Is it a thing – historical geography? When a place is associated with so many events in history, it transforms from just a location on a map to a symbol. The word Sarajevo mainly invokes World War I and its epical consequences that affect global politics till these days, but it also reminds that a tragic history may repeat if its lessons are left forgotten and replaced by ignorance, indifference, and prejudice.
Sarajevo is a capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH or just Bosnia) – a country in the center of Balkan peninsula. It does not possess big natural, agricultural, or financial reserves, have a limited access to the sea and frankly speaking is poor by European standards, but its unique landscape, rich history, well-preserved countryside, unusual ethnic and cultural mix and yes cheap prices makes it a desirable destination for savvy travelers.
Getting there and orientation.
Bosnia is complicated. The reminders of the brutal civil war that ended as recently as 1995 are still very much present – both in ruined buildings, and people minds; but the country is safe and welcoming for visitors, the infrastructure is adequate, the roads and hotels are good, and the food is fantastic.
We started our trip from Dubrovnik – Croatian Adriatic jewel which nowadays is overcrowded and overpriced especially during the high holiday season. The old city is lovely restored and preserved, the views from the city wall and the top of Srd mountain are astonishing, and you may even find the tranquility and enjoy the place if you are there in off-season and definitely not on a day when cruise ship hoards occupy the town.
Driving just minutes on a curvy uphill road we got to a border post. The formalities do not take long for those with US passports; the border, however, is a hurdle for many locals. Croatia is a member of EU while Bosnia is not; it complicates a life for residents who still keep ties from the old unified Yugoslavia days. We stopped at the first town after the border to pick up our guide Venera and then drove about an hour through an unremarkable countryside to our first destination.
During the ride, Venera told us (briefly) a history of Bosnia and its habitants. Back in the medieval times local people (Bosniaks) were kind of Christians, kind of sovereign and a had a kind of a king. Baptized with the rest of Europe population they later absorbed and adopted the Bogomil sect faith that did not have churches, Jesus depiction and other attributes of the mainstream Christianity. The relatively well-preserved remains of Bogomil settlements can be seen in the town of Stolac about a half-way on the road from the border to Mostar. When the Ottoman Turks came here in the 15th century, the Bosniaks faced a choice – stay Christian and get persecuted or convert to Islam and enjoy commerce and tax privileges and a protection from a pasha; so half-hearted Christians became half-hearted Muslims, the Sharia law was never fully executed in this land, and till these days formally Muslim Bosniaks would not mind a cigarette or a glass or two of raki (local liquor).
In about another half-hour we reached Blagaj – the picturesque town on the Neretva river on the footsteps of the hill with a mighty castle on top. The castle was a stronghold of the 15th-century local ruler Stepjan who assigned himself a Herzog (Duke) title, and therefore the area became known as Herzegovina.
Mostar.
The name origin of this major Bosnian city should not be difficult to guess. Mostar means bridge and the center consists of the bridge over Neretva river and adjacent quarters. The bridge image is iconic and is featured in absolutely all tourist books of Bosnia. The high arc was built by Ottomans in the 16th century, destroyed during the civil war in 1993 and restored 10 years later. At that war the city was divided by fighting Croatians and Bosnian Muslims factions, the bridge seemed to be a strategic target and was bombed by Croatian artillery. To be fair, I must mention that Croatia contributed the most in the restoration project after the war ended.
Nowadays the bridge is the major tourist attraction, you can cross it back and forth and watch (if you are lucky) a diver jumps from the top to the streaming river. This is actually an ancient tradition – back in the Ottoman times when a Pasha visited the town he spent his time in the tower adjacent to the bridge, the local poor vied for the high attention and jumped, occasionally a pasha got amused and threw a coin for them. Today the attraction is run by a loosely structured diver’s brotherhood, a hat is circling around watchers and when it’s about 100 Euros in there someone jumps.
Besides the bridge, we explored a more modern Croatian neighborhood on the left bank and a more traditional Muslim on the right. The old town is lovely but small and also quite touristy.
The churches, the mosques, the hammam, and the bazaar – all were interesting but similar and even more exciting could be found in Sarajevo. Mostar also has a new part with industrial objects and prominent schools that are important for the national economy but unremarkable for the tourists. We spent there a couple of hours, found it was an adequate time to overview the city, and went on.
A road to Sarajevo.
After Mostar, the road went up the Balkan Mountains, and the higher it climbed the views became more beautiful and breathtaking.
The Cyrillic road signs changed to Latin. As a part of a compromise that ended the civil war Bosnia has three equal presidents – one from each major ethnic group – Serbian, Croatian, and Muslim Bosnians, meaning three times more bureaucracy and corruption. Despite fighting ended years ago, the communities live pretty much apart, especially in the rural areas. A lot of good land stays unutilized just because Serbs, who owned it, abandoned it but won’t sell it to Muslims in whose territory it ended up after the partition.
Passing the Serbian part called Respublica Serbska we saw a lot of houses with Serbian flags, after Mostar, it changed to Croatian. Not until we reached the center of the capital we saw an actual Bosnian flag on an official building. Have I mentioned that Bosnia is complicated? We were passing the area where the bloodiest fighting of the civil war took place – and saw its grim reminders – still destroyed houses, and graves – all young men, some of them not even 20 years old. But life goes on. The busy highway was full of commercial trucks and tourist buses, for each destroyed or abandoned house there were several new built, the towns advertise markets, malls, and other establishments to attract visitors, and roadside restaurants and cafes are full of customers.
It was time for lunch, and we stopped at one of such places. We had a lovely table overlooking the river and the valley at the bottom of the hill. Lambs were roasted right on the premises and smelled very appealing. We had a simple but excellent meal – a salad, a lamb dish, and a dessert, and were surprised how low the bill was. To our amusement, the number had to be divided further by half to get a euro equivalent since the exchange rate was 1 to 2.
After lunch we continued on a spectacular road with more astonishing views of gorges, waterfalls, and cliffs. The highway runs alongside Neretva river and is mirrored by the railroad on the opposite bank. The railroad was built by Austrians at the end of 19th century. The period when Austria ruled here between the Ottoman, and Yugoslavia (1887 – 1918) was short but very productive, the base of the country’s infrastructure from the roads to the beer factories, was established then. The railway started in the industrial Banja Luka on the north and continued through Sarajevo and Mostar to the Adriatic Sea ports. During the civil war, the railroad was destroyed, and its rebuilding became a significant part of the post-war reconstruction. It also put on display inefficiency, bureaucracy, and all sort of Bosnia politicians shameless grandstanding on all sides. After many years of not going anywhere, even the most optimistic believers in Bosnia reconciliation gave up on the project. But then one day – dot your eyes! The inaugural train left the origin, made all stops and arrived at the destination on schedule. The train is still running, and if you in the country for a prolonged time I highly recommend to ride it, particularly the most beautiful part between Mostar and Sarajevo.
Sarajevo.
The memories of the war can be seen everywhere in Bosnia, but they are most striking in the capital. In 1992 Serbs surrounded Sarajevo, installed artillery on the hilltops around the city and bombed every significant building there – not only military targets but civilian quarters too. Even today you see half destroyed but still occupied apartment buildings with people leaving in the parts that avoided direct hits. Sarajevo endured the 3 and a half years siege, about a hundred thousands people died from deprivation, bombs and snipers fire, all that was happening in the middle of Europe in plain sight of an indifferent world until the Clinton administration decided to stop it, and pushed NATO to act. Soon the ceasefire was reached, the siege lifted and peace negotiations resulted in Dayton accord. It created the unprecedented tri-president confederation with a slim and elusive hope of local factions reconciling one day, more important it brought a lasting peace. In Sarajevo, you may see a sign on many walls “Cамо не пуцај (Whatever as long as there is no shooting)” that pretty much defines the local attitude toward the current situation.
We arrived in the late afternoon, and first stopped at our hotel to check in, leave luggage and continue on tour. We stayed in Courtyard Marriott – nice, clean, modern and spacious place within walking distance to the center and all the main attractions. I think we got an upgrade – our room was extra large on the top floor with the view, the hotel had all the amenities and the rooftop bar, however, we stayed only one night and did not have a chance to explore it.
Sarajevo of a tourist interest is a couple miles stretch along Miljachka river between the Bosnian Parlament on the west and the City Hall on the East. Everyone who had at least a passing grade in the World History knows Sarajevo is where Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated that sparked the World War I, so naturally we began at the place where all that happened – at the corner of Obala Kulina and Austrian Trg.
It was an astonishing chain of unfortunate events that led to the tragedy that took place here on June 28, 1914. Get this those who do not believe in fate and destiny! He should not had married her in the first place – he was Ferdinand Hapsburg, and she was Sophie Chotek. He actually was only the third in line to inherit the Austrian crown; he was the Kaiser’s nephew, but the Kaiser’s son was found dead with his mistress at the murky circumstances, and the Kaiser’s brother was a king of Mexico but then was deposed and executed, so Franz Ferdinand became the heir or archduke. There was one problem though – Ferdinand’s wife Sophie was from a very noble but not a royal family and by the Austrian imperial law could not be a queen. Ferdinand would become the Kaiser, but his children could not inherit the crown. It was a huge deal in Austria back then, little they know that in just a few years the empire would be gone and all that would not matter anymore. They should not have to be together on that evil day, as Sophie was pregnant and advised to stay in Vienna but decided to accompany her husband on the inspection trip to this rough Eastern province. Finally, their car should not have even been driving the street where the assassin was waiting. IF if-if if…. But history does not know a conditional tense. Whatever happened did happen. Back then at that place was a bakery, now it is a museum that tells the story of the assassination, as well as the whole Austrian period of Bosnian history, it is small but fascinating, I highly recommend visiting.
The bridge in front is called Latin. There are still debates on how to place in history the assassin Gavrilo Princip. Mlada Bosna was the Serbian terrorist group that planned the assassination. Gavrilo joined the conspirators but being a teenager did not initially have the central part and was a part of a backup plan. He was staying in the crowd watching the royal possession when suddenly the archduke automobile stopped right in front of him, Gavrilo fired the first shot at Ferdinand and was aiming the second at the Bosnia governor who accompanied the pair but at that moment Sophie reached to the fatally shot husband, and the bullet hit her instead.
He was the murderer – yes, but also somehow a tragic figure. Being underage he was spared a death penalty and sent to a prison near Prague that later became Terezin concentration camp. Enduring terrible conditions he contracted tuberculosis and died in 1918. When Yugoslavia was formed, according to the logic of its founders, his act led to the war that Austria lost, and Serbia won, acquired the former empire territory and became one of the largest countries in Europe. Therefore Gavrilo Princip was proclaimed a national hero and the bridge was re-named after him. After Yugoslavia demise, the original name Latin was reinstated, but some locals still call it Principov bridge.
Today the place is just a busy city intersection and a tram stop with locals rushing in and out minding their business, wandering tourists taking pictures, and a shameless entrepreneur offering a tour to repeat Ferdinand and Sophie last ride in a fake replica of a contemporary car. For us the experience was chilling and intese, we needed a change of scene and walked about half a mile up the river embankment to the City Hall (Vijećnica). This imposing building was built at the end of 19th century in the pseudo – Moorish style by Czech architects that probably assumed this look would suit the best to the place and time. From there the old Muslim quarter with the mosque, bazaar, and what remains of the Caravan Serai and the Pasha Palace was just a few blocks away.
It was Saturday evening, and the area was hustling and bustling with the visitors and locals dining, shopping or just hanging out. We absorbed a radiant and diverse mix of people, tongues, and outfits. An Irish pub patrons drinking beer (the Austrians built a brewery nearby, that is still functioning and offering degustation tours) , next to it is a kalian place full of bearded Saudi and Emirates men ( there were a lot of guests from the Middle East and Gulf, probably because Bosnia is one of few European countries where Islam is a predominant religion).
The western retail boutiques share space with oriental carpet and blacksmith shops. A mosque is a next door to an Eastern Orthodox cathedral, and a Catholic church is just across a street. East really meets West here, Sarajevo used to be and still is the delightful, vibrant and eclectic melting pot. It was difficult to believe that not so long time ago the city and the country was marred in the bloody war, but the grim reminders are difficult to escape like the Srebrenica memorial gallery that commemorates thousands of victims of the worst act of genocide in Europe since the WWII.
Our tour ended at Ashkenazi Synagogue, the primary and only functioning Judaism temple in Sarajevo today. It was built in 1902 also by Austrians and also in Moorish style. In case a tiny Bosnian Jewish community grows there are two more synagogues in the city (one Ashkenazi and one Sephardic). We returned back to the old town and found a simple but cozy café where we had a grand (and cheap) assorted meats dinner and plenty of local beer. We walked back to our hotel via Marsala Tita (Marshal Tito) street which used to be the main thoroughfare of “Austrian” part of the city.
These quarters make you feel you are in Vienna with the National Theater and Academy of Arts being the most imposing buildings. We returned to the hotel around midnight and for a short while contemplated stopping at a rooftop bar where a party has just started but it was a long and intense day, and we had to fly out early next morning, so we retired to our room. Next morning was a bit gloomy which corresponded to our sad feelings that we have to go leave this incredible place so soon. We drove on a wide boulevard that connected the airport to the city. During the siege, the Serbian troops did not dare to bomb the airport as it hosted international peacekeepers and UN delegates but fired at the connecting road so heavily it became known as the Sniper Alley. Eventually, the defenders dug a tunnel under so people and supply could get in and out unharmed. Now there is an interesting museum there.
So what’s about Bosnia? It well exceeded our expectations. We found it to be a Europe undiscovered gem. Do come here – you will find a great hospitality at a very reasonable cost and a wide variety of things to do – from enjoying a beach to skiing (Sarajevo hosted the Winter Olympics in 1984) and hiking (have a local guide if you do that – some rural area might still have mines left from the war), and from culinary discoveries to historical commemorations.