"A Bridge across the Divide." Mostar by antistar

Mostar is a city divided by its river. On the one side you have the Bosnian Muslims, and on the other you have the Christian Croats. It sounds simple, but the history of this town has been anything but.

The Muslim (Bosniak) side is the old part of the town, and is cluttered with pristine minarets. It has been beautifully restored since the war, and feels like stepping back in time. Even the daytripping tourists who descend upon the town every afternoon can't quite spoil the ambience.

On the other side of the river lie the Croat suburbs. They seem very keen to make their presence felt in this majority Muslim country. I didn't see the Croatian flags flying, like I did in towns closer to the border. Here they stamped their religious beliefs clearly upon the landscape.

First there is the giant 33m cross on Hum Hill, lit up at night like a neon sign. Just in case you missed that, the spire of the Catholic Church spire stretches up to the sky, dwarfing any other building in the town.

Mostar across the divide.

The two sides are joined by the Old Bridge. It has always been important, symbolically, economically, and culturally. Even the town is named after it: Most means bridge and Mostari were the people who guarded the bridge. It was built by the Ottomans and stood for 427 years, before it was destroyed during the Bosnian war.

Today the town is peaceful, and it's difficult to imagine what it must have been like in those dark days of the 1990s. There's many new and restored buildings, and there are no signs of signs of stress in the community. Just memories. There are chilling reminders of the devastation all over the town, especially the destroyed houses along the front-line. But every street seemed to be scarred in some way.

Mostar Old Town

Mostar is easily visited on a gruelling day-trip from Dubrovnik, but it's much better to stay here at least overnight. On a day-trip you'll arrive at the worst time of the day, when the tourist crowds and heat are at their maximum. In the evenings the cool mountain air and soft sunlight descend on the city and make it a wonderous place. You can enjoy a cold beer down by the river, under the magnificent bridge, for just a couple of euros a bottle.

Although there's not much more to see in the town after the bridge, a night spent here will definitely be a highlight of any trip to the Balkans.