The capital city’s antique core has a Turkic feel, delighting visitors with narrow bazaar alleys and a plethora of 1530s Ottoman buildings. Bosnia's later annexation by Austria-Hungary is evident in surrounding groups of neo-Moorish Central European buildings, notably the recently reconstructed City Hall from which Archduke Franz Ferdinand was returning when assassinated in 1914. That shooting ultimately triggered WWI.
The city's north and south flanks are steep valley sides fuzzed with red-roofed Bosnian houses and prickled with uncountable minarets rising to green-topped mountain ridges. Westward, Sarajevo sprawls for over 10km through bland but busy Novo Sarajevo and dreary Dobrijna. Here, dismal ranks of apartment blocks remain bullet-scarred from the 1990s Yugoslav civil war, in which the capital’s centuries-long history of religious harmony seemed to evaporate during almost four years of brutal siege. Many fascinating tours still focus on the civil war horrors but today the city is once again remarkably peaceful, non-threatening and photogenic.
Old Sarajevo
Sarajevo's bustling old quarter, Baščaršija (pronounced bash-CHAR-shi-ya) is a delightful warren of marble-flagged pedestrian courtyards and laneways full of Ottoman-era mosques, copper workshops, jewellery shops, caravanserai-cafes and inviting little restaurants. Start your explorations at the Sebilj, an 1891 ornamental gazebo-style water fountain on central 'Pigeon Sq'.
Franz Ferdinand's Assassination SpotHISTORIC SITE
On 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Habsburg throne of Austria-Hungary, was shot by 18-year-old Gavrilo Princip. This assassination, which would be the fuse that ultimately detonated WWI, happened by an odd series of coincidences on a street corner outside what is now the Sarajevo 1878–1918 museum.
BezistanARCHITECTURE
The 16th-century stone-vaulted covered bazaar is little more than 100m long, but squint and you could be in Istanbul. Most of the 50+ shops sell inexpensive souvenirs, scarves, cheap handbags and knock-off sunglasses.
Sarajevo City HallARCHITECTURE
Storybook neo-Moorish facades make the 1898 Vijećnica Sarajevo's most beautiful Austro-Hungarian–era building. Seriously damaged during the 1990s siege, it has been laboriously restored and was reopened in 2014. As yet the only exhibits are a small collection of photos about the building's history, but it's well worth the modest entry fee to enjoy the sheer grandeur of its colourful multi-arched interior and the stained-glass ceiling.
Gazi-Husrevbey MosqueMOSQUE
Bosnia's second Ottoman governor, Gazi-Husrevbey, funded a series of splendid 16th-century buildings of which this 1531 mosque forms the greatest centrepiece. The exterior might appear somewhat plain but there's a beautiful courtyard fountain, a 45m minaret and a splendidly proportioned interior.
Sahat KulaTOWER
This elegant 1529 stone tower sports a half-speed 19th-century prayer-clock with Arabic numerals. It is adjusted daily so that dusk is the moment when the hands appear to show 12 o'clock.
Despića KućaMUSEUM
The Despića Kuća is one of the oldest surviving residential buildings in central Sarajevo, though you'd never guess so from the ho-hum facade. Inside, however, it's a house within a house, the original 1780 section retaining even the prison-style bars on stone window frames.
Academy of ArtsARCHITECTURE
Originally built in 1899 as an evangelical church, the Gothic Revival–style Academy of Arts has a fine facade looking like a mini version of Budapest's magnificent national parliament building. Inside the small Alu Gallery hosts occasional exhibitions.
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