Arslanagica bridge in Trebinje

Arslanagića bridge on the river Trebišnjica was erected by Mehmed Paša Sokolović, and was opened in 1574. It was the bridge connecting the central Bosnia and the New (present Herceg Novi, then part of Bosnia within the Ottoman Empire). Almost all the trade went through it, mostly salt. In 1687, the Venetians took up New, which caused the withdrawal of the rich Muslim population towards Trebinje and the bridge lost its significance. It was also affected by the construction of roads towards Dubrovnik. One of the Muslims from New was Arslan-aga who had the task of charging the bridge transfer fee, and made the house right next to the bridge. Throughout the year, the entire village was born, called Arslanagici, so the bridge started to call Arslanagica Bridge, according to its bridge. At the end of the Second World War, more precisely in 1944, the Chetniks tried to crash the bridge. During the explosion, only the left wing of the bridge, about 8 meters long, was destroyed, which was replaced by a narrow concrete strip after the war. The second damage to the bridge occurred in 1965 when the authorities decided to make the Gorica reservoir for the needs of the hydropower plant. The bridge was submerged for one year and lay under water for a year. After the emptying reservoir lake, for two months, 1966, the demolition of the bridge was completed. The bridge was disassembled, stone by stone, and stood in the nearby field. The bridge reconstruction project was developed by the company "Energoinvest" from Sarajevo. The legend says that there were buyers from foreign country for birdge, the most convenient of which came from Canada. However, in 1970, the relocation began, and after two years of work (the stone blocks were marked with numbers and transported by boats), the bridge was reopened, this time several kilometers below, in the village of Gradina. The Arslanagica village was mostly flooded and there are only a few houses above the lake level. A new epilogue around Arslanagić bridge was created in 1993, during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Namely, by the decision of the mayor of Trebinje, Bozidar Vučurević, the name of the bridge was changed to Perovic Bridge, supposedly, claiming that Arslanagići has become from a family of Perovic. Today, the name of the bridge and village has not changed, but the people still call it its original name: Arslanagića Bridge. It was declared a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina.