Mostar, Bridge2

(2 Photos)

After 435 years of history, the bridge (festooned, but unsuccessfully protected with old automobile tires) succumbed to gun fire and plunged into the depths of the Neretva River on November 9, 1993. By 1997 a multi-million dollar recovery program was under way. Better they had slashed the Mona Lisa, crushed Michelangelo’s David, or destroyed some other item of artistic interest rather than destroy this almost indescribable architectural treasure. Compared to the Eiffel Tower, the Lincoln Memorial, the Parthenon in Athens, or most any other man-made object, the 16th century Ottoman Bridge in Mostar was as near to perfection as can be imagined.

A huge crane was used to recover the stones from the river, then a computer was used to see whether each stone measured up to the necessary standards to qualify it as a part of the rebuilt bridge. They expect that 60% of the old stones will still be usable, and the new blocks are being cut from the same Tenelija stone quarry, that was used to built the original bridge.

On July 24, 2004, eleven years after the bombing, the rebuilding was completed, and dozens of dignitaries (including Prince Charles of England), and thousands of citizens celebrated the results of the $15,000,000 reconstruction project.
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Another view of the beautiful bridge.