History of Sarajevo

The area of present day Sarajevo has a long and animated history that reaches back to the Stone Age, when the Butmir culture dominated in the area. However, there are few archaeological remains from this era. Several Illyrian settlements also existed in the region before it was conquered by the Romans. During the Roman reign, a town named Aquae Sulphurae was situated on the location of present day Ilidza, which is a Sarajevo suburb to the southwest of the city.

The founding of the city

The city's founding is said to have occurred in 1461, when Isa-beg Ishakovic, the first Ottoman governor of Bosnia, made a collection of local settlements into a city and a state capital. A number of important buildings were built in the area including a mosque, marketplace, public bath, palace and a hostel. The governor's palace, or Saray, gave the city its present name. Sarajevo blossomed in the 16th century when its greatest sponsor and builder Gazi Husrev-beg constructed most of what is now the Old City.

Early turbulence

In a raid conducted by Prince Eugene of Savoy in 1697 against the Ottoman Empire, Sarajevo was burned and razed. However, the city was later rebuilt, though never making a full recovery from the destruction. The capital of Bosnia was moved to Travnik and it was some time before Sarajevo rose to become of significance again. In 1878, the Austrian-Hungarian Empire occupied Sarajevo, and the city became a centre for the burgeoning industries of the age.

The birthplace of WWI

The event that triggered WWI occurred in Sarajevo. The Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, were assassinated in Sarajevo on the 28th of June 1914, and war ensued, eventually dragging almost all of Europe into the conflict.

Sarajevo became the capital of the Drina Banovina province of Yugoslavia after the war, and grew in importance after WWII, when the city became an important industrial centre in Yugoslavia. Modern city blocks were constructed to the west of the Old City, adding to Sarajevo's unique architectural style. The city was at the peak of its growth in the 1980s, when the city hosted the Winter Olympics in 1984.

Modern conflicts

The 1990s were a turbulent time for the city. On the 6th of April 1992, Sarajevo was encircled by the Bosnian Serb Army. The war that followed lasted until October 1995 and resulted in terrible destruction and dramatic population changes in the region. Reconstruction of the city followed, and by 2003, much of the city had been rebuilt.

Since then, the city has regained its stability and many modern office blocks and skyscrapers have been constructed, and Sarajevo is once again receiving visitors.