Mostar and its monuments
The fascination of Mostar, chief town of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton and ancient crossroads of people and civilizations, appears today full of renewed strength, thanks to a constant reconstruction which, from 1995 onwards, has allowed the city to return to its normal life after the heavy bombings of the early 1990s. Due to its geostrategic position, Mostar was grievously damaged during its last rounds of fighting. Slowly, the situation has improved. Nowadays, past and present live together in an urban context which speaks of a complex history, made up of places, people and events that touch anyone who comes to visit this romantic town.
As many other ancient cities, Mostar has gradually grown in time, proud of its five centuries of history.
The antique historic centre, situated along the sides of the very famous Stari Most (Old Bridge) is a really unique attraction, not to be missed: accompanied by the whirling rustle of the Neretva River, visitors can admire the symbols of the old city, the district dating back to the Ottoman era with splendid 16th century mosques, towers, houses and Turkish baths, apart from the numerous small shops of the kujunžije craftsmen (copper beaters) who enliven the streets with the buzz of their daily activity.
The city is characterized by the meeting and by the living together of the four religions present in the area – Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Islamism and Judaism – and this factor explains a great part of its fascination.
Mostar is also a jewel set in a luxuriant and uncontaminated nature. For this reason, too, and not only for its emerging artists, it has always attracted tourists, painters and poets who have visited it, loved it and immortalized it in their works of art. Mostar is a place which bewitches you with its history and its culture, the result of a meeting between East and West, a mixture of treasures and essences that you can still breathe, wandering through its ancient streets.
