Stari Most means Old Bridge. It is the number one tourist attraction in Mostar. Mostar is in the Herzegovina region, which is part of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).
We took an early morning bus from Dubrovnik to Mostar. We booked a room in a hostel that is about half a mile from the Old Bridge. Surprisingly, it was quite hot, probably in the 90s' and there were many tourists walking the streets to and from the Old Bridge. There are many restaurants and souvenirs shops lining the streets.
One thing I noticed when crossing the border from Croatia to BiH is the living standard. The houses and roads are not as well built and people are not as well dressed as in Croatia. Another thing you will notice is that this is a Muslim country. There are signs of the Muslim faith everywhere - signs on the restaurants, women in their muslim garments, etc. In Mostar, you can see several mosques within the city. We happen to arrive on a Friday, which is a holy day for Muslims, and you can hear prayers blasting from loudspeakers on the minaret towers.
Why is the Old Bridge so important? The original stone bridge was built in the 16th century by the Ottoman rulers. It was the city's symbol and one of the most important structures of the Ottoman empire. It stood for many, many years until during the Bosnian war it was destroyed by the Croatian Army in the early 1990s'. There was a huge international outcry because of the bridge's historical significance. In 1995 an effort was under way to reconstruct the bridge using the same material and techniques from the 16th century. It was funded by several countries, including the US, and sponsored by UNESCO. Today, tourists come from all over the world just to see this Old Bridge.
We are taking an early morning bus from Mostar to Split. From Split, we'll take the train north to Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. It will be a long travel day. Four hours on the bus and probably another 8 hours on the train. However, it's not so bad on the train because you have a lot of room to move around and you can see the scenery go by.
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| Stari Most or Old Bridge |
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| A close-up view of the Old Bridge |
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Tourists flocking to see the Old Bridge
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| A shop selling souvenirs |
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A street in Old Town
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| A river-level view of the Old Bridge |
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