History of the Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge

The construction of the Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge took place between 1571 and 1577 and was ordered by Grand Vizier Mehmed Pasha Sokolović. It is 179.5 metres long, and was designed by the Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan. It was also a site where Bosniak civilians were massacred during the Bosnian War.

Mimar Sinan was one of the greatest architects of the classical Ottoman period, responsible for over 300 major structures during the sultanates of Suleiman the Magnificent, Selim II and Murad III. His works are often compared with those of the Italian Renaissance.

The bridge is characteristic of contemporary monumental engineering. It features 11 masonry arches, which span between 11 and 15 metres wide. On one side of the river, there is an access ramp at a right angle to the bridge.

In 1945, the Nobel-prize winning Yugoslav writer Ivo Andrić wrote the novel The Bridge on the Drina, which brought attention to the structure from a wide readership. It situated the bridge as a witness to four centuries of history, and a symbol of both division and unification.

The bridge is also a site of mourning. Višegrad was the site of acts of mass murder in 1992 during the Bosnian War, when Serb police and military forces were responsible for the attempted ethnic cleansing of eastern Bosnia.

Several thousand Bosniak civilians were massacred in Višegrad. Many of their bodies were dumped in the Drina river from the bridge. Perućac lake was another location where bodies were concealed. When its waters were lowered in 2010 for maintenance work, the remains of over 300 bodies were retrieved for identification.

Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge today

In 2007, UNESCO included the bridge on the World Heritage List. They state that: “The unique elegance of proportion and monumental nobility of the property as a whole bear witness to the greatness of this style of architecture.” The monument is open to walk across. There are benches permitting visitors to regard the view over the Drina.

Getting to Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge

The historic bridge is in the centre of Višegrad, which can be reached from the capital of Sarajevo by a 2 hour car or taxi journey or a longer bus trip.

History of Mostar Bridge

Mostar Bridge was commissioned by the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in 1557. It was designed by Mimar Hayruddin and is considered an exemplary piece of Balkan Islamic architecture.

The bridge connects the banks of the river Neretva in the old town of Mostar. Mostar is the fifth-largest city in the country and was improving in economic and administrative importance when the original Ottoman bridge was built. It replaced a wooden suspension bridge which reportedly “swayed so much that people crossing it did so in mortal fear”.

Construction took nine years from 1557 and may have cost 300,000 Drams to build. There is little historical information about its construction, though upon its completion it was likely the widest man-made arch in the world.

The bridge is 4 metres wide and 30 metres long, and 24 metres high. A fortified tower is located at either end of the bridge, named the Halebija tower and the Tara tower. The bridge has abutments of limestone.

It was described by 17th century Ottoman explorer Evliya Çelebi as “like a rainbow arch soaring up to the skies, extending from one cliff to the other.” He continued: “[I] have passed through 16 countries, but I have never seen such a high bridge. It is thrown from rock to rock as high as the sky.”

The bridge, which had symbolic significance in Mostar, was deliberately destroyed on 9 November 1993 during the Bosnian War by Croat military forces. 60 shells may have struck the bridge before it collapsed.

It was reconstructed after the war following the establishment of a committee of experts by UNESCO in 1998. Hungarian army engineers recovered submerged material, and Spanish army engineers removed the temporary bridge they had built. The Old Bridge was rebuilt with Ottoman construction techniques using local limestone and inaugurated on 23 July 2004.

Mostar Bridge today

Mostar Bridge is a popular tourist destination in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Mostar Bridge is the location of cliff diving competitions and a local diving tradition. A formal diving competition began in Mostar in 1968.

Getting to Mostar Bridge

Mostar Bridge is in the centre of the city of Mostar. Mostar can be reached by bus from Sarajevo, a journey which takes three hours.

History of Radimlja Necropolis

Radimlja’s impressive stećak necropolis dates to the 15th and 16th centuries. It features monumental tombstones carved with detailed portraits of the deceased as well as visual motifs depicting hunting scenes and grapevines. Five of these stećak tombstones likely mark the graves of members of an important Vlach (Balkan Romance-speaking) family.

Most of the tombstones at Radimlja Necropolis date from the 1480s to the 16th century. The creation of the necropolis coincides with the rise of the noble family of Miloradović-Stjepanović. During this period, the location was known as Batnoge.

The necropolis includes 133 stećci which conform to nine types. They include large slabs, chests, sarcophagi, cruciform, and variants featuring pedestals. Over a dozen were destroyed when the Čapljina-Stolac road was built through the necropolis during the Austro-Hungarian period, in 1882.

The chests and sarcophagi with pedestals are the most finely decorated tombstones at Radimlja Necropolis and were probably reserved for the social elite. The location had been used as a burial site before the necropolis was built in the 14th century. Nearby, there are several burial mounds attributed to Illyrian tribes who inhabited the western Balkans.

Radimlja Necropolis today

The Radimlja Necropolis is open most of the day during the week, with shorter hours on Saturday. Children can access the necropolis for free while adults must pay 4KM (convertible mark) each. Given its location close to the main tourist road, it’s a great place to pause for a meditation on the medieval Balkans.

Getting to Radimlja Necropolis

Radimlja Necropolis is located 3 km west of Stolac, a southern town located on a tourist road which connects Sarajevo to Dubrovnik. It’s a straightforward journey if you are nearby Stolac (3 km) or Mostar (33 km). The Radimlja Necropolis is sometimes included in tours of the region.

History of the Tjentište War Memorial

The Tjentište War Memorial is among the best known of the modernist World War Two memorials constructed in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia known as spomeniks. The Tjentište spomenik is an angular sculpture made of cement located in the Sutjeska National Park, near the Spomen-Dom (Memory House) Museum.

Together, the Tjentište and Spomen-Dom commemorate the Yugoslav Partisan soldiers who died during the Battle of Sutjeska, which took place between 15 May and 16 June 1943, during the Axis Fifth Enemy Offensive aimed at destroying the Partisan force in south-eastern Bosnia.

The Partisan success in breaking out across the Sutjeska river into eastern Bosnia became important to post-war Yugoslav mythology. It has been invoked to celebrate the suffering, sacrifice and steadiness of the Partisans.

The spomenik at Tjentište was built in the 1970s as part of an effort to expand the memorial complex. A proposal by Miodrag Živković and Ranko Radović was accepted after being presented to President Josip Tito. The sculpture consists of two 19 metre-tall, fractal concrete sails.

The adjacent Spomen-Dom was created in 1975 by architect Ranko Radović. It is a large angular building with multiple hipped roofs. The inside walls are engraved with the names of 7,356 Yugoslav Partisan soldiers who died during the Battle of Sutjeska. It also includes frescoes by Krsto Hegedušić and Dušan Plenče.

The Tjentište War Memorial was one of the most complex memorial projects and most popular memorial sites in post-war Yugoslavia. While it was badly damaged in the 1990s, recent years have seen efforts to preserve and restore the memorial complex.

Tjentište War Memorial today

The Tjentište War Memorial was rehabilitated in 2011 with UNESCO funds and since 2014, a summer rock music festival called OK Fest has made use of the surrounding land. In 2018, the frescoes in the Spomen-Dom were restored.

The enigmatic sculpture has accrued interest as part of a wider fascination with Yugoslavia’s modernist memorial sculpture, and has even inspired a fictitious monument in the game Call of Duty: Warzone.

Getting to Tjentište War Memorial

Tjentište War Memorial is located in the Sutjeska National Park. Tjentište is a two hour drive from Sarajevo and can also be reached by a regular bus route from Foča.

History of Vranduk

Vranduk is located on a sheer rock above the river Bosnia. An extensive history of Vranduk spans over two millennia. However, the history of modern Vranduk can be tracked to the beginning of the 15th century, at least according to numerous archives and views expressed in historical literature.

Vranduk represents one of many medieval Bosnian towns with intensive political, economic, and cultural life. It is made up of a citadel with a main tower and protective wall which surrounds the interior of the town.

Three kilometres downstream was a crafting and trading settlement connected to Vranduk where the village Varošište is now located.

The medieval Vranduk Castle, or Vranduk Fortress as it is sometimes known, once served as the residence of King Stjepan Tomas, who ruled Bosnia in the mid-fifteenth century AD.

It was left damaged and forgotten until it was rediscovered in 1999, at which time local communities and the government implemented a conservation and restoration project with the aim of opening it to the public as a place of education. It was declared a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2005.

Vranduk Today

Today, the site is a popular visitor attraction. There is a museum inside a tower where you can try traditional Bosnian meals and learn about the site’s history and culture. There are several other interesting attractions in the town including the Ottoman-period Fatih Sultan Mosque.

During the summer, there are a range of events, such as the ‘Vrandučka ašlama’ festival, ‘Bosnian Kingdom Trails’, theatre performances, concerts, creative workshops (traditional weaving, lace, and souvenir handcrafts), painting, photography, and scientific symposiums and conferences. It is also possible to spend time with local fishermen near the river or enjoy the numerous hiking trails amongst Vranduk’s picturesque setting.

Getting to Vranduk

From the centre of Zenica, Vranduk is a 15-20 minute drive via the R445 road or the E73/M17 roads.