Stari Most

Stari Most (lit. 'Old Bridge'), also known as Mostar Bridge, is a rebuilt 16th-century <a href="/facts/Ottoman_Empire/6QvfTRsg">Ottoman</a> bridge in the city of <a href="/facts/Mostar/phdVBAjf">Mostar</a> in <a href="/facts/Bosnia_and_Herzegovina/jNVA1gPB">Bosnia and Herzegovina</a>. It crosses the river <a href="/facts/Neretva/R0jUSYGn">Neretva</a> and connects the two parts of the city, which is named after the bridge keepers (mostari) who guarded the Stari Most during the <a href="/facts/Ottoman_Bosnia_and_Herzegovina/M9JUswq2">Ottoman</a> era. During the <a href="/facts/Croat%25E2%2580%2593Bosniak_War/6hAb5W8f">Croat–Bosniak War</a>, the <a href="/facts/Army_of_the_Republic_of_Bosnia_and_Herzegovina/wEEfpV1x">Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina</a> used the bridge as a military supply line, and the bridge was shelled by the <a href="/facts/Croatian_Defence_Council/IzTnI4af">Croatian Defence Council</a> (HVO) and collapsed on 9 November 1993. Subsequently, the bridge was reconstructed, and it re-opened on 23 July 2004. In 2017, the <a href="/facts/ICTY/n0cQyk8p">ICTY</a> deemed that the shelling was legal and that the bridge was a legitimate military target.
The Old Bridge is an exemplary piece of <a href="/facts/Ottoman_architecture/oXdyCPTC">Balkan Islamic architecture</a>. It was commissioned by <a href="/facts/Suleiman_the_Magnificent/AQKbFdJu">Suleiman the Magnificent</a> in 1557 and designed by <a href="/facts/Mimar_Hayruddin/I09XXHY0">Mimar Hayruddin</a>, a student and apprentice of the architect <a href="/facts/Mimar_Sinan/GKE47cLM">Mimar Sinan</a>.

Stari Most open-in-new

Stari Most