South East Europe / Via Adriatica
Natural and Architectural ensemble near Bregava River
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About the site
Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Stolac
Type: Vernacular Architecture, Industrial Site
Epoch: Middle Ages
Theme: Vernacular Architecture
World Heritage:
The river of Bregava and its buildings – bridges, mills and stamping mills over the river – constitute the backbone of the urban layout of Stolac.
Bridges: the most important surviving bridges on the Bregava are: Cuprija (Inat cuprija), the oldest surviving bridge on the Bregava, assumed, from the style of building, to date from the mediaeval period; Podgradska ?uprija, believed to have been built in the early 18th century; the bridge in Begovina, most recent; the Sara Kasikovic bridge, built according to its inscription in 1896. This was the largest privately owned bridge leading to Ada, and had gates to close it off; the small bridge by the Saric summer residence; and the bridge by the Ali-Pasha Mosque.
Mills: these are of fairly uniform character, without major differences in the way they were built. In 1664 Evliya Celebi wrote in his travelogue that there were ten watermills, and in the 18th century there were 180 waterwheels on the Bregava River. The size of the mills is determined by their length, which, in turn, depends on the number of arches by way of which the building spans the two banks of the river.
Stamping mills: these feature mainly in combination with watermills. As a rule, they constitute a small group of buildings, one of which is invariably the stamping mill office where deals were struck. Another is the stamping mill itself, with the upper floor used for drying laundry in winter and for other purposes in summer. These plain, unadorned buildings are purely of a utilitarian nature.
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