A Bridge Between Worlds: Unveiling Bosnia’s Allure in One Day
Bosnia & Herzegovina, a fascinating Balkan nation, beckons. This mountainous country shares a sliver of the Adriatic Sea with Croatia, but the real beauty lies inland. Chris and I journeyed to the charming town of Mostar, a few hours by car from the touristy beachfront cities of Split and Dubrovnik on Croatia’s Dalmatian coast.
Bosnia & Herzegovina has been at the crossroads of empires for centuries. The history of this heart-shaped country in Southern Europe is evident from its diverse architecture and culture. Ornate Ottoman mosques and bridges, onion-domed Eastern Orthodox churches reminiscent of the Byzantine era, and medieval fortresses have tales to tell and secrets to keep.
Like Croatia, a devastating internecine war in the 1990s damaged historic sites dating back centuries. Fortunately, Bosnia & Herzegovina, with the help of a UNESCO-led international coalition, rebuilt most of its iconic sites to their former glory. Even the Old Bridge “Stari Most,” perhaps the most photographed monument in Mostar, was painstakingly rebuilt. Artisans replicated the Ottoman building techniques from the mid-1500s when the bridge was built.
Date of Visit: September 26, 2022
By the time Chris and I set foot in Bosnia-Herzegovina, it was three decades since the Bosnian War raged across this now seemingly tranquil country. Despite the passing years, I still remember those wartime images. I followed the War closely when I took a class on Yugoslavia in my international relations program at Boston University. My professor was pro-Serbian, but the way I looked at it, there were no heroes. Certainly not by the end of the War. Televised news reports brought fierce fighting into our living rooms as Yugoslavia, a socialist nation, unraveled along ethnic and religious lines.
An Afternoon Excursion
It was an overcast September morning when Chris and I left Split for an afternoon visit to Mostar, the fifth-largest city in Bosnia & Herzegovina. We had a new driver assigned to us by our Experience Dalmatia tour company. We would miss Frane, who had driven us from Zagreb to Slovenia and back into Croatia through Istria and down to Split. But there’s a law about the hours commercial drivers can clock weekly. Ivo would take us to Dubrovnik, where we would stay three nights before flying home to California. He would also take us on several excursions into Bosnia & Herzegovina and then Montenegro. Mario, the owner of the private driving tour company we hired, suggested a two-hour inland diversion to see Mostar, east of Split and Dubrovnik.
Driving to Mostar
Drivers traveling between Split and Dubrovnik, Croatia’s two seaside Croatian towns, once had to cross into Bosnia & Herzegovina and wait in long customs lines before re-entering Croatia. That was how things were until the nearly 8,000-ft-long Pelješac Bridge was completed in July 2022. Now, it’s possible to get from one end of Croatia to the other, and never technically set foot in Bosnia & Herzegovina.
This little country with 3.2 million people has historically had an outsized influence on the rest of the world. Indeed, the 1914 assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo by a “Young Bosnia” extremist seeking Serbian independence from the Austro-Hungarian empire triggered World War I.
Years of Subjugation
Bosnia & Herzegovina takes its name from two historical regions where people of Muslim, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox (Byzantine), and Jewish faiths live side-by-side, not always harmoniously. Like its Balkan neighbors, the country has a long history of subjugation by outside powers. After 400 years of dominion by the Ottoman Turkish Empire, Bosnia and Herzegovina came under the Habsburg crown in 1878. Then Yugoslavia absorbed the country after a brief period of Nazi oversight during World War II. It remained a republic within Yugoslavia through the Tito years.
Hard Fought Independence
In February 1992, the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina voted for independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Croatia and Slovenia declared independence earlier. Yet, the referendum in Bosnia & Herzegovina was divisive and failed to get the required two-thirds majority.
Of the three main ethno-religious groups—Bosniaks (mainly Sunni Muslims), Bosnian Serbs (Eastern Orthodox), and Bosnian Croats (Roman Catholic)—Bosnia’s Serbs opposed independence from the Serbian-ruled Yugoslavia. They feared they would be a minority in an Islamic state. The Bosnian Serbs, aligned with Serbia’s leader Slobodan Milošević and the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA), boycotted the referendum. Even before the vote, however, Bosnia’s Serbs had begun mobilizing their forces inside Bosnia & Herzegovina to protect Serb territory.
The US, the European Economic Community (now the European Union), and the United Nations recognized Bosnia and Herzegovina’s independence. Meanwhile, Bosnia’s Serbs declared their independence as the Republika Srpska.
The rest of Europe watched grimly as the fighting began with the Siege of Sarajevo. Bosniaks, Bosnian Serbs, and Bosnian Croats turned on one another in nationalist struggles and along ethnic lines. See the Side Bar on The Bosnian War.
The same resentments that triggered the Bosnian War 30 years ago are still simmering. Mostar offers many Instagram-worthy shots, but you must look to history to truly understand what you see. Scars fade, but seeing the residents’ efforts to live peacefully again side-by-side is remarkable. And yet, the Republika Srpska’s president, Milorad Dodik, continues to avow a separatist state for the Serbs. Only time will tell if a younger generation can bring lasting peace.
Places to See in Mostar
As we drove through the countryside, I envisioned Mostar’s iconic Kujundziluk (Old Bazaar) high above the Neretva River, a picturesque skyline of minarets, Eastern Orthodox onion domes, and the graceful humpbacked Ottoman-designed Stari Most bridge. In July 2005, the UNESCO World Heritage Site listed the Old City of Mostar’s Old Bridge area.
I was unprepared for the Brutalist-style concrete apartments and stark 20th-century architecture that greeted us on the south side of Mostar. But first impressions can be deceiving and are certainly only part of the story.
A Mural For The Times
As tourists, it’s easy to forget that the world’s historical areas have shrunk. They are often sandwiched between the realism of modern society. The truth is that these brutally honest leftovers from socialist Yugoslavia are a part of history, too. That said, I was captivated by a massive mural on the side of a weathered apartment building. Laundry was hanging from clotheslines behind windows and on balconies rising seven levels.
The mural was curious. It showed a headless man in suspenders holding a gray theatrical mask. The man carried an open briefcase in his left hand, exposing five expressionless masks of various colors. The theater calls these neutral masks. It seemed ironic in a country where few people are neutral about anything. There appeared to be a microorganism suspended above the man’s head.
The letters MIDE SAF 2020 include the artist’s name, Maid Mide Redžić, combined with SAF, which stands for the Mostar Street Festival. The number 2020 was the date of the September festival. I’m guessing the microorganism was the artist’s depiction of the COVID-19 virus that took the world by storm that year. Back then, none of us knew that the virus was red and pointy. Fast forward three years after the coronavirus shut down the world, and it’s startling to think that many Millennials and Generation Z’s living in Mostar were held captive by a virus and remember little to none of the deadly fighting or military siege of their town in the 1990s.
Franciscan Church of Saints Peter and Paul
We met our local tour guide, Blasha, in front of the Modernist-style Franciscan Church of Saints Peter and Paul. Its 350-ft Mostar Peace Bell Tower is the tallest building in Southeast Europe. Not only does it dwarf the attached monastery, but it dominates the Mostar skyline. The church’s concrete facade lacks its former 19th-century grandeur and park-like setting. The Ottomans helped build it in 1866. Sadly, the church was destroyed during World War II and again during the Siege of Mostar in the 1990s. Today, it rises from a sea of concrete pavers surrounded by faceless modern apartment buildings. Critics speculate the Catholics wanted it to tower over the city’s mosques.
Blasha lived through the terrible Bosnian War, but her love for her country and Catholicism remains strong. She not only gives private tours of Mostar, but she also takes religious tourists to the spiritual town of Medjugorje. I had heard of this town of miracles, and had I known we passed it en route to Mostar, I might have asked to see it. Apparitions of the Virgin Mary have occurred there since 1981, when Bosnia & Herzegovina was still part of Yugoslavia. It’s become somewhat of a pilgrimage for Catholics all over the world. Those who have visited say it’s the apparitions that make it unique.
Jewish Synagogue To Be Built
After leaving the church, Blasha led us along Bulevar Street. We passed a dilapidated iron gate with a decorative metal menorah decorating the top and a star of David at the bottom.
A synagogue stood on this empty lot from 1904 until 1944, when the Croatian fascist Ustaše rebels and Nazi soldiers burned it down. Blasha told us that the residents of Mostar had been very protective of their Jewish neighbors during the Bosnian War.
A new synagogue will be built here one day, but the small, aging Jewish population still living in Mostar is struggling to raise the funds.
After World War II, the Jewish community borrowed money to rebuild the synagogue, but later defaulted on the loan. The Rabbi’s old house then became a puppet theater.
A damaged stone Decalogue (Ten Commandments) stands on the grounds.
Old World Bazaar
We walked past the remains of a shelled building, an eery reminder of the Bosnian War. Suddenly, we were in the pedestrian-only Bazaar, strolling along Jusavina Street toward the famed Stari Most bridge.
On each side of the cobbled streets, open-faced stores with multicolored carpets and pillows, embroidered fabrics, paintings, and trays filled with jewelry, Cloisonne tea sets, and local art vied for our attention. A few wares were standard tourist fare: tee shirts sporting the Bosnian coat of arms and baseball hats.
The hustle and bustle and exotic array of knick-knacks reminded me of walking through the Sukh in al-Khobar during my childhood in Saudi Arabia. The Muslim call to prayer rang out, and a tall minaret pierced the sky beyond the tiled shop roofs framed by the steep bald mountains rising sharply at the town’s edge.
Occasionally, we glimpsed the emerald-green Neretva River as it flowed below us. It flows from the Dinaric Alps and is said to be the coldest river in the world.
The Bazaar continues along Coppersmiths Street on the other side of the river after you cross the Stari Most bridge. The Ottomans left a lasting legacy as coppersmiths. Today, you will see 21st-century coppersmiths hammering out jewelry, bas-relief plaques, and trays.
We bought an antique brass coffee grinder after Blasha showed us how her grandmother ground coffee vigorously by winding the skinny handle.
There were also macabre reminders of the War: pens made from bullet casings.
Crooked Bridge (Kriva Ćuprija)
The Crooked Bridge, below the Bazaar, is the “mini-me” of the nearby Stari Most bridge. The Ottomans built it eight years earlier, in 1558. This smaller version straddles the Radobolja River. It, too, suffered damage in the Bosnian War and was rebuilt.
Old Bridge (Stari Most)
The Ottomans would take nine years to build the graceful single-span Stari Most (“Old Bridge”), completed in 1566. When Croatian forces turned their artillery shells against the Muslim Bosniaks 427 years later, it took several artillery shells and two days for the bridge to fall. Croatian troops cheered as the bridge crumbled into the Neretva River. (See old photos at RadioFreeEurope).
After the Bosnian War ended in 1995, modern artisans painstakingly rebuilt the Stari Most bridge precisely as the Ottoman builders had done. It reopened in July 2004. The repaired bridge even has limestone footholds to prevent horses and donkeys from slipping back in the day. Today, these ridges are more likely to trip up careless tourists.
Daring local divers entertain tourists by jumping from the bridge, whose highest point is 65 ft to 82 ft (depending on the river’s height).
If you like daredevil cliff diving, you can join them. All you have to do is pay a fee and get certified by the Diver’s Club, conveniently located on the bridge. People have jumped from this bridge since at least 1664 (the first written record). The practice used to be considered a rite of passage for 16-year-old boys. Commercial enterprises have since gotten involved. The Red Bull World Cliff Diving Series now includes Mostar on its tour.
The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity
The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (Pravoslavna crkva Svete Trojice), a Serbian Orthodox Christian church, was destroyed during the Siege of Mostar. It has been under reconstruction since 2011.
Koski Mehmet-Pasha Mosque
This beautiful early 17th-century mosque is a classic example of Ottoman architecture. It was nearly destroyed after the Bosnian War and restored between 1996 and 2001. Chris and I didn’t have time to go inside, but you can see photos of its colorful and exquisite interior in Islamic Arts Magazine. Inside is a large wall-mounted Turkish carpet, a gift from the Emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (Habsburg), Franz Joseph I of Austria.
Museum of War and Genocide Victims 1992-1995
The Museum of War and Genocide Victims 1992-1995 makes the war real for visitors through its audiovisual and collection of artifacts and personal belongings from the war.
Bosnia's Delicious Food and Coffee
Bosnian cuisine is a delicious blend of Turkish/Ottoman, Mediterranean, and Slavic influences. Visitors can enjoy dishes like ćevapi (grilled sausages), burek (savory pastries), and Dolma (stuffed grape leaves). On the Bosnian side of the country, as opposed to the Herzegovina side, most meats consist of beef and lamb due to Islamic dietary restrictions against pork. Pork is undoubtedly a favorite of the Bosnian Croats and Bosnian Serbs. No matter what, you must try the Bosnian coffee.
Our Pick: Restaurant Sadrvan
The restaurant we chose for lunch, Restaurant Sadrvan, was slightly Disneyesque in that the wait staff wore colorful old-world Bosnian costumes. Yet, it seemed a fun choice over the street cafes we passed with menu sideboards displaying kebabs with fries, pizzas, and pasta. Blasha agreed we’d get authentic Bosnian food at this restaurant.
There are also restaurants tucked on the edges of the Neretva River with stellar views of the Stari Most bridge, as you can see from the photo above.
At Restaurant Sadrvan, traditional Bosnian meals are served on pewter platters. It’s easy to pick from the menu with colorful photos of different dishes.
For an hour, we ate like the Sultan and Sultana of Old Mostar. We chose the recommended “Nacional Plate,” a delicious selection of Japrak (cabbage, minced meat, carrots, rice, and parsley), Dolma, and a Bosnian cookie.
Sitting on the patio near an old-world fountain, we finished the meal with Bosnian coffee (“Basansks Kafa”), a sludgier Turkish coffee. Tip of the day: stir the coffee in the tiny server before pouring it into your cup. One cube of sugar takes the bitterness away.
5 Things To Do In Mostar
- #1 Start with a walking tour. Follow our map below or hire a guide.
- #2 Shop for souvenirs: brass coffee grinders, tea sets, and local artwork in the Turkish-style Old Bazaar
- #3 Peek inside the Koski Mehmet-Pasha Mosque, wander past the Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of the Holy Trinity
- #4 Take a photo of the iconic Stari Most bridge from the shores of the Neretva River
- #5 Dine at a Turkish-style restaurant and sip Bosnian coffee
Map of Places To See in Mostar
Other Places To Visit in Bosnia & Herzegovina
Viator offers a great selection of tours of Bosnia & Herzegovina. You can choose from castle, city (Mostar, Sarajevo), natural parks, or war history tours. If only we had stayed longer. There were many I would have loved to go on. You can also take Bosnian cooking lessons or arrange an airport or city transfer from as far away as Zagreb or nearby Dubrovnik.
Sarajevo: The Capital
The capital city of Sarajevo (78 miles from Mostar) is sometimes called “The Jerusalem of Europe” or the “Jerusalem of the Balkans.” Mosques, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, and synagogues—representations of the three Abrahamic religions—stand side-by-side. Like Jerusalem (and Mostar), the Muslims, Christians, and Sephardic Jews have managed to co-exist more or less for hundreds of years. At least, that’s how it appears to the casual observer.
Robert D. Kaplan, in his critically acclaimed book “Balkan Ghosts: A Journey Through History,” is not a casual observer. His book is steeped in history, researched methodically, and backed by on-the-ground interviews. He wrote, “The villages all around were full of savage hatreds, leavened by poverty and alcoholism.”
Stunning Scenery in Bosnia & Herzegovina
Bosnia & Herzegovina is slightly smaller than neighboring Croatia. Once the triangular-shaped heart of the former Yugoslavia, it envelopes mountains, rivers, waterfalls, and a 12-mile portion of coastline on the Adriatic Sea. This country has natural wonders to feed the soul.
Kravica Waterfall
The icy cold Trebižat River plummets 25 meters (82 feet) into a swimmable (if you can brave the cold) turquoise lake at the Kravica Waterfall. It is a popular natural attraction just a 45-minute drive from Mostar.
Hutovo Blato Nature Park
The marshlands of Hutovo Blato Nature Park are an excellent destination for bird watchers and those who enjoy boat trips and fishing. Some 240 species of migratory birds visit the park, and several never leave.
Perućica Forest Reserve
This reserve is one of two remaining primeval forests on the European continent. The other is Białowieża, stretching across the border of Poland and Belarus. With 3,500 acres of protected 300-year-old trees and dense brush, this UNESCO-recognized site is close to the border of Montenegro. Visits must be booked with a ranger.
Vjetrenica Cave
The Vjetrenica Cave is a UNESCO site. Its claim to fame isn’t just that it’s the largest cave in Bosnia & Herzegovina; it has the most biological diversity anywhere in the world. Some of its cave-dwelling species can only be found here.
- Ratings are based on 1) Natural Beauty 2) Unique Activities 3) Old World Charm
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The Bosnian War
The Bosnian War or “war within the war” (1992-1995) unstitched the multicultural patchwork in Bosnia & Herzegovina to reveal simmering ethnic and nationalistic discord.
The Horrors of War
Ethnic cleansing took place throughout the country, with horrific atrocities committed by all sides. Bosnian Serbs, exacting revenge for the sins of the Ottoman Turkish Empire, murdered thousands of Bosniak men and boys in the Srebrenica massacre near the Serbian border. Bosnian Croats raped and murdered Serbian civilians, and neighbors turned on neighbors. All sides committed war crimes, leaving a stain on European history after World War II. Many feared it would be the beginning of World War III, and some still worry that it may yet prove to be.
International Intervention
The US Clinton Administration found itself hamstrung over what to do during the early years of the War. As criticism over Washington’s indecisive Bosnia policy mounted, the US considered air strikes against the Serbian aggressors and arming the Bosnian Muslims. President Clinton was ambiguous, but interestingly, US President Joseph R. Biden Jr., then a Democratic senator from Delaware in the Clinton Administration, favored air strikes. Adm. David Jeremiah, Vice Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, argued against them, warning of civilian deaths. France and Britain feared that allied military action would inflame the situation. Eventually, a NATO bombing campaign was launched in July 1995, which led to a cease-fire and a set of constitutional principles for a single Bosnian state.
The Dayton Accords
The War ended on November 21, 1995, with the Dayton Accords, a fragile peace agreement that established a power-sharing government but left deep ethnic divisions. It was brokered by the US and signed by the Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia presidents. Under the accord’s terms, Bosnia & Herzegovina remains a single state with three separate self-governing regions: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (the Bosniaks and Croats), the Republika Srpska (the Bosnian Serb Republic) and the Brčko District (a symbolic nod toward multi-ethnic roots after ethnic-cleansing rid all but Serbs from the area). Sarajevo is the capital of Bosnia & Herzegovina. Mostar is the traditional capital. The UN Security Council unanimously authorized a multinational military implementation force on December 15, 1995, to ensure compliance.
The War’s Aftermath
More than 100,000 people died in Bosnia & Hercegovina during the War, higher than anywhere else in the fighting that ensued in shattered Yugoslavia. Mostar saw as many as 2,000 people killed. Bodies were left where they fell because of fear of snipers in the steep hills above the town. The casualties included 12 mosques, several churches, and the historic Stari Most bridge in Mostar. Millions of people were maimed and displaced. The UN General Assembly was expected to review a draft resolution declaring the Srebrenica massacre of 8,000-plus Bosniak men and boys by Bosnian Serbs a genocide on May 2, after this post was published. The Republika Srpska parliament adopted a resolution on April 18, denying the killing in Srebrenica was a genocide. The separatist president of the autonomous region represented by the Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, admits the deaths were a mistake but not a genocide.
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