Mostar's sixteenth century Old Bridge was commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent and designed by the Ottoman (Turkish) architect Mimar Hayruddin. It was completed in 1566 after nines years of building and was the widest man-made arch in the world. The bridge stood for 427 years, until it was destroyed on November 9^th, 1993 by a Bosnian Croat tank bombardment.