Below are two classic views of the old bridge and old city of Mostar, followed by a view of a church destroyed in the "ethnic cleansing."

In the photo below, note the Nova pravoslavna crkva ("New Orthodox Church"), once the largest Serbian church in the Bosnia-Herzegovina, before it was destroyed in 1993 by Croat extremists.

For further information on the Mostar Bridge and efforts to reconstruct it, see
Lothar's Gallery, no. 11
and
Mostar Bridge Reconstruction Efforts

The Nova Pravoslavna Crkva ("New Orthodox Church"), also known as Saborna Crkva (Cathedral Church), was built 1863-1873, during the last years of Ottoman rule in Bosnia. The site of Mostar's new Orthodox Cathedral, a hilltop with a breathtaking view overlooking the old town, was selected by the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Aziz, who also donated a large sum of money (100,000 silver coins) towards its construction. The Russian czar sent money for the interior decoration. At the time, it was the largest Orthodox church in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The Cathedral (the "New" Orthodox Church) is also seen on the hand-colored antique postcard image below; the photos that follow show what was left of it after Croat extremists blew up the Orthodox cathedral church during the night of June, 15, 1992.

Below: Mostar - Old Orthodox Church (Stara Pravoslavna Crkva). Built in 1835. Dynamited on the night of Jan. 14 - 15 1993 by Croat extremists. The Old Orthodox Church (Stara Pravoslavna Crkva)--also known as the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin--shown intact above, is now in ruins. This church was built in 1832-35, in the traditional regional style also formerly seen in the monastery chapel at Zitomislici (destroyed by Croat extremist militias based in Medjugorje) and in other Orthodox and Catholic churches throughout Herzegovina.

The site of the Old Orthodox Church is also on a rocky promontory overlooking the city, a bit to the north of where Mostar's New Orthodox Cathedral was built a generation later. Both churches were known for their rich collections of Orthodox _icons_

For a good photo of an Orthodox icon from Mostar, not clear from which of the 2 churches, see Fedja's Page Orthodox Icon from Mostar.

 
The Old Orthodox Church was burned down and dynamited by Croat extremists during the night of January 14-15, 1993. The photos below show stunned parishioners and their priest inside the ruins of the Old Orthodox Church. 

For another pre-war photo of the Old Orthodox Church in Mostar, see p. xiv Svetlana Rakic, Serbian Icons from Bosnia-Hercegovina (New York, NY : A. Pankovich Publishers, 2000). 320 pages. ISBN: 0967210127.

The information on this page has been provide by Andras Riedlmayer of the Fine Arts Library at Harvard University.

 

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