Explore Sarajevo / Hidden Gems / Rimski Most
Hidden Gem · Ilidža · 3 min read
Rimski Most
The Roman Bridge at Ilidža — built around 1550 from the literal stones of a Roman bridge that stood here first.
- Established
- c. 1550
Address
Mala Aleja, Ilidža
Hours
Always accessible
Price
Free
Getting there
Tram 3 to Ilidža terminus, then 10 minutes on foot west
Time needed
30 minutes on its own, or pair with Vrelo Bosne
Best time
Spring or autumn afternoon
Coordinates
43.8316° N 18.2861° E
Navigate
In Ilidža, ten kilometres west of central Sarajevo and a short walk from the celebrated park at Vrelo Bosne, a small stone bridge sits over the Bosna river. The bridge is Ottoman. It was built around 1550. It was built almost entirely from the disassembled stones of the Roman bridge that crossed the river here before it.
The locals call it Rimski Most, the Roman Bridge. The name is technically incorrect and culturally correct at the same time.
Aquae Sulphurae
The site has been a river crossing since well before either empire arrived. The Romans, who knew the thermal springs of Ilidža as Aquae Sulphurae (“the sulphurous waters”), built a road from Salona on the Adriatic up through the Neretva valley, across the Bosnian plateau, and on toward the Danube. Where the road met the Bosna river, they put a stone bridge. The bridge stood, in various states of repair, until the Middle Ages.
By the early Ottoman period the Roman structure had fallen into ruin. Sometime between 1530 and 1550, the Ottoman administration rebuilt a bridge on the same crossing point, using as much of the original Roman stone as could be salvaged. The result is one of the few bridges in Europe where you can stand on Ottoman engineering, with Roman material directly beneath your feet, on a road network whose layout predates either of them.
The Roman cut-stones are still visible in the lower courses of the piers and in fragments of the parapet. The Ottoman arches were built around and on top of them. The whole thing reads like a layered drawing if you know what to look for.
Why nobody mentions it
The bridge sits about 600 metres from the entrance to Vrelo Bosne, on the parallel road. Visitors to the springs almost never walk over to it. There is no signage. No kiosk. No fence. The path passes close to the river bank and the bridge appears, low and small, between two willows. You can drive past without noticing.
This is part of its appeal. Almost everyone who finds the bridge finds it because somebody told them where to look. Once you have, it is hard to ignore: the layering of the stones, the way the river runs almost transparent in early summer, the absence of any other visitors.
How to combine it
The right way to do Ilidža in one trip is: tram 3 to Ilidža terminus, walk Velika Aleja down to Vrelo Bosne (or take a fiacre), spend a couple of hours in the springs park, then walk back along the parallel road through Mala Aleja and pause at the Roman Bridge on the way out. The full circuit takes about three hours at a relaxed pace. Half a day if you picnic.
Locals fish from the bridge in summer. Children swim in the shallows. In autumn the trees turn yellow and the bridge is at its best. In winter the parapet wears snow and almost nobody comes.
What to bring
There is nothing to buy at the bridge. There is no café. There are no benches. Bring water, comfortable shoes, and a small amount of patience for the unmarked walk in. The reward is one of the more layered pieces of architecture in Bosnia, and an entirely empty river bend on most days of the year.
Sources & further reading
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Ph: Raphael Schön · CC BY 2.0
Ilidža
Vrelo Bosne
Where the Bosna river begins. Cold pools welling up from under Mount Igman, surrounded by a 19th-century Habsburg park. Take tram 3 to Ilidža, walk or ride a fiacre down Velika Aleja, stay an hour longer than you planned.
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Ph: Desemeus · CC BY-SA 4.0
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Ph: Julian Nyča · CC BY-SA 3.0
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