The southern city of Mostar marked on Monday 27 years since its landmark Old Bridge was destroyed with one of its divers leaping from the bridge into the Neretva river below to the sound of an emergency siren, which was not followed by applause as opposed to custom.

On this day, in 1993, forces of the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) destroyed the Old Bridge in Mostar, a masterpiece of Ottoman architecture in the Balkans and one of the most valuable cultural and historical monuments in the world.

The bridge, which is the symbol of the southern Bosnian town, was built between 1557 and 1566. It was commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent and designed by Mimar Hayruddin, a student of the renowned architect Mimar Sinan. It represented one of the most ambitious construction projects of the time.

The arch was made of tenelia stone. The height of the vault is 28,7 meters or 21 meters above the level of the Neretva River. Two towers, Halebija and Tara, were built on each side to reinforce the bridge and served as a weapons depot during Ottoman rule.

Apart from the bridge, the 1993 shelling by the HVO destroyed the entire area of Mostar’s old town, including several mosques, madrassas and the only Hamam (Turkish bath) in all of Herzegovina.

The attacks targeting the bridge began 20 days before it was destroyed and intensified on November 8. The shells were coming from the hills surrounding the city and many also hit the two towers keeping the bridge in place.

An entire street full of shops, Kujundziluk, completely disappeared due to the intense shelling.

Throughout two days, constant shelling destroyed the bridge little by little, until 10:16 am on November 9, when it finally collapsed.

The Old Bridge was a symbol of Mostar's identity and Bosnia’s most valuable cultural and historical piece of heritage.

The post-war reconstruction of the Old Bridge began in 2003 and was financed by Turkey, Croatia, Italy, the Netherlands, the World Bank, the Europe Development Bank and the City of Mostar. Turkish Deputy Prime Minister at the time, Bulent Arinc, was the one to set down the first cornerstone of the new arch.

The renovation was completed in July 2004, and the opening ceremony was held on July 23, 2004. The works on the reconstruction of the bridge were carried out by the Turkish company ER-BU.

In 2005, the Old Bridge, as well as the Old City of Mostar were inscribed in UNESCO’s World Heritage List.