Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge

Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge
Coordinates 43°46′57″N 19°17′17″E / 43.782428°N 19.287936°E / 43.782428; 19.287936Coordinates: 43°46′57″N 19°17′17″E / 43.782428°N 19.287936°E / 43.782428; 19.287936
Crosses Drina River
Locale Višegrad, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Characteristics
Design Arch
Total length 179.5 metres
History
Architect Mimar Sinan
Opened 1577
Official name Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge in Višegrad
Type Cultural
Criteria ii, iv
Designated 2007 (31st session)
Reference no. 1260
Region Europe and North America

The Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge (Bosnian and Serbian: Most Mehmed-paše Sokolovića/Мост Мехмед-паше Соколовића; Turkish: Sokollu Mehmet Paşa Köprüsü) is a historic bridge in Višegrad, over the Drina River in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was completed in 1577 by the Ottoman court architect Mimar Sinan on the order of the Grand Vizier Mehmed Paša Sokolović.[1] UNESCO included the bridge in its 2007 World Heritage List.

Characteristics

It is characteristic of the apogee of Turkish monumental architecture and civil engineering. It numbers 11 masonry arches, with spans of 11 to 15 meters, and an access ramp at right angles with four arches on the left bank of the river.

The 179.5-meter-long (589 ft) bridge is a representative masterpiece of Mimar Sinan, one of the greatest architects and engineers of the classical Ottoman period and a contemporary of the Italian Renaissance, with which his work can be compared. The UNESCO summary states: The unique elegance of proportion and monumental nobility of the property as a whole bear witness to the greatness of this style of architecture.[2]

History

The center pile of the bridge

The Višegrad Bridge was commissioned by Grand Vizier Mehmed Paša Sokolović, who exercised power over a long period at the summit of the Ottoman Empire during the reign of three sultans as a tribute to his native region and a symbol of trade and prosperity. Construction of the bridge took place between 1571 and 1577. Major renovations of the bridge have taken place in 1664, 1875, 1911, 1940 and 1950–52. Three of its 11 arches were destroyed during World War I and five were damaged during World War II but subsequently restored.[3]

Andrićgrad and Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge

The bridge received UNESCO World Heritage Listing in 2007.

Renovation

The Turkish International Co-operation and Development Agency (TIKA) provided 3.5 million euros for the restoration of the Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge. Representatives of TIKA, the BiH Commission for Co-operation with UNESCO, the Republika Srpska Cultural Ministry and the Višegrad municipality signed an agreement to renovate the bridge on 19 April 2010.[4]

In literature

The bridge is widely known because of the book The Bridge on the Drina (1945) written by Yugoslav writer Ivo Andrić, Nobel Prize–winning author.[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge at Structurae. Retrieved on 15 April 2017.
  2. ↑ "UNESCO World Heritage Centre - Bosnian Bridge among five new sites inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List this evening". Whc.unesco.org. Retrieved 2017-07-14.
  3. 1 2 "Mehmed-Pasha Sokolovic Bridge". Archived from the original on 2007-07-02. Retrieved 2017-07-14.
  4. ↑ "Culture and Sports: Turkish agency sponsors repairs to Ottoman bridge". SETimes.com. Retrieved 15 April 2017.

Media related to Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge in Višegrad at Wikimedia Commons

Coordinates: 43°46′56″N 19°17′16″E / 43.78222°N 19.28778°E / 43.78222; 19.28778

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