Also participating were about a half-dozen bridge divers, as for hundreds of years it was tradition for young Mostar machos to jump from the 28m-high bridge. Emir Balic, 69, who logged hundreds of jumps in his day, said he'd leave jumping from the new bridge to the new generation. "I'm happy and sad at the same time," he told BH-TV before the opening, saying that 23 of his fellow jumpers had been killed during the war. The original bridge was finished in 1566, and gave the nearby Turkish settlement its name: Mostar is derived from a word meaning "keeper of the bridge". The bridge survived for centuries, but did n't survive the bitter Muslim-Croat fighting that broke out in 1993.
Той дава името си и на близкото турско селище: Мостар произлиза от дума, която означава "пазител на моста". Мостът оцеля в течение на векове, но не можа да надживее мюсюлманско- хърватските бойни действия, избухнали през 1993 г.