Workers cleaned graffiti: Latin Bridge restored to its original state

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - After vandals spray-painted graffiti on both sides of the Latin Bridge, a national monument, during the night of November 11-12, the bridge was completely cleaned today, as confirmed by Patria's team.

Workers spent several hours cleaning the paint off the stone using special machinery. During the previous night, the most egregious act of vandalism against the national monument Latin Bridge was committed, with graffiti sprayed on both sides of the bridge.

The City Administration of Sarajevo engaged a company to clean and remove the graffiti from the Latin Bridge in order to restore this national monument to its original state.

The First Police Administration apprehended the vandals, who will be legally sanctioned.

According to the Decision on offenses against public order and peace of the Municipality of Stari Grad Sarajevo, spray-painting graffiti is defined as an offense punishable by a fine. Those who spray graffiti on building facades and entrances, public transport vehicles, monuments, retaining walls, billboards, and similar may be sanctioned with a fine ranging from 150 to 450 KM. However, in cases of vandalism against our cultural heritage, we will advocate for stricter penalties.

The Commission for the Preservation of National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina, at its session held from August 30 to September 2, 2004, made a Decision declaring the historical structure - the Latin Bridge in Sarajevo a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Latin Bridge is one of Sarajevo's oldest bridges, which has changed over time, from its original wooden form to the stone bridge that spans the Miljacka River today. This bridge was first mentioned in a census from 1541, stating that the bridge was built by a certain Husein, son of Širmed, a saddler.

From a later document, it can be concluded that it was a wooden bridge, which was soon destroyed and replaced by a stone bridge built by Sarajevo's representative Ali Ajni-Beg.

That stone bridge was washed away by a major flood in 1791, after which, in 1798, the Latin Bridge was built in its current form using funds bequeathed for charitable purposes by the prominent Sarajevo merchant Abdulah Briga.

The Latin Bridge got its name from Latinluk, a neighborhood on the left bank of the Miljacka River, inhabited by Sarajevo Catholics.

From 1918 to 1993, the Latin Bridge was called Princip Bridge, after Gavrilo Princip, who, a few meters from this bridge, assassinated the Austro-Hungarian heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie. That event, known as the Sarajevo Assassination, is considered the cause for the outbreak of World War I.

The old name – Latin Bridge – was restored in 1992. Damaged during the siege, the Latin Bridge was reconstructed in 2003/2004.