More about Mostar and Sarajevo

Over the last few weeks I have expanded and updated the Bosnia section of the site. The Sarajevo page now includes more pointers to outlying sights such as the Jewish Cemetery, Bukovik Mountain, and Bjelasnica. I have also added a note about Stolac to the Mostar page.

Developing the Balkans' Golden Triangle

In today's Independent Sankha Guha reports on an initiative of the United Nations Development Program to encourage cross-border tourism in the former Yugoslavia. The plan is to promote a so-called "Golden Triangle" of World Heritage sites of Dubrovnik (Croatia), Mostar (Bosnia), and Durmitor (Montenegro).

It's questionable whether Dubrovnik needs any more publicity, but presumably the plan is to use it to entice tourists to visit the less well-known inland destinations. As the article makes clear, the people behind the plan have some serious problems to overcome: as if it's not bad enough dealing with the legacy of political tensions, they also have to worry about the impression made on visitors by terrifyingly kitsch Tito-era hotels.


Dubrovnik

Mostar


Durmitor

Berat and Stari Grad added to World Heritage list

This year's round of additions to the UNESCO World Heritage list includes two locations in Southeast Europe.

The historic centre of Berat (Berati) in Albania has been added to that of Gjirokastra, which has been listed since 2005. UNESCO describe Berat as an example of a well-preserved Ottoman town that "bears witness to the coexistence of various religious and cultural communities down the centuries".

The other addition is the Stari Grad Plain, on the island of Hvar in Croatia, described as "a cultural landscape that has remained practically intact since it was first colonized by Ionian Greeks from Paros in the 4th century BC".


Berati Photo Gallery