Bosnia In Herzegovina, Mostar/Medjugorje
Today we are leaving Dubrovnik for a day trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).
Our driver Pepo picked us up at 8am and were on the way west. We passed Trsteno, botanical gardens and saw huge 500 year old tree.
The road was beautiful, compared to Amalfi Coast in Italy. Mountains on one side, sea with island on the other. We again were thankful that we left driving to someone else and we enjoyed beautiful views.
We passed small town Ston which is a best source of mussels in Adriatic and also this town has the longest wall in Europe.
Later on the part of the road become Bosnian and we had to pass border control , and show passports. Pepo explained to us that centuries ago Croatia sold this part of the road to Ottomans therefore when Yugoslavia was separated to different countries, that part became BiH . Therefore the coastal road is not totally Croatian. Croatian is connected by sea but not by land. So government is planning to build the bridge from Croatian coastal road to the Croatian islands and then from the Island Korcula back to the coastal road to connect the roads and avoid going to BiH. Later on we saw map in Dubrovnik by this new project and local people seemed to be happy about it. Obviously some harassment still goes on on Bosnian border of Croatians and tourists.
We wanted to see Mostar and it's famous bridge. I've read about it quite a bit and to me it is very inspirational site in Europe. Like all of Yugoslavia, Bosnia's history is very complicated. Originally it was inhabited by Slavs and Illyrians (ancestors of contemporary Albanians), then Romans came and then Ottomans. At Ottoman's times many Slavs converted to Islam and called Bosniaks. The rest are Orthodox Serbs and Catholic Croats. There are 3 languages, 3 religions and 2 alphabets. Hapsburgs forced Ottomans out in about in 18 C,BiH became part of Austro-Hungarian empire. Then BiH was art of Yugoslavia under Tito.
As I said, in town Bosniaks (Muslims) and Christians (Catholic Croats) lived on opposite sides of the Neretva river. First it was a simple suspension bridge which was guarded by bridge guardsmen called "mostari" - means bridge watchmen in Slavic hence the city's name became Mostar. In 16C the ruler Suleiman the Magnificent commissioned the construction of the bridge which was the marvel of engineering of that time. It was something as Rialto to Venice or Ponto Vecchio to Florence.
Everybody was coming to see it. After Ottomans were defeated by Hapsburgs, the emperor Josef Franz Hapsburg walked on this bridge.. Then Nazis drove tanks in occupied Yugoslavia and bridge sustained tanks as well.
As for citizens of Mostar, they lived peacefully on the opposite parts of the bridge. They had their differences but they got along. It was a showcase for Tito how under his rule people lived peacefully and the bridge was the gap which symbolically connected two cultures..
In 1991 Tito died and the country erupted in the war, Serb-dominated Yugoslav army attacked Bosnia and Mostar. Jointly Croats and Bosniaks pushed offenders away. But strangely, later on they started fighting each other. The city was divided and two sides were shooting at each other. Finally the world watched how the bridge was destroyed in relentless shelling. Strategically, Croats said they needed to cut off Bosniaks from other side of the river so they destroyed the bridge but it sounded symbolic as attack of Serbs on Dubrovnik, that it was designed to hit where it hurt the most ...
The war was over and as a poet said "We shall pass and leave the bridge behind".
The people of the world had an effort to raise money for restoration and finally the bridge was rebuilt exactly by ancient specifications and even methods (stones were hand carved). Now it is UNESCO Heritage site. President Clinton was one of the participants of reopening ceremony in 2004. The re-opening was endorsed by the world and and also citizens of Mostar and it became symbol by reconciliation of two cultures.
So this might explain why I wanted to visit a small city of Mostar. Also after relatively prosperous countries Slovenia and Croatia, visitors are still haunted with remnants of the war. We encounter daily in news information on bombings and destruction and we become used to it. But when you see the landmine signs and broken buildings and bullet shots in the town you come to see, it becomes real. Besides Old Bridge, other parts of the town, especially Muslim's side are still destroyed. It is not a regular sightseeing.
The roads also has holes in ancient stones and bridge is slippery so it is very hard to walk. Some steps in town are very high and uneven so it would be difficult for some people with limited mobility to neogitate these streets. These are very difficult cobblestones. We managed it but I worried about George. Some parts he stayed in one place to sit when I climbed very difficult stairs to the local museum - just one example.
The town has distinct Middle Eastern feeling. It resembles Turkey with it's minarets, and bazaars. The tourists might feel somewhat uncomfortable but we came with driver/guide and we were just fine. We confined our visit though, to Old town and bridge only.
I also noticed yellow public buses in town which has sign that they were donated by the people of Japan and has a flag of Japan on the back of the buses.
After that, we went to visit Medjugorje. It is a major site for Catholic Pilgrims. We are not Christians but I was asked before we went if I will happen to be there, so I became curious for my future clients. It is high in the mountains about half an hour from Mostar. It is a windy road and out of nowhere suddenly appears the site. It has been said that Virgin Mary appeared to local people. Officially not recognized by Vatican but this small village became a center of Pilgrimage and already about 30 Millions of Pilgrims visited that site. The site has shrine and modern Church and big crowds of people and usual souvenir's stands.
After that we went back to Dubrovnik. We crossed again the border twice. Back in Croatia, we had lunch and brief stop in Ston. In the late afternoon, we were back in Dubrovnik.
And that was yet another memorable day.
Our driver Pepo picked us up at 8am and were on the way west. We passed Trsteno, botanical gardens and saw huge 500 year old tree.
The road was beautiful, compared to Amalfi Coast in Italy. Mountains on one side, sea with island on the other. We again were thankful that we left driving to someone else and we enjoyed beautiful views.
We passed small town Ston which is a best source of mussels in Adriatic and also this town has the longest wall in Europe.
Later on the part of the road become Bosnian and we had to pass border control , and show passports. Pepo explained to us that centuries ago Croatia sold this part of the road to Ottomans therefore when Yugoslavia was separated to different countries, that part became BiH . Therefore the coastal road is not totally Croatian. Croatian is connected by sea but not by land. So government is planning to build the bridge from Croatian coastal road to the Croatian islands and then from the Island Korcula back to the coastal road to connect the roads and avoid going to BiH. Later on we saw map in Dubrovnik by this new project and local people seemed to be happy about it. Obviously some harassment still goes on on Bosnian border of Croatians and tourists.
We wanted to see Mostar and it's famous bridge. I've read about it quite a bit and to me it is very inspirational site in Europe. Like all of Yugoslavia, Bosnia's history is very complicated. Originally it was inhabited by Slavs and Illyrians (ancestors of contemporary Albanians), then Romans came and then Ottomans. At Ottoman's times many Slavs converted to Islam and called Bosniaks. The rest are Orthodox Serbs and Catholic Croats. There are 3 languages, 3 religions and 2 alphabets. Hapsburgs forced Ottomans out in about in 18 C,BiH became part of Austro-Hungarian empire. Then BiH was art of Yugoslavia under Tito.
As I said, in town Bosniaks (Muslims) and Christians (Catholic Croats) lived on opposite sides of the Neretva river. First it was a simple suspension bridge which was guarded by bridge guardsmen called "mostari" - means bridge watchmen in Slavic hence the city's name became Mostar. In 16C the ruler Suleiman the Magnificent commissioned the construction of the bridge which was the marvel of engineering of that time. It was something as Rialto to Venice or Ponto Vecchio to Florence.
Everybody was coming to see it. After Ottomans were defeated by Hapsburgs, the emperor Josef Franz Hapsburg walked on this bridge.. Then Nazis drove tanks in occupied Yugoslavia and bridge sustained tanks as well.
As for citizens of Mostar, they lived peacefully on the opposite parts of the bridge. They had their differences but they got along. It was a showcase for Tito how under his rule people lived peacefully and the bridge was the gap which symbolically connected two cultures..
In 1991 Tito died and the country erupted in the war, Serb-dominated Yugoslav army attacked Bosnia and Mostar. Jointly Croats and Bosniaks pushed offenders away. But strangely, later on they started fighting each other. The city was divided and two sides were shooting at each other. Finally the world watched how the bridge was destroyed in relentless shelling. Strategically, Croats said they needed to cut off Bosniaks from other side of the river so they destroyed the bridge but it sounded symbolic as attack of Serbs on Dubrovnik, that it was designed to hit where it hurt the most ...
The war was over and as a poet said "We shall pass and leave the bridge behind".
The people of the world had an effort to raise money for restoration and finally the bridge was rebuilt exactly by ancient specifications and even methods (stones were hand carved). Now it is UNESCO Heritage site. President Clinton was one of the participants of reopening ceremony in 2004. The re-opening was endorsed by the world and and also citizens of Mostar and it became symbol by reconciliation of two cultures.
So this might explain why I wanted to visit a small city of Mostar. Also after relatively prosperous countries Slovenia and Croatia, visitors are still haunted with remnants of the war. We encounter daily in news information on bombings and destruction and we become used to it. But when you see the landmine signs and broken buildings and bullet shots in the town you come to see, it becomes real. Besides Old Bridge, other parts of the town, especially Muslim's side are still destroyed. It is not a regular sightseeing.
The roads also has holes in ancient stones and bridge is slippery so it is very hard to walk. Some steps in town are very high and uneven so it would be difficult for some people with limited mobility to neogitate these streets. These are very difficult cobblestones. We managed it but I worried about George. Some parts he stayed in one place to sit when I climbed very difficult stairs to the local museum - just one example.
The town has distinct Middle Eastern feeling. It resembles Turkey with it's minarets, and bazaars. The tourists might feel somewhat uncomfortable but we came with driver/guide and we were just fine. We confined our visit though, to Old town and bridge only.
I also noticed yellow public buses in town which has sign that they were donated by the people of Japan and has a flag of Japan on the back of the buses.
After that, we went to visit Medjugorje. It is a major site for Catholic Pilgrims. We are not Christians but I was asked before we went if I will happen to be there, so I became curious for my future clients. It is high in the mountains about half an hour from Mostar. It is a windy road and out of nowhere suddenly appears the site. It has been said that Virgin Mary appeared to local people. Officially not recognized by Vatican but this small village became a center of Pilgrimage and already about 30 Millions of Pilgrims visited that site. The site has shrine and modern Church and big crowds of people and usual souvenir's stands.
After that we went back to Dubrovnik. We crossed again the border twice. Back in Croatia, we had lunch and brief stop in Ston. In the late afternoon, we were back in Dubrovnik.
And that was yet another memorable day.
posted by Sophia Kulich | 11:27 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home