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This was a very separate experience from Croatia, where we were visiting at the time we decided to sneak a day to go to Bosnia and Mostar. We did a separate report for Croatia. Therefore this is a stand-alone trip report. Although this was part of a larger multi-country trip, we went to Bosnia between our bases in Korcula and Split, Croatia.

This report will consist of four additional posts, Medjugorje, Mostar Bridge, Mostar, and the Dervish Monastery. And, of course, it’s certainly not all-inclusive in such a short time, but it shows you what you can see in less than a day.

The border crossing into Bosnia from Croatia was small and quiet, and the highways (and large toll booths) for the new super highway also were extremely quiet.

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Like Fatima and Lourdes, Medjugorje, Bosnia, is one of the most visited Catholic pilgrimage sites in the world. Six young local kids claim to have had visits and apparitions of the Virgin Mary there on a continuing basis since 1981.

St. James Parish Church in the center of this otherwise undistinguished town is large, but loudspeakers and outdoor areas can accommodate many thousands at a time for larger events. Masses each day are available in multi-languages. When we visited, 10 Italian priests were on the Altar celebrating Mass to a packed church.

Busloads of pilgrims were there from Poland, Hungary and all over eastern Europe. Later in the trip, when we were in Sicily visiting the small town where my grandfather was born, most of the locals we talked to had been to Medjugorje.

The buses know where to go, but we had a difficult time finding the busiest pilgrimage site there, up a small mountain outside of the town center, where Mary first purportedly appeared to the kids.

There is no path to the top, the "Hill of Apparition" as it’s called, where there is a statue of Mary. Pilgrims, some of them frail seniors, climb up over sharp stones, praying on the way up. Up top, the only sounds were prayer, coming from the hundreds of people who circled the statue. The only miracle we saw was how no one seemed to slip, fall or even appear to be unsteady in the face of a very difficult terrain. There is a path to a lower statue of Mary that many embrace as an alternative.

Mary’s reported messages have been about prayer, conversion, fasting, penance and peace. This may be in response to the sometimes awful history of this area. Prior to 1981, Franciscan monks from here had been implicated in brutal atrocities against Serbs during WWII, and 66 of these friars were reportedly slaughtered during the 1990’s war.

Since the Bosnian or Balkan War ended in the 1990’s, this little town has boomed. The Catholic Church, that had been fairly non-committal about this site and its alleged miracles, has warmed up a bit in recent years. Its more than a million visitors a year is more than stop at the country’s most famous tourist spot, Mostar. Medjugorje has more than 1,000 hotel rooms and dozens and dozens of religious souvenir shops, selling everything from cheap trinkets to expensive statues.

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“Mostar” means "bridge keeper". And the Mostar Bridge is THE symbol of Mostar itself.

The old bridge, known as Stari Most, has always been considered an engineering marvel. It replaced an old wooden bridge. The stone arch bridge, with no foundations, was built in the middle 1500’s and spans the small Neretva River. There have been reports that the mortar was created using egg whites. It connected two small communities of differing cultures.

It literally came crashing down in the 1990’s Bosnian/Balkan War, when it was destroyed.

After the war, a temporary bridge went up in three days, but over the next few years, the old bridge was rebuilt with new limestone (since the remnants of the old bridge were too badly damaged to salvage). Today, it’s almost exactly like the original and is a gathering place for tourists and locals alike. From there, you can see many of the mosques that help differentiate this community.

The bridge has an international audience, through the annual Red Bull Cliff Diving Series, where they actually bring in a high platform to make the seemingly impossible dives even higher from the bridge. Those divers do all the curls and turns that give diving its following.

There is a local club that sponsors the tradition of many young men to dive into the narrow, but apparently deep enough, waters. And, then they hold their own annual competition.

The club members often stand on the bridge with a bucket in hand, collecting funds for the club. While we watched, after a quick collection of tourist dollars by one of his mates, one local young man was given some pointers and encouragement, The young newbie then took his first leap, a simple jump, not a dive.

The bridge is busy all day. To get photos, without people, we had to get up early in the morning, since the old town takes a few minutes to come alive.

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Mostar is as close you can come to a Muslim culture anywhere in Europe. It certainly feels different. They have their own currency that we had to get to pay for parking. And, we didn’t see another American there. Stone streets, stone buildings and heavy stone roofs dominate the landscape.

Although it remains a mixture of cultures, besides its iconic arched bridge, Turkish-like bazaars occupy the narrow cobble-stone streets. In the distance, the spires of several mosques and minarets can be seen. Almost all of the 14 mosques were destroyed in the war; many were rebuilt, and there are 8 surviving today. Some of the bombed out buildings sit untouched as a reminder.

We visited the 1600’s Koski Mehmet-Pasha Mosque, which sits along the river. There is a fee, but its location has a yard that allows some of the best photo points of the arched bridge.

The bridge brought Catholic Croats, Muslim Bosniaks, and Orthodox Serbs together until the disintegration of Yugoslavia stoked their divisions. There are reminders of the 1990’s conflict that killed 2,000 people in Mostar alone.

Today, Mostar seems like a relaxed, friendly tourist area.

KarenWoo

Your photos of Mostar and the pilgrimage site are beautiful and so interesting. There is no way I could have done that pilgrimage, climbing over those sharp stones. Both my husband and I have fallen over the years and haven broken our ankles. How long did it take you to make it to the top?

Debbielynn

Beautiful pictures! The stormy sky is magnificent! Looks like a very interesting city.

whitehall

Walk up was maybe 20-30 minutes or so, just challenging. Maybe you would have had the miracle everyone else seemed to be experiencing (i.e. no slipping or falling).

Thank you. As we re-collect, those clouds gathered for a short period, but we had mostly blue skies while there. And, yes interesting and different, especially in the middle of a European trip.

whitehall

On the way out of Mostar, we saw a modern shopping center, a McDonald’s just like back home and a busier version of their own fast food. Our final stop was at a Dervish Monastery. It is about 10 miles from Mostar. Although I am still little confused about what a “dervish” monastery is, I understood it to be basically a place of prayer for some type of Islamic monk.

This monastery has been here since the 15th century. The sign at the monastery says: "The tekke (dervish house) was built in the early 15th century by dervishes with following message: "Love creatures for the Sake of Creator". In the past it was a home of Kadiri, Rufai, Khalwati and Nakhshibendi dervishes and also today it is. The complex of the tekke includes: tombs (of Sari-Saltuk and Acik-pasha sheikh), rooms for prayers, musafirhane (guest room), the kitchen, hamam (bathroom), courtyard and abdesthane (washroom)."

This is a monastery for prayer, but unlike Christian monasteries the dervishes did not live there.

When you arrive: “ All the visitors are asked to take off their shoes at the entrance. Women must be covered with scarf and in long skirts (both provided by tekke staff). Men must wear long trousers (under the knees). We ask you' to remain silent. The visitors are also asked not to pass in front of the people performing prayer, and not to disturb.”

Although we drove right up to the monastery, we were able to get one of the few car spaces there. Most people walk a long road, past numerous vendors with market stalls for food, clothing, etc.

This particular sect of Islam embraces the mystical properties of water and what better place than this for a monastery. This special place is situated against a dramatic cliff, from which water pours into a giant underground cave that holds and dispenses water to the Neretva River that flows to and through the city of Mostar and nourishes its people. After we left, we saw signs of dams that control the movement of this massive amount of water.

Water initially flows through a small village on the grounds of the monastery that is mostly restaurants catering to tourists. We crossed a tiny bridge and paid a local man a couple euros to take us in a rubber raft into a magnificent blue water cave next to the monastery. The guide told us that the water below us was hundreds of feet deep and that there were several more underground caves below the cliffs.

Once we left the monastery, we were back on the quiet hilly and mountain roads that wind through the beautiful countryside of Bosnia. Our last leg again was a super-highwa,y leading to a giant but very quiet border crossing. It seemed odd to us that they would construct such a significant entryway into Croatia, a neighbor with whom relations are not great.

Our 24 hours started with a Catholic pilgrimage location and ended with an Islamic one. Not bad in a country where varying cultures have both co-existed and warred with each other.

whitehall

One more post on this report to tell the best secret of all. We stayed at a beautiful boutique style hotel (our section was new), had a nice dinner, with local wine, and our own breakfast buffet (they bring the whole buffet to your table in smaller portions; imagine all the dishes to clean!). The food and lodging were all at one place. The location was at the beginning of the main street of the old town, a couple hundred feet from a pay parking lot. Service was top notch and friendly. We probably paid a little more because we booked only a couple days before our stay. Total cost for everything including the parking: Under $100 for two.

kleeblatt

looks divine! What was the name of the hotel?

whitehall

Hello Klee. It as Hotel Emen. They had rooms on both sides of the main street as well as restaurants on each side.

northie

loved the photos and the reminders of our stays in Mostar. We stayed at a beautiful bnb just as you walk into the old town.
We talked to a family who were off to Medjjugorge -they couldn't believe we weren't going there.
We travelled through Bosnia by train and loved it .

whitehall

We didn't see a train nor did we know there was train service. Thanks for sharing. Sounds like a great experience too.

KarenWoo

I believe there is a train from Mostar to Sarajevo. I have read it is one of the most beautiful and most scenic train rides.