Arslanagić (Perović) Bridge

A 16th-century Ottoman stone bridge moved stone by stone to its current site in the 1960s

A handsome stone bridge with two large central arches and two smaller side arches, originally built in 1574 by Mehmed-paša Sokolović — the same Ottoman vezir who commissioned the famous Drina bridge at Višegrad. The bridge originally stood near the village of Arslanagić, downstream from Trebinje, but was dismantled and rebuilt on its present site in 1965 after the construction of the Gorica hydroelectric dam.

The bridge crosses an empty channel now — the dam has reduced the river to a trickle on this section — but the stonework and proportions still impress. A small park surrounds it, with information panels in three languages. Free; about 2km east of the old town, an easy walk or short taxi.

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A story
When the Trebišnjica was dammed in the 1960s to feed a new hydroelectric scheme, the original site of this 1574 Ottoman bridge was destined to drown. Yugoslav engineers numbered every stone, dismantled the bridge over the original riverbed, and reassembled it a kilometre upstream — a piece of cultural surgery that has otherwise been done to only a handful of bridges worldwide.