Bosnia: Sarajevo and Mostar
May 26, 2023
We left Split and drove to Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia–Herzegovina. The drive was a bit over four hours and went through scenic mountain ranges, along a few lakes and through a dramatic river gorge. Below is a map that shows where we drove in Bosnia and the route back to Croatia.
Here’s a photo of the mountainous countryside on the way to Sarajevo taken from the car. Once we got over the high mountains, it was less cloudy.
After checking into our hotel and having a quick lunch, we walked along the river past the spot of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand to the Ottoman section of the City.
Here are two photos from along the river. Note the playful art suspended above it.
From there, we took a walking tour of the old city, starting in the Ottoman section, and we visited two old mosques, and the old Serbian Orthodox Church with its jam–packed museum. We also walked along the evocative Copper Smith Street, and admired the newish City Hall from afar. As we made our way to the Austro–Hungarian portion of the city, we visited the old synagogue (1581) with its museum, and we learned that during the 1990’s war it was the safest place in town and where city treasures were stored during the conflict. We visited Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque, the largest historical mosque with a beautiful dome, then admired the outside of the Ferhadija Mosque, the Catholic cathedral, and the orthodox cathedral, with its onion dome. During this walk, we visited sites from four major religions and saw many reminders of the 1990’s Bosnian war.
Sarajevo photos from top: interior of Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque; interior of old synagogue; Orthodox Cathedral; the Eternal Flame war memorial; and
remnants of war.
We returned to our hotel just as a very strong thunderstorm started, and since the rain lasted for several hours, we did not venture back out that evening.
May 27, 2023
We left rainy Sarajevo and drove a little over two hours through the beautiful and dramatic Neretva River Canyon with its blue/green water. The mountains were impressive! But there were few places to pull over to get photos. This is the best we could do. Sorry about the railing.
As we descended and got closer to Mostar, it got warmer and sunnier. When we got to Mostar, we discovered our hotel is on the edge of the UNESCO World Heritage zone. The nice innkeeper drove our car on a steep, narrow and cobbled street down to the hotel where it stayed until we left Mostar. After a lunch featuring cevapcici (grilled meat) we took a walking tour of Mostar.
Above: the neighborhood of our hotel. Below: a nice view of Mostar.
The city’s location is stunning.
We started on the Croat side of the city and saw the Franciscan church with a large bell tower built after the Bosnian war. Then we walked down Onescukoba Street along the Radobolja River (near our hotel) until we got to the Old Mostar Bridge. The bridge, another UNESCO site, was originally built in 1557 and was rebuilt after being destroyed in the Bosnian war, with reconstruction completed in 2004. It was pretty crowded with tourists and with local young men jumping into the river.
We walked along Coppersmiths’ Street, similar to the one in Sarajevo. Then we visited Koski Mehmed–Pasha Mosque, built in the 17th century. Photo at top of the page is the dome of this mosque. We climbed its minaret with its 90 steps to a wonderful view of the Old Bridge and the Neretva River.
Big crowd on the old bridge; views from both sides.
Photo below taken from the bridge shows the mosque and its minaret we climbed.
You can make out a couple people there.
And here’s the view from the minaret.
On our way back to our hotel, we visited a traditional Turkish house with its attractive furnishings and its nice, pet turtle in the cobbled courtyard. Here are two photos.
That evening we had more grilled meats at the famous “National Restaurant” Tima-Irma.
Mostar is very impressive with the mountains surrounding it and the blue-green river flowing through its center. But like everywhere on this trip, it has been discovered and had pretty good sized crowds of tourists.
Tomorrow, we leave Bosnia and return to Croatia.
