Also known as Stari Most, this bridge is frequented by hundreds of tourists every day for its architecture and for its point of view.
Built in 1566, it was destroyed by Croatian military forces during the Bosnia-Herzegovina War in 1993, the city was then cut in half.
In 2001, he was rebuilt in the hope of a reconciliation between the inhabitants of different origins and confessions of the city. The old bridge has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2005.
Today, Almira is still looking with so pride the old Mostar bridge, which she considers a symbol of peace. “When it was destroyed, I was in the cellar 10 meters deep with my children and many people. Everyone cried because he meant life,” recalls the official and manager of a travel agency.
Catholic Croats in the West, Muslim Bosnian
Since the end of the war in 1995, the Mostarians have gathered by origin on each side of the Stari Most. Campanile and minarets face each other with west of the Neretva river, the mainly Catholic Croatian districts, and to the east the Muslim Bosnians.
Zeljko lives on the Croatian side, a few steps from the Stari Most. He only crosses him on rare occasions today, he who says he grew up on the bridge. He confides: “Before the conflicts, this bridge was common, but now he is Muslim. Before, the Croats could dive from the old bridge, but no more now. I am happy that the bridge has been rebuilt, but today, I don’t really have that feeling of belonging”.
![The old Mostar bridge, crossing the Neretva river, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, July 23, 2004. [REUTERS - Danilo Krstanovic]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw== "The old Mostar bridge, crossing the Neretva river, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, July 23, 2004. [REUTERS - Danilo Krstanovic]")
“Do not forget, but forgive”
Lucija regularly takes the old bridge to go on the Bosnian side. She lived the war and the divisions through her parents as other young people of her generation.
“Our parents transmit to us the fear of perhaps being attacked, distrust and that we should not easily be friends with other communities. It is sad, because here, we make friends very quickly, we do not pay attention to these things.”
On the Bosnian side, Amira also deeply believes in living together and reconciliation. “Many people on both sides are dead, have lost their family, their house or their work,” she said. And to conclude: “It is a process that you still have to pass so that people do not forget, but forgive”.
