Stari Most significant event destruction
Stari Most (Serbo-Croatian: Stari most, Стари мост, lit. 'Old Bridge'), also known as Mostar Bridge, is a rebuilt 16th-century Ottoman bridge in the city of Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina that crosses the river Neretva and connects the two parts of the city. On 9 November 1993 Stari Most collapsed due to shelling by the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) during the Croat–Bosniak War. In 2017, the appeal court deemed that destruction was legal since the bridge was a military target as the opposing Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina used it as a military supply line. Subsequently, a project was set in motion to reconstruct it; the rebuilt bridge opened on 23 July 2004.
The Old bridge is considered an exemplary piece of Balkan Islamic architecture. It was commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1557, and designed by Mimar Hayruddin, a student and apprentice of the architect Mimar Sinan.