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Any Port in a Storm :: Compass Points :: Europe :: Mostar
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AuthorTopic: Mostar (Read 727 times)
bjd
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Mostar
« Thread Started on Jun 18, 2011, 3:36pm »		[Quote]
Split from: Geographic+Word+Game


Jun 17, 2011, 6:46pm, kerouac2 wrote:
Mostar (Bosnia-Herzegovina) - the largest and most important city in Herzegovina. The destruction of the bridge of Mostar was one of the most symbolic events of the recent Balkan wars (1993), and its reconstruction was of huge symbolic importance.



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Seeing Kerouac's post here about Mostar, I thought you might be interested to see what it looked like 10 years later.

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As you see by the small steps, it is and was a footbridge, and had stood for 427 years until the Croatians bombed it in 1993. Simply wanton destruction by cannons set up on a hill overlooking the city.

There is also a small crooked bridge nearby.
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bjd
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Re: Mostar
« Reply #1 on Jun 18, 2011, 3:45pm »		[Quote]
Renovated shops just before you get to the bridge on the "Bosniak" side. This is where day-trippers from Dubrovnik are brought to have an ice-cream, take a picture of the bridge and maybe buy a souvenir.

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In May 2006, when I was there, there were still many buildings that looked like this.

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Others had been renovated
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On the main street leading from the bus station
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The town is quite hilly

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bjd
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Re: Mostar
« Reply #2 on Jun 18, 2011, 3:57pm »		[Quote]
Many countries had made donations to help rebuild the city and the country. The buses had been funded by Japan, many new buildings by various European countries. The wealthy Arab countries like Qatar had rebuilt the mosques.

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All the mosques had cemeteries beside them with old tombs, like these:
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But there were also cemeteries all over the place with tombs from the recent war

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The city was open for business
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One of the high school buildings had been repaired, although there were still lots of bullet holes in the facade
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bjd
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Re: Mostar
« Reply #3 on Jun 18, 2011, 4:03pm »		[Quote]
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bjd
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Re: Mostar
« Reply #4 on Jun 18, 2011, 4:10pm »		[Quote]
I stayed almost all the time on the Bosniak side of the river. Other than visiting a few mosques, the only tourist attraction I visited was this old Turkish house, set up to show how wealthy people had lived when the area was part of the Ottoman Empire:

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kerouac2
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Re: Mostar
« Reply #5 on Jun 18, 2011, 5:38pm »		[Quote]
Thanks for this, bjd. Just looking up the Mostar YouTube video brought tears to my eyes as I watched it -- the extreme futility of such things in our modern world, creating extremely real ruins. The siege of Sarajevo had the same effect on me, reading the reports every day and knowing that these people were living exactly the same life as I until all of a sudden everything turned to shit.

Naturally, when you are living in Europe and you see things happening in another part of Europe with people who look just the same as you, there is a much greater effect than when you see people being killed in Afghanistan, Rwanda or Juarez, Mexico. It's unfortunate, but it's true.
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bixaorellana
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Re: Mostar
« Reply #6 on Jun 18, 2011, 5:58pm »		[Quote]
What an excellent and powerful presentation, Bjd. Thank you.

It's a telling shock to be admiring the lovely photos, the graceful architecture and timeless customs, then to see the ugly pocks of war on a building behind the cutesy gift shop.

You were there only five years ago. Would you visit again, given the chance?

Shallow comment: I see myself in that wealthy Turkish house.
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bjd
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Re: Mostar
« Reply #7 on Jun 18, 2011, 7:20pm »		[Quote]
Yes, Bixa, I would go back, but I would also like to go to Sarajevo. I would have liked to go last time, but didn't have the time. I imagine things have changed a bit even in 5 years. But there are still lots of problems. Even in 2006, you couldn't go to parts of the countryside because there were landmines.

A guy I met there (wanted to guide me around but I refused although I later met him on the street) took me to see a documentary about the war, particularly the bombing of the bridge in Mostar. The director was German, the film in English. It was interesting to see the reactions of the people in the theatre, and also that some of the people in the film I had seen on the street. And the boos from the crowd during the film when the Croatian general who was responsible for the bombing said he hadn't done anything wrong and was only protecting the Croatian population.

Another multicultural society that was broken up, unfortunately.

This had obviously been a church on the "muslim" side of the river.
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And this was also part of the high school, standing right beside the one above. I wondered what the effect was on the locals and especially children, growing up surrounded by all these signs of war.
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It's also interesting to see how quickly vegetation takes over, and it's not even the tropics.

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In a mosque courtyard, where the shop with the kilims was
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The famous diver in Kerouac's video had been killed in the war. Some guys still jumped, but I don't know if they dived.
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Re: Mostar
« Reply #8 on Jun 18, 2011, 7:35pm »		[Quote]

Jun 18, 2011, 7:20pm, bjd wrote:
The famous diver in Kerouac's video had been killed in the war. Some guys still jumped, but I don't know if they dived.
Those two sentences speak volumes about war and its effects -- the snuffing out of grace, beauty, exuberance, and even a way of life:
Jun 18, 2011, 7:20pm, bjd wrote:
Another multicultural society that was broken up, unfortunately.


The picture of the ruined school just resonates with all that was lost and trashed.
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lola
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Re: Mostar
« Reply #9 on Jun 18, 2011, 8:17pm »		[Quote]
Breathtaking, bjd. And as beautiful as a bridge can be. Your photos are all gems. Thanks!
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Re: Mostar
« Reply #10 on Jun 18, 2011, 8:20pm »		[Quote]
What are the covered metal things on pedestals, near where Bixa would be lounging on the window seat?
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Re: Mostar
« Reply #11 on Jun 18, 2011, 9:03pm »		[Quote]
I'm hoping they're hiding my halvah :D
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bjd
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Re: Mostar
« Reply #12 on Jun 19, 2011, 6:41am »		[Quote]
Lola, I don't know what those things are. I was the only person in there and the guy I paid the entrance fee to didn't speak a word of English, so there were no explanations about anything. Maybe they are just decorative, since there was quite a lot of metalwork.

The windows looked out over the river. It gets very hot there in summer so wealthy people got the best locations.

Bixa, I bought some halvah in Paris last week!
« Last Edit: Jun 19, 2011, 6:42am by bjd »Link to Post - Back to Top  IP: Logged
bixaorellana
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Re: Mostar
« Reply #13 on Jun 19, 2011, 6:56am »		[Quote]
I'll be right over! :D
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Re: Mostar
« Reply #14 on Jun 19, 2011, 7:17am »		[Quote]

Jun 18, 2011, 8:20pm, lola wrote:
What are the covered metal things on pedestals, near where Bixa would be lounging on the window seat?


Can someone just quickly point out exactly what?
I think I know but need confirmation.
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bjd
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Re: Mostar
« Reply #15 on Jun 19, 2011, 9:20am »		[Quote]
I think Lola means the two round metal things standing between the tables in front of the window seat in the first picture of the house interior.
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Re: Mostar
« Reply #16 on Jun 19, 2011, 9:51am »		[Quote]
Right-o. I thought so.

Then I know what they are.

http://islamicofculture.blogspot.com/2009/05/turkish-braziers.html

http://www.google.com/search?q=turkish+b....iw=1229&bih=554

I have seen them before.
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Re: Mostar
« Reply #17 on Jun 19, 2011, 9:56am »		[Quote]
Jeez, I'm constantly amazed by what rubbish I have hanging around taking up space in my head. No wonder i can't learn anything new. I think my brain is full.
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Re: Mostar
« Reply #18 on Jun 19, 2011, 1:39pm »		[Quote]
Brazier! Of course. One of those familiar words without an image.

Thanks, oM.
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Re: Mostar
« Reply #19 on Jun 19, 2011, 3:40pm »		[Quote]
The Ottomans have a history in Cairo as well. I have seen them in old houses.
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Re: Mostar
« Reply #20 on Jun 19, 2011, 4:04pm »		[Quote]
Bjd, in the photo right after the house interiors, there is a shop that appears to be selling enameled copper ware, which I vaguely associate with Turkey. Is that what that is?

It occurs to me that after any war, many artisans of local crafts must be either gone or have lost their tools, workshops, whatever. However, the last photo in Reply #3 is of a shop with new-looking rugs, copper, and musical instruments, which is an encouraging sign.
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bjd
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Re: Mostar
« Reply #21 on Jun 19, 2011, 6:13pm »		[Quote]
Bixa, those are not rugs but kilims (woven rather than knotted). The shop was full of them. I actually bought an old one. The traditional local ones have diametric patterns but I liked some with flower designs.

This one was lying on the ground at an entrance to a restaurant
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And these were more typical of local work. These were for sale just hanging on a wall near a shop.
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And here was a woman who had made a kilim and was trying to sell it to a shopkeeper (the guy on the left with white hair).
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Re: Mostar
« Reply #22 on Jun 27, 2011, 8:13pm »		[Quote]
Reminds me of coastal Turkey!
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Re: Mostar
« Reply #23 on Jun 27, 2011, 8:18pm »		[Quote]

Quote:
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I just noticed this photo again with the logo for "Walls" ice cream, "Miko" in France, and clearly this other name in Bosnia -- I am fascinated to see this heart shaped thing all over the world with different names.
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Re: Mostar
« Reply #24 on Jun 28, 2011, 3:42am »		[Quote]
Extraordinary photos, bjd.

I'm so glad to see the bridge is back.
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