The Višegrad Bridge was commissioned by Grand Vizier Mehmed Pasha Sokolović, who exercised power over a long period at the summit of the Ottoman Empire during the reign of three sultans as a tribute to his native region and a symbol of trade and prosperity. Construction of the bridge took place between 1571 and 1577. Major renovations of the bridge have taken place in 1664, 1875, 1911, 1940 and 1950–52. Three of its 11 arches were destroyed during World War I and five were damaged during World War II but subsequently restored. The bridge is widely known because of the book The Bridge on the Drina (1945) written by Yugoslav writer Ivo Andrić, Nobel Prize–winning author. #my_beautiful_Bosnia_and_Herzegovina