| a city in S Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the Neretva River: former capital of Herzegovina. 63,500. |
Mo·star  (mô'stär') A city of southern Bosnia and Herzegovina. The chief Turkish administrative and commercial center of Herzegovina from the 16th century, it passed to Austria in 1878 and to Yugoslavia after World War I. In 1993 ethnic Croats proclaimed the city the capital of the breakaway Croat republic Herceg-Bosna, and many structures, including a historic 16th-century bridge, were destroyed as a result of fighting between Muslims, Croats, and Serbs. Population: 104,000. |
Mostar
town, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Mostar is the chief city and, historically, the capital of Herzegovina. It is situated in mountainous country along the Neretva River and lies on the Sarajevo-Ploce rail line. First mentioned in 1452, Mostar became a Turkish garrison town in the 16th century. In 1566 the Turks replaced the town's wooden suspension bridge over the Neretva with a stone arch one, whence the name Mostar (from Serbo-Croatian most, "bridge"). This stone bridge had a single arch 90 feet (27 metres) wide and was a masterpiece of Ottoman engineering. In November 1993, during the Bosnian civil war, the bridge was destroyed by artillery fire from Bosnian Croat forces. A major rebuilding project was undertaken to restore the bridge and nearby buildings that had also been damaged; the bridge reopened in 2004. The bridge and the surrounding area were added to UNESCO's World Heritage list in 2005.
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