Eastern and Central Europe (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

SARAJEVO 517

National Museum w

Zemaljski muzej

Zmaja od Bosne 3. Map A3.
Tel (033) 668 027. # 10am–5pm
Tue–Fri, 10am–2pm Sun. & =
http://www.zemaljskimuzej.ba

First opened in 1888 and
located in its current impos ing
building since 1913, the
National Museum is regarded
as Bosnia’s oldest museum.
Inside, the Archaeology
Department has many exhi-
bits from the Stone Age to the
Middle Ages. The most intri-
gu ing, however, are the stećci
(tomb stones) which adorn the
front garden. Bosnia’s most
legend ary symbol, these
monu mental tomb stones first
appeared between the 12th
and the 15th centuries and
thousands are scattered across
the country. Many are cov-
ered with engrav ings of ani-
mals, plants and obscure
symbols linked to the region’s
early Slavic culture. Other
high lights include the priceless
Sarajevo Haggadah (see p31)
a richly illustrated 14th-cen-
tury book which includes one
of the first depic tions of the
world as a sphere. Also on
display is an array of national
costumes from the 19th cen-
tury in the Ethnographic
Depart ment. The Natural
History collection has been
depleted to a large extent as a
result of damage inflicted
during the Bosnian War.

History Museum e

Istorijski muzej

Zmaja od Bosne 9. Map A3.

Tel (033) 210 416. # 9am–4pm

Tue–Fri, 9am–1pm Sat–Sun. &

The battered façade of this

modernist concrete building,

with its broken, weed-covered

steps and bullet-scarred

walls, gives an impression of

aban donment that seems like

a deliberate historic statement.

The museum and its collection

TUNNEL MUSEUM

The nondescript rural home of the Kolar family in Butmir,

on the outskirts of Sarajevo, was the scene of the biggest

clandestine supply operation during the siege. The house,

which was within the free territories (land defended by

Sarajevans), is now the Tunnel Museum. It is situated over

the entrance to the 800-m (2,625-ft) long tunnel dug under

the nearby UN-administered airport in 1993, which was the

city’s only constant supply route through out the siege.

The tunnel took six months of manual digging to complete

and was repeatedly targeted by Bosnian Serb forces.

Today, only a section of it remains, but it is enough to give

an impression of the cramped and dangerous underground

journey an aver age of 4,000 Sarajevans made daily, each

carrying around 50 kg (110 lbs) of food and supplies into

Sarajevo. It was also used by the first president of Bosnia

and Herzegovina, Alija Izetbegović. Guided tours of the

tunnel are available.

Interior of the poignant Tunnel Museum

Monolithic entrance to the History Museum

were almost completely

destroyed during the

devastating Bosnian War.

The building is currently

open to the public, but its

original collection of 400,000

artifacts has been reduced to

a one-room display entitled

“Bosnia and Herzegovina

through the Centuries”, consist-

ing mainly of documents

and old photographs. The

museum’s main attraction is

the “Surrounded Sarajevo”

presentation on the first floor,

to which Sarajevans have

contributed objects, photo-

graphs and documents

relating to their personal

experience of the war.

The result is a powerful

yet understated exhibition

which gives an invaluable

insight into the siege. The

struggle for sur vival is

illustrated through home-

made weapons used to

defend the city, improvised

lamps to combat the lack

of elec tri c ity and editions

of the Sarajevo newspaper

printed every day to boost

people’s morale.

is the striking Virgin
Hodegetria, painted by
Montenegrin iconographer
Tudor Vuković in 1568.