Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina To say anything new about Sarajevo is not easy because the city has already been described and has found a place in the hearts of writers and poets born or raised in Sarajevo such as Meša Selimović, Izet Sarajlić, Ivo Andrić and others. It is almost impossible to describe Sarajevo in a few sentences, so most of this text is inspired by Miroslav Prstojević's work "Forgotten Sarajevo". The story of Sarajevo flows along Miljacka river, beginning at bridge Kozija Ćuprija and through a collection of postcards from Sarajevo, that the author has found all over Europe, and through experiences of people who lived there. There is a well-known story about the Morić brothers (during the Turkish times) who would block the bridge with their long tobacco pipes forcing pedestrians to go around or even to cross river on the next closest bridge. There is also a recent story about Sarajevo’s conmen Hajro Astor who sold City Hall to local peasant for a lot of money.

All major European cities, Paris, Vienna, Budapest and others have a river and several bridges on it, but because of its size and geographical location of Sarajevo in the narrow valley, Miljacka has always had many bridges to better connect both shores. The most beautiful lyrics about bridge "Drvenija" were written by Izet Sarajlić in the poem Sarajevo.

Excerpt. Click on blue link »Sarajevo« above"
"Now let all our beloved and immortal sleep.
Under the bridge, near the "II Women School" violently Miljacka runs ...
Miljacka will become neither Guadalquivir nor Seine.
So what? Because of this, will they love you less
and torment you less through suffering? ...
Because this is a city where I may not have been the happiest,
but even when it rains there, the rain is not just a rain."

The bridge Drvenija was called "The Bridge of Sighs". Bridge was connection between two parts of high school at that time separated for boys and for girls and physicaly divided by river. But, there was the bridge serving as a meeting point between the young students from oposite sides. “Sarajevo has no Sena. It doesn’t have either Danube nor Tibar nor Neva. Miljacka has been reduced to the bottom to almost shallow creek today.” However, rains were frequent in Sarajevo and showers could quickly fill the river bed, so Miljacka was flowing over bridges cutting the city in two parts.

Born in Travnik and graduated from Sarajevo High School, Ivo Andrić wrote in his book "Memories": "At any time of day and from any hill above you look at Sarajevo, you always inadvertently think the same. It's a city."

Downstream of the bridge Kozija Ćuprija is the famous Bendbaša. At the birth of Sarajevo it was timbers collection place and later became the excursion site and bathing area. There you could find first cafes for enjoying coffee, which came to Sarajevo through Istmbul in the 15th century and then spread to Europe in the next century. The known traveler and writer described coffee, an unknown drink in Europe at the time, using following words: "Coffee must be as black as the devil, hot as hell, pure as an angel, and sweet as love." There is the specific verb "kahvenisanje" in the Bosnian language used to describe drinking coffee. In addition to the cafes where the coffee was served, predecessors to today's restaurants were opened, places for serving only alcoholic beverages and the others serving only food. From there, we continue story moving down the river as the city was growing and spreading.

Bosnia and Herzegovina became a kingdom under the King Tvrtko Kotromanić in the 14th century and subsequently was occupied by many aggressors, among the most notable being the Ottoman Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. Sarajevo is the place where the First World War began with the assassination of the Austro-Hungarian Czar (Emperor). Frequently you can hear in Bosnia saying "And, Peaceful Bosnia" describing resolution of a problem. Generations remembered past times also with the saying "At time of Kulin Ban and good old days", which was mostly mourning for the youth and unstoppable time passing by.

Centuries went by, by telling stories about bridges and major parts of the city downstream of Kozija Ćuprija such as Bendbaša, Baš Čarsija, Šeher-Čehajina Ćuprija, Careva Ćuprija, Čobanija, Drvenija, Skenderija, the new Skenderija bridge, Vrbanja and further downstream Grabavica-I, Grbavica-II, Čengic Villa, Ilidža and the Springs of Bosna River. Also we must not forget known excursion sites around Sarajevo, Dariva, Barice, the spring of Mošćanica, Crepoljsko and the mountains rising right from the city's center, Trebević, Jahorina, Igman and Bjelašnica.

Sarajevo was also proud of having an electric tram built under the ruling of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy around 1880, long before it was built in Vienna. At that time, the tram was used not only for people transportation but also for freight, bringing groceries to Markale (Markthalle) and snow removal from the center of the City. The first regulation of the Miljacka’s bed was done during the same period.

Bosnia has always been known for the diversity of the people who lived there, their cultural characteristics, different religion and their nationality, as it can be seen on cultural heritage, buildings and places of worship. We, the children born in Sarajevo after the Second World War, had no Sena or Danube, but we were social and we enjoyed playing games with each other. We had our slang, Football Clubs Željezničar and Sarajevo, music band "Indexes" who were always first on sunday show "Top Hit List" with the song "Tide” and Kemal Monteno with the song “Sarajevo, my love.”

So, come and visit Sarajevo to take a breath of the past and become part of its turbulent history. Today that is a modern city with a magnificent past. You can find Istanbul and Vienna and Budapest in one place. Aside from all the wars, always unrest and suffering, people from Sarajevo are known as a peaceful and hospitable. As it's been said that "A picture has worth of thousand words", please take a look on images from Sarajevo. You may find worthy visiting Sarajevo. Although, "All roads do not lead to Sarajevo", city can easily be found in the center of the world map.