"If we are to find our way across troubled waters, we are better served by the company of those who have built bridges, who have moved beyond despair and inertia."
-- Marilyn Ferguson=====================================================================
(in the south of Bosnia and Herzegovina) In the region of Herzegovina, Mostar is one of the Balkan’s most interesting towns. Though small, wander its many bridges, sample regional wine, and watch the locals jump off the famous Old Bridge into the river.
+ Mostar, the chief city (and, historically, the capital of Herzegovina), is found in a mountainous country along the Neretva River and lies on the Sarajevo-Ploče rail line. First mentioned in 1452, Mostar became a Turkish garrison town in the 16th century. In 1566 the Turks replaced the town’s wooden suspension bridge over the Neretva with a stone arch one, from which came the name Mostar (from Serbo-Croatian most, “bridge”). This stone bridge had a single arch 90 feet (27 meters) wide and was a masterpiece of Ottoman engineering. In November 1993, during the Bosnian civil war, the bridge was destroyed by artillery fire from Bosnian Croat forces. A major rebuilding project was undertaken to restore the bridge and nearby buildings that had also been damaged; the bridge reopened in 2004. (The bridge and the surrounding area were added to UNESCO’s World Heritage list in 2005.)
+ Mostar served as a center for crafts and trade, and its reconstructed coppersmith’s bazaar is a tourist attraction. While under Austrian rule (1878–1918), Mostar became a center for Serbian scholars and poets. Počitelj, south of Mostar, is famous for its Muslim architecture with a mosque, madrasah (school), and Turkish houses.
+ Mostar was named after the bridge keepers (mostari) who guarded the Stari Most (Old Bridge) over the Neretva during the Ottoman era. The Old Bridge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, commissioned in the 16th century, is one of the country's most visited landmarks.
+ Austria-Hungary took control over Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878 and ruled the region until the aftermath of World War I in 1918, when it became part of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs (and then Yugoslavia).
+ After Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia in April 1992, the town was besieged by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), following clashes between the JNA and Croat forces.
+ On 7 June the Croatian Army launched an offensive code-named Operation Jackal, the objective of which was to relieve Mostar and break the JNA siege of Dubrovnik. The offensive was supported by the HVO, which attacked the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) positions around Mostar. By 12 June the HVO secured the western part of the city and by 21 June the VRS was completely pushed out from the eastern part.
+ In early 1993 the Croat–Bosniak War escalated and by mid-April 1993 Mostar had become a divided city with the western part dominated by HVO forces and the eastern part controlled by the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH).
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