ARSLANAGIĆ BRIDGE

With a length of 80 m, this Ottoman bridge (Arslanagića Most/Арсланагића Мост) dates from 1574. It is the oldest of the three Trebinje structures that span the Trebišnjica. Its presence here, however, dates only to 1972, when it was moved from the village of Arslanagić (5 km upstream, partly buried) during the construction of a hydroelectric dam. It has retained its original architecture recognizable by its four semi-circular arches (two large ones in the center and two smaller ones leaning against the banks). The structure was built on the orders of Mehmed Pasha Sokolović, Ottoman grand vizier of Bosnian origin, to whom we owe in particular the bridge of Višegrad listed as World Heritage by UNESCO. Serving as a link to the Montenegrin port of Herceg Novi (40 km to the southeast), the bridge was placed under the protection of the powerful Bosnian Arslanagić family, which gave its name to the bridge and to the village crossing it. At the end of World War II, the Serbian Chetniks blew up the central part to escape the advance of Tito's partisans. Rebuilt, it was damaged again in 1965 when the Yugoslav state turned it into a road bridge. It was then moved here stone by stone between 1966 and 1972. During the 1992-1995 war, in the midst of a nationalist frenzy, the municipality renamed the building Perović, after the nearby village. Also called "Mehmed Pasha's Bridge" (Mehmed-Paša Most), today it is more often referred to by its historical name (Arslanagić Most) by the majority of residents.