The heart of Bosnia and Herzegovina is its largest city and capital - Sarajevo - which is also its political, economic and cultural center. Sarajevo is located in the eastern part of Sarajevo plain and on the southern end of the Dinaric Alps, between the mountains Romanija, Bjelašnica, Igman and Trebevich. Through it runs a narrow and shallow Miljacka River, a tributary of river Bosna. It is situated at an altitude of 520-700 meters and an area of 141.5 km².
This lively city penetrates into the depths of the soul travelers and welcomes visitors with its centuries old tradition of hospitality. With population of about 400.000 inhabitants and a large religious diversity, Sarajevo has a unique feature due to which it got the name "Jerusalem of Europe". Indeed, there are only few places on earth where mosques and synagogues, Orthodox and Catholic churches are located in the immediate vicinity and function quite normally. This is a city where the synergy of the East (enriched cultures of Byzantium and the Ottoman Empire) and of the West (influence of Roman, Venetian and Austro-Hungarian Empire) creates perfect harmony and incorporates the best of both worlds, giving Sarajevo the special charm that visitors experience.
Sarajevo is an important junction of rail and road traffic on the road between the Pannonian Basin and the Adriatic Sea, with the international airport (Butmir). It is also a fair and tourist city with over 300 000 visitors a year. In addition, it is considered as significant educational - cultural center with the University, which was founded in 1949, nineteen colleges, two academies (of Music and of Fine Arts), Academy of Sciences and Arts, founded in 1966, cultural centers, museums, the National and other theaters, the National Gallery, the National, Academic and other Libraries, the Archives of Bosnia and Herzegovina and other cultural, educational and sports centers. The town consists of four quarters: Old Town (Baščaršija), New Town (Novi Grad), New Sarajevo (Novo Sarajevo), and Center (Centar). It contains numerous cultural - historical monuments: Baščaršija (formerly the Grand Bazaar in the city) with mosques of Gazi Husrev Beg (from 1531), of Ali Pasha (1561), Imperial (1566) and others, madrasa Kurušumlija, Bezistan, Hamam (Turkish sauna), clock - tower, Synagogue (all from the 16th century), Han of Morić (late 17th century), the Orthodox (from the end of 17th century) and the Catholic Church, bridges (of Gavrilo Princip, etc.), the City Hall (now the National and Academic Library) in oriental style and nearby are the ruins of the fortress Hodidjed from the 14th century.
First settlements in the area of Sarajevo date back to the Neolithic Age and today there are numerous archaeological findings to evidence this fact. The primary Neolithic site was found in Butmir, near today’s city of Sarajevo. Besides, there are historical records that indicate the presence of the Illyrians in this area whose tribes flourished from 1000 BC until the final Roman conquest in the 09 AD. Sarajevo was mentioned in the historical sources for the first time as a fortified city Vrhbosna in 1379. After the arrival of the Turks in 1435, more precisely in 1462, a new settlement that was established by the Turkish governor of Bosnia, Isa Bey Isaković, began to develop. Isa Bey wanted to settle the Ottoman authorities in this area. Since 1489, the settlement grew in the city by name Saraj-ovasi (from the Turkish words that mean "court" and "field"; first mention in 1507) which in this period created many of the city's architectural gems. In the 16th century, the town flourished and became one of the most important commercial centers of the Balkan Peninsula. However, Sarajevo was attacked and burned by Prince Eugene of Savoy in 1697, which completed a series of continuous attacks of the Hapsburgs and the Venetians.
The second major expansion of the city began after the Austro-Hungarian occupation at the end of the 19th century and lasted until the beginning of the First World War. The city got really modernized in this period and the Austro-Hungarians established the first line of public transport and the first telephone line. In addition, many cultural and educational institutions were found during this period: the National Museum (Earth), the National Theatre, City Hall, the Synagogue Ashkenazi and the Catholic church. The growth of Sarajevo was terminated on 28 June 1914, when Gavrilo Princip assassinated the Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, which started a chain of events that led to the outbreak of the First World War.
After the Treaty of Versailles that ended the war, Sarajevo, together with Bosnia and Herzegovina, became part of the new-formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Later, it will be renamed into the Kingdom of Yugoslavia until the outbreak of the Second World War, when the monarchy was abolished and, after the war, when the new Socialist Yugoslavia was created. After the liberation on 06th of April 1945, a very dynamic development of the city took place - intensive industrialization, rapid population growth, urban reconstruction of existing and construction of new parts of the city, which led to territorial expansion, so it affected many undeveloped areas, where new modern parts of the city were built (such as Grbavica, Hrasno, Koševo, Novo Sarajevo etc.), as well as neighboring villages Ilidža, Hrasnica, Vogošća etc., which transformed Sarajevo from the city of Oriental type with traces of central Europe in the modern metropolis of the second half of the 20th century. However, in the post-war period of comprehensive development, the special importance was contributed towards the reconstruction and building for the XIV Olympic Winter Games in Sarajevo in 1984. The constructions in the city (the new Olympic Hall Zetra, Olympic Village Dobrinja, the adaptations in Skenderija and stadium Koševo and other) and the surrounding mountains (winter sports facilities Trebević, Jahorina, Igman and Bjelašnica), did not become only top winter sports centers, but also tourist - recreational which today bring many tourists to this city.
During the early 1990's, the name of Sarajevo wasn’t coming down from the front pages of daily newspapers around the world, since one of the wars of the modern European and world history were lead. By the disintegration of SFR Yugoslavia and gaining the country's independence on March 1st 1992, after the referendum decision of the citizens on self-determination, Sarajevo became the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Sarajevo, unique and unrepeatable city, is able to recognize the sublime beauty in the differences and the whole spiritual wealth in the specificity of others. As a symbol of suffering and a symbol of hope and faith in future it represents an ideal place in the world and perhaps the only ground for interplanetary cultural dialogue. With assistance of the World and the European associations, UNESCO, the Council of Europe, mayor, artists and other workers in culture and individuals, due to the effort of Sarajevo’s cultural forces were born and nursed ideas of many, now traditional, international cultural projects. Thanks to them the richness of spirit and the beauty of heritage of Sarajevo were finally shown to the world.
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