Sarajevo in Pictures
With six nights in Sarajevo, Travis and I were able to slow down our travel pace a little, catch up on some much needed R&R, laundry , and blogging, and take an overwhelming amount of photos. After rambling on about our adventures exploring Sarajevo’s history and hiking to its abandoned Olympic bobsled track we’ve decided this time it’s best to simply sit back and let the pictures do the talking.
The view from the crumbling ruins of a Turkish Fort. The abandoned building in the middle (to the left of the tall minaret) is a former army barracks that was targeted and destroyed by Serbian forces during the Siege of Sarajevo.
Sarajevo has far too many cemeteries, a constant reminder of the very real impact of the war. It is heartbreaking to see them scattered along the hills that surround the city, even more difficult is the realization that many of these people died defending their city less than 20 years ago.
Inside the courtyard of one of Sarajevo’s many Mosques sits a fountain with this incredibly ornate ceiling. The secret places and hidden beauty you can find within Sarajevo is incredible.
The game of chess seems to play an important role in Sarajevo’s social scene. These men can be found playing in the square morning, noon, and night. Although only two men play each other at a time, that doesn’t stop the onlookers from taking sides and passionately offering advice. Our guide (Neno) told us they even play when its -30 and there’s 4 feet of snow in the winter.
The Orthodox Cathedral Church of the Nativity of the Theotokos is located opposite the chess players in a large square.
The Eternal Flame sits on Tito Street in honour of those who worked together to liberate the area during the Second World War
The Bascarsija is a meeting place for locals within the historic Turkish district. Here it can be seen at night…
… as well as by daylight
As it turns out, we couldn’t resist adding our two cents in the form of captions – at least we resisted the urge to write whole paragraphs. Our time in Sarajevo was both eye opening, as we learned about the city’s complex history and the horrors of life during the Siege of Sarajevo, but also intriguing as we delved into a culture very much different than any we’ve ever experienced.