During five hundred years of its existence, Mostar has developed from the small settlement on the point where Radoblja flows into Neretva, into the urban center with 129 000 inhabitants in the 1990s of the last century. Mostar is administrative, economics, cultural, medicine and education center of the whole Hercegovina and one of the most attractive towns in Bosnia and Herzegovina .

Mostar has been enriched by different construction styles, but the Ottoman style and the Austrian-Hungarian style are striking and the most obvious.

Urban core of Mostar was made from the small market-place in the old part of town on the left bank of Neretva which has developed into the modern city zone, with perfect harmony and encounter of different civilizations. As rarely elsewhere, East and West have harmonically joint into the unity of unusual architectural beauty.

Ottoman Empire gave Mostar its historical core, many sacral and worldly constructions which make this town famous.

Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy initiated development of urban infrastructure and spreading of the town onto the right bank of Neretva river.

The look of Mostar is largely defined by the fact that this is the town where people of four different religions lived together.

Mostar is a town where tradition has been nurtured as rarely elsewhere. It has become a place where civilizations meet, known for many cultural and historical monuments, among which, of course, the Old Bridge is the most attractive stone monument built in 1566.

This monumental construction of inestimable value and beauty is, no doubt, one of the master-pieces of the world architectural heritage. It symbolizes the name of Mostar. This town is famous for it all around the world and with its unique beauty, through the past centuries, the Old Bridge has been and remained the eternal inspiration to many painters, writers and other artists from all over the world.

As a town with important geographical-political position, Mostar has constantly been attacked by various conquerors. Some of them stayed for a short time, others longer. Nevertheless, none of the conquerors destroyed town beauties.

On the contrary, each of them enriched the town with something new and weaved into it a part of their culture.

What had not been done through history, was done by criminals in the period from 1992 to 1995. Mostar was being demolished systematically, by plan and treacherously. Not even its most valuable monuments were spared from the demolition. In accordance with the hellish plan, everything what was created through centuries and what made Mostar a town was being demolished during this period. In the fire of the war, almost whole construction heritage was destroyed and more than 6000 individual residential constructions were demolished. Ten bridges over Neretva, including the Old Bridge were pulled down. Only in one day, three bridges in Mostar were demolished.

When the cannons get silent, the constructors take turn. Many of damaged or destroyed civilization marks of this town have already been or are presently being reconstructed.
The publication Mostar - Urbicide, 1992 – 1995 was made as a result of a need to have documentation about the most painful moments in the history of this town and to gather and make eternal the scarves which will never completely heal.

Similar projects which have been initiated so far were one-sided and recorded demolishing activities of only one side in the war conflict.

For the first time, in the language of facts, this publication witnesses about the demolition of all constructions which were on the target of all demolishers, what is proved by more than 300 photographs by different authors.

Publication Mostar – Urbicide 1992 – 1995 is a specific document witnessing about the most difficult period throughout five centuries in the long tradition of Mostar.

The intention of the publisher is to protect the truth for all times.

PUBLISHER