Mostar

Mostar () is a city and the administrative centre of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina.

Mostar is situated on the Neretva River and is the fifth-largest city in the country. It was named after the bridge keepers (mostari) who guarded the Stari Most (Old Bridge) over the Neretva during the Ottoman era. The Old Bridge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Mostar was also the capital of the predominantly Croat proto-state known as the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia during the Bosnian War.

History

Ancient and medieval history

Human settlements on the river Neretva, between Mount Hum and the Velež Mountain, have existed since prehistory, as witnessed by discoveries of fortified enceintes and cemeteries. Evidence of Roman occupation was discovered beneath the present town.

The name Mostar was first mentioned in a document from 1474, taking its name from the bridge-keepers (mostari); this refers to the existence of a wooden bridge which was used by traders, soldiers and others. During this time it was also the seat of a kadiluk (district with a regional judge). Since Mostar was on the trade route between the Adriatic and the mineral-rich regions of central Bosnia, the settlement began to spread to the right bank of the river. The earliest documented reference to Mostar as a settlement dates back to 3 April 1452, when Ragusans from Dubrovnik wrote to their fellow countrymen in the service of Serbian Despot Đorđe Branković to say that Vladislav Hercegović had turned against his father Stjepan and occupied the town of Blagaj and other places, including “Duo Castelli al ponte de Neretua”.

Ottoman period

thumb|The Old Town Street

thumb|Springtime in Mostar by [[Tivadar Kosztka Csontváry (1853–1919)]]

In 1468 the region came under the rule of the Ottoman Empire

The town was fortified between the years 1520 and 1566, and the wooden bridge rebuilt in stone. The stone bridge, the Old Bridge (Stari most), was erected in 1566 on the orders of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and at long and high, quickly became a wonder in its own time. Later becoming the city's symbol, the Old Bridge was designed by Mimar Hayruddin,

The first church in the city of Mostar, a Serbian Orthodox Church, was built in 1834 during Ottoman rule.

Austrian and Yugoslav period

Austria-Hungary took control over Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878 and ruled the region until the aftermath of World War I in 1918, when it became part of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs and then Yugoslavia. During this period, Mostar was the main urban centre of Herzegovina. In 1881, the town became the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Mostar-Duvno and, in 1939, it became a part of the Banovina of Croatia. During World War II, Mostar was annexed into the Nazi German fascist puppet state, the Independent State of Croatia.

During the period of Austro-Hungarian rule (1878–1918), Mostar's city council cooperated with the Austro-Hungarian administration to implement sweeping reforms in city planning: broad avenues and an urban grid were imposed on the western bank of the Neretva, and significant investments were made in infrastructure, communications and housing. City administrators like Mustafa Mujaga Komadina were central players in these transformations, which facilitated growth and linked the eastern and western banks of the city. Noteworthy examples of Austro-Hungarian architecture include Hotel Neretva, the Municipality building, which was designed by the architect Josip Vancaš from Sarajevo, residential districts around the Rondo, and Gimnazija Mostar from 1902 designed by František Blažek.

thumb|8th Yugoslav Partisans' Corps in liberated Mostar, February 1945

After World War II, Mostar developed industries producing plastics, tobacco, bauxite, wine, aircraft and aluminium. Several dams (Grabovica, Salakovac, Mostar) were built in the region to harness the hydroelectric power of the Neretva. The city was a major industrial and tourist center and prospered economically during the time of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

When the German and Italian Zones of Influence were revised on 24 June 1942, Mostar fell in , administered civilly by Croatia but militarily by Italy. The boundary with was on Prenj.

Between 1948 and 1974 the industrial base was expanded with construction of a metal-working factory, cotton textile mills, and an aluminum plant. Skilled workers, both men and women, entered the work force and the social and demographic profile of the city was broadened dramatically; between 1945 and 1980, Mostar's population grew from 18,000 to 100,000.

Because Mostar's eastern bank was burdened by inadequate infrastructure, the city expanded on the western bank with the construction of large residential blocks. Local architects favored an austere modernist aesthetic, prefabrication and repetitive modules. Commercial buildings in the functionalist style appeared on the historic eastern side of the city as well, replacing more intimate timber constructions that had survived since Ottoman times. In the 1970s and 1980s, a healthy local economy fueled by foreign investment spurred recognition and conservation of the city's cultural heritage. An economically sustainable plan to preserve the old town of Mostar was implemented by the municipality, which drew thousands of tourists from the Adriatic coast and invigorated the economy of the city. The results of this ten-year project earned Mostar an Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1986.

Bosnian War

thumb|War damage on the former Mostar frontline, 2001

After Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia in April 1992, the town was besieged by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), following clashes between the JNA and Croat forces. The Croats were organized into the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) and were joined by a sizable number of Bosniaks. The JNA artillery periodically shelled neighbourhoods outside of their control from early April.

On 7 June the Croatian Army (HV) launched an offensive code named Operation Jackal, the objective of which was to relieve Mostar and break the JNA siege of Dubrovnik. The offensive was supported by the HVO, which attacked the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) positions around Mostar. By 12 June the HVO secured the western part of the city and by 21 June the VRS was completely pushed out from the eastern part. Numerous religious buildings and most of the city's bridges were destroyed or severely damaged during the fighting. Among them were the Catholic Cathedral of Mary, Mother of the Church, the Franciscan Church and Monastery, the Bishop's Palace and 12 out of 14 mosques in the city. After the VRS was pushed from the city, the Serbian Orthodox Žitomislić Monastery and the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity were demolished.

Throughout late 1992, tensions between Croats and Bosniaks increased in Mostar. In early 1993 the Croat–Bosniak War escalated and by mid-April 1993 Mostar had become a divided city with the western part dominated by HVO forces and the eastern part controlled by the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH). Fighting broke out in May when both sides of the city came under intense artillery fire. The city was divided along ethnic lines, with a number of offensives taking place, resulting in a series of stalemates. The Croat–Bosniak conflict ended with the signing of the Washington Agreement in 1994, and the Bosnian War ended with the Dayton Agreement in 1995. Around 2,000 people died in Mostar during the war.

Two wars (Serb forces versus Bosniak and Croatian and Croat-Bosniak war) left Mostar physically devastated and ethno-territorially divided between a Croat-majority west bank (with ca. 55,000 residents) and a Bosniak-majority old City and east bank (with ca. 50,000 residents), with the frontline running parallel to the Neretva River. Most Serbs had fled the city.

Post-war developments

thumb|right|The Old Bridge undergoing reconstruction in June 2003.

Since the end of the wider war in 1995, great progress has been made in the reconstruction of the city of Mostar under the European Union Administration of the City of Mostar (EUAM). Over 15 million dollars has been spent on restoration.

A monumental project to rebuild the Old Bridge, which was destroyed during the Bosnian War by HVO, to the original design, and restore surrounding structures and historic neighbourhoods was initiated in 1999 and mostly completed by spring 2004. The money for this reconstruction was donated by Spain (who had a sizable contingent of peacekeeping troops stationed in the surrounding area during the conflict), the United States, Turkey, Italy, the Netherlands, and Croatia. A grand opening was held on 23 July 2004 under heavy security.

In parallel, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture and the World Monuments Fund, with funding provided by the World Bank, undertook a five-year-long restoration and rehabilitation effort to regenerate the most significant areas of historic Mostar, and particularly the urban tissue around the Old Bridge. Also in July 2004, the Stari Grad Agency was launched to operate and maintain the restored buildings, including the Old Bridge complex, and promote Mostar as a cultural and tourist destination.

In July 2005, UNESCO inscribed the Old Bridge and its closest vicinity onto the World Heritage List.

International reconstruction efforts also aimed at the reunification of the divided city. The February 1996 Mostar Agreement led to the adoption of the Interim Statute of the city the same month, and to a 1-year period of EUAM, headed by former Bremen mayor Hans Koschnick, until early 1997.

After six years of implementation, in 2003 OHR Paddy Ashdown established an "international commission for reforming Mostar", whose final report noted how the HDZ/SDA power-sharing in Mostar had entrenched division and corruption, with "rampant parallelism" in administrative structures and usurpation of power by the municipalities over the City.

Architecture

thumb|Old Town of Mostar

thumb|left|[[Gimnazija Mostar, designed by architect František Blažek]]

left|thumb|upright|Koski Mehmed Paša Mosque

thumb|upright|[[Church of St. Peter and Paul, Mostar|Catholic church and Franciscan monastery of St. Peter and Paul]]

thumb|[[Holy Trinity Cathedral, Mostar|Holy Trinity Cathedral]]

Mostar has architecturally noteworthy buildings in a wide range of styles. Historicist architectural styles reflected cosmopolitan interest and exposure to foreign aesthetic trends and were artfully merged with indigenous styles. Examples include the Italianate Franciscan church, the Ottoman Muslibegovića house, the Dalmatian Ćorović House and an Orthodox cathedral which was built as gift from the Sultan.

The Ottomans used monumental architecture to affirm, extend and consolidate their colonial holdings. Administrators and bureaucrats – many of them indigenous people who converted from Christianity to Islam – founded mosque complexes that generally included Koranic schools, soup kitchens or markets.

Out of the thirteen original mosques dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, seven have been lost during the 20th century for ideological reasons or by bombardment. One of the two 19th-century Orthodox churches has also disappeared, while the early 20th-century synagogue, after suffering severe damage in the World War II, has been converted into a theatre. Several Ottoman inns also survived, along with other buildings from this period of Mostar's history, such as fountains and schools.

The Cejvan Cehaj Mosque, built in 1552, is the oldest mosque in Mostar. Later a madrasa (Islamic school) was built on the same compound. The Old Bazaar, Kujundziluk, is named after the goldsmiths who traditionally created and sold their wares on this street, and still sells authentic paintings and copper or bronze carvings of the Stari Most, pomegranates (the natural symbol of Herzegovina), or the stećaks (medieval tombstones).

The Koski Mehmed Paša Mosque, built in 1617, is open to visitors. Visitors may enter the mosque and take photos (price of entry is 10KM). The minaret is also open to the public and is accessible from inside the mosque. Just around the corner from the mosque is the Tepa Market. This has been a busy marketplace since Ottoman times. It now sells mostly fresh produce grown in Herzegovina and, when in season, the figs and pomegranates are extremely popular. Local honey is also a prominent specialty, being produced all around Herzegovina.

Culture

thumb|First Croatian printing office in Mostar, 1920

Magazine Most, along with Šantić's Poetry Evenings, was most important outlet for cultural and artistic production in the city and the region, offering space for upstart poets and writers. Dani Matice Hrvatske is one of city's significant cultural events and it is commonly sponsored by the Croatian Government and the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Mostar Summer is another umbrella event which includes Šantić Poetry Evenings, Mostar Summer Festival and Festival of Bosnia and Herzegovina choirs/ensembles. The city is a home of music festival named Melodije Mostara (Mostar Melodies), which has been held annually since 1995. Theatre festivals include Mostarska Liska (organized by the National Theatre Mostar) and The Mostar Spring (organized by the Matica hrvatska Mostar).

Mostar art institutions include:

Croatian Lodge "Herceg Stjepan Kosača"
Cultural Center Mostar
OKC Abrašević (English: Abrašević Youth Center)
Pavarotti Music Centre
Croatian National Theatre in Mostar
National Theatre Mostar
Museum of the Old Bridge
Herzegovina Museum
Mostar Youth Theatre
Aluminij Gallery
Birthplace of Svetozar Ćorović (Aleksa Šantić House)
Muslibegović House
World Music Centre
Puppet Theatre Mostar

Mostar cuisine is balanced between Western and Eastern influences. Traditional Mostar food is closely related to Turkish, Middle Eastern and other Mediterranean cuisines. However, due to years of Austrian rule and influence, there are many culinary influences from Central Europe. Some of the dishes include ćevapčići, burek, sarma, japrak, musaka, dolma, sujuk, sač, đuveč, and sataraš. Local desserts include baklava, hurmašice, sutlijaš, tulumbe, tufahije, and šampita.

Economy

thumb|[[Aluminij factory]]

Mostar's economy relies heavily on the aluminium & metal industry, banking services & the telecommunication sector. The city is home of some of the country's largest corporations.

Along with Sarajevo & Banja Luka, it is the largest financial center in Bosnia & Herzegovina. One of three largest banks in the country has its headquarters in Mostar. Bosnia & Herzegovina has three national electric, postal & telecommunication service corporations; the seat of one per each group is placed in Mostar (electric utility provider Elektroprivreda HZHB, postal service company Hrvatska pošta Mostar & HT Eronet, the third largest telecommunication company in the country). These three companies (along with banks & aluminium factory) make a vast portion of overall economic activity in the city.

Prior to the 1992–1995 Bosnian War, Mostar relied on other important companies which had been closed, damaged or downsized. They included SOKO (military aircraft factory) & Hepok (food industry). In 1981, Mostar's GDP per capita was 103% of the Yugoslav average.

Aluminum manufacturing company Aluminij Industries is the sole remaining large company that was prominent during the former Yugoslavia. It is one of the country's largest exporter companies & it has a number of international partners. It is one of the most influential companies in the region as well. The city of Mostar alone has direct income of €40 million annually from Aluminij.

Considering the fact that three dams are situated on the city of Mostar's territory, the city has a solid base for further development of production. There is also an ongoing project for the possible use of wind power & building of windmills. The private sector has seen a notable increase in small & medium enterprises over the past couple of years contributing to the positive business climate.

Mostar also hosts the annual International Economic Fair Mostar ("Međunarodni sajam gospodarstva Mostar") which was first held in 1997.

Demographics

In 2013 the municipality had a total population of 105,797 according to the census results and the city itself had a population of 60,195.

Ethnic groups

Its population consists of the following ethnic groups: Croats (48.4%); Bosniaks (44.1%) and Serbs (4.1%). The city of Mostar has the largest population of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina. As in many other cities, its demographic profile was significantly altered after the Bosnian War.

According to the official data of the local elections of 2008, among six city election districts, three western ones (Croat-majority) had 53,917 registered voters, and those three on the east (Bosniak-majority) had 34,712 voters.

The ethnic composition of the city of Mostar, per indicated census years:

{|class="wikitable sortable"

! Ethnic group

!1910

!1931

!1948

! 1961

! 1971

! 1981

! 1991

! 2013

|Bosniaks/Muslims

|align="right" |7,212

|align="right" |8,844

|align="right" |9,981

|align="right" |10,513

|align="right" |33,645

|align="right" |34,247

|align="right" |43,856

|align="right" |46,752

|Croats

|align="right" |4,307

|align="right" |5,764

|align="right" |6,062

|align="right" |27,265

|align="right" |32,782

|align="right" |36,927

|align="right" |43,037

|align="right" |51,216

|Serbs

|align="right" |4,518

|align="right" |5.502

|align="right" |5,039

|align="right"|21,220

|align="right"|19,076

|align="right"|20,271

|align="right"|23,846

|align="right"|4,421

|Yugoslavs

|align="right"|12,181

|align="right"|2,329

|align="right"|17,143

|align="right"|12,768

|align="right"|83

|Others

|align="right"|355

|align="right"|185

|align="right"|332

|align="right"|1,274

|align="right"|1,748

|align="right"|1,789

|align="right"|3,121

|align="right"|3,408

|- class="sortbottom"

|Total

|align="right"|16,392

|align="right"|20,295

|align="right"|21,606

|align="right"|72,453

|align="right"|89,580

|align="right"|110,377

|align="right"|126,628

|align="right"|105,797

Settlements and neighbourhoods

The City of Mostar (aside from city proper) includes the following settlements:

After the Bosnian War, following the Dayton Agreement, the villages of Kamena, Kokorina and Zijemlje were separated from Mostar to form the new municipality of Istočni Mostar (East Mostar), in the Republika Srpska.

Climate

Mostar, and Herzegovina area in general, experience a modified humid subtropical climate (Cfa) under the Köppen Climate Classification, with cold, humid winters and hot, drier summers. In the summer months, occasional temperatures above are not uncommon. In 1901, a temperature of was measured in the city, which is the highest temperature to have ever been recorded in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The coldest month is January, averaging about , and the warmest month is July, averaging about . The sunniest months are between June and September. The remainder of the year is wet and mild. Mostar is the sunniest city in the country with an average of 2291 solar hours a year. Snow is relatively rare, and it usually melts within a few hours or days.

During the 2012 European cold wave, Mostar experienced unusually cold weather with freezing temperatures lasting for days and a record snow depth of .

Administration

250px|thumbnail|Panoramic view of Mostar

The City of Mostar has the status of a city. The current mayor of Mostar is Mario Kordić (HDZ BiH) and the Mostar City Council consists of 35 seats.

Interim Statute (1996–2004)

International reconstruction efforts aimed at the reunification of the divided city. The February 1996 Mostar Agreement led to the adoption of the Interim Statute of the city the same month and to a 1-year period of EU Administration of Mostar (EUAM), headed by former Bremen mayor Hans Koschnick, till early 1997. Ashdown abolished the six municipalities that were divided equally among Bosniaks and Croats and replaced them with six electoral units, ridding Mostar of duplicate institutions and costs. In the process Ashdown also reduced the number of elected officials from 194 to 35. Among other things, the Constitutional Court noted that the votes of Mostar residents did not count the same, as the six electoral zones all elected 3 councillors despite their different population (with the smallest having 4 times fewer residents than the largest); and that the voters from the "central zone" counted less, as they only elected representatives from the city-wide list and not from any of the electoral zones.

The Court annulled the relevant provisions of the Election Law of BiH and of the 2004 Statute, and ordered the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH and the Mostar city assembly to revise them within six months. also due to his deteriorating health. During this time, he shared the administrative duties with Izet Šahović, head of the Mostar City's Finance Department, a bureaucrat and member of the Bosniak Party of Democratic Action (SDA). For two full mandates, Bešlić and Šahović have decided together how to disburse Mostar's yearly 30 million euro budget, without any legislative oversight or public transparency. The situation has been denounced by multiple NGOs, which have pointed at the SDA-HDZ power-sharing as the source of the mal-administration of Mostar and the recurrent problems with trash collection, water treatment, and continued ethnic duplication of the city services. In July 2020, the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina amended the electoral law to allow for local elections in Mostar to be held in December 2020.

List of mayors of the City of Mostar

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|--

! #

! Portrait

! width=180|Name

! colspan=2|Term of Office

! Party

|--

! | 1

| || President Ismail and members Muhamed, Ahmed, Huršid, Javer, Jure, Ivan, Lazar || 1871 || 1878 ||

|--

! | 2

| || Muhamed-beg Alajbegović (Deputy: Blaško Zelenika) || 6 August 1878 || May 1890 ||

|--

! | 3

| || Ibrahim-beg Kapetanović|| January 1890 || 6 January 1897 ||

|--

! | 4

| || Ahmet-beg Hadžiomerović|| June 1897 || December 1907 ||

|--

! | 5

| || Mustafa Mujaga Komadina || 1909 || 2 November 1918 ||

|--

! | 6

| || Smail-aga Ćemalović|| 1919 || 1929 ||

|--

! | 7

| || Ibrahim Fejić (Sub-mayors: Ljubo Krulj and Vlatko Tambić) || 1929 || 1934 ||

|--

! | 8

| || Muhamed Ridžanović|| 1935 || 1935 ||

|--

! | 9

| || Husaga Ćišić|| 1935 || 1940 ||

|--

! | 10

| || Husein Metiljević|| 1940|| 1941 ||

|--

! | 11

| || Šefkija Balić|| 1941 ||1941 ||

|--

! | 12

| || Muhamed Butum|| 1941 || 1942 ||

|--

! | 13

| || Salih Efica "Crni" || 1942 || 1945 ||

|--

! | 14

| || Salko Fejić|| 1945 || 1946 ||

|--

! | 15

| || Vilko Šnatinger|| 1946 || 1947 ||

|--

! | 16

| || Manojlo Ćabak|| 1947 || 1949 ||

|--

! | 17

| || Mustafa Sefo|| 1949 || March 1958 ||

|--

! | 18

| || Vaso Gačić|| August 1958|| October 1961 ||

|--

! | 19

| || Dušan Vukojević|| October 1961 || February 1963 ||

|--

! | 20

| || Muhamed Mirica|| November 1963 || May 1967 ||

|--

! | 21

| || Avdo Zvonić|| May 1967|| May 1969 ||

|--

! | 22

| || Radmilo – Braca Andrić|| May 1969 || May 1974 ||

|--

! | 23

| || Izet Brković|| May 1974|| June 1976 ||

|--

! | 24

| || Dževad Derviškadić|| June 1976|| April 1982 ||

|--

! | 25

| || Vlado Smoljan|| April 1982|| July 1983 ||

|--

! | 26

| || Nikola Gašić|| July 1983|| July 1985 ||

|--

! | 27

| || Damjan Rotim|| July 1985|| April 1986 ||

|--

! | 28

| || Nijaz Topuzović "Toza" || April 1986|| April 1988 ||

|--

! | 29

| || Jovo Popara|| 14 December 1988|| 14 December 1990 ||

|--

! | 30

| || Milivoj Gagro|| 14 December 1990|| 1992 || HDZ BiH

|--

! | 31

| || Mijo Brajković Safet Oručević|| 1992|| 1996 || HDZ BiH SDA

|--

! | 32

| || Ivan Prskalo Deputy: Safet Oručević|| 1996|| 2000 || HDZ BiH SDA

|--

! | 33

| || Neven Tomić Deputy: Hamdija Jahić|| 2000|| December 2004 || HDZ BiH SDA

|--

! | 34

| || Ljubo Bešlić Deputy: Hamdija Jahić|| December 2004|| 18 December 2009 || HDZ BiH SDA

|--

! | 35

| || Ljubo Bešlić || 18 December 2009|| 15 February 2021 || HDZ BiH

! | 36

| || Mario Kordić || 15 February 2021|| Incumbent || HDZ BiH

Education

250px|thumbnail|Gymnasium Mostar (built 1898–1902) within [[United World College]]

thumb|right|upright|[[University of Mostar Seal]]

Mostar has a number of various educational institutions. These include University of Mostar, University Džemal Bijedić of Mostar, United World College in Mostar, nineteen high-schools and twenty four elementary schools. High-schools include sixteen vocational schools and three gymnasiums.

All public schools in Mostar, both elementary and secondary education, are divided between Croat curriculum and Federal (unofficially Bosniak) curriculum schools. This ethnic division of schools was emplaced during the very first year of the Bosnian war and it continues, with some modifications, to this day. Today, the schools in Mostar and throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina are a site of struggle between ethno-national political elites in ways that reveals the precarious position of youth in the volatile nation building processes A partial exception to divided education is Gimnazija Mostar (also known as "Stara gimnazija") that implemented joint school administration and some joint student courses. However, Croat and Bosniak students in Gimnazija Mostar continue to have most courses according to the "national" curriculum, among them the so-called national subjects – history, literature, geography, and religion.

The country's higher education reform and the signing of the Bologna Process have forced both universities to put aside their rivalry to some extent and try to make themselves more competitive on a regional level.

University of Mostar is the second largest university in the country and the only Croatian language university in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was founded in 1977 as the University "Džemal Bijedić" of Mostar, but changed name in 1992. The origin of the university can be traced back to the Herzegovina Franciscan Theological School, which was founded in 1895 and closed in 1945, was the first higher education institution in Mostar. Today's University seal shows the building of the Franciscan Monastery.

University Džemal Bijedić of Mostar was founded in 1993. It employs around 250 professors and staff members. According to the Federal Office of Statistics, Džemal Bijedić University had 2,522 students enrolled during the 2012/2013 academic year.

school year, the University of Mostar had 10,712 students enrolled at eleven faculties making it the largest university in the city.

In 2011, rugby union football club RK Herceg was founded. The club competes in national leagues within Bosnia & Herzegovina and in the regional league Adria Sevens.

Another popular sport in Mostar is swimming. There are three swimming teams in Mostar: PK Velež, KVS Orka and APK Zrinjski. The best Bosnian-Herzegovinian swimmer, Lana Pudar, is from Mostar. Mostar has plenty of talented swimmers despite having just one 25-meter pool and one 12.5-meter pool.

In mountaineering, the local HPS chapter was called HPD "Prenj". It was liquidated on 20 January 1939.

Transport

thumb|[[Mostar International Airport]]

Rail

The city is served by Mostar railway station, with rail connections to the capital, Sarajevo, and cross-border traffic with Croatia. The railway line between Sarajevo and Mostar runs through the Neretva River valley and is often described as one of the most scenic railway routes in the region due to its natural surroundings and engineering features.

Air

Mostar is an important tourist destination in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The city is served by Mostar International Airport, which has undergone continuous development and has recorded steady growth in passenger numbers in recent years. The airport offers direct flights to several major European destinations and plays an increasingly important role in connecting the city with international markets.

Tourism

thumb|A [[cat in the old town with the Stari Most and Millennium Cross in the background]]

Mostar is one of the most important cultural and tourist centres in southern Bosnia and Herzegovina, serving as a regional hub of historical, religious, and architectural heritage shaped by centuries of diverse cultural influences.

Some noteworthy sites include the Bishop's Ordinariate building, the remains of an early Christian basilica at Cim, a hamam (Ottoman public bath), the clock tower (sahat-kula), the Synagogue (1889) and the Jewish Memorial Cemetery, the Nesuh-aga Vučjaković Mosque, the Hadži-Kurt Mosque (Tabačica), the Metropolitan's Palace (1908), the Karagöz Bey Mosque (1557), the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (1873), the Catholic Church and Franciscan Monastery, Ottoman residences dating from the 16th to the 19th century, the Crooked Bridge, and the Tara and Halebija Towers.

The World War II Partisan Memorial Cemetery in Mostar, designed by architect Bogdan Bogdanović, is an important symbol of the city and a notable example of modernist memorial architecture. The monument integrates architectural expression with natural elements such as water and greenery and was inscribed on the list of National Monuments in 2006.

Numerous significant cultural, historical, and natural sites are located in the surrounding region, further reinforcing Mostar’s role as a regional cultural centre. These include the Catholic pilgrimage site of Međugorje, the Tekija Dervish Monastery in Blagaj, the 13th-century town of Počitelj, Blagaj Fortress (Stjepan-grad), the Kravica waterfall, the seaside town of Neum, the Roman villa rustica from the early fourth century at Mogorjelo, Stolac with its stećak necropolis, and the remains of the ancient city of Daorson. Nearby sites also include Hutovo Blato Nature Park, the archaeological site of Desilo, Lake Boračko, and Vjetrenica Cave, the largest and most significant cave in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Notable people

Twin towns – sister cities

Mostar is twinned with:

Amman, Jordan
Antalya, Turkey
Arsoli, Italy
İzmir, Turkey
Kayseri, Turkey
Montegrotto Terme, Italy
Ohrid, North Macedonia
Osijek, Croatia
Orkland, Norway
Split, Croatia
Tutin, Serbia
Virovitica, Croatia
Vukovar, Croatia
Bassano del Grappa, Italy