This summer, 11 Students and two faculty members are traveling to Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia to learn about the 20th-century history of the countries formerly known as Yugoslavia and begin to unravel the complex reverberations of Conflict. Please enjoy this blog post below from Eleanor ’26 and Griffin ’26 where they share reflections on a day that began with exploring Tito’s hidden atomic bunker and ended in the historic city of Mostar, where stories of war, reconstruction, and local traditions like bridge jumping brought Bosnia’s layered history vividly to life.
By Eleanor ’26 and Griffin ’26:
After a very early wake up, we drove from Sarajevo about an hour south to Tito’s Bunker near the town of Konjic. Upon our arrival we were told that the bunker was pretty big but I think we were all very surprised and stunned when we got to see the magnitude of this secret bunker in person. There are three entrances to the bunker which all look like regular houses to disguise the monstrous foundation that is built into the mountain. After entering the house we walked through a tunnel that opened up into the giant military bunker. During our tour, we learned that the bunker itself was constructed from 1953-1979 in order to provide a safe space for Tito and his closest associates in the event of an atomic war. However, Tito died in 1980 and was very ill in his last two years of life so it is unclear if he ever actually went inside his own bunker. The bunker was successfully kept a secret until the 1990s when atomic and nuclear bombs developed to a point where the bunker would no longer have provided any protection. Our tour guide also mentioned that there were papers that when declassified should reveal if Tito ever saw the bunker but they are not open to the public for another 18 years.
Following the tour of Tito’s Bunker we drove to a beautiful restaurant in a gorge, with great views of a river. We had some delicious spit-roasted lamb and continued on our journey to Mostar. Overall, the first half of the day had a great balance of historical information combined with a relaxing lunch with a pretty view. The drive to Mostar lasted around another hour, and as we got closer to the city and passed into the region of Herzegovina the difference in geography was striking. The southern part of BiH is noticeably more Mediterranean feeling, more desert-like and hotter. Before entering the city, our MVP of the trip, as Ava dubbed our driver, took us up a mountain near the city to gain a stunning view of Mostar and the surrounding area.
Soon after checking into the hotel we started our 3-hour historical walking tour of Mostar’s old town. The layout was similar to the old town of Sarajevo, but with narrow streets of highly polished cobblestones – a lively and crowded atmosphere with little souvenir shops at every corner. Our tour guide first gave us a brief history of BIH and Mostar, before reflecting on the destruction of most of it during the Yugoslavian wars, and the subsequent reconstruction in the early 2000’s with the help of the UN and other countries around the world. The city was under attack in two stages from 1992-1994, from two different directions, because Croats and Serbs planned to split Mostar between them.
We witnessed a neat tradition on our tour: bridge jumping. There are a few highly skilled young men who perform for tourists by jumping from the 60 ft- high center of the old bridge into the river below. Our guide explained they wait until they collect 50 euros in tips before jumping. Getting to see this jump and the collection of the money was impressive and something none of us will soon forget. After the tour we ate dinner at a restaurant called the “Food House”, which was very good. After that we went and got ice cream before returning to our hotel for the night.
