Sarajevo

Introducing Sarajevo

How can a people that has suffered so much produce a city of such vitality? This is a question you’ll ask yourself time and time again as you explore Sarajevo. In the 1990s this was a city and people on the edge of annihilation, but today it has become a favourite traveller destination.

Sarajevo is a living museum of history. And boy, is there a lot of it! Mosques, churches, cathedrals and fine municipal buildings built by the Ottoman Turks and Austria-Hungarians; a bridge where world history took a fateful turn; and the Tunnel Museum, the yellow Holiday Inn, and the artillery-scarred Library as reminders of recent tragedy.

Sarajevo has charm: rattly old trams circle a city centre containing the Baščaršija bazaar, an ancient trading place with artisans’ workshops, coffee drinking dens, restaurants, cosy bars and endless souvenir choices. Further west the Ottoman traces disappear and the city takes on its other guise of a proud Austro-Hungarian colonial capital.

There’s a big-village atmosphere here making you immediately feel comfortable and part of what’s going on from the outset; it’s that elusive sense of belonging somewhere. So expect your travel plans to become mańana as a couple of days slip into a week or more.

You don’t need to invest much energy in appreciating Sarajevo; it’s a city that’s easily covered on foot, and it has good public transport. Being a very open city there’s a lot to see, and sitting down at a café in Baščaršija gives you a ringside seat on a rich theatre of life.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009