ABOUT : Mostar is a city and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the largest and one of the most important cities in the Herzegovina region, its cultural capital and the center of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation. Mostar is situated on the Neretva river and is the fifth-largest city in the country. HISTORY: Mostar (founded in 1452) was named after the bridge keepers (natively:
mostari) who in the medieval times guarded the Stari Most (Old Bridge) over the Neretva. The Old Bridge, built by the Ottomans in the 16th century, is one of Bosnia and Herzegovina's most recognizable landmarks, and is considered one of the most exemplary pieces of Islamic architecture in the Balkans. MEDIEVAL: As far as medieval Mostar goes, although the Christian basilicas of late antiquity remained in use, few historical sources were preserved and not much is known about this period. The name of Mostar was first mentioned in a document dating from 1474, taking its name from the bridge-keepers (mostari); this refers to the existence of a wooden bridge from the market on the left bank of the river which was used by traders, soldiers, and other travelers. However, prior to the 1474 the names of two towns appear in medieval historical sources, along with their later medieval territories and properties – the towns of Nebojša and Cimski grad. In the early 15th century the late medieval county of Večenike covered the site of the present-day Mostar along the right bank of the Neretva: Zahum, Cim, Ilići, Hraštani and Vojno. It was at the center of this area, which in 1408 belonged to the Radivojević's, that Cim fort was built (prior to 1443). Mostar is indirectly referred to in a charter of King Alfonso V of Aragon dating from 1454 as Pons (Bridge), for a bridge had already been built there. Prior to 1444, the Nebojša fort was built on the left bank of the Neretva, which belonged to the late medieval county still known as Večenike or Večerić.The earliest documentary reference to Mostar as a settlement dates from April 3, 1452, when natives of Dubrovnik wrote to their fellow countrymen in the service of Đorđe Branković to say that Vladislav Hercegović had turned against his father and occupied the town called Blagaj and other places, including “Duo Castelli al ponte de Neretua.”
The Old Town Street
OTTOMAN RULE: In 1468 Mostar came under Ottoman rule and the urbanization of the settlement began. Following the unwritten oriental rule, the town was organized into two distinct areas: čaršija, the crafts and commercial centre of the settlement, and mahala or a residential area. In 1468 Mostar acquired the name Köprühisar, meaning fortress at the bridge, at the centre of which was a cluster of 15 houses. The town was fortified between the years 1520 and 1566, and the wooden bridge was rebuilt in stone.The stone bridge, the Old Bridge (Stari Most), was erected in 1566 on the orders of Suleiman the Magnificent, the Ottoman ruler.Later becoming the city's symbol, the Old Bridge (Stari Most) is one of the most important structures of the Ottoman era and perhaps Bosnia's most recognizable architectural piece, and was designed by Mimar Hayruddin, a student and apprentice of the famous Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan. In the late 16th century, Mostar was the chief administrative city for the Ottoman Empire in the Herzegovina region. OLD BRIDGE (symbol of the City) : The Stari Most bridge: 28 meters long and 20 meters high (90' by 64'), quickly became a wonder in its own time. AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN PERIOD: The Austro-Hungarian Empire absorbed Mostar in 1878 and it ruled there until the aftermath of World War I in 1918. During this period, Mostar was recognized as the unofficial capital of all of Herzegovina(as it always was). The first church in the city of Mostar, a Serbian Orthodox Church, was built in 1834. In 1881 the town became the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Mostar-Duvno and in 1939, it became a part of the Banovina of Croatia. WW II: During World War II Mostar was also an important city in the fascist Independent State of Croatia (NDH). KINGDOM OF YUGOSLAVIA: The city was a major industrial and tourist center and prospered economically during the time of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1918 to 1945. (The period of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was interrupted by the WW II) The date of 14.02.1945 is celebrated as day of liberation from Fascism. SFR YUGOSLAVIA: The second Yugoslavia (1943-1991) was the most productive period for Mostar. In that period Mostar was a city of mixed cultures, peoples, religions, civilizations, and was very famous for that fact in all of Yugoslavia. WAR IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA (1992 - 1995): The war brought Mostar destruction. The first fights were against the Serbs in 1992 who bombed the city and took it's east side. The war against the Serbs ended, but another one started just a year later. Until recently fellow citizens of Mostar, Muslims and Croats in 1993 turned on each other. The war destroyed everything that was built by centuries. In the fighting the Muslims were placed on the east coast of the river Neretva, the Croats were on the west, because the most population of each people lived on those sides of the city. On 09.11.1993 Mostar lost the symbol of it's existence, the Old Bridge was destroyed. The war ended in 1994 when the Washington agreement was singed. POSTWAR MOSTAR: Aldo the war ended, the two sides remained separated on east and west Mostar. But as the years go on, ordinary people (Croats, Muslims, Serbs, and Others) have put the past disagreements a side and live one side by side. MOSTAR TODAY: The reconstruction of the Old Bridge in Mostar in 2004 and his opening in July 2005 opens a new era for this city. Today Mostar is the culturally, tourist, political and institutional center of Herzegovina, and the third largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Sarajevo and Banja Luka are larger).
