Blagaj

The Blagaj Tekija (Dervish monastery) near Mostar stands at the edge of Vrelo Bune, a karstic spring and the source of the Buna River. The river flows west for approximately 9 kilometers and joins the Neretva. The Blagaj Tekija was built around 1520, with elements of Ottoman and Mediterranean architecture.  Now it functions as a museum and a place to take a Turkish coffee.

Mostar

To really appreciate Mostar today one must study a bit the breakup of the former Yugoslavia.  One of the most concise accounts is Understanding Yugoslavia by Cameron Hewitt one Rick Steves guides.  It runs about 12 pages but it's heavily weighted on the 90's breakup.  I encourage you to read it.  A good satirical look is the film No Man's Land by Bosnian writer and director DanisTanovic.  The film won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2001.  It does a great job with the absurdity of the conflict, the ineffectiveness of the UN peacekeepers, and the shallowness of the press.  To go for extra credit read The Key to My Neighbor's House: Seeking Justice in Bosnia and Rwanda by Elizabeth Neuffer.  She does as well as anyone could putting together the story of the genocide at Srebrenica.  Personally I had to skip the chapters on Rwanda.  It was all I could do to get through Bosnia.  An interesting exercise is to look at Srebrenica on Google earth to understand what a difficult position people were in.  The town is in a very narrow valley.  Next look at the The Srebrenica - Potocari Memorial and Cemetery for the Victims of the 1995 Genocide or Google it then click on images.  OK enough, the rest of the post focuses on Mostar and the Stari Most.

Due to the inaccessibility of the cemeteries during the Bosnia war, public parks were converted to graveyards.

Mostar, situated on the Neretva River was named after the bridge keepers (mostari) who in the medieval times guarded the Stari Most (Old Bridge) over the Neretva.  The Old Bridge, considered one of the most exemplary pieces of Islamic architecture in the Balkans, was built by the Ottomans in the 16th century and has become one of Bosnia-Herzegovina's most recognizable landmarks.  Human settlements on the river Neretva, between the Hum Hill and the Velež Mountain, have existed since prehistory, as witnessed by discoveries of fortifications and cemeteries.  Evidence of Roman occupation was discovered beneath the present town.  In 1468 Mostar came under Ottoman rule and the urbanization of the settlement began.  

The stone bridge (Stari Most), designed by Mimar Hayruddin, a student and apprentice of the famous Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan, was erected in 1566 on the orders of Suleiman the Magnificent.  At 28 meters long and 20 meters high, It quickly became a wonder in its own time. In the 17th century a famous traveler, Evliya Çelebi, wrote that: the bridge is like a rainbow arch soaring up to the skies, extending from one cliff to the other. ...I, a poor and miserable slave of Allah, have passed through 16 countries, but I have never seen such a high bridge.  It is thrown from rock to rock as high as the sky.  The Old Bridge stood for 427 years, until it was destroyed on 9 November 1993 during the War in Bosnia-Herzegovina.  Sarajevo newspapers reported that more than 60 shells hit the bridge before it collapsed.  A spokesman for the Croats admitted that they deliberately destroyed it, claiming that it was of strategic importance.  Others argue that the bridge held little strategic value and that shelling it was an act of "killing memory", in which evidence of a shared cultural heritage and peaceful co-existence were deliberately destroyed.  

After the end of the war UNESCO established an international committee of experts to oversee the design and reconstruction work of a bridge as similar as possible to the original, using the same technology and materials.  The reconstructed bridge was inaugurated on 23 July 2004.  It is traditional for young men to leap from the bridge into the Neretva.  The practice dates back to the time the bridge was built, with the first recorded instance in 1664.

Ston

Today one visits Ston to walk the Ston wall and have a slice of Stonska Torta (makaruli cake), which is a pie shell filled with sweetened macaroni and custard.  At this point in the trip we have now entered the territory controlled by Dubrovnik.  The maritime Republic of Ragusa, or Republic of Dubrovnik, centered on the city of Dubrovnik (Ragusa in Italian and Latin), existed from 1358 to 1808.  It reached its commercial peak in the 15th and the 16th centuries.  In 1205, the Republic of Venice invaded Dalmatia with the forces of the Fourth Crusade, Ragusa was forced to pay a tribute and became a source of supplies for Venice but the city retained most of its independence. The people, however, resented the ever growing tribute and an almost epic hatred between Ragusa and Venice began to grow.  After the Treaty of Zadar in 1358, Venice was forced to yield all claims to Dalmatia and Dubrovnik became a major trading rival of Venice.  Things happened fast as in 1453 the Ottomans encircle and conquer Constantinople, ending the Byzantine Empire and ten years later had almost completed conquest of Bosnia so in 1458, the Republic signed a treaty with the Ottoman Empire which made it a tributary of the sultan.  By 1481 the city passed into Ottoman protection but for all other purposes it was virtually independent.  It could enter into relations with foreign powers and make treaties with them, and its ships sailed under its own flag.  Ottoman vassalage also conferred special rights in trade that extended within the Empire.  Dubrovnik handled the Adriatic trade on behalf of the Ottomans, and its merchants received special tax exemptions and trading benefits.  Dubrovnik merchants could enter the Black Sea, otherwise closed to non-Ottoman shipping. They paid less in customs duties than other foreign merchants, and the city-state enjoyed diplomatic support from the Ottoman administration in trade disputes with the Venetians.  For their part, Ottomans regarded Dubrovnik as a port of major importance, since most of the traffic between Florence and the Ottoman Empire (an Ottoman port in northwestern Anatolia) was carried out via Dubrovnik.  For a bit of extra reading Cameron Hewitt, a Rick Steves guide, has written an excellent overview to the Balkans, Understanding Yugoslavia.

Now back to Ston, Ston and Mali Ston or 'little' Ston lie on either side of the isthmus of the Pelješac peninsula, about a third of the landmass of the Republic of Ragusa (Dubrovnik).  Most important were saltpans of Ston.  The Ston wall was built from Ston to Mali Ston to defend the peninsula.  I suspect the wall was built of Stonska Torta, it being rather heavy.  Better in the afternoon if your having a late dinner, it would be a bit much for dessert.  There are several recipes for it online, some include chocolate, some don't, but all use cinnamon and ground almonds.  Some throw in a bit of coffee.  

Mali Ston might make a better stop, as there is access to the wall, Stonska Torta and Oysters.  Blow up Google earth on Mali Ston and you can see the oyster beds.  Blow up Ston and you can see the saltpans still in use.

Stonska Torta recipe, makes one 9-inch cake

For the dough:

500 g (16 ounces) unbleached all purpose flour

1 teaspoon fine salt

3 large eggs (150 g or 5.25 ounces)

1/3 cup olive oil (8 cl)

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1-3 tablespoons water

For the filling:

1 pound dried penne or ziti pasta

Zest and juice of one lemon.

3 tablespoons rum

1 tablespoon olive oil

250 g (8 1/2 ounces) sugar

2 cups (9 ounces) ground almonds

1 cup (4.5 ounces) finely chopped walnuts

1/2 cup (2 ounces) fine bread crumbs

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

6 large eggs

Zest of half lemon

1 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/4-inch cubes

For the garnish:

2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

Preheat oven to 175 C (350 F).

In a large mixing bowl or food processor mix the flour and salt.  In a small bowl whisk the eggs, olive oil and vinegar.  Slowly add the olive oil mixture to the flour.  Do not over-work the mixture.  Add water, one tablespoon at a time, until the mixture loosely comes together. Let it rest covered with a slightly damp kitchen towel.

Cook the pasta in boiling water to al dente, then drain and mix with olive oil, lemon juice and rum.

Meanwhile, in a small mixing bowl, combine the sugar, ground almonds, walnuts, breadcrumbs, and cinnamon.  If using either coffee or chocolate add it into the nut mixture.  I'd suggest a tablespoon of fine ground expresso roast and/or 100 g of finely chopped semi sweet chocolate (85% cacao).  In another small bowl, beat the eggs slightly with the lemon zest and almond extract.

Rub a 9-inch spring form pan with olive oil and dust with a spoonful of flour.

Roll out dough to 20-inch circle and nestle it into the pan, letting the extra dough drape over the sides of the pan.

Spread a handful of pasta across the bottom.  Sprinkle two handfuls of the nut mixture over the pasta.  Pour 1/2 cup of the egg mixture over the top and top with 1/3 of the butter.  Repeat more layers to the top or until the ingredients are used up.  After each layer, tap the pan gently in order to settle the filling.  Fold the excess dough from the sides over the top.

Bake for about 45 minutes to an hour, until crust is slightly brown. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack.  Remove the sides of the pan and invert it onto a serving platter.

Dust with sugar.  Slice and decorate with leftover nut mixture.