meskic_mo@hotmail.com       +387 (62) 115-333 (Viber & WhatsApp)
Location: Mostar

The old bridge in Mostar over the Neretva River is the UNESCO World Heritage Site which, when built, was the largest archway in the world.


The Old bridge in Mostar over the Neretva River is the UNESCO World Heritage Site which, when built, was the largest archway in the world. He was built in 1566 by Sulejman Magnificent, and the builder was Mimar Hajrudin. The bridge stood firm 427 years until it was destroyed during the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1993. It was rebuilt after the war and reopened to the public on July 23, 2004.

UNESCO Information

The old bridge has a large arc 4 meters wide and 30 meters long which at its height of 24 meters, at the highest point, dominates the Neretva River. From both ends it ends with a defensive tower, Hellebi in the northeast and Tara in the southwest, which are commonly referred to as the “Mostars” (bridge shoppers by which the city was named). The arch is made of a local stone “tenelija”, and its shape is a product of many irregularities that arise from the deformation of the intrados (inner line of the arch). It can be described as a circle that is pressed on both sides. Instead of the foundation, the bridge rests on the limestone pinnacles that continue at the river level to the towers that bear the towers. The upsurfers are 6.53 meters high (in the summer watering), and the arch begins with a decorative twig of 32 cm high, with a bow of 12.02 meters high.

Given that many details of its construction of the mystery, such as the question of how its wooden structure was raised, how the stone was transported to the site, and how the wooden supports supported a nine-year construction, it can be considered one of the greatest architectural achievements of their time.