SARAJEVO


The foundation of the city of Sarajevo was laid in the early 15th century, at the junction of Roman roads in an area inhabited since the Neolithic Age. Ishak Bey Ishaković is regarded as the founder of Sarajevo - he was the first to build a mosque, a court, a bridge, and several public institutions. But the fact is that the city was established by native inhabitants of this region, Bosniaks, many of whom had already converted to Islam, the religion that came to this part of the world with the Turkish administration.

A rapid development of crafts and trade made Sarajevo a rich town, a crossroad of religions, cultures and trade routes. In the 16th century it was one of the most affluent cities in this part of the Balkans. It was during this period that some of the monumental buildings (as Gazi Husrev Bey Mosque with the Tower Clock, Long Bezistan and Latin Bridge) were built which still represent masterpieces of the architecture and civilisation of that age. A higher education institution was also established under the legacy of Gazi Husrev Bey, which mirrored the universities of other large cities in Europe.

The arrival of the Austro-Hungarian administration to this region promoted the integration of Sarajevo, a Middle-Eastern city up to then, into the late 19th century Western Europe. This was a time of an indelible impact on the city of West-European culture, economy, and values. Modern factories were built, Western-types schools were opened, and the city was further enriched with buildings of a variety of West-European architectural styles (as the famous Townhall, National Theater and Cathedral of the Vrhbosanska Archbishops). The National Museum, one of the most important cultural institutions in the Balkans, was also opened during the Austro-Hungarian period.

The social and political changes that took part in this part of Balkans in the late 1980's led to creation of an independent and sovereign state of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992. This was an irresistible temptation for the nationalistic and expansionist projects of the neighboring countries which tried, each in their own way, to conquer parts of the newly-formed state. This led towards a vicious military aggression on the whole country, especially Sarajevo, whose aims included annihilation of Bosniaks and the high civilization values which had been created in this region for centuries.

Sarajevo has been a cosmopolitan city ever since it was founded. Like no other European city, is has found enough room to accommodate all four of the largest world religions and their associated cultures and civilizations. It was a place of refuge and settlement of Jews expelled from Spain in the 15th century, who built their synagogues in the vicinity of Orthodox churches, Catholic cathedrals and mosques.

These cultures melted in to each other for centuries creating new values and one might say a new multinational civilization that endured all challenges of history, including the most recent one embodied in the aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina and its capital Sarajevo.
TERUG