Once upon a time, a rare and historic bridge crowned the waters of the Neretva River in the city of Mostar in what was once Yugoslavia. Its uniqueness, along with its age, gave it its priceless value, making it a major tourist attraction and the pride of the city. The bridge ended up being yet another casualty of the civil war waged in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995. Mostar now awaits the resurrection of the bridge, which according to some is supposed to symbolize unification of the divided city. But will it?
Walking the streets of Mostar, one may spot large murals depicting the rise of the Old Bridge. The murals advertise a big upcoming event. They show that in 2004, two stone arms growing from the two banks of the town will finally join hands in a permanent stone handshake. In its complexity, the project is being compared to the restoration of some of the Egyptian pyramids. The effort is characterized as the biggest and the most complex restoration of the 20th century, now being carried over into the 21st century.
I grew up between Mostar and the nearby town of Jablanica. I was only 12 when the civil war in Bosnia and Herzegovina broke out, cutting short my experiences with the bridge and making my memories of it limited ones. But I remember and still enjoy listening to my dad’s stories of the Old Bridge. He was born and grew up just around the corner from it. He loves and takes pride in talking about his daring jumps from the bridge, splashing into the waters of the Neretva during his teenage years. The bridge stood 20 meters above the maximum water level. Men jumped from it to test their courage. Boys, as in my dad’s case, jumped when they wanted to be men. Recalling those days from his home in Belleville, N.J., he says, “All you had to bring with you was your bathing suit and your courage.”
Mostar was established in the 15th century when a small settlement began forming around an old Roman wooden bridge erected over the green and still crystal-clear and fast-flowing waters of Neretva. My dad often says that “its waters are more pure than those of a teardrop. They are also ice-cold even during the hottest summer temperatures. You feel your body going numb, and it requires some extra effort to keep your body afloat. It takes some getting used to—most people give up just after dipping in their big toe.”
The Ottoman Empire grew by conquering lands of the Byzantine Empire and beyond. It spanned all of Asia Minor, countries of the Balkan Peninsula, islands of the eastern Mediterranean, parts of Russia and Hungary, Syria, Iraq, the Caucasus, Palestine, Egypt, parts of Arabia, and all of North Africa through Algeria. “In such a vast empire, they built only one such bridge. It is the rarity of its structure that gives it uniqueness and such value,” my dad says.
In 1557, Ottoman emperor Suleiman the Magnificent ordered the construction of the white limestone bridge that came to be known as Stari Most (stari means old and most means bridge). The city gets its name from the Old Bridge, which was completed in 1566, after nine years of construction. For its shape, the bridge was nicknamed Kameni Polumjesec, or Stony Half-moon. It was made up of 456 huge blocks of stone, hundreds of which plunged into the river during the bridge’s destruction.
In an attempt to wipe away the physical presence of Islam in Mostar in 1993, Bosnian Croats’ artillery destroyed the Old Bridge. For years, there has been only an eerie hole in its place. Braco Peza, an artist, issued a statement regarding the bridge to the newspaper Pobjeda. He said, “Now the Old Bridge reminds us of an invalid of war, whose arms were amputated almost at its shoulders.”
The resurrection of the Old Bridge will reconnect, at yet another spot, the two banks of the town. Besides being another physical link—because other bridges do exist—the completion of the span is supposed to symbolize the unification of the people of Mostar. The international community emphasizes that the reconstruction of the bridge supposedly proves that there is determination by the people of Mostar to live and work together. Yet Mostar is more like two towns, Mostar-East and Mostar-West, and people do not live together but next to each other, separated by the Neretva.
Besides being physically divided, it seems that division exists in people’s minds and hearts too. Croats or Catholics inhabit the west bank of Mostar; Muslims reside on the east side of the city. The unification of the people still seems to be somebody else’s hope, for it appears that the people of Mostar are content with living in this divided fashion. Those who would not mind living with the people of the opposite religion are forced, through isolation and harassment, to sell or trade their house and move to their respective sides.
Still, the contact between the two sides seems to be improving. Yet no one knows if the people of Mostar will ever again live in that intertwined prewar fashion when Catholics, Orthodox Christians and Muslims lived together. Only time will tell. Considering the brutality of the war, any kind of friendly contact is a big step in itself. My dad says that, “In the war so many lost their closest and dearest family members and friends, who died violent and cruel deaths. Since both sides suffered tremendous human losses, it is unrealistic to expect them to live again, just like that, in the pre-war manner. Time needs to pass for the living wounds to calm.”
But it will take more than the rebuilding of the Old Bridge if the interaction between the two sides is to continue. It will take the rebuilding of the bridges in people’s hearts and minds and, most importantly, the realization and the willingness on their part to do so.
Still, wanting future contact with the other side or not, they cannot remain isolated from each other. Each side has resources and industries that the other lacks. Economic reasons made the first contacts happen and economic reasons will prompt future connections.
“They will start working together more and more,” my dad says. “Even though they still might continue living on opposite sides of the river, contacts made in the workplace will lead to the narrowing of the sense of division between the people.
“As they cooperate in the workplace and as they spend more time around each other, they will come to realize that the other guy is not as bad as they previously thought. This way, the animosity that existed towards each other will slowly whither away in its intensity.”
My dad adds, “Working together will improve economic life for both and both will realize that they have to thank the other for bringing about a better standard of living.”
The resurrection of the Old Bridge is of great cultural and economic importance to Mostar. It is hoped that the town will regain the cultural standing it was once known for. It is also hoped that the “New Old Bridge,” a young construction with an old spirit, will once again draw tourists from around the world, thus stimulating the city’s economy.
It has been said that everything began with the Old Bridge. Mostar was developed and grew around it and got its name from the bridge. It is to be seen whether, for the second time, the bridge may bring about another beginning.
Tatjana Jegdic is a 2003 graduate of Rutgers-Newark.
