Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mostar, Old Bridge

Getty Images/Hemis.fr RM

Stari Most

Top choice in Mostar


The world-famous Stari Most (meaning simply 'Old Bridge') is Mostar's indisputable visual focus. Its pale stone magnificently reflects the golden glow of sunset or the tasteful night-time floodlighting. The bridge's swooping arch was originally built between 1557 and 1566 on the orders of Suleiman the Magnificent. The current structure is a very convincing 21st-century rebuild following the bridge's 1990s bombardment during the civil war. Numerous well-positioned cafes and restaurants tempt you to sit and savour the splendidly restored scene.

An engineering marvel of its age, the bridge was nonetheless pounded into the river during a deliberate Croatian artillery attack in November 1993. Depressing footage of this sad moment is shown on many a video screen in Mostar. After the war, Stari Most was painstakingly reconstructed using 16th-century building techniques and stone sourced from the original quarry. It reopened in 2004 and is now a Unesco World Heritage site famed for its bridge divers.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Mostar attractions

1. War Photo Exhibition

0.02 MILES

This collection of around 50 powerful wartime photos by New Zealand photojournalist Wade Goddard is displayed in the western tower guarding Stari Most,…

2. Old Bridge Museum

0.02 MILES

This somewhat sparse museum inhabits one of the defensive towers that guard either side of Stari Most. Visits start by climbing the five storeys for…

3. MuM

0.04 MILES

Strong on poetry, far less so on content, the slightly baffling 2014 annex of the Museum of Hercegovina has a dozen showcases on ethnographic lines and…

4. Hamam Museum

0.07 MILES

This late 16th-century bathhouse has been attractively restored with whitewashed interiors, bilingual panels explaining hammam (Turkish bath) culture and…

5. Koski Mehmed Pasha Mosque

0.1 MILES

Entered from a gated courtyard, this 1618 mosque (substantially rebuilt after the war) has a dome painted with botanical motifs and punctuated by coloured…

6. Crooked Bridge

0.1 MILES

Built around 1558, this pint-sized bridge crosses the tiny Radobolja River amid a layered series of picturesque millhouse restaurants. The original bridge…

7. Nesuh-aga Vučijaković Mosque

0.11 MILES

Originally built in 1564, this attractive domed mosque has no set opening hours but its friendly young imam may show you around if he's there. Its…

8. Džemal Bijedić Memorial House

0.12 MILES

Part of the four-headed Museum of Hercegovina, this small archaeological and ethnographic museum occupies the former house of Džemal Bijedić, a former…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "bosnia-and-hercegovina/southern-bosnia-and-hercegovina/mostar/attractions/stari-most/a/poi-sig/444733/358730",
      "destination": "Mostar",
      "continent": "Europe",
      "country": "Bosnia-&-Hercegovina",
      "city": "Mostar",
      "position": "superzone"
    }