What to do in Mostar: 12 must-sees, from the Stari Most to Blagaj

Stari Most, the "Old Bridge", is Mostar's defining landmark: a single limestone arch spanning the Neretva River and linking the two halves of the city. Key facts:

• History: commissioned by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and designed by the Ottoman architect Mimar Hayruddin, it was completed in 1566 and became a symbol of the link between East and West.
• Design: a single-arch structure roughly 29 metres long, standing about 20 metres above the river depending on water level, built of local limestone (tenelija).
• Destruction and reconstruction: the original bridge was destroyed on 9 November 1993 during the Croat–Bosniak fighting. Today's bridge is a faithful reconstruction, reopened on 23 July 2004 with UNESCO support and international funding, following the original plans and traditional techniques.
• Cultural significance: a symbol of reconciliation, it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2005 ("Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar"). It is also famous for the divers who leap into the Neretva, a tradition run by the Mostari club.

Stari Most, the "Old Bridge", is Mostar's defining landmark: a single limestone arch spanning the Neretva River and linking the two halves of the city. Key facts:

• History: commissioned by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and designed by the Ottoman architect Mimar Hayruddin, it was completed in 1566 and became a symbol of the link between East and West.
• Design: a single-arch structure roughly 29 metres long, standing about 20 metres above the river depending on water level, built of local limestone (tenelija).
• Destruction and reconstruction: the original bridge was destroyed on 9 November 1993 during the Croat–Bosniak fighting. Today's bridge is a faithful reconstruction, reopened on 23 July 2004 with UNESCO support and international funding, following the original plans and traditional techniques.
• Cultural significance: a symbol of reconciliation, it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2005 ("Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar"). It is also famous for the divers who leap into the Neretva, a tradition run by the Mostari club.

The old town stretches along both banks of the Neretva around the Stari Most. On the east side, the Kujundžiluk, the coppersmiths' street, runs down to the bridge between stone houses, hammered-copper stalls and cafés; on the west side, the quarter continues towards the Tabačica mosque and the workshops of the right bank.

The whole area has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2005 as the 'Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar'. Largely destroyed during the 1992-1995 war, it was restored along with the bridge; a few shell-scarred façades a few streets from the centre still recall the conflict.

Built in 1617 for Koski Mehmed Pasha, an Ottoman dignitary of Mostar, the mosque stands on the east bank of the Neretva, a few steps from the Stari Most. Its riverside courtyard offers the most photographed view of the bridge.

You can climb the minaret by a narrow spiral staircase for a view over the old town roofs and the river. Damaged during the 1992-1995 war and then restored, the mosque is still an active place of worship: wear clothing that covers shoulders and knees.

The Blagaj Tekke (Blagaj Tekija) is a Sufi tekke — a dervish lodge, not a Christian monastery — set near the village of Blagaj, about twelve kilometres south-east of Mostar. Built around 1520, it was a major centre of the Sufi tradition in Bosnia.

The site is famous for its dramatic setting at the foot of a limestone cliff, where the Buna River springs straight out of a karstic cave. This natural backdrop gives the place a mystical, peaceful atmosphere. The building itself is a fine example of traditional Ottoman architecture, with decorative details and a courtyard.

Still a place of contemplation, the tekke draws visitors as much for its natural beauty as for its spiritual atmosphere — a must for anyone interested in the region's culture, history and religious traditions.

The Kravica falls, on the Trebižat river near Ljubuški, form an amphitheatre of cascades about 25 m high and around a hundred metres wide, some forty kilometres south-west of Mostar. At the foot of the falls, a large pool allows swimming in summer.

The site is equipped with cafés, paths and a car park. Spring brings the strongest flow; summer brings cool water and crowds.

Mostar's bazaar is above all the Kujundžiluk, the coppersmiths' street running down to the Stari Most on the east bank. The stalls sell hammered copper, trays and Bosnian coffee pots (džezva), rugs and engraved shell casings, war souvenirs turned into handicrafts.

A few workshops still work copper in front of passers-by. The street, paved with polished cobbles, also has cafés where you can try Bosnian coffee served with a piece of Turkish delight.

Počitelj is a small fortified village in Bosnia and Herzegovina, about thirty kilometres south of Mostar on the banks of the Neretva. It is known for its Ottoman architecture and historical value: its stone buildings, narrow lanes and dramatic viewpoints make it a remarkably well-preserved site.

Among its main attractions:

• The old Hadži Alija mosque, dating from the Ottoman period.
• The Gavrankapetanović tower, offering a sweeping view over the valley.
• The hammam, traditional Ottoman baths, partly restored.
• The medresa, a former Quranic school with an important cultural role.

Počitelj is on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List and is a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Its blend of Ottoman and medieval styles makes it a fascinating place to explore.

This large Ottoman house in the Brankovac quarter, built after 1750 and extended in 1871-1872, shows how a well-off Mostar family lived: a paved inner courtyard, rooms with low benches, and separate spaces for men and family.

Listed as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2004, it is both a museum, in the historic part, and a boutique hotel of about twelve rooms. A few minutes' walk north of the Stari Most.

About thirty kilometres south-west of Mostar, Međugorje became a major Catholic pilgrimage site after apparitions of the Virgin were reported by six young people in 1981; the Church has not recognised them as supernatural but allows pilgrimages. The village is organised around St James's Church and Apparition Hill.

The neighbouring municipality of Čitluk is the wine heart of Herzegovina, where you can taste the local grapes, white žilavka and red blatina, in several wineries open to visitors.

The two stone towers flanking Stari Most — the Halebija tower (north-east bank) and the Tara tower (south-west bank) — are the fortified works that guarded the bridge's approaches in Ottoman times. Rather than a single isolated castle, it is this pair that forms the Old Bridge's historic fortifications.

The Tara tower, once a gunpowder store, now houses a small museum about the bridge and its divers. The towers offer an excellent vantage point over the Neretva and the old town, and show how access to the bridge was controlled and defended over the centuries.

Damaged like the rest of the old town during the 1990s conflict, they were restored along with the bridge. A short but illuminating detour to explore Mostar's fortified heritage.

Five kilometres south of Čapljina, on the road to Gabela, Mogorjelo preserves the remains of a Roman villa rustica, a large farming estate of the early 4th century that supplied the Roman town of Narona. A first estate already stood here in the 1st century.

The estate was burned in the early 5th century during the Visigothic invasions, then two basilicas were built within its walls. The site, a national monument, is visited in the open air: enclosure walls, presses and building foundations.

About forty kilometres north of Mostar, on the road to Sarajevo, Jablanica is known for the 1943 Battle of the Neretva, when Tito's Partisans got their wounded across the river while encircled by Axis forces. To deceive the enemy, the Partisans blew up the railway bridge themselves, and its twisted wreck has remained in the river.

The Battle of the Neretva museum, next to the bridge, tells the story, popularised by the 1969 Yugoslav film. Upstream, Jablanica lake, a reservoir behind a dam on the Neretva, is good for swimming and fishing.