Location
The village of Vranci is about 2 km south-west of the town of Kreševo, in the narrow valley of the Mrganovac brook, on the slopes of Mt. Lopata, Municipality Kreševo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Historical information
The earliest reference to Kreševo in written documents dates from 1435, when it was already an important mining centre in Bosnia. There were several bridges in the village, most of them wooden, which have not survived.
The River Kreševčica valley is an area of traditional iron-working and mining, with numerous smithies, many of them in Vranci. As well as working in the mines and quarries, until the eve of World War II the people of Vranci each had a smithy where they produced hand-made wrought-iron wares. They were famous for their wide range of hand-made nails, from the nails used to shoe horses to those used in the building trade. The people of Vranci have always worked as blacksmiths and were known in the region as skilled craftsmen.In reference to the origins of the name Vranci, in an attempt to associate the mines of central Bosnia with Saxon miners, Vladislav Skarić compares it with the German name Franz, with the letter f replaced by v
Nothing is known about the builder or the date of the bridge in Vranci. As with most structures in the Balkan peninsula, surviving folk traditions date it to the Roman period, which could be true in the case of this bridge, given that there are surviving remains over a length of about 2000 metres of a “Roman road” about 400 metres above the bridge. A study of the site suggests that there must have been a bridge at this very spot in Antiquity, but whether it was this bridge, or rather its footings, will have to be determined by archaeological investigations. The shape of the roadway, however, indicates that the parts of the bridge now above ground date from the Ottoman period.
Description
The old stone bridge in the village of Vranci is the oldest surviving structure in the entire Kreševo region and the only one to have retained its original form. To this day the setting of this little bridge consists of indigenous Bosnian architecture. Its simple form gives the impression that it has grown organically from its surroundings. It consists of a single round arch, resting directly on the banks of the river without separate abutments. It was built of roughly-hewn stone blocks of various sizes, fairly evenly laid, except in the intrados. The large stones of the barrel merge directly into the structure of the spandrel walls. The bridge is 9.50 m long and 2.60 m wide at mid point. The roadway is paved with small, evenly-cut stone blocks, now covered with self-sown vegetation and damaged as a result, no doubt on account of years of exposure to the elements and neglect.
The barrel forms a segmental arch with a span of about 5 metres, composed of large, evenly-cut voussoirs. No mortar can be seen in the joints, and the surface is overgrown with vegetation, so that it is hard to determine whether the entire bridge was dry-stone built or whether weather conditions have resulted in the disappearance of the mortar. The highest point of the bridge is 2 metres above water level. The intrados is of finely dressed cut stone with radial joints.
There are no mouldings of any kind – string courses etc. – on the bridge – nor is there a parapet, and it is possible that it never had one. The roadway, which rises evenly from both sides towards the middle, suggests that the visible parts of the bridge date from the Ottoman period. Judging from the absence of any particular stylistic features, to all appearances the bridge was built by local masons.
(Source: Excerpt from Bosnia and Herzegovina Commissiona for Preservation of National Monuments - Bridge known as the ‘Roman bridge’ in the village of Vranci, the historic monument)