1. Sarajevo city is the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, situated on the Miljacka River and it has always been smack bang on a geopolitical fault line.
2. During the Roman Empire Sarajevo together with Bosnia was a border city between the Eastern and Western Roman Empires.
3. In the Middle Ages city had the name Vrh-Bosna until it fell under the control of the Ottoman Empire in 1429 and was renamed Bosna-Saraj or Bosna-Seraj.
4. During the Berlin Congress in 1878 Sarajevo was taken from the Ottomans and given to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, again right on the border line between two Empires, between East and West, between Islam and Christianity.
5. In the last 100 years Sarajevo has been a member of six different states.
6. On the 28thof June 1914 WWI was triggered by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria with his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg.
7. The city has 10 bridges over the Miljacka River. The most famous one is the Latin Bride or Princip Bridge, the name of assassin of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The bridge is on the coat of arms of Sarajevo.
8. The city-wide tram service was the very first in Europe. Locals proudly insist that the Austro-Hungarians modelled Vienna’s tram system on theirs.
9. The first Winter Olympic Games in Communist country were held in Sarajevo in February 1984, winning over Sapporo, Japan and Gothenburg, Sweden.
10. Sarajevo had the longest-running siege of any town in modern war history (1425 days).
Sarajevo was, and still is, a very culturally mixed city proudly known as the European Jerusalem – within a very short walking distance you come across Orthodox and Catholic churches, synagogues and mosques. For a walking tour of Sarajevo please email tara@readyclickandgo.com or visit our website www.ReadyClickAndGo.com
About the author: Tara
The travel professional with years of experience in the travel industry – in guiding, reservations, operations, contracting, customer service and product development – and have travelled extensively in Asia and Eastern Europe not just on holiday but also for work, inspecting hotels, visiting attractions and seeing exactly what each destination has to offer. The only way I could do this properly was with my own guide, car and driver and this inspired me to create my own range of customised private day tours for other people to be able to explore in-depth and learn to love their destination as much as I do.
Website: www.readyclickandgo.com
Website: http://www.readyclickandgo.com
