Another Bosnian bridge put on UNESCO's World Heritage List
26/3/2008 17:48
An old bridge in eastern Bosnia has been put on UNESCO's World Heritage
List, the second bridge in the Balkan country after the Old Bridge in Mostar to
be recognized by the UNESCO, the organization's chief said in the Bosnian
capital Sarajevo yesterday.
UNESCO Director-General Koichiro Matsuura
presented Bosnia- Herzegovina's collective presidency with a certificate
confirming the inclusion of the 16th century Ottoman bridge in the eastern
Bosnian town of Visegrad into the world heritage list at a ceremony in
Sarajevo.
The Mehmed-Pasha Sokolovic Bridge spanning the Drina River was
built by the greatest architect of the Ottoman Empire of the time Mimar Sinan as
a gift by Mehmed-Pasha Sokolovic, a famous Grand Vizier born in Visegrad in 1505
who served under as many as three Ottoman sultans.
UNESCO has recognized its
"outstanding universal value," Matsuura said in the ceremony, adding that the
bridge presents an extraordinary example of classic Ottoman architecture and was
a great construction achievement.
The stone bridge, which is 179.5 meters
long with a four-meter- wide road and 11 arches, was an important link on the
trade route linking Bosnia with Istanbul. It was damaged and repaired on several
occasions but it has kept its original form to this day.
It is considered
endangered because of the erosion of its material caused by frequent changes in
the level of the Drina River, which are due to the needs of a nearby
hydroelectric power plant.
The World Heritage List includes 851 properties
that UNESCO deems worth preserving for their cultural or natural value. Sites on
the list are eligible for funding and technical assistance from UNESCO to help
with protection and preservation.
Chairman of Bosnia-Herzegovina's Presidency
Haris Silajdzic said at the ceremony his country considered its cultural
heritage a bridge between East and West.
The bridge gained international fame
when it was described by Yugoslav writer Ivo Andric in his novel "Na Drini
cuprija" (The Bridge over the Drina River) which won its author a Nobel Prize
for literature in 1961. The novel described the building of the bridge and life
in Bosnia under the Ottoman Empire.
The bridge was declared a national
monument in 2003 and was put on UNESCO's World Heritage List in June
2007.
Contrary to previous announcements, the ceremony at which the Bosnian
authorities were presented with the certificate was not held on the Visegrad
bridge.
The organizers of the event decided not to hold the ceremony on the
bridge after the association of Muslim women "Women -- War Victims" announced
plans to put a plaque on the bridge commemorating local Muslims killed in the
1992-1995 war at a ceremony that was to have coincided with the
certificate-awarding ceremony.
Members of this association put the plaque on
the bridge and read out the names of 3,000 Visegrad Muslims killed in the
war.
Xinhua
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