There’s no substitute for simply walking around when you’re trying to get a handle on a new city. The morning I arrived in Sarajevo, I quickly dropped off my backpack at my hostel (the excellent Franz Ferdinand Hostel http://franzferdinandhostel.com) and started a long, but rewarding self-guided walking tour of the city.
I knew I wanted to hike up into the hills northeast of the city to visit both the Žuta tabija (Yellow Fortress) and Bijela tabija (White Fortress) before it got too hot out, so I set out to achieve this goal before lunch. There aren’t too many signs to point you in the direction of the fortresses forcing me to rely heavily on the google maps to find my way. (Really, how did people get around before google maps?!) What my handy little app didn’t take into account was the steep incline of the residential streets leading up to each fortress ruins. This was quite the workout and I was grateful I remembered to bring along a 1.5L bottle of water.
Right below the Žuta tabija you will see the Šehidsko mezarje Kovači, a cemetery for those who perished in the in the war from 1992-1995. Alija Izetbegović, who became the first President of Bosnia and Herzegovina when the Parliament declared independence in 1992, is also buried here. He remained President throughout the siege that held the city hostage until 1996. (Link to post on the siege) After the war and the signing of the Dayton Peace Accords, Izetbegović became the first Bosniak-member President of the new three-president system in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a post he held until 2000; the peace agreement stipulated that there be three presidents: one Bosniak, one Croat and one Serb. Izetbegović died in 2003 and wanted to be buried beside those who lost their lives in the struggle for an independent Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Both the Žuta tabija and Bijela tabija were part of the old walled portion of the city known as Vratnik. The Bijela tabija is several hundred years older, having been built around 1550; Žuta tabija was completed in the 1730’s. The fortresses are more or less ruins now, and efforts are underway to restore and preserve both sites. The real draws are not so much the ruins themselves, but the stunning views they offer of Sarajevo and the surrounding mountains.
Some panoramas of Sarajevo taken from the two fortresses:
After all of this hiking, I had worked up an appetite and quickly marched back down to the Baščaršija (Old Ottoman Quarter). But before I could reach the Baščaršija, I came across the Vijećnica (Old City Hall), one of the more colorful buildings in all of Sarajevo. The Vijećnica was built in 1894 and acted as the City Hall until 1949 when it became the National Library. The building was completely destroyed during the siege and hundreds, if not thousands, of rare books and manuscripts were lost in the bombings and ensuing fires. After a restoration project that cost an estimated 13 million euros, the Vijećnica reopened in 2014 and now houses rotating museum exhibits.
The central meeting place in the Baščaršija is the Sebilj, an Ottoman-style wooden fountain. In the evenings, the square around the Sebilj is the place to be, for people-watching and a scoop of ice cream. Of course, you’ll have to fight for spot with all the pigeons, who seem to treat the Sebilj like a homing beacon.
It’s fun to explore the narrow streets of the Baščaršija’s bazaar, brimming with sellers peddling their wares. I was on the hunt for a coffee set, and I was able to witness copper workers crafting them by hand in the bazaar. Despite obviously wanting to appeal to tourists, the area hasn’t fallen into full-on tourist trap territory and remains highly enjoyable.
The other reason to visit the Baščaršija is for the chance to taste some authentic Balkan cuisine. As a vegetarian, I found myself living on burek, one of the greatest creations this wonderful planet has to offer. There’s no shortage of burek throughout the region, but some of the best I sampled was in Sarajevo. Burek is a flaky, pastry-type pie that is then filled with either cheese, potato, spinach, pumpkin or meat. It’s very filling, but every calorie is worth it!
The perfect follow-up to burek is a Turkish-style Bosnian coffee, leisurely enjoyed at one of the numerous cafes in the Baščaršija. A note about coffee: American-style drip coffee isn’t really something I came across very often. In general, if you go into a cafe and ask for “coffee” you will most likely receive an Americano. Lattes, cappuccinos, macchiatos and shots of espresso (of course!) are also popular, but in Sarajevo the drink of choice seemed to be Turkish-style Bosnian coffee. (Note: Don’t call it Turkish coffee! You are not in Turkey, and there are subtle differences in the brewing process, such as whether you add the coffee grounds to the cold water and then boil or boil the water first and then add the grounds.)
Bosnian coffee is made using coffee so finely ground that it has essentially become a powder. It’s almost like dissolving a packet of hot chocolate in hot water, but instead of cocoa, it’s coffee. You will be served this thick mixture in a džezva (copper carafe), alongside an empty cup and a sugar cube. Pour what you want out of the džezva, but remember not to get the thick sludge-like collection of grounds at the very bottom. I was taught by some guys in a cafe how to hold a piece of the sugar between my teeth and drink a sip of the coffee through it, rather than simply dissolving the sugar in the cup (or worse the džezva). Bosnian coffee is delicious, and try as I might to recreate it at home, it just doesn’t taste the same as at the Baščaršija.
After being revived with this sustenance, I was ready to venture out and explore what lay west of the Baščaršija- though don’t leave the area until you’ve checked out some of the mosques, synagogues and churches in the area. (link to religious buildings in Baščaršija post) The Latinska ćuprija (Latin Bridge) may not be much to look at, but its importance in world history makes it worth a visit. It was here that Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were assassinated in 1914, triggering the start of WWI. Beside the bridge is the one-room Muzej Sarajevo 1878-1918, which I found overpriced, dull and easily skippable.
Sarajevo may not have the most attractive river running through it in the Miljacka, but it’s pleasant enough to walk along and take in some of the architecture along the way. The river walk highlight may be the Akademija likovnih umjetnosti Sarajevo (Academy of Fine Arts Sarajevo), which was originally a church built by the Austro-Hungarians in 1899 and turned over to the Academy of Fine Arts in 1972. You can stop inside to see if there are any student exhibitions currently on display.
Once I reached the Skenderija Bridge I veered away from the Miljacka to walk down Zmaja do Bosne, the main thoroughfare through Sarajevo. The street was dubbed “sniper alley” during the siege due to the extreme danger of walking on this road. 1,030 people were shot with sniper bullets during the siege, 225 of whom died.
You know you’ve reached the Yugoslav portion of Sarajevo when you see the enormous stone Parlamentarna skupština Bosne i Hercegovine (Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina). The building was completed in 1982 when Bosnia and Herzegovina was still one of the Socialist Republics of Yugoslavia.
Not too much farther down Zmaja do Bosne are two of the larger museums in the city: The Historijski muzej Bosne i Hercegovine (Historical Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina) and The Zemaljski muzej Bosne i Hercegovine (National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina). The Zemaljski muzej is divided into three sections: ethnography, natural history and archeology. Truth be told, my favorite part of the museum was the Botanical Gardens in the center of the complex. Always on the lookout for a cozy to bench on which to journal, I spent a good half hour chilling with the plants and writing.
Of the two museums, I preferred the Historijski muzej due to its focus on life during the siege and the post-war rebuilding of Sarajevo. There is a great exhibit by photographer Jim Marshall called “15 Years By Jim Marshall.” Marshall was able to take dozens of pictures in 1996, right after the end of the siege. The city was in shambles and many structures appeared fit for little more than a demolition crew. In 2011, Marshall recreated each of his earlier photos by shooting the same scenes from the same angles, thus capturing the miraculous transformation Sarajevo had undergone. Despite still seeing reminders of the siege in present-day Sarajevo, the makeover photos show just how far the capital has rebounded in 15 years.
After I had absorbed enough of each museum I made my way back towards the Baščaršija, but en route I came across one of the most harrowing museums of my travels. The Galerija 11/07/95 is a photography exhibit by Tarik Samarah (with accompanying audio guide that is well worth the price) that tells the story of the town of Srebrenica and the genocide that happened there on July 11, 1995. Srebrenica is a town in Eastern Bosnia that was taken over by the UN in 1993 and acted as a “safe” harbor for nearly 40,000 Bosniak Muslims. On July 11, 1995 the Army of Republika Srpska executed (by current count) 8,372 men, women and children. Ratko Mladić led the massacre; he was found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity at The Hague and is currently serving a life sentence. Samarah’s photos were mostly taken between 2002-2004 and document the lives of surviving family members, the longterm effects of war and the process by which the remains from mass graves were exhumed and identified. A memorial and burial ground was opened in Srebrenica in 2003; the proceedings were led by former President Bill Clinton. Every year on the anniversary of the massacre, people gather to mourn the dead and bury any remains that have been identified over the past year. In 2017, 71 sets of newly-identified remains joined the previous interred.
Although this is a sobering note on which to end, it is an apt one. No matter how beautiful and fun and wonderful you may find this nation (and it definitely is all of those things), there remains a strong undercurrent of sadness bubbling right below the surface. Things have gotten better and there is peace and healing to a degree, but the events of the war are still fresh in the minds of many and you must be aware of that when traveling throughout the country. It’s not an off-limits subject, but certainly a sensitive one. If you find someone who wants to discuss the war, whether they be Serb, Croat or Bosniak, just listen and take it in. Be prepared for a rollercoaster of emotions when you come to Sarajevo.
