Sarajevo Rose

Kebabs Everywhere

Sarajevo was founded by the Ottoman Turks as a precious metals mining town, set in a river valley surrounded by hills. This piece of ancient history was a surprise to us, as we hadn't known the extent of the Ottoman Empire's reach. In fact, Sarajevo's lively hub was like revisiting Turkey, with blocks of tidy Ottoman-style shopfronts lining cobblestone streets. The lane of hammered copperware still exists in the same place, while most of the other stores have been replaced with bars, cafes, and restaurants. The Ottomans' influence extended beyond architecture and goods, also introducing Islam, some vocabulary, and food to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Our favourite dishes, çevapi and bürek, skinless sausages and meat pastries respectively, were pretty much born straight from kebabs and Turkish börek.

Bosnia's version of the Turkish kebab, served with pita, raw onions, and cream. 

Where East Meets West

The collapse of the Ottoman Empire saw a brief 40 year period of Austro-Hungarian rule where the rapid modernisation of the city led to an electric tram network and scores of stately buildings being erected. There was a place we could stand where we could see Ottoman buildings to one side and five-storey European blocks on the other. It seemed that Sarajevo was the edge of where East met West.

Sarajevo's impressive Town Hall has a touch of Moorish inspiration.

This golden period ended with the death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, who was assassinated during a visit to Sarajevo, catalysing the start of World War I. Bosnia and Herzegovina emerged as part of Yugoslavia, a kingdom of the Southern Slav nations, but tensions remained among the major ethnic groups: Orthodox Serbs, Catholic Croats, and Muslim Bosn  iaks.

The Bosnian War

By the end of World War II, Yugoslavia was a Communist state led by Josip Broz Tito, and its citizens benefited from increased employment rates and socialised health and education, though at the expense of certain freedoms. The death of Tito in 1980 led to the collapse of Yugoslavia and Bosnia and Herzegovina's independence in 1990. Within two years however, the new country was in a state of war as its Serbian element, backed by Serbia, sought to secure Serbian-occupied areas. Mass murder, torture, and genocide was committed against the Bosniaks in the region, but the capital's fate was different.

Machine gun scars at the edge of the city are not an uncommon sight.

The Seige

From the surrounding hills, Serbian forces launched several hundred mortars onto the Sarajevo citizens each day, and snipers were known to watch every inch visible from their vantage points. No one in the city was safe; civilians, women, children, even UN soldiers, were shot down by snipers or indiscriminate victims of mortar shrapnel. Electricity, water, and trade to the city was cut off, but the people were determined to continue living. They returned to their jobs if they could, though they were not paid, and school resumed, some in basements. We saw some amazing footage of people crossing "Sniper Alley" in the Museum of Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide. After nearly 4 years' war, NATO finally intervened and purged the Serbian forces out of Sarajevo.

Today, there is still a lot of pain surrounding the subject, and ethnic unrest remains. One-third of the country has an unofficial border behind which most of the Bosnian-Serb population reside. The city of Sarajevo itself continues to heal. Many buildings still sport the scars of the seige but are being renovated on the inside. Damage on the sidewalks have not been repaired, instead, have been turned into art. Filled with a dark red resin, these reminders are the "Sarajevo Roses".