Stari Most
A rebuilt 16th-century Ottoman bridge spanning the Neretva in Mostar.
Last updated
via Wikipedia: Old Sava Bridge · see source
It is a hump-backed stone arch, 4 meters wide and 30 meters long, rising 24 meters above the river.[1][2] The reconstructed 16th-century Ottoman bridge known as Stari Most spans the Neretva River in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.[3][1]
Geography and history
The architect reportedly prepared for his funeral on the day the scaffolding was removed, charged under pain of death to build such an unprecedented span.[4][2] The city of Mostar derives its name from the mostari, the keepers who protected the bridge during the Ottoman period, and the bridge links the city's two halves.[3] Suleiman the Magnificent ordered the bridge's construction in 1557, and Mimar Hayruddin, who studied under the architect Mimar Sinan, created its design.[3][5] Building work started in 1557 and lasted nine years; the bridge was finished between 19 July 1566 and 7 July 1567 according to its inscription.[6]
When finished, the bridge's arch was the widest ever built by human hands.[4] On 9 November 1993, during the Croat–Bosniak War, shelling by Bosnian Croat forces caused the bridge to collapse; Slobodan Praljak, commander of the Croat Defence Council, had ordered its destruction.[7][8]
What the cited sources add
A 2015 travel article notes that the city's name comes from the mostari, keepers first stationed at a wooden bridge preceding Stari Most.[9] That article also states that diving from the bridge likely began the same year it was built, in 1566.[9] The annual diving competition was restarted after the war and involves juries grading posture, diving form, and water contact.[9] The same source recounts the legend that Solimán ordered Hajrudin to build the bridge under threat of beheading if the arch failed.[8]
A Justiceinfo.net article by Pierre Hazan reports that a Bosniak soldier was on a temporary bridge in 1995 after the Old Mostar Bridge was destroyed by a Croat tank on November 9, 1993.[10]
References
- Wikipedia, "Stari Most" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Old Bridge (Stari Most) in Mostar – Commission to preserve national monuments", old.kons.gov.ba, 8 July 2004 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- "Old Bridge in Mostar". facts only, no text reused. architectuul.com
- Wikipedia, "Stari Most" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Centre, "Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar", UNESCO World Heritage Centre, 2017-10-11 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Stari Most" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Old Bridge in Mostar" (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Stari Most" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Balić, "Kultura Bošnjaka: Muslimanska Komponenta", 1973, p. 32–34; Čišić, "Razvitak i postanak grada Mostara", Štamparija Mostar, 2007, p. 22; Stratton, "Sinan", Charles Scribner's Sons, 1972; Jezernik, "Qudret Kemeri: A Bridge between Barbarity and Civilization", The Slavonic and East European Review, 1995, p. 470–484 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Stari Most" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Stari Most (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Stari Most" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hazan, "Was the destruction of Old Mostar bridge a war crime?", Justiceinfo.net, 11 December 2017; Polšak Palatinuš, "Presuda šestorci podgrijala vruće pitanje: Kako i zašto je srušen Stari most?", Tportal, 29 November 2017 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Tecco, "El Viejo Puente de Móstar vuelve a unir orillas y sentimientos", ABC, 2004-07-24. facts only, no text reused. abc.es
- "Bosnia's Bridge Divers Risk Their Necks for Tips and Thrills", 22 November 2015. facts only, no text reused. vice.com
- Hazan, "Was the destruction of Old Mostar bridge a war crime?", Justiceinfo.net, 11 December 2017. facts only, no text reused. justiceinfo.net
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Stari Most (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Stari Most (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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