Architecture of Mostar
As Ottoman administrators strove to integrate local inhabitants into their empire and extend their influence, architecture expressed important social and economic changes in Mostar.
Facilitating travel, trade and the movement of military troops, the Stari Most became a symbol of the benevolence and power of the Ottoman Empire; it insured Mostar's primacy as the capital of the county of Herzegovina.
Administrators and bureaucrats – many of them indigenous Bosnians who converted to Islam – founded mosque complexes that generally included Koranic schools, soup kitchens or markets.
A good example is the Sevri Hadži Hasan Mosque, a hip-roofed structure that forms the nucleus and principal public open space of its neighborhood, or mahalla.
A street-level entry would access the courtyard, creating a transition that allowed for intimacy and privacy within; rooms dedicated to family life were separated from those intended to receive outsiders.
Consequently, broad avenues and an urban grid appeared on the west bank of the Neretva, while at the same time, significant investment was made in infrastructure, communications, and rental housing.
During the early years of the Austro- Hungarian administration construction of a new water supply system in 1885, a city sewage, and electrical power line-network, as well as street illumination were all accomplished in a relatively short time.
Designed by the architect Josip Vancaš from Sarajevo, it asserted a new prosperity, stability and tradition, linking Mostar symbolically with other European centers.
Residential districts around the Rondo invited grand single-family homes and reaffirmed an occidental influence that complemented the city’s traditional buildings.
By the early twentieth century, elements of Art Nouveau and Secessionist styles began to appear in Mostar’s historicist buildings,[4] such as Josip Vancaš’s Landbank constructed in 1910.
Though its design was derived from Islamic styles of Spain and North Africa and bears no genuine relation with Mostar’s Ottoman past, it reflects the tendency of Austro-Hungarian administrators to harmonize rather than suppress cultural difference within the empire.
[5] The First World War was triggered in Sarajevo when Serbian Black Hand radicals confirmed their distaste for the incumbent empire by assassinating its heir, Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
Fearing annexation by the Serbians, most Bosnians were loyal to the Austro-Hungarian Empire during the World War I. Pragmatism and international pressure in light of a re-aligned Europe at the close of the war forged the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later Kingdom of Yugoslavia), a constitutional monarchy that included Bosnia and Herzegovina under the leadership of Serbia’s Prince Regent Alexander.
These internal conflicts were soon overshadowed by the advance of Hitler and the German alliance with the fascist Independent State of Croatia (Nezavisna Država Hrvatska).
Skilled workers, both men and women, entered the work force and the social and demographic profile of the city was broadened dramatically; between 1945 and 1980, Mostar's population grew from 18,000 to 100,000.
Commercial buildings in the functionalist style appeared on the historic eastern side of the city as well, replacing more intimate timber constructions that had survived since Ottoman times.
An economically sustainable plan to preserve the old town of Mostar was implemented by the municipality, which drew thousands of tourists from the Adriatic coast and invigorated the economy of the city.
A monumental project to rebuild the Old Bridge to the original design, and restore surrounding structures and historic neighbourhoods was initiated in 1999 and mostly completed by Spring 2004.
The money for this reconstruction was donated by Spain (who had a sizable contingent of peacekeeping troops stationed in the surrounding area during the conflict), the United States, Turkey, Italy, the Netherlands, and Croatia.
The project also resulted in the establishment of the Stari Grad Agency which has an important role in overseeing the ongoing implementation of the conservation plan, as well as operating and maintaining a series of restored historic buildings (including the Old Bridge complex) and promoting Mostar as a cultural and tourist destination.
