Kriva Ćuprija

This elegant little bridge (Kriva Ćuprija) is even older than the... Old Bridge! Located on the right bank, 180 m south-west of the Old Bridge by Onešćukova Street, then left by Jusovina Street, this structure spans the small Radobolja River, a tributary of the Neretva that rises 5 km to the west. Neither its patron nor its date of construction are known, but it is first mentioned in 1558. Also known as the "curved bridge" or "dos d'âne" in French, it owes its name to its perfect semi-circular arch shape, 8.56 m wide and 4.15 m high. Also built of stone, it strongly evokes the shape of the Vieux-Pont. And, like it, it had to be rebuilt. Already damaged during the siege of 1993-1994, the curved bridge was finally swept away by a major flood of the Radobolja River on December 31, 1999. It was rebuilt in 2001-2002 with the support of Unesco and financial assistance from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. As an anecdote, this Luxembourg intervention enabled the installation of the only French-language explanatory panel in Mostar. Above all, the bridge enjoys a pleasant setting, surrounded by elegant lauze-roofed houses and dominated on the right bank of the Radobolja by the beautiful Nezir-Ağa mosque (Neziragina Džamija). Dating back to 1550, it was destroyed not during the last war, but during the period of socialist Yugoslavia, in 1950, when it had already been deserted by the faithful for twenty years. It was rebuilt in 1998-1999.