Arslanagić Bridge
Description
Perovića Bridge, better known to many as the Arslanagića Bridge, ranks among the loveliest Ottoman structures in Trebinje and a gem of 16th-century Balkan building. It carries across the green Trebišnjica on seven stone arches – two larger and five smaller – resting on three sturdy river piers, rising about fifteen metres above the water at its highest point. It was raised in 1574 by the Grand Vizier Mehmed-paša Sokolović. It owes its name to Arslan-aga, who in the late 17th century won the right to collect a toll and built a house beside it, around which a settlement grew.
Its move is remarkable too: when a hydro system on the Trebišnjica threatened to drown it, the bridge was carefully taken apart stone by stone and reassembled downstream, almost in the heart of today's Trebinje. Today it is one of the city's most recognisable landmarks and a favourite for a walk and a photo.
Cultural Heritage
Practical Information
The most unusual thing about this bridge is that it does not actually stand where it was built. When, in the mid-20th century, a hydro project on the Trebišnjica threatened to submerge it forever, the bridge was taken apart stone by stone, each block carefully marked, and then the whole structure was reassembled like a puzzle a few kilometres downstream. And so a bridge more than four centuries old "moved house" into the very heart of Trebinje, where it still stands today – exactly as before, only at a new address.
