VOLCANIC BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
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| Mostar, Stari Most |
A veiled moon decided to appear in the vicinity of the minaret overlooking a doll-house, a restaurant called Hindi Han. I call it a doll house because it has a veranda on two levels right above one branch of the river that crosses Mostar in its center, around the corner from the famous old bridge that was built in 1566 by the Ottomans, destroyed during the 1992-95 war and newly reconstructed to the identical in 2004. It was 9.30PM. The doll-house was lit up on both levels so that one could see what going on inside as if it were one of those toy houses with which one used to play as a child with plastic figures and furniture.
To come there, we had walked along the street which runs along the Neretva river that we could only hear in the darkness. We entered the old town with its cobbled streets all shiny from the street lights reflecting on the wet stones. The perspective of the street leading to the old bridge was that of a funnel of light guiding one towards the bridge. It offered, besides, an intriguing view on the nearby minarets and towers on both sides of the bridge, all of them beautifully lit and conjuring up the spirit of the turbulent history of those stones. As much as the old town has been recently completely renovated, I couldn't help feeling sucked into the past that had moulded the town into its present shape. At the same time, it perhaps looked all too fresh to be genuine. The steps on the bridge weren't eroded as one would expect. The night however wrapped reality with a blurry veil. We were the last customers in the Konoba and ordered some cevapcici.
We talked for a long time with our host the next morning at breakfast. The weather was still on its way to recover and the hilltops were still bathing in the clouds. Jan, our host, told us that Mostar had benefited from a lot of post-war reconstruction money. So the town has got a face-lift but the wounds of the war are still unhealed. Even if there is no more physical violence, the war continues at a psychological level. Politicians are usually serving the interests and goals of their own communities and are not particularly trying to bridge the existing gaps. It is true that there are three different religions involved, different languages spoken, different groups of people. Bosnia and Herzegovina as we know it today has one access to the Adriatic sea in Neum, right by Pelješac, a twenty kilometre stretch within the Croatian coastline. The country is surrounded by Croatia on its Southern, Western and Northern border. Serbia is the Eastern border together with Montenegro in the South East.
There are basically three groups of people in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Catholic Croats live in the South West of Bosnia close to the border with Croatia and account for about one fifth of the population. The Muslim Bosniaks are living in the central part of the country and account for a small half of the population. There are also the Orthodox Serbs who are found primarily in an area with the shape of a crescent following the Northern and Eastern border of the country.
The Croats are keen to integrate Croatia for several practical reasons, the language and Croatia is part of the Euro zone. The Serbs are keen to be reunited with Serbia. They are perceived to have been generally aligned with the forces that besieged Sarajevo and Mostar in the course of the 1990s war and therefore opposed to the two other communities. Lastly, the Bosniaks are the ones who have nowhere to run to because they have been living on their land for a long time as Muslims. Islam has been introduced by the Turks who ruled over this land between the 15th and the 19th century.
In Mostar, the Croats and the Serbs live mostly on the West bank of the Neretva river while the Bosniaks are living on the East bank, which corresponds to the area developed under Ottoman tradition with wooden houses, of which very few remains today.
In contrast the West Bank has a more modern appearance though not necessarily in a fancy way.
Its development happened after World War II because it had a flat area available and housing was required for workers that flocked to the town because of an industry boom. This was done in an uninspiring way, often with now greyish concrete prefabricated buildings. By 1980 the population had increased five-fold compared to 1945.
Starting a few decades ago, tourism started to grow in Mostar with people attracted by the old oriental charm of a part of the city and obviously the appeal of the surrounding mountainous landscapes with rivers, waterfalls, lakes and rural settings.
International money has helped rebuild the Mostar and turn the old town in a tourist haven, especially since the visit of Mostar has been added to list of packaged tours going to Dubrovnik. It takes only two hours to reach Dubrovnik.
We had a refill of coffee as we continued chatting. Mimi, the house cat, a large grey-furred cat wearing a bell showed up majestically at the glass door in the hope of being let in to enjoy the warmth of the breakfast room. To no avail. Fortunately her grey brother, living in the neighbour's house, came rushing and they started chasing one another in the wet grass.
We asked cautiously how it felt to live in Mostar. The answer was that it is very nice if one manages to forget about the stigma of the war that ended only a little more than twenty years ago and involved a de-facto state of war between the communities. Peace means that, similar to the proven recipe for successful family gatherings, one should avoid talking about religion and politics. This is hard to achieve in running the affairs of a country, therefore the notion of "one country" is very theoretical.
One example of the fragility of the reconstruction progress is illustrated for instance by the sewage system under construction and funded by the EU. Two fully-independent networks are being put together on each side of the Neretva river. This is interpreted by many as a sign that the country is not meant to work as one entity.
Our host mentioned, as another example, the case of a Croatian teenager, whom he knew, who had never crossed the old town bridge in Mostar, or even been to the East bank, and who wasn't interested in ever doing so because he felt Croatian and had nothing to do with Bosniaks. At least one thing, on which everyone agrees, is that Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country with beautiful landscapes.
We had a few hours to ourselves to visit the old town, under the sun this time. We stopped at the Koski Mehmed Pasha Mosque, that is open to visit and one can also access the minaret to have a view on the river and the city. The last clouds were dissipating, revealing progressively the surrounding mountains in bright colours.
The mosque was built in 1617 during the period of Ottoman rule. Not far from it, the local market was run under a hall. One could essentially buy fruits, vegetables, honey in different flavours, dry fruits and spices.
We crossed the bazaar spread over the area of cobbled streets with stalls on the ground floor of houses. They were overwhelmingly souvenir shops. We wandered around the streets going up and down around the river banks and went to have a look from outside at the tall Catholic Cathedral built on West Bank right at the end of the street leading to Stari Most, the old bridge, which is effectively only 15 years old.
We were somewhat envious, at some people seating outside at the sunny terrace of a café serving turkish coffee in the traditional copper pot on a small copper tray. That was very tempting but it was time for us to move towards the bus station to catch our bus to Sarajevo.
We crossed the bazaar spread over the area of cobbled streets with stalls on the ground floor of houses. They were overwhelmingly souvenir shops. We wandered around the streets going up and down around the river banks and went to have a look from outside at the tall Catholic Cathedral built on West Bank right at the end of the street leading to Stari Most, the old bridge, which is effectively only 15 years old.
We were somewhat envious, at some people seating outside at the sunny terrace of a café serving turkish coffee in the traditional copper pot on a small copper tray. That was very tempting but it was time for us to move towards the bus station to catch our bus to Sarajevo.
The journey was only a couple of hours going along the river up to the pass of Mount Ivan that was hidden in the clouds. A nice rainbow appeared while the bus was ascending. After that, all the way to Sarajevo the weather turned grey and rainy. It didn't help making the rows of communist-era buildings, on the outskirts of Sarajevo, to look cheerful, they were grey, gloomy, repetitive and tall, witness from World War II reconstruction efforts under Tito. Sarajevo has spread in the valley of the Miljacka river and progressively moved over the nearby hills. The best way to have a good look at the city sprawl is to use, on a sunny day, the lift put together for the winter Olympics of 1984. This we did on our third day in Sarajevo.
I was impressed with the size and visibility of cemeteries within the town itself, grass fields planted with white stones.
Pastel coloured houses with terracotta roofs looked like a carpet espousing the curvy slopes of the lower hills around the old town with its bazaar and ancient mosques. There, in the streets, craft shops are never far from food shops. Loukoums, and other sorts of sweets, abund in various colours and flavours in shop windows. Turkish coffee is often served with a loukoum. There are also many cevapcici places where one can easily sit outside except in winter.
We had lunch at Inat Kuca, a traditional Bosnian restaurant with a wooden interior. The house is famous because of the determination of Benderija, one of its owner in the late 19th century after Austrian-Hungarian rulers had taken over from weakened Ottoman rulers. There are many ways to establish and sustain domination over a newly conquered territory. Bringing "civilization" in form of infrastructure to improve people's life and construct impressive buildings to affirm one's power. For example, the Ottomans brought drinkable water at fountains thanks to the construction of a sanitation system and they used top-notch architecture in the mosques and madrassa next to the bazaar to demonstrate their capabilities. When the turn of the Austrian-Hungarian empire came, they built a tramway and large stuccoed buildings, including a market hall along the Ferhadija west of the bazaar, the first hall with a glassed roof. They also had the project to construct a City Hall that everyone would be impressed with, the Moorish-styled City Hall. But the house of Benderija stood in the way. The only compromise he would accept, to vacate the piece land his house was on, was to be given a bag full of gold coins and have his house transferred brick by brick on the opposite side of the Miljacka.
Around 1860, the Ottoman empire had become weak and in order to limit the rise of opposition to their presence they cajoled the most influential community, the Serbs and allowed them to build a place of worship, the Cathedral Orthodox Church of the Nativity of the Theotokos was built between 1863 and 1868. Somehow it did not change the course of history. In 1878, Bosnia and Herzegovina was allocated to the Austrian-Hungarian empire. It was then that the idea of a Yugoslav identity gathered pace in Serbia and Croatia.
On 28 July 1914, a young man, member of a secret Serb organization aiming at furthering the cause a Yugoslav independence movement, a Serb teenager called Gavrilo Princip, made Sarajevo famous forever when he shot down the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the presumptive heir of the Austrian-Hungarian throne, and his wife in a convoy next to the Latin bridge, a few hundred meters from the City Hall on Obala Kulina Bana, opposite the Careva mosque.
This is what triggered the World War I to unfold.
As the lift was about to reach the top of the mountain, we traversed a cloud loosing sight with Sarajevo for a moment. Up there the view was splendid, above a sea of clouds. A veil of pollution was visible above Sarajevo.
We walked around the hill which had some forest up to the top. It was pristine and peaceful.
It was hard to imagine that twenty five years ago, this hill had been one of the place from which Sarajevo had been held under siege. The city is still trying to make sense out of this war nonsense. There are several initiatives across town for people to remember and not to forget the dark times of the civil war that started when Bosnia and Herzegovina declared its independence from the Yugoslav Republic.
On the Fehradija, red paint in form of hand-shaped blood stains are commemorating the people who died from shelling at that very spot. A way for everyone to face and not to forget the horror of the war.
For a more intimate experience, the War Childhood Museum is presenting stories from the war written by people who were children back then and who were willing to contribute an object of their own that related to their story. Sometimes it acts as a therapy to get over a trauma. There was a fascinating collection of chocolate wrappers that were kept as currency between the kids of the area and another one who had kept packaging of all the food products one could put ones hands on.
Beyond the tragic background of history, life has been going on. Men gather, at all time of the day, around the giant outdoor chess board in front of the Orthodox Cathedral to see who is winning. Cafés are everywhere with smoking and non smoking rooms. In winter, they are a must to spend time comfortably away from home and away from the cold. We entered a shoemaker's workshop, on the ground floor of a building, that was offering different models of tailored shoe. One was a golden model for men, the perfect accessory to shine day and night!
To conclude this part on Bosnia, it felt like crossing a territory of active volcanoes where the beauty of landscape is sweetening the permanent threat of untamed human conflicts.
Pastel coloured houses with terracotta roofs looked like a carpet espousing the curvy slopes of the lower hills around the old town with its bazaar and ancient mosques. There, in the streets, craft shops are never far from food shops. Loukoums, and other sorts of sweets, abund in various colours and flavours in shop windows. Turkish coffee is often served with a loukoum. There are also many cevapcici places where one can easily sit outside except in winter.
We had lunch at Inat Kuca, a traditional Bosnian restaurant with a wooden interior. The house is famous because of the determination of Benderija, one of its owner in the late 19th century after Austrian-Hungarian rulers had taken over from weakened Ottoman rulers. There are many ways to establish and sustain domination over a newly conquered territory. Bringing "civilization" in form of infrastructure to improve people's life and construct impressive buildings to affirm one's power. For example, the Ottomans brought drinkable water at fountains thanks to the construction of a sanitation system and they used top-notch architecture in the mosques and madrassa next to the bazaar to demonstrate their capabilities. When the turn of the Austrian-Hungarian empire came, they built a tramway and large stuccoed buildings, including a market hall along the Ferhadija west of the bazaar, the first hall with a glassed roof. They also had the project to construct a City Hall that everyone would be impressed with, the Moorish-styled City Hall. But the house of Benderija stood in the way. The only compromise he would accept, to vacate the piece land his house was on, was to be given a bag full of gold coins and have his house transferred brick by brick on the opposite side of the Miljacka.
Around 1860, the Ottoman empire had become weak and in order to limit the rise of opposition to their presence they cajoled the most influential community, the Serbs and allowed them to build a place of worship, the Cathedral Orthodox Church of the Nativity of the Theotokos was built between 1863 and 1868. Somehow it did not change the course of history. In 1878, Bosnia and Herzegovina was allocated to the Austrian-Hungarian empire. It was then that the idea of a Yugoslav identity gathered pace in Serbia and Croatia.
On 28 July 1914, a young man, member of a secret Serb organization aiming at furthering the cause a Yugoslav independence movement, a Serb teenager called Gavrilo Princip, made Sarajevo famous forever when he shot down the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the presumptive heir of the Austrian-Hungarian throne, and his wife in a convoy next to the Latin bridge, a few hundred meters from the City Hall on Obala Kulina Bana, opposite the Careva mosque.
This is what triggered the World War I to unfold.
As the lift was about to reach the top of the mountain, we traversed a cloud loosing sight with Sarajevo for a moment. Up there the view was splendid, above a sea of clouds. A veil of pollution was visible above Sarajevo.
We walked around the hill which had some forest up to the top. It was pristine and peaceful.
It was hard to imagine that twenty five years ago, this hill had been one of the place from which Sarajevo had been held under siege. The city is still trying to make sense out of this war nonsense. There are several initiatives across town for people to remember and not to forget the dark times of the civil war that started when Bosnia and Herzegovina declared its independence from the Yugoslav Republic.
On the Fehradija, red paint in form of hand-shaped blood stains are commemorating the people who died from shelling at that very spot. A way for everyone to face and not to forget the horror of the war.
For a more intimate experience, the War Childhood Museum is presenting stories from the war written by people who were children back then and who were willing to contribute an object of their own that related to their story. Sometimes it acts as a therapy to get over a trauma. There was a fascinating collection of chocolate wrappers that were kept as currency between the kids of the area and another one who had kept packaging of all the food products one could put ones hands on.
Beyond the tragic background of history, life has been going on. Men gather, at all time of the day, around the giant outdoor chess board in front of the Orthodox Cathedral to see who is winning. Cafés are everywhere with smoking and non smoking rooms. In winter, they are a must to spend time comfortably away from home and away from the cold. We entered a shoemaker's workshop, on the ground floor of a building, that was offering different models of tailored shoe. One was a golden model for men, the perfect accessory to shine day and night!
To conclude this part on Bosnia, it felt like crossing a territory of active volcanoes where the beauty of landscape is sweetening the permanent threat of untamed human conflicts.
Images:
1/ Mostar Stari Most
2/ On the way to Sarajevo, near Mount Ivan
3/ Sarajevo's hill
4/ Turkish coffee
5/ Housing and cemetery
6/ Ottoman quarters
2/ On the way to Sarajevo, near Mount Ivan
3/ Sarajevo's hill
4/ Turkish coffee
5/ Housing and cemetery
6/ Ottoman quarters
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| On the way to Sarajevo, near Mount Ivan |
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| Sarajevo's hills |
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| Turkish coffee |
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| Housing and cemetery |
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| Ottoman quarters |
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