Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar

a) Construction of a hotel in the buffer zone of the World Heritage property, not in conformity with provisions of the Master Plan, which was part of the Management Plan included in the nomination file;

b) Cracks appearing on the surface of the old bridge.

Total amount provided to the property: USD 190,000.

On 2 February 2010, the State Party submitted a state of conservation report, including the information on the monitoring of cracks in the re-built Mostar Bridge and the drawings of the proposed reconstruction of the Hotel Ruza, as requested by the World Heritage Committee at its 33rd session (Seville, 2009).

a) Construction of a new hotel within the buffer zone of the World Heritage property

The newly submitted proposal for the hotel remains five storeys (ground floor plus four upper floors) as allowed in the building permit granted by the City of Mostar in 2004 (but one storey higher than allowed in the 2001 master plan and 2005 management plan). Following the recommendations of the 2008 expert mission, however, the facades of the hotel have been redesigned taking into account the need to better articulate it by breaking it into discrete sections, thereby diminishing the overall massing. The drawings do indicate, however, some additional rooftop constructions, which include the roof of a bar and sitting area, and the enclosures of stairways and other services, despite assurances by the developer that there would be no roof constructions for the pool level.

The World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies have examined the new designs and consider that while not the preferred solution, these designs do address a number of the previously expressed concerns. They do, however, remain extremely concerned about the constructions found above the fifth storey to house a bar, seating area, stairways, and other services. These additional elements effectively constitute a sixth storey to the building, even if their surface area is small in relation to the overall footprint of the hotel, and should be avoided. 

Taking these considerations into account, the World Heritage Centre and Advisory Bodies are of the opinion that the newly articulated facades will not have an overall negative impact on the Outstanding Universal Value of the property provided that there are no additional constructions above the fifth storey. 

b) Cracks in the surface of the Bridge

In 2009, the State Party instituted a monitoring regime of the bridge in the framework of the activities by the UNESCO Venice Office related to the protection and promotion of cultural heritage in South Eastern Europe, with financial support from the World Heritage Fund, the Municipality will ensure that all required measures will be undertaken (review of the behavior of the bridge structure, review of the cause of the cracks, review of the tension in the steel cramps of extrados in five profiles, and the measurement of the wall construction, the arch, and topographic geodetic measurements) in order to determine if the cracks on the Mostar Bridge represent a potential threat to the bridge structure. The authorities will ensure functioning of a long-term monitoring system of the bridge with continuous analysis of results from adequate computer programmes, as well as an annual maintenance programme. The authorities will also define the necessary measures to be undertaken in order to halt and avoid further damages to the bridge, and for eventual restoration works. The final report on these activities will be submitted to the World Heritage Centre by the end of 2010.

The World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies note the work that the State Party is undertaking with regard to ensuring the structural stability of the bridge and will await the activity report at the end of 2010 in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the monitoring regime.