HWR
Historical Landmark
Koski Mehmed-Pasha Mosque
The Koski Mehmed Pasha Mosque in Mostar is an extraordinary example of Ottoman architecture in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Built in 1618/19, it showcases classical Ottoman design. Its founder, Mehmed Koskija, was a chronicler of the great vizier Lala Mehmed Sokolovic.
The mosque has a one-space floor plan with a dome, built from precisely tanned stone blocks. It bears a resemblance to the Karadzoz Beg Mosque but has a slightly lower minaret without stalactite decoration. Situated on the cliffs of the Neretva River in the city center, it features a porch with three domes and a beautifully crafted mihrab and mimbar.
Medieval town of Vidoški
Vidoški, a medieval town named after the river Vidoštica (now Bregava), was first mentioned in 1444 as part of the lands of Duke Stjepan Kosača. Situated on trade routes used by Dubrovnik traders, it held prominence in the region of Dubrava. The town had a well-regulated water supply through cisterns and featured various structures for residential, military, religious, and commercial purposes. It boasted 13 defense towers and fell under Ottoman rule after 1465. During the Ottoman period, significant parts of the town were built and reconstructed in multiple phases. In the Austro-Hungarian era, a fort was constructed at the highest point. Vidoški remained the largest fortified town in Herzegovina until the early 19th century. It overlooked the Vidovo plain and the Bregava river, surrounded by hills Hrgud, Komanje, Ošanići, and Bašnik.
Monumental Partisan Cemetery
In the western part of the city, dominated by extensive green areas, lies this magnificent Monumental Cemetery. It was built in 1965 (during the period of renewal and reconstruction following the end of World War II) by the architect Bogdan Bogdanovic, in memory of the partisans of Mostar who lost their lives during the war.The Cemetery has 661 tombstones and every stone has its own symbolic significance, like the Monumental complex itself.
Museum Humac
The Franciscan Monastery in Humac contains the oldest museum in Bosnia and Herzegovina, founded in 1884. The museum displays Humac Stone Tablet from XII. Century which is the oldest preserved monument written in Croatian (a mixture of Glagolitic and Old Croatian Cyrillic). Thanks to the collecting activities of numerous Franciscans, as well as various donations from the civilian population, the holdings were continuously increasing, as was the need for new premises for the archaeological collection. Today’s museum exhibition, founded in 2003, is located in the basement of the monastery of St. Anthony of Padua on Humac. Archaeological material was collected in the wider area of Herzegovina and divided into prehistoric, ancient and medieval in a time span of almost 16,000 years. Part of the complex is a lapidary for the exhibition of stone monuments located in the monastery courtyard. Around 70 Roman monuments were found in the area of the Ljubuški region, of which the largest number are tombstones (stelae) belonging to veterans and soldiers of various legionary and auxiliary units. The museum displays the oldest Cyrillic-Glagolitic monument, which retells the restoration of the church of the Archangel Michael in the period 11/12. century, popularly called “Humac Stone Tablet”. Humac Stone Tablet is the oldest written monument of Croats in BiH.
Opening times: everyday from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm
Muslibegović House
In order to breathe in the atmosphere of daily life during the Ottoman period, all one needs to do is visit one of the three Turkish dwellings still present in town: these are the houses of the influential Bišćević (1635), Kajtaz (18th century) and Muslibegović (end of 19th century). Intriguing and well-maintained antique dwellings testify in detail to the residential style and to the real flavour of domestic life in that period. Each house is surrounded by high walls to protect the intimacy of Muslim family life. The delightful internal courtyards have characteristic decorations on the floors, romantic fountains, exotic plants, flowers and fruit trees. Comfort reigns supreme in these interiors, with objects of daily use, precious carpets and small libraries with rare texts. To visit a Turkish residence is a way to come into touch with a reality often only imagined and then to take it away with you, once you have returned home.
Opening times: every day from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm
Old Bridge Museum
The museum, opened in 2006, to celebrate the second anniversary of the reconstruction of the bridge, its premises inside the Tara Tower complex and is made up of three distinct sections. The first, represented by the Tower itself, displays an exhibition of objects of archaeological interest discovered during the reconstruction carried out in 2002, all of which are enriched by informative charts that explain the principal historical events connected to the Bridge. From the five floors of this section, which are open to visitors, one reaches a lovely gazebo, standing at the highest point of the building which offers a 360° panoramic view of the city. The second section exhibits pre-existing remains of archaeological importance from underneath the tower, the remains of two wooden bridges belonging to the period before that of the stone bridge and the base of the Old Bridge. And finally, the third section, called “Labyrinth”, is made up of a photographic gallery dedicated to the Old Bridge, to the damaged towers and to their following phases of rebuilding. Audio-visual multimedia charts recount the history of the reconstruction of the bridge.
Opening times: Monday-Friday from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm and weekends 10 am to 6 pm
Antique Villa Mogorjelo
Mogorjelo is one of the most important monuments of the Roman era in Bosnia and Herzegovina and belongs to the most beautiful buildings of late antique architecture. Mogorjelo supplied the Roman city of Narona and probably served in the defense of the city and its surrounding, a dense grove of coastal trees (cypress) gives this monument a particularly beautiful frame. The building was excavated between 1889 and 1903, and in the following years it was conserved, being declared as a national monument in 2002.
Archaeological site Gabela
Gabela is a national cultural monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Due to its strategic location, Gabela was also inhabited in Roman times, from which we have the remains of a brick factory and farm buildings on the outskirts of the town. Of the large number of medieval buildings, the remains of the old fort and a stone plaque with a large winged lion, the symbol of the Republic of Venice, are the most impressive to this day. Gabela was from the 15th to the 18th century a large trading center, but also an important strategic fortress on the Venetian-Turkish border. At one time it was known as the slave square. Various political and economic interests were competing for supremacy over Gabel. The Turks occupied it in 1477, and after several failed attempts in 1694, the Venetians occupied Gabela, then with the Peace of Požarevac in 1718, Gabela belonged to the Turks, and the Venetians demolished all the important buildings. Gabela is again under Turkish administration, but without its former power. During the Austro-Hungarian rule and the construction of the narrow-gauge railway, Gabela was a junction from Sarajevo to Dubrovnik and Metković. The Mexican scientist Roberto Salinas Price developed a hypothesis based on geographical information in the Iliad that the Trojan War was in the valley of the Neretva River, that is, that Gabela was Ilios, the capital of the state of Troy.
Antique Villa Mogorjelo
Mogorjelo is one of the most important monuments of the Roman era in Bosnia and Herzegovina and belongs to the most beautiful buildings of late antique architecture. Mogorjelo supplied the Roman city of Narona and probably served in the defense of the city and its surrounding, a dense grove of coastal trees (cypress) gives this monument a particularly beautiful frame. The building was excavated between 1889 and 1903, and in the following years it was conserved, being declared as a national monument in 2002.
Archaeological site Gabela
Gabela is a national cultural monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Due to its strategic location, Gabela was also inhabited in Roman times, from which we have the remains of a brick factory and farm buildings on the outskirts of the town. Of the large number of medieval buildings, the remains of the old fort and a stone plaque with a large winged lion, the symbol of the Republic of Venice, are the most impressive to this day. Gabela was from the 15th to the 18th century a large trading center, but also an important strategic fortress on the Venetian-Turkish border. At one time it was known as the slave square. Various political and economic interests were competing for supremacy over Gabel. The Turks occupied it in 1477, and after several failed attempts in 1694, the Venetians occupied Gabela, then with the Peace of Požarevac in 1718, Gabela belonged to the Turks, and the Venetians demolished all the important buildings. Gabela is again under Turkish administration, but without its former power. During the Austro-Hungarian rule and the construction of the narrow-gauge railway, Gabela was a junction from Sarajevo to Dubrovnik and Metković. The Mexican scientist Roberto Salinas Price developed a hypothesis based on geographical information in the Iliad that the Trojan War was in the valley of the Neretva River, that is, that Gabela was Ilios, the capital of the state of Troy.
Arslanagić Bridge
Water is one of the most important natural resources of east Herzegovina. Trebišnjica possesses a vast unused potential, and it used to be the longest sinking river in Europe (98km). It is precisely in Trebinje where its beauty takes a full form. Banks of Trebišnjica are intertwined with many bridges, one of those standing out with exceptional beauty is the Arslanagić bridge, most famous monument from the Ottoman period in Trebinje. The Bridge played a very important role in Balkan architecture of 16th century. Mehmed-Pasha Sokolović built the bridge 1574 in honor to his son who was killed in the battle with Venice. When Turks got pushed away from Herceg Novi in 1687, many Turkish families moved from this town to Trebinje. A certain individual named Arslan-aga was among them. He was given land east of Trebinje: Zupci, Necvijeće and Jasen, and was also put in charge of collecting fee people had to pay to cross this bridge. Since that, this bridge was named after him – Arslanagić (Arslan-aga) bridge. With the construction of hydropower system on Trebišnjica in 1965 the bridge got submerged under the newly created reservoir lake. However, in 1966 the Institute for Protection of Cultural Monuments requested the bridge to be moved upstream to the new location – between Gradina (right river bank) and Police (left).