Welcome to Bosnia (and Herzegovina)

After three days on the beautiful Adriatic coast of Croatia, we were heading north and inland. We would be crossing the border into the neighboring country of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Though it’s confusing, Bosnia and Herzegovina are two regions that form the single country of Bosnia and Herzegovina. From now on, I'll refer to it as B&H or just Bosnia, which is the larger of the two regions. 

 

B&H is the triangular-shaped country on a map below. Most of the country is quite mountainous, except in the north where it flattens out into the Pannonian Plain. You can see that it has just a tiny bit of coastline, measuring 20 kilometers, or 12 miles. On either side, it’s surrounded by Croatian territory. A bridge was built so that people going from one part of Croatia to the other don’t actually have to pass through Bosnia. The photo below was taken in the coastal Herzegovina region of B&H. 

Since B&H isn’t in the Schengen Zone, we had to stop at the border security station for passport checks. Fortunately, the crossing took less than half an hour. Kruno surmised that traffic going into Bosnia was light because it was May 1, i.e. the May Day holiday observed throughout Europe. Once we were in B&H, I immediately noticed that the road signs were in two languages: Croatian (written in the Latin alphabet) and Serbian (written in the Cyrillic alphabet). 

 

The history of B&H is rather complicated. The area was originally populated by Illyrian and Celtic tribes. Southern Slavic tribes began to arrive in the 6^th century and around the 12th century, the Kingdom of Bosnia was established. At this time, the population was primarily Christian. Bosnia fell under Ottoman control in the mid-15^th century. The Ottomans allowed Christians to retain their religion but required them, along with Jews and other non-Muslims, to pay higher taxes. As a result, over the centuries, a large percentage of the Bosnian people converted to Islam. The people in the Herzegovina region, however, mostly retained their Roman Catholic religion. For several centuries, B&H existed as a multi-ethnic society of Roman Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Muslims, and Jews who lived mostly in harmony. From the late 19^th century until World War 1, Bosnia was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After World War 1 ended, it became part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. 

 

World War 2 brought great devastation to the Balkan countries, including B&H. After the war, Josip Tito, a former Yugoslav partisan, established a communist government in Yugoslavia in place of the monarchy and banned all religions. People were encouraged to marry partners from other ethnic backgrounds. These so-called “mixed” marriages were quite common.

 

With the death of Tito in 1980 and the rise of nationalism, Yugoslavia recognized three distinct ethnic groups within B&H: Bosniaks (Muslims) who made up 44% of the population; Serbs (mostly Orthodox Christian) who made up 32%; and Croats (mostly Roman Catholic) who made up 17%. (Note: Nearly all of B&H’s well-established Jewish community had been killed during the Holocaust.)  

 

When a referendum on independence was held in 1992, Croats and Bosniaks voted for independence. However, Serbs living in B&H boycotted the referendum and rejected the outcome because they wanted to remain part of Yugoslavia. A month after the referendum, armed conflict broke out when Bosnian Serb forces, supported by the Yugoslav People’s Army, launched attacks aimed at taking over territory within Bosnia and driving out non-Serb populations, primarily Bosniaks, to create a “greater Serbia,” called the Republic of Srpska. 

 

The Bosnian War ended with the Dayton Accords in November, 1995. While this agreement ended the fighting, it also created several new problems. While B&H is a democracy with a parliament, it is also divided into two semi-autonomous entities: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Republika Srpska. The Dayton Accords called for an extremely complicated administrative setup. For example, there’s a three-part presidency (directly elected) that rotates every eight months among the three members during their four-year term. Each member comes from a particular ethnic group (Catholic Croats, Orthodox Serbs, and Muslim Bosniaks). This is to allow each group to have a guaranteed share of power. Voters can only vote for candidates who belong to their own ethnic group. (This would be tricky for the many people whose parents were from different ethnic groups.) 

 

Although religion and ethnic background have played an important role in the history of B&H, Kruno said it’s impossible to tell a person’s religion from his/her appearance. Everyone looks the same, regardless of religious/ethnic background. Sometimes a name is more revealing than appearance. 

 

We also learned from Kruno that B&H faces major problems of corruption and nepotism in addition to its ongoing economic struggles. The country would like to join the European Union but its application has yet to be approved. It needs to attract more foreign investment and to develop more industry. B&J has limited good farmland because of its mountainous terrain. On the other hand, it is rich in minerals such as iron and bauxite. 

 

Late in the morning, we made a stop at Mostar, a small city in a valley about 82 miles inland. It’s located on the Neretva River, which flows into the Adriatic. Because the mountains that encircle Mostar keep its climate relatively warm, it’s possible to grow tangerines, watermelon, and grapes (for white wine) in the area surrounding the city. During the communist era, Mostar was known for its production of fighter jets. Today, it attracts many tourists to its small but picturesque old town. 

 

The narrow, cobbled streets lined with handicraft shops and restaurants reminded me of certain areas of Istanbul, but on a much smaller scale. I supported the local economy by purchasing two scarves. 

 

The name of the city means “bridge keeper” and goes back to Ottoman times. The original bridge, which spans the Neretva River, was built in the 16^th century. It was destroyed in 1993, during the Bosnian war, but was later rebuilt with the same type of stone. From the bridge, there are beautiful views in all directions.

 

It’s not unusual to find a young man in swim trunks standing on the edge of the bridge. It’s a tradition for the young men who live in Mostar to perform a daredevil 24-meter (nearly 80-foot) dive from the bridge into the freezing cold waters of the river below. Kruno assured us that the river is 30 feet deep but it still looked terrifying. Of course, the diver won’t take the plunge until he collects a certain amount of tips from the assembled crowd of tourists.

We stopped for a group lunch at a restaurant tucked into the old town.

 

Since it was a hot afternoon, I stopped for a cooling scoop of gelato despite having eaten a hearty lunch..

On the way back to the bus, I noted the site where a Jewish synagogue once stood. Mostar’s first Jewish resident arrived in the 16^th century. At one time, Mostar had a sizeable Jewish population, consisting of both Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews. Most were killed during the Holocaust. Today, the community has shrunk to about 30 members.

The modern Franciscan church of St. Peter and Paul stands a few blocks from the old town. Archaeological evidence revealed that a 4^th century church once stood on the site. The adjacent Peace Bell Tower was built in the year 2000.  

After leaving Mostar, we continued north, driving through a beautiful area of mountains and canyons. We stopped briefly at Jablanica, another town on the Neretva River, to see an unexpected sight: the remains of an old train bridge in the canyon. It was left in place as part of a memorial to a World War 2 battle between Yugoslav partisans and Axis forces, and as a reminder of the war’s devastation.

By mid-afternoon, we were nearing Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which would be our base for the next three days. I’ll introduce you to this fascinating city in my next post.