The Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge is a historic bridge in Višegrad, over the Drina River in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was completed in 1577 by the Ottoman court architect Mimar Sinan on the order of the Grand Vizier Mehmed Paša Sokolović. UNESCO included the bridge in its 2007 World Heritage List.
The bridge is a triumph of Ottoman monumental architecture and civil engineering. With its 11 masonry arches spanning 179 meters, the bridge is celebrated as a perfect example of proportion.
The bridge was made of stone, tuff, or bigra, brought from Višegrad spa. There is extension at the sixth pillar on both sides. On the access dock at the left river bank are three arches made with broken arches. The sofa was put in the middle of the bridge foreseen to be used for resting for passengers, across of which the stone portal is placed. In the past there was a wooden house in the middle of the bridge with a buffer stop and a bridge guards, and that part of the bridge is therefore called The Gate. Here are two plates made of white marble with the lyrics of the writer called Nihadija in Arabic alphabet, that speak about the constructor and the year of construction.
Today, people are once again talking about the beauty of the bridge and its significance as a piece of architecture. But in the early 1990s, the bridge, was known as the site of a large number of brutal killings during the Višegrad massacre. At that time, there were so many bodies floating down the river from the bridge that they clogged a hydroelectric dam in Serbia.
The bridge serves to remind us of both the good and the bad times in history and it’s definitely a sight worth visiting.