There are only three bridges on the UNESCO list so far, so I think this is a special monument to se. Behind it's architectual value it had a big influence on the culture of people in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The bridge is also famous thanks to the only Nobel prize winner from Ex Yugoslavia, Ivo Andric, who wrote a book about the bridge.

At this moment I am preparing materials for the official web site of Tourist organization of Visegrad (www.visegradtourism.com), where the bridge is situated, and the text below is a part of that materials.

I hope you will find it usefull, but if you want to find out more about Visegrad visit visegrad web site.

The Bridge on Drina River

The Višegrad Bridge is a heritage of the great vizier Mehmed-pasha Sokoloviæa (in Turkish Sokollu Mehmet Paºa, 1505. or 1506-1579).

He is one of the great Osmanli war generals by origin from Bosnia. He was born in the village of Sokoloviæi near Rudo in 1505. or 1506, and was a child of Orthodox parents. At that time there was a tradition known as Divširma, or „The contribution in blood”. Serbian children would be taken away by force to Turkey where they would be converted in Islam and taught in their military schools to become Janjièari, the elite soldiers of the Turkish Empire. So was Bajica Sokolovic taken as a child from the surroundings of Višegrad and given the name Mehmed. Later on he would become the great vizier of the Osmanli army for his skills, and on top of his rule became a great vizier, which equal to the Prime Minister according to the standards accepted today.

At the highest peak of his rule, he orders to build the bridge on Drina at Višegrad that no other bridge looks alike.

The bridge was built in the period from 1571 to 1577 by at that time the most famous Turkish architect Kodža Mimar Sinan. It was built in the eastern style and represents the master piece of that era.

The bridge consists of 11 arches with mild ascend towards the middle section and the exit dock on the left coast. Above the arches in the whole length are wraths on top of the fence. The total length is 179, 5 m, the height with the regular river water level is 15, 40 m and the width is 6, 30 meters. The bridge was made of stone, tuff, or bigra, brought from Višegrad spa. There is extension at the sixth pillar on both sides. On the access dock at the left river bank are three arches made with broken arches. The sofa was put in the middle of the bridge foreseen to be used for resting for passengers, across of which the stone portal is placed.

In the past there was a wooden house in the middle of the bridge with a buffer stop and a bridge guards, and that part of the bridge is therefore called The Gate. Here are two plates made of white marble with the lyrics of the writer called Nihadija in Arabic alphabet, that speak about the constructor and the year of construction.

The older and upper text was written in year 1571/1572:

„He built a magnificent bridge over Drina in Bosnia

With a line of arches at that river,

On top of the deep and noisy river.

His ancestors were not able to build anything similar,

The great Pasha made it according to the order of God,

For his name to be mentioned with the respect and gratitude

He build the bridge that nowhere else in the world exists...“

The text from year 1577 says:

„Highly respective philanthropist Mehmed-pasha, who acted as a reliable vizier for the three rulers offered the biggest heritage, which requires to be written by God. With the pure intention he decided to build the huge bridge over the Drina River. The works at the bridge were co nice, so that the passer would think it was a pearl in the water, and for the skies to be the shells on top of it instead of a ceilings!“

During its existence the bridge sustained many difficulties. The first recorded damage of the bridge was in the middle age when one of the arches collapsed. The bridge was repaired in 1873, but than in 1896 there was a big flood that wiped out most of Višegrad, but the bridge was almost intact, although Drina was deep 14,6 m. Only the stone made fence of the bridge was damaged.

During 1914 the two pillars were knocked down and the arched that aligned on them, and during the 1943 four more pillars with arches were ruined as a consequence of mining. In between the two world wars the bridge was temporary enable to be in service by use of metal construction. Detailed reconstruction of the bridge was performed during the period from 1949 to 1952.

The bridge is one of the most important national monuments in the Bosnia and Herzegovina, and was in July 2007 inscribed in the UNESCO world heritage list.