Muzej Sarajeva, 1878-1918

 It is amazing to be at the exact location of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sofie. I walked by the bridge and the spot several times during my trip and it never fails to excite the history geek in me.  Gavrilo Princip shot from the bridge towards the building in 1914, and the Latin Bridge has become known at the Princip Bridge.

reading about the Latin Bridge

 There is a plaque in the building, which also houses the museum, marking the exact spot.  The museum is very small-- one room-- but it has some great items. 

 It starts off explaining how Bosnia and Herzegovina came under Austro-Hungarian control in 1878, in accordance with the Congress of Berlin.  It has newspapers, photographs, medals from the turn of the century, as Sarajevo grew into an international city with a running tram system, an excellent education system, and a prolific artistic community. 

It then goes into the assassination, laying out where Princip and his co-conspirators were as the Archduke's car was traveling back from the National Library, complete with lifesize models of the Archduke and Sofie.  They have photos of the 7 men and they have Princip's trousers!

Perhaps the most interesting is that the actual gun used is on display (nearer to the number 12 in the photo below).  It is such a simple piece of metal that started the cascade of events that generated the War to End All Wars.

The movie at the very beginning is wrth the time to watch the entirety, though the reenactment is a bit cheesey, it still shows footage filmed seconds before the assassination and the chaos immediately afterwards.  Truly astonishing moment in history.

Along the Ferhadija

Just a few (?!) of the sights along the Ferhadija, the main pedestrian street in the old town of Sarajevo....

 

The Call to 2:00 pm prayers

Look at the size of those leeks!

looking towards the old town

packs of wild/abandoned dogs

"Pigeon" Square as Hadži Mehmed-paša Kukavica is also called

Pigeons on the old fountain, Sebilj

shops in the Baščaršija

Turkish Coffee Pots

The street where the coppersmiths are located

chimneys

domes of the Ottoman market, Baščaršijska džamija, built in the 1530s

the old (fleur-de-lis) and the new (stars) flags of BiH

oriental carpet market

prayers at Gazi Huresv-begova Mosque, from the 1530s

shopping bonanza!

houses up in the hills

renovated hotels and shops near the Catholic Cathedral

friends at the Cathedral

bullet holes in the side of the church

A Family Restaurant at the Top of Sarajevo

Pear Brandy--deadly

We (a special select group) was taken to this very small family restaurant at the top of the Sarajevo.  We were in the cab and kept going up and up and up into the hills.  The major patron of this conference, Mujo, had called ahead and made very special arrangements.

We were the only ones in the place and we were treated to a private concert of traditional Bosnian music, with an accordion/clarinet player, a guitarist, and a bassist.  They sang traditional folk songs-- we may have sung along-- as dish after delicious dish was brought to us.  The only problem with the food?  We weren't told that we were going for dinner, so we had all eaten at the conference reception!  We still managed to eat more, and it was the best food I have had thus far in Sarajevo. 

first course: stuffed pastry

second course: rice wrapped in grape leaves and some veal stew

The family only cooks for whomever is in the place, and reservations are a must.  They even make their own brandy-- I saw the coils in the backyard.  It is just like making moonshine. 

Mujo making sure all the pear brandy was drunk

We got there about 9 pm and we left after 1, having had the most amazing evening.  It was truly special. 

Bus Tour

We got a break from the conference I am attending. After lunch, one of the panelists from Sarajevo realized that several people will have been in the city, but only in the conference!  She has either has some sort of history degree or really knows her city, as she sat at the front of the bus and pointed, described, explained, all sorts of things about the Sarajevo.  She did a great job, considering it was on the fly and the driver was not slowly driving. 

houses up the hillside

 Sarajevo is nestled into a valley and when you look around, you can really see how the siege for the city during the 1990s must have been terrible, as opposition troops could just camp out on the crests of the mountains and shell the town below.

the Miljacka River

the Eiffel bridge

 There are lots of bridges in Sarajevo, and this one was designed in Eiffel's workshop.  The Austrians installed it in during the time they controlled the city.

Further along the river road is a Lutheran church that has been turned into the an art school.

The Art School

 

Several of the buildings still haven't been reconstructed since the war.  Only now are some under redevelopment. 

a former Turkish bath, and the back of the Catholic Cathedral

Sarajevo also had the first electric tram system in the world and it still functions.

Alipašina Mosque

Parliament building, where the conference is

A Sunny Morning Walk

 A quick walk on a Sunny Friday morning in Sarajevo before having to work (the whole reason I am here!).  We were able to walk into the Catholic Cathedral this morning and see the beautiful church that was completed in 1889 when the Austrians controlled the city. This is where Pope John Paul II lead mass here. 

 The church is dedicated to the Most Holy Heart of Jesus and is very similar to the Notre Dame Cathedral in Dijon. 

 After the church a walk over to the BiH government building took us through the Olympic Park for the 1984 Summer Games.  Street Vendors were out selling art and freshly squeezed pomegranate juice. There were several choices to make for the juice.  Alas, I was full of Turkish Coffee, so I will have to get one later.

 Here is where there is a beautiful statute in Trg Oslobodenja park commemorating the Olympics.

On Tito Street-- the only street that still bares the old Communist Dictator's name-- there is the Eternal Flame for World War II victims, Vječna vatra, with it written in three languages (Serbs, Croats, and Arabic) aimed at uniting the country after 1945. It is dedicated to those who gave their lives trying to liberate the city from the Fascists.  You can see the damage left from bullet holes from the war in the 1990s.

Eternal Flame

 After the brief period of work in the morning, we walked by the Alipašina Mosque, on the corner of Tito Street, and was one of the most dangerous places to be during the war.  It was originally built in 1560-1 and in the corner, the grave stones are from fighters from the Austro-Hungarian Army.

Alipašina Mosque

gravestones in the corner

grave stones

 Close by is the Veliki Park-Parkuša, a park full of ancient Muslim grave markers.  In front is also the Mother and child War Memorial, which is very moving.  It is a mother leaning over to protect her child from falling bombs.  The fountain base has feet print in a variety of small child-sizes, which just make it very poignant.  To the side are rotating columns with the names of those children who died in the war.  When you spin the columns to read the names, there are bells that jingle inside each column.

more grave stones in the park

Mother and Child memorial fountain

feetprint

spinning columns with the victims' names

grave stone with a ball on top indicates a high official in the Ottoman period

Not sure I want to eat whatever is served from this

Austro-Hungarian architecture along Tito Street

Looking back to the Eternal Flame

a marker on a wall to journalists who were killed in the war

Tito Street

 We finished the evening in the Sarajevska pivara, Sarajevo's brewery, which has been functioning for centuries.  A sign on the wall tell the name in German, Serbian, and Arabic.  It sits upon a large fresh-water spring. During the war, people would come here on a daily basis to get their water, as it was their only access to water.  Great beer too!