BOSNA i HERCEGOVINA	BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA
Kanton: Hercegovačko-Neretvanski

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Mostar is situated on the Neretva river in southwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is the main city of Herzegovina. The history of Mostar goes back to the 15th century. The first mentionings in documents date from 1452 and 1469. In the first document it is described as a settlement at a wooden bridge strenghtened by chains and fortified by two towers. In the latter document, the name Mostar appears for the first time. It is derived either from mostari, the bridge keepers, or from mostare, the bridge towers. After Bosnia lost its independence to the Ottoman empire in 1463, Herzegovina and Mostar fell in 1483. During the next 400 years of Ottoman rule, Bosnia's and Herzegovinas's towns and cities were lavished with splendid mosques, schools and libraries by the Sultans and the local governors. Bosnia and Herzegovina were occupied by Austria-Hungary in 1878, annexed in 1908, and remained part of the Habsburg monarchy until 1918.

Certainly the best-known structure from the Ottoman time in Mostar was the so-called 'Old Bridge'. It was erected between 1557 and 1566 by the Ottoman architect Mimar Hairedin. The stone bridge had a span of nearly 29 m and its height was 21 m above the summer water level of the Neretva. It is said that Hairedin was not present when the scaffolding was taken down because he feared that his daring bridge would collapse. However, the bridge did not and served the people of Mostar for the next 427 years. Sadly, during the Balkan War of 1992–1995, the bridge was destroyed by Croat extremists in 1993. Since August 1997 Hungarian military divers recovered some 456 stone blocks of the old bridge from the bed of the river. As iabout 60% of the old stones could be re-used, the 'Old Bridge' was eventually rebuilt. The Old Bridge area of the old city of Mostar was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2005 . (see also list of other UNESCO heritage sites depicted on glasses of this collection)