BRIDGE IN KLEPCI
(Historic building)
«Mustafa, sandžak- beg of Herzegovina, built a bridge here in 1517. In the second half of the 17th century, Šišman Ibrahim Pasha, who built a medresa, han and hammam in Počitelj and renovated the mosqe, also renovated the bridge in Klepci. Traces of older roads here suggest that there had been a Roman bridge on the site of the present-day bridge.
The bridge, with its finely proportioned arch structure recalting that of the Old Bridge in Mostar, stands out as one of the most important works of Ottoman infrastructure architecture. A specific feature of the bridge is that it has the widest span of this type of bridge over a lowland river. Since the Bregava riverbed is relatively wide at this pont and the banks are low, the builder opted for supstantial stone abutments and long approach ramps, thus reducing the span of the arch.
The condition of the bridge has deteriorated badly during and since the 1992-1995 war
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The Comision to Preserve National Monuments adopoted a decision, to designate the hisatoric building -- old bridge in Klepci, Čapljina Municipality, as the National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Damage to, destruction of, or selzure of the monuments as well as unauthorized exploration and other reasearch on the monument are considered criminal act».
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This project is founded by the European Union.
The text published by the web-based village of Prebilovci has been copied from the board situated near the bridge. There are three versions of it: Serbian, Croatian and English. There is also a ground plan for the construction of the bridge. Since the bridge is situated near Nereza, an important excavation site dating from the Middle Ages (which has never been explored enough) and since there is «a road network dating from earlier periods» in its immediate vicinity, the area surrounding the bridge should be explored whereas the very bridge should be repaired and protected. It is not enough to, at someone else’s expense (EU’s), leave memory of a monument important for B-H. It should be mentioned that this valuable monument pertaining to the history of culture, has continued to be ruined. In the period between the two world wars, a mill was built near the bridge which was maintained by the Lojpurs. Since the WWII, out of which the bridge came out well preserved (even some parts of the big stone blocks on its north side), up to present, only once (in the 70’s) did the Tourist Union from Čapljina provide some initial resources for the renovation of the bridge. At a half-way point this plan came to a halt. Why do the new authorities, both at the local and federal levels, in their efforts to preserve and valorize, as tourist attractions, the buildings of cultural and historic importance, overlook the bridge on the Bregava situated by the highway from Županja to Opuzen and near the important tourist destinations of this region: Počitelj, Mogorjela, Mostar, the nature park Hutovo Blato and the Kravice waterfall?
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The photographs of the bridge on the Bregava River in Klepci, situated by the road leading to Prebilovci, were taken at the beginning of May and sent to us by a tourist from Sweden, Olof Näslund. Published in May 2009.
