully as possible.
Stari Most or Mostar’s Old Bridge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is widely considered one of the most beautiful bridges in the world!. Fun fact: The bridge has no foundations. The story goes that Stari Most was held together with metal pins and egg whites, and to this day it remains an unusual but impressive design.
The bridge stood proudly and powerfully over the Neretva River for 427 years, until it was demolished by Croatian forces during the Bosnian war on November 9, 1993. Reconstruction of the bridge began in 1997 and followed exactly the same construction techniques that were used over four centuries ago, to preserve the integrity of the original Stari Most.
Few bridges are built without foundations, let alone one as beautiful as Stari Most. When completed in 1566/67, the bridge had the widest arch in the world and was a masterpiece of Ottoman architecture. So much so that the city of Mostar is actually named after the bridge and derives from the Slavic word – mostari – for “keepers of the bridge”.
