Stari Most
Old Bridge | |
|---|---|
 The Old Bridge in 2007 | |
| Coordinates | 43°20′14″N 17°48′54″E / 43.33728°N 17.81503°E |
| Carried | Pedestrians |
| Crossed | Neretva |
| Locale | Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| Official name | Stari most |
| Heritage status | |
Official name | Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | vi |
| Designated | 2005 (29th session) |
| Reference no. | 946 |
Region | Europe |
Official name | Old Bridge (Stari Most) in Mostar |
| Type | Category 0 cultural property |
| Criteria | A, B, C ii.iii.iv., D ii.iv., E i.ii.iii.iv.v., F i.ii.iii., G i.v.vi.vii., H ii., I i.ii.iii. |
| Designated | 8 July 2004 (session No. 07.1-02-903/03-29) |
| Part of | Mostar, the historic urban site |
| Reference no. | 2493 |
| List of National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina | |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Arch |
| Material | Stone |
| Total length | 29 metres (95 ft) |
| Width | 4 metres (13 ft) |
| No. of spans | 1 |
| c. 20 metres (66 ft) at mid-span depending on river water-level | |
| History | |
| Architect | Mimar Hayruddin (concept could originate from Mimar Sinan's idea) |
| Constructed by | Mimar Hayruddin, apprentice of Mimar Sinan |
| Construction start | 1557 |
| Construction end | 1566 |
| Opened | 1566 |
| Rebuilt | 7 June 2001 – 23 July 2004 |
| Destroyed | 9 November 1993 |
| Location | |
Interactive map of Old Bridge | |
The Old Bridge (Serbo-Croatian: Stari most), also known as the 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 Old Bridge during the Ottoman era. Commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1557 and designed by Mimar Hayruddin, a student and apprentice of the architect Mimar Sinan, the Old Bridge is an exemplary piece of Balkan Islamic architecture.
During the Croat–Bosniak War, the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) used the bridge as a military supply line, leading the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) to shell and destroy it on 9 November 1993. Subsequently, the bridge was reconstructed, and it reopened on 23 July 2004. In 2017, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) deemed that the bridge was a legitimate military target.