“Be careful”, said Miran. “Don’t step off the path”.
The crazy Bosnian had led us right into the middle of a minefield. “If you go to the right there’s a fifty percent chance of death, and if you do down there to the left, there’s a ninety percent chance of death”, he explained casually as he walked us across the old battle lines above the city of Mostar. “Boom”, he laughed.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country visibly ravaged by the wars which saw the death of Yugoslavia. The streets of cities, towns and villages from Sarajevo to Mostar bear the signs of conflict even twenty years on, and none more so than Mostar. The city’s Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian populations had lived together peacefully for years, but as nationalism took hold in the 1990’s, bloodshed soon followed. This would become the most bombed city in the Bosnian war.
A bullet riddled house in Mostar
Miran is a local Bosnian man, and as a teenager he witnessed first hand the fighting for Mostar during the war that ravaged Bosnia and Herzegovina after the country declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1992. He witnessed the fight for his own home, and for his own nations existence.
Miran
Now he was showing us the front lines. We were on the mountainside that overlooks the entire city. From here, Mostar was besieged and fought over by the different ethnic groups involved in the conflict, from 1992-94.
As we stood by the remnants of a Croatian bunker that was used to fire down upon Mostar, Miran explains that when war first broke out, Serbian troops came to his house and forced his family out and across the river, to the Bosnian side. Croatian and Bosnian forces then allied together to force out the Serbians, but then the Croatian’s occupied this mountain side, and turned on their Bosnian comrades, as they tried to take the city for themselves. Mostar was besieged and divided along ethnic lines.
Mostar is famous for its Old Bridge, the Stari Most.
This 15th Century Ottoman era bridge was destroyed completely by Croatian forces firing from the same mountain top we were now walking along. Below we could see the perfect range of fire the tanks and artillery had to target the landmark. Its destruction was symbolic of the strife of Mostar, cutting the East and West sides of the city apart. After the war it was painstakingly rebuilt brick by brick from the rubble, and once again it stands tall, uniting the two sides across the Neretva River.
Next to the bunker we were huddled under were memorials to three Croatian soldiers. Miran described how this position was targeted by Bosnian rocket strikes from the other side of the valley, and was completely annihilated after the destruction of the old bridge. Every side suffered in this war.
Across the hill the remnants of war still littered the area. Old bunkers, pieces of shrapnel and rusting bullet cases. Most dangerous of all are the mines. Even years on the hillside is still far from clear. Red zones surrounded us. Miran was trained as a minesweeper during his army service, and he said they simply didn’t have the resources or money to remove all the explosives. Instead they would just mark the areas which hadn’t been cleared yet. Red zones were the most dangerous.
In Mostar itself, the scars of war are all too visible as well. Just like in Sarajevo, there’s barely a single building which wasn’t at some point hit by artillery or machine gun fire.
Miran showed us his own home, and the shrapnel scars from rocket propelled grenades which detonated on the walls and in the street. As a teenager he had to learn to live a life under siege.
The front line in the city ran roughly along the river. After the Serbian forces were ejected, eventually the Croatian forces came to occupy the West bank while the Bosnians held the East.
The Bosnians also clung onto a small foothold of land on the West side of the river too, and it was here that we walked along the former positions. The majority of the buildings on the street are still abandoned and battle scarred. There’s even a school in amongst the ruined buildings, and Miran gets angry when he fumes at how little reconstruction has actually been completed in Mostar in the years since the peace agreements.
Looking up at the hills we had been walking on earlier, it’s easy to see how nowhere in the city was safe from fire. The shopping centre on the Bosnian side, once seven storeys high, was hit every day, continuously until it completely collapsed.
On the Croatian side of the river, the harrowing Sniper Tower casts a shadow over the whole city. Nowhere in Mostar was safe, no matter which side you were on.
Miran says we should talk about the war. Some people can’t, but he can, and he feels that he should tell us his stories, his life and his experiences. I get the impression that he has a sense of duty to those who were killed, to his own family members who lost their lives, and a duty to make certain that future generations don’t have to endure the tragedies he did. Under the Sniper Tower there are words of peace spray painted onto the drab concrete, words that express simply the confusion and division caused by the Bosnian war. Words that question the point of the war entirely.
Mostar is still in many ways a divided city. Croatian children are taught a separate syllabus in school, and there are even different bus stations on either side of the river. This isn’t necessarily the way things will continue though. Miran tells me to visit the Bruce Lee statue. I thought he was joking at first, but in a park near the Sniper Tower there does in fact stand a statue of the martial artist himself. After the war, the younger generation from the opposing sides wanted a symbol of unity. Bruce Lee was that symbol. He was loved all over the Balkans, and his universal appeal was a way of bringing the different and divided religions, ethnicities and communities of Bosnia and Herzegovina together again. He is the figure that just might be able to heal the scars of war in Mostar.
Richard Collett
Miran runs an at times emotional yet always detailed tour from his hostel in Mostar. He’s local, and he lived through everything that happened here.
You can also check out the secret Yugoslav airbase built into the side of a mountain on the orders of Joseph Tito himself. It’s just outside Mostar.
In my previous working life, as a human rights lawyer I read a lot about the war in former Yugoslavia. Such a sad occurrence. It is nice that you visited, that people visit – there was a lot of suffering and we should never forget what happened, so that we never repeat it again.
Hi Claudia, I agree completely. I think people need to visit places like Mostar, even if you will never understand what happened here without experiencing it, it’s important that we see what happened to make sure it never happens again.
Crazy how it is such a beautiful place with such a tragic background.
It’s amazing how much rebuilding has been done to make it look beautiful again, but at the same time how much there is still left to do
That Bruce Lee statue is incredibly incongruous compared to the content of the rest of your post. These pictures are really stunning and heartbreaking – there is nothing like seeing first hand the after effects of war to even begin to try to understand the things that this part of the world has gone through. Also that is crazy to think you are just walking around near active mines! i had a similar experience to that when I visited the DMZ from the Korean side.
The DMZ is somewhere I want to see one day as well, a lot of the country is still covered in mines unfortunately, just another legacy of the war…
I remember when that war happened, it was all over the news. And to see how it destroyed so many lives and buildings leaves you with wonder how these things happen. But to also see the rebuilding of the towns there also fills you with hope. I’m glad they left so many reminders so maybe we will learn from it. Your photo’s are more than beautiful they teach too.
Hi Nancy, there is still a lot of work to do in Mostar and all over Bosnia, but yes the reminders are important to make sure history isn’t repeated.
Wow this place has some tragic history. It looks very beautiful.
Hi Anita, unfortunately beauty and tragedy go hand in hand in this part of the world!
I just love how historic your posts are – in the good way of course. I have read some things about the Stari Most and I have heard a lot about Mostar, but never got the chance to walk around with photos and stories like yours. Thanks for that!
Hi Svet, thanks for reading. I think the history of these places is really important, so I’m glad you appreciate that in my articles!
You know, I almost make it to that mountain for sunset one day last Spring. Somehow I told my plans to a fellow traveler and saw how his face turned into a horrorized one in a matter of mili seconds. I didn’t go in the end. Glad you did with a guide and enjoyed it!
Hi Inma, you should have gone to the mountain! The views were worth the small chance of falling down onto a minefield!
Very interesting post! I also find it so bizarre that Bruce Lee managed to get his statue up but I guess it makes sense. You never know what’s going to bring people together.
Haha, yes it is a strange statue and an even more unexpected location for it.
Best comprehensive post about Mostar that I’ve seen, thanks for showing us what it’s really like to experience, it’s so much more than just the bridge (which is pretty much all most people show). And a great reminder that travel isn’t just all about pretty landscapes!
Hi Heather, it’s hard to separate the town from the bridge, but as you say, as spectacular as the bridge itself is, Mostar is so so much more than that. Thanks for reading!
I would not find that joke funny! Feeling incredibly ignorant right now because I didn’t know about any of this. What the hell do they even teach us in schools? Good thing we can travel and get a real education, right?!
Travel is the best education you can get!
A very beautiful place hidding a grim and traggic history. Mostar is on my list to visit.
Hi Anne, yes it is lovely, yet unfortunately tragic. Thank you for reading.
I remember when the war broke out – there was so much of it on TV. I still find it hard to believe we had war in the middle of Europe at the end of the 20th century. A few months before the war started I talked to a girl from Sarajevo and I remember her saying that everything was getting worse but everyone hoped it would get better in the end. It didn’t.
It’s good Miran wanted to talk about his war experience – it’s important that other people, especially young, understand how horrible it is and how unexpected it might be.
Hi Monica, yes it’s hard to imagine fighting breaking out in Europe but tragically it did. I think you are right, I think young people and those from other countries need to know what happened here, and indeed in many other places in the country too.
Very interesting post! I had the opportunity last year to attend the 30th winter anniversary of Remember Sarajevo, which took place in the The Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Kindom of Norway… I only knew about this history by then. I had the chance to talk to Bosnian people, they’re really nice. Hopefully, will be able to visit their beautiful country too!
Hi Criz, yes everyone from Bosnia is lovely, despite everything that’s happened to the country. I hope you can visit one day!
Some of the most beautiful places on earth are ravaged by wars and that’s a tragic truth. However its a bit funny, and a bit thought inducing that someone like Bruce Lee, becomes a symbol of unity for a region thousands of miles from both his native country and adopted country.
Hi guys, yes I think it’s wonderful that such a character can hopefully create unity in a divided place!
I didn’t know they did this tour in Mostar, but it’s a good thing that people talk about it so we don’t forget how terrible it was and they can start to forgive and heal the wounds. Thanks for sharing this.
Hi Leticia, it’s a great tour, very insightful but it can get fairly emotional too.
A very beautiful but interesting town with a lot of history.
I couldn’t agree more!
That is a hike I won’t be taking with my kids!! But seriously, thanks for highlighting a place I was unaware of, and would like to explore someday (when the kids are older!)
Hi Alexis, yes maybe stay away from the hills! It is a great place to visit, regardless of the mines!
We are hoping to visit Mostar next year and although it is terrible what went on I do think it is important that they are not glossed over and for visitors to see and hear about these stories, so in a way it is something we are looking forward to seeing first hand but also being able to see that against the progress that has been made today.
Hi Nic, yes it is incredibly important the events aren’t glossed over, and in Mostar it’s really hard to not be immersed in the effects of the war. It is everywhere, down every street, and scarred across every building. I hope you get the chance to visit and to see for yourself.