Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge
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| Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge in Višegrad* | |
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| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
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| State Party |  Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | ii, iv |
| Reference | 1260 |
| Region† | Europe and North America |
| Inscription history | |
| Inscription | 2007 (31st Session) |
| * Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. † Region as classified by UNESCO. |
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The Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge in Višegrad, across the Drina River in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, was completed in 1577[1] by the Ottoman court architect Sinan on the order of the Grand Vizier Mehmed Paša Sokolović. It is characteristic of the apogee of Ottoman monumental architecture and civil engineering.
It numbers 11 masonry arches, with spans of 11 to 15 metres, and an access ramp at right angles with four arches on the left bank of the river. The 179.50m long bridge is a representative masterpiece of Mimar Ḳoca 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 unique elegance of proportion and monumental nobility of the property as a whole bear witness to the greatness of this style of architecture.[2]
Three of its 11 arches were destroyed during World War I and five were damaged during World War II but were subsequently restored.[3] During the Bosnian War the bridge was a place of a brutal killings of a large number of civilians during the Višegrad massacre in 1992.
The bridge is the most widely known cause of the book The Bridge on the Drina written by Ivo Andrić, Nobel prize winning author.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ Sokollu Mehmed Pasha Bridge in the Structurae database
- ^ UNESCO, "Bosnian Bridge among five new sites inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List this evening" June 28 2007
- ^ a b http://wmf.org/resources/sitepages/bosnia_herzegovina_mehmed_pasha_bridge.html World Monuments Watch, 100 most endangered sites
[edit] External links
The Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge in Višegrad.
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