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Mostar

Mostar is located just a short drive from Dubrovnik up the coast toward the Neretva valley. It was named after its bridge (turkish word for bridge is 'most') and the two forts on the sides of the bridge known as "Guardians of the Bridge", named Helebi and Tara. The bridge and its forts, as well as the oldest parts of Mostar have been built by the Turks during the Ottoman Empire.

The old bridge was an amazing example of the architecture. The arch was 29 meters long and 20 meters high, yet so elegantly shaped that when seen from the side it looked so thin that it seemed unbelievable that it was made of massive blocks of stone. Although so impressive, its purpose was nothing of the decorative purpose, but simply to connect two sides of the the Neretva river. The design of the bridge developed through history to always fit this purpose. For ages, the brigde was the symbol of this town. However, during the war, more specifically, in 1993, the bridge was bombarded and blown out. Nonetheless, a decade later, in July 2004, the new bridge was built, and that bridge was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in July 2005.

Mostar has been developed from the small antique village. It is the town where north and south, east and west meet, the town where the Neretva river has been dividing and connecting cultures and regions for centuries, the town in which differences and opposites coincide and can be seen and felt on every step.