Why this ride
From Mostar it runs 250 km to Mostar; allow about 4 h 39 of riding. It goes by way of Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards, Bijača, Boljuni and back through Bijača.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar and Boljuni
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 250 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 39
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar
The Old Bridge in Mostar is a single stone arch, slender and impossibly high, leaping across the emerald-green Neretva between two fortified towers. The Ottomans built it in the 1560s, designed by an architect named Mimar Hayruddin, and for more than four centuries it stood as a symbol of the city. On 9 November 1993, during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it was shelled and collapsed into the river. It was rebuilt with the original techniques and stone recovered from the riverbed and reopened in 2004, and the following year UNESCO listed the Old Bridge Area as a symbol of reconciliation and cultural coexistence.
Read the complete Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar is where the day begins. Next is Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards.
2. Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards
Radimlja, just outside Stolac in Herzegovina, is the finest of the stećak graveyards, and it lies right beside the main road, which makes it one of the easiest pieces of medieval Europe to stop for. Stećci are massive limestone tombstones, shaped like chests, slabs or little gabled houses, carved between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries across the medieval kingdom of Bosnia and neighbouring lands. Many are decorated with reliefs: spirals, vines, crescents, stars, hunting scenes, dancers holding hands, and knights with swords and shields, and one figure at Radimlja raises an oversized right hand in what may be a greeting or a blessing. In 2016 UNESCO listed a group of these graveyards across four countries together.
Read the complete Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards comes up about 34 km into the recorded legs. Next is Bijača.
3. Bijača
In western Herzegovina, near the town of Ljubuški and close to the Croatian border, the land is a mix of karst hills, fertile valleys and vineyards, baked by the sun and scented with sage and fig. Near the village of Bijača, the necropolis of stećci, the medieval tombstones that are unique to this region, is one of the sites included in the UNESCO listing of stećci, spread across Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia. The tombstones, carved with crosses, spirals, figures and inscriptions, stand among the grass and stones, a silent reminder of the people who lived here centuries ago.
Read the complete Bijača write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 73 km into the recorded legs you reach Bijača. Next is Boljuni.
4. Boljuni
In the stony hills of eastern Herzegovina, a few kilometres from Stolac, a field of grey limestone blocks lies scattered among oak scrub and dry grass. These are stećci, medieval tombstones carved between roughly the twelfth and sixteenth centuries, and Boljuni has a few hundred of them, many decorated with reliefs: rosettes, crescents, spirals, hunters with spears, dancing figures holding hands, a man raising an oversized hand as if in greeting. Nobody fully agrees on who made them or what all the symbols mean, which makes standing among them oddly moving. Together with other cemeteries across Bosnia and Herzegovina and its neighbours, Boljuni is part of the UNESCO site of Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards, inscribed in 2016.
Read the complete Boljuni write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Boljuni, about halfway. Next is back through Bijača.
5. back through Bijača
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Bijača write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Bijača sits at 146 km, about halfway. Next is back through Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards.
6. back through Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards comes up about 218 km into the recorded legs. Next is Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar.
7. Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar closes the day.
Leg by leg
Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar to Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards
Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar → Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards to Bijača
Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards → Bijača is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Bijača to Boljuni
Bijača → Boljuni is 53 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Boljuni to back through Bijača
Boljuni → back through Bijača is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Bijača to back through Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards
back through Bijača → back through Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards to Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar
back through Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards → Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.