leap from the bridge into the Neretva. The practice dates back to 1566, the time the bridge was built, and an event was held every summer in front of population. The first recorded instance of someone diving off the bridge is from 1664. In 1968 a formal diving competition was inaugurated and held every summer. Počitelj is situated on a hill near Mostar and is easily accessible by bus. As with many other Bosnian sites, this town is Ottoman in design. It is a historic fortified town with a hostel (caravanserai) and a hamam beneath. A traditional mosque is there. During the Bosnian War Počitelj was badly damaged and most of its residents fled and never returned World War II: Battle of the Neretva The famous Battle of Neretva is a 1969 Oscar-nominated motion picture depicting events from the Second World War and the actual Battle of the Neretva. Codenamed Fall Weiß, the operation was a German plan for a combined attack launched in early 1943 against Yugoslav Partisans throughout occupied Yugoslavia. The offensive took place between January and April 1943. The operation used to be known, in socialist Yugoslav times, as the Fourth Enemy Offensive, or as the Battle for the Wounded. At one point during the battle, the Partisans were caught in a pocket with their back to the Neretva River. Near Jablanica, 20,000 Partisans under command of Marshal Josip Broz Tito struggled to save some 4500 wounded comrades and typhus patients together with the Supreme Headquarters and Main Hospital, against some 150,000 Axis combatants. In popular culture Celebrated Bosnian and Herzegovinian poet, Mak Dizdar often used the river Neretva as motif in his poetry, alongside other historical, cultural and natural feature of his native Herzegovina. The famous Battle of Neretva is a 1969 Oscar-nominated motion picture depicting events from the World War II and the actual Battle of the Neretva. Many folk songs are written or performed with the Neretva as main theme. Gallery See also Vrelo Bosne Vrelo Bune Bunica Vrelo Bunice Trebišnjica List of national parks of BiH Environmental impacts of reservoirs Environment and electricity generation Tourism in Bosnia and Herzegovina References External links The Dinaric Arc Sustainable Hydropower Initiative WWF - Neretva & Trebisnjica WWF - Living Neretva Project IUCN & WWF project - Environment for People in the Dinaric Arc Balkan Rivers – The Blue Heart of Europe WWF - Parks Dinarides Rafting