Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Before the Old Bridge, the Neretva was spanned only by a rickety suspension bridge,
guarded by
mostari
(“watchers of the bridge”), who gave the city its name. Commissioned
in 1557 by the Ottoman Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent, and completed just nine years
later, the Old Bridge was a technological marvel for its time...“the longest single-span stone
arch on the planet.” (In other words, it's the granddaddy of the Rialto Bridge in Venice.)
Because of its graceful keystone design—and the fact that there are empty spaces inside the
structure—it's much lighter than it appears. And yet, nearly 400 years after it was built, the
bridge was still sturdy enough to support the weight of the Nazi tanks that rolled in to oc-
cupy Mostar. Over the centuries, it became the symbol of the town and region—a metaphor
