Old Bridge Destroyed 32 Years Ago

(Patria) - 32 years ago today, the Old Bridge in Mostar was destroyed by shells fired from HVO positions.

And with it, the entire core of the Old Town, including several monumental mosques, madrasas, and the only hammam in Herzegovina.

The destruction of the Old Bridge began twenty days earlier, and intensified on November 8, 1993. It was targeted with high-explosive shells from the nearby mountain peaks of Planinica and Stotina. Shells also hit the Tara and Halebinka towers, which served as a kind of static counterweight to the bridge.

An entire street with shops, called Kujundžiluk, completely disappeared.

Shells intensely destroyed the bridge piece by piece for two consecutive days. Finally, at 10:16 AM on November 9, the masterpiece of architect Hajrudin succumbed. It fell into the cold Neretva river.

Its destruction is still painful today for many citizens, especially those from Mostar and Herzegovina.

The Old Bridge was a symbol of Mostar's civic identity and a symbol of the most valuable cultural and historical heritage in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In 2023, the Center for Peace and Multietnic Cooperation from Mostar and the Unified Veterans Organization of the City of Mostar (JOB) released exclusive footage of the shelling and destruction of the Old Bridge in Mostar on November 8 and 9, 1993. The film was discovered by chance.

"The destruction of the Old Bridge was filmed by a Croatian Army crew from the fortifications on the towers of Hum hill above the city.

Their camera continuously tracked the trajectories of more than 50 projectiles fired by an HVO tank from the Stotina location, then situated on the west side of Bulevar above the Mostar settlement of Kolonija.

Although the Hague Tribunal, in its final verdict against the "six leaders" of the political and military officials of the para-state Croatian Community of Herceg-Bosna on November 29, 2017, clearly defined that the Old Bridge was destroyed by tank shells from HVO positions, the film material prevents all speculation by those who deny the verdicts and form "their own truths" - stated these two organizations in their 2023 announcement.

Slobodan Praljak, a former HVO general who drank poison in the Hague courtroom in 2017, ending his life, is considered responsible for the destruction of the Old Bridge.

Praljak's sentence was handed down as part of the trial of the so-called "six leaders," in which, along with Praljak, Jadranko Prlić, Bruno Stojić, Milivoj Perković, Valentin Ćorić, and Berislav Pušić were also convicted. Together, they were sentenced to 111 years in prison. They were charged with crimes committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina during 1993 and 1994. Among other things, these were crimes in Mostar and other Bosnian cities.

The reconstruction of the Old Bridge, a masterpiece of 16th-century oriental architecture, took almost seven years, including preparations.

The restored structure was officially opened on July 23, 2004.