Mostar is famous for its artifacts from the Ottoman period scattered among natural beauties. It is one of the most exquisite cities to be seen in the Balkans. With the famous Mostar Bridge, the work of Mimar Hayreddin, a student of Mimar Sinan, Mostar, one of the most visited cities in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Balkan geography, is also one of the symbol points of the Bosnian Civil War.
The city, which is built on both sides of the Neretva River, is a very beautiful Balkan city with its multicultural identity, traditional structures and lively narrow streets where thousands of people from different beliefs, ethnicities and ideas live together. Mostar, which joined the Ottoman lands during the reign of Mehmet the Conqueror, was named Köprühisar during this period.
Mostar is a historic city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, located along the Neretva River, included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Located on the road connecting the Adriatic Sea and the Balkans, the city looks like a historical engraving by a famous painter with Ottoman works scattered among natural beauties.
‘Most’ in the name of Mostar, the largest settlement in Bosnia and Herzegovina, means bridge in Bosnian language. ‘Stari Most’ means old bridge, and Mostar means ‘bridge-keeper-bridge-keeper’. It is a city that deserves all kinds of praise with its stone houses, wooden mansions, historical bazaar where traditional handicrafts are performed, its lush nature and cool turquoise waters.
The oldest source that can be identified, where the name Mostar was mentioned for the first time, dates back to 1474. Mostar developed rapidly under the rule of the Ottomans, as it was located in the center of the ports on the Adriatic coast and the trade routes in the interior of Bosnia. Evliya Çelebi, in his famous Travelogue, writes that he counted 53 neighborhoods, 3 thousand houses, 359 shops, 45 mosques, which were Ottoman structures in Mostar.
The bridge that gave its name to the city in Mostar, which was badly damaged in the Bosnian Civil War, was destroyed by the Croats. During the war, as the ethnic structure of the city changed, Muslims began to live in the east of the city and Croats began to live in the west of the city. The Mostar Bridge, which was destroyed, was rebuilt by a Turkish company after the war with the contributions of the USA, Turkey, the Netherlands, Italy and Croatia.
According to the census conducted in Mostar in 2013, the total population of the city is 105 thousand. Croats make up 48.4 percent of the population, Bosniaks 44.1 percent, and Serbs 4.1 percent. Mostar is the settlement with the highest Croatian population in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian are spoken in Mostar. English and German are also well known in the city. Mostar is one hour behind Turkey. Bosnia and Herzegovina’s currency, the Convertible Mark (KM), is used in Mostar. The currency is also called the Bosnian Mark.
