BELGRADE, Serbia
An Orthodox church in Bosnia and Herzegovina has become a symbol of interfaith tolerance 25 years after the end of the Bosnian War.
The Church of the Holy Trinity received a special gift from adherents of three different faiths, demonstrating that interfaith tolerance is still alive in the city.
As restoration work on the church was ending, a Muslim Bosnian, Catholic Croat and Orthodox Serb donated large clocks they requested be placed on three sides of the church tower.
One of the clocks features Arabic, Roman and Slavic numerals in harmony.
The donors asked Church officials to keep their names anonymous.
Mostar Archpriest Dusko Kojic told Anadolu Agency that philanthropists who donated the clocks are three good friends from different religions, and it is actually a very nice message that they do not want to be revealed.
"This actually proves that Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country where people can love each other and live in peace," said Kojic.
The 148-year old church was mined and almost destroyed during the war between 1992 and 1995.
Restoration work began in 2010 at the church that was also supported financially by one of the Ottoman sultans, Sultan Abdulaziz.
The Church of the Holy Trinity was the largest church in the Balkans when it was built, he added.
Land donated by Ottoman consultant
Historian Semsudin Zlatko Serdarevic said the land on which the church was built was donated by Ottoman supervisor Omer Lutfi Pasha at the time.
"Similar things happened in the years between 1863 and 1873 when the church was built," said Serdarevic. “The culture of coexistence that has lasted for centuries continues today. People living in Bosnia and Herzegovina, celebrate holidays together even if their beliefs are different.”
Serdarevic said the Assembly of Mostar Islamic Union also provided financial assistance to restore the church.
The Holy Trinity Church in the Bjelusine neighborhood in the center of Mostar is on UNESCO's world heritage list along with the historical city of Mostar.
Mostar, where a small number of Orthodox Serbs currently live, saw difficult times during the war with intense clashes between Bosnian and Croatian forces.
* Written by Talha Ozturk in Belgrade
