Višegrad and Andrićgrad - Lake Cruise

"At the particular place where Drina, in all its green and fastening mass, sprouts from an ostensibly closed set of black and steep mountains, stands a great and harmoniously slashed stone bridge, with eleven widespread arcs." Ivo Andrić The Bridge on the river Drina in Višegrad is an endowment of the Grand Vizier Mehmed Paša Sokolović. He was one of the greatest generals of the Ottoman Empire, originally coming from Bosnia. He was born near Višegrad in 1505 or 1506 as a child of Orthodox parents. At the time, there was a custom, the so called Divširma or “Payment in blood”. Young Orthodox children were taken away from their parents and brought to Turkey where they were raised according to Islamic traditions and converted to Janjičars, the most elite soldiers of Ottoman Empire. At the peak of his power, Mehmed Paša ordered for a bridge to be made, in Višegrad, over the river Drina. He asked for a bridge “at the time unseen” in those areas. The bridge was built between 1571 and 1577. It was designed by the most famous Turkish architect Mimar Sinan. It was built in Oriental style as an architectural masterpiece of the time. In the past, the canyon of Drina was known by its fast rapids and old wooden rafts that continuously conquered those rapids. In the 60s a hydro-power plant Bajina Bašta was built in Perućac converting a great part of Drina's flow into a lake spreading over 54 km. Not long after this time, the wooden rafts were replaced by boats Lotika and Omorika driving tourists from Višegrad to Perućac and vice versa.