Mostar World Heritage - Geocaching in the divided city

Geocaching in the divided city of Mostar in Herzegovina - the Neretva river separates the Croatian from the Bosniak side. The Stari most, the old bridge, also crosses this river and is a World Heritage Site. 

 

On the one hand, the old town of Mostar is a World Heritage Site, on the other hand, the Old Bridge.

Although Mostar is inland, it has a Mediterranean and subtropical climate. That is why it is very popular with tourists as the sunniest place in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Mostar Bridge

The cold Neretva is, among other things, heavily fed by a side arm that has its impressive source in Blagaj.

Stari Most – Old Bridge

It is known that it was built between 1556 and 1566 by the Ottoman architect Mimar Hajrudin. He is said to have tested the new concept in bridge building by building an identical miniature bridge, which still exists today. Translated, Mostar means something like bridge guards. And so the Old Bridge – Stari Most – gave the town its name.

The bridge was completely destroyed by shelling in 1993 during the Bosnian war. In 1996 work began on completely restoring the bridge as a landmark. In 2004 the restoration work was completed and the bridge was reopened.

In the 16th century, the bridge with its clear width of almost 29 meters and a height of 19 meters was a masterpiece of architecture from all over the world. Today it is a World Heritage Site, it was the first World Heritage site in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It has long been considered a symbolic bridge between East and West, between Islam and Christianity, between Catholic Croats and Orthodox Serbs.

Bridge jumpers in Mostar

Today there is still the custom of jumping from the high bridge into the cold Neretva. this is also valid

as a tourist attraction, a competition is held here every summer. One or the other episode of this could already be seen on television.

Old Town Mostar

The old town of Mostar is also a World Heritage Site. The old town stretches on both sides of the Old Bridge and features numerous buildings from the Ottoman era. Here you can enjoy life in small bars, lively cafes and shops and admire the architecture in the streets.

Geocaching in Mostar

On the one hand you want to take a picture with the Bruce Lee statue, in the description of the nearby cache you will find some information. The Tradi listing here is also worth reading. (https://coord.info/GC7B60H)

With almost 200 favorite points (as of February 2018) you will find the right Earth Cache for the Old Bridge (https://coord.info/GC28FXB). This cache was laid by a German cacher, the answers will be revealed on site.

The only mystery at the moment is called Mostar and it can be solved if you carefully read this article here. (https://coord.info/GC75075)

Another Earth cache greets the geocacher in the listing with the words "Let me invite you to the one of the most precious and unique sites in Bosnia and Hercegovina. To Vrelo Bune. :)". (https://coord.info/GC5ZHQ1) Geocachers surely like to see the most valuable and unique place in a country and the following listing image also makes you want to visit. Since the cache leads to the source of the river, the cache is not located in the city of Mostar. But you can take a long way to find the most beautiful place.... When asking questions about the Earth Cache, the owner points out where the answer can be found: in the listing or on site. This earth cache seems to be feasible.

In addition to the caches mentioned, there are currently 3

View to Mostar

other traditions that belong to Mostar. One of them is in close proximity to the last-named Earth Cache (https://coord.info/GC62EBH). Another Traditional Cache, judging by the name and photos, offers a beautiful view of the city of Mostar (https://coord.info/GC5BC32). When on the way to this cache, one can take a serpentine road and reach Kriz na Humu - the Millennium Cross (see Sights)

Sights in Mostar

Orthodox Church in Mostar

In addition to the Old Bridge, the Karadjoz Beg Mosque is also worth seeing and the Christian basilica, which is said to date from the 5th or 6th century. And of course the young statue of Bruce Lee is also one of the places worth visiting.

The 33 meter high millennium cross serves as a symbol of the 2000th anniversary of Christianity. It stands on Mount Hum above Mostar. It is the highest cross in the whole country of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Bruce Lee and Mostar and the Geocachers

What does Bruce Lee have to do with Mostar? There are a few answers to this question. First of all less than Arnold Schwarzenegger with Thal/Styria or Donald Trump with Kallstadt.

"The statue's project was spearheaded by the Mostar Urban Movement, a youth group led by Nino Raspudic and Veselin Gatalo, who saw the statue as "an attempt to see symbols old and new by blending grandiosity with mass culture and kung fu."

Bruce Lee was chosen as a symbol for fighting ethnic divisions. Lee, an American of Chinese descent and famous martial arts actor, introduced the people of Mostar to bridging cultures.” (so the geocacher can read in the listing of the cache found near the statue.

65 years after his birth, this was the world's first Bruce Lee statue. Only a few days later, another Bruce Lee statue was unveiled in Hong Kong on the Avenue of The Stars, the counterpart to Hollywood's "Walk of Fame".

The life-size figure in Mostar was created by sculptor Ivan Fijolic. At 1.68 meters, the statue is only a few centimeters smaller than the living model. You can find them in Mostar in the city park of Zrinjski.

More about the cacher journey on the Balkan tour

Cacher-Reisen went on a Balkan tour with a small group in June. Although Mostar is a bit off the route from Dubrovnik to Split and on to Sarajevo, we didn't miss the World Heritage Site. It's about an 80 km detour and if you're in the area, you should definitely visit the Earth Cache on the bridge.

Old City of Mostar with the Old Bridge

This was just one of our highlights on Cacher Reisen's Balkans tour. For the tour of Cacher-Reisen we went on to Sarajevo. Local cachers are already waiting for us in Sarajevo and would like to recommend the next highlight of the trip. More on that soon! Since we were traveling independently with a minibus, we were super flexible to visit beautiful places and stay there. Of course only after the cache has been found.

The tour was wonderful in itself. Seen many interesting places, but also had free time - to chill, swim or cache. Eaten and drank deliciously through the local kitchens and experienced some (positive) surprises. We would like to offer the tour again in 2019, but this requires a sufficient number of interested parties. Get in touch if the Balkans are still missing from your country point statistics!

We would be happy to receive your comments!