Stari Most

Description

Stari Most , also known as Mostar Bridge, is a rebuilt 16th-century Ottoman bridge in the city of Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It crosses the river Neretva and connects the two parts of the city, which is named after the bridge keepers (mostari) who guarded the Stari Most during the Ottoman era. During the Croat–Bosniak War, the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina used the bridge as a military supply line, and as a response, the bridge collapsed on 9 November 1993 due to shelling by the Croatian Defence Council (HVO). Subsequently, a project was set in motion to reconstruct it; the rebuilt bridge opened on 23 July 2004.

The Old Bridge is an exemplary piece of Balkan Islamic architecture. It was commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1557 and designed by Mimar Hayruddin, a student and apprentice of the architect Mimar Sinan.