Australian journalist Olivia Lambert wrote a text for News.com.au about ritual jumping from the Old Bridge in Mostar as a kind of act which “turns boys into men”.
“How and when does a boy become a man? You might automatically think of some traditional ritual such as bar mitzvah, but one European country has a very unique and specific custom. In Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 16-year-old boys must plummet about 24m off the Stari Most Bridge into the Neretva River in order to prove their manliness”, Olivia Lambert wrote.
Lambert adds that this is not only a tradition of Herzegovinians, but that it also attracts tourists and backpackers passing through Mostar, and the Mostar diving club charges them 25 EUR if they wish to jump off the bridge.
“If they successfully plunge from Stari Most into Neretva, tourists get ovations from the members of the club and are allowed to jump off the bridge for free for the rest of their life. Even the Australian duo Hamish and Andy did that in 2012 during their TV show Gap Year”, Lambert recalled, and added that plunging off from over 20 meters high bridge is not always that fun as it seems to be at first, and that four people have lost their lives so far during jumping into Neretva.
Injuries occur often, but the risk is still not great enough to prevent tourists from doing it.
(Source: klix.ba)
