Fikret's Hiking Adventures

Tourism		Bosnian History For centuries, Sarajevo has been at the crossroads of many different cultures and civilizations. These civilizations came together, struggled against one another, and finally intermingled and settled as neighbours: At Butmir (near Sarajevo International Airport), remnants were discovered of a Neolithic village dating to circa 2000 BC. The first inhabitants of this area were the Illyrians, with traces in and around Sarajevo dating back to the Bronze Age. In the Sarajevo suburb of Ilidza, the Romans (after conquering the Illyrians in the 9th Century) established their headquarters and hospital near the thermal springs whose warm waters still flow today. In the 14th Century, the Bosnian state was established in the area of what later would become Sarajevo. In the mid-15th Century, the Ottoman Turks overthrew the rulers of the Bosnian kingdom, and founded the city Saraj-ovasi (meaning castle in the field), bringing Islam and its oriental style to Sarajevo and other parts of Bosnia. In the 16th Century, Sephardic Jews were expelled from Spain, and arrived in Bosnia. One of the most famed Sephardic burial grounds in the world is located in the Grbavica neighbourhood of Sarajevo. Later, during Austro-Hungarian times, the Ashkenazi Jews arrived from Central Europe and constructed the neo-Moorish synagogue on the south side of the Miljacka River in Sarajevo. In 1878, Bosnia became part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and for less than 40 years experienced strong economic, cultural and political development. This ended when the Serb nationalist, Gavrilo Princip, assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo. This event, on June 28, 1914, ignited World War I. World Wars I and II made deep imprints on Bosnian history. Sarajevo hosted the Winter Olympics in 1984 -- a time of great pride for its citizens. The Bosnian War (1992-1995) had a devastating effect on the country and its people. But thats all history! Bosnia and Herzegovinas ethnic, cultural and religious diversity today make it a unique treasure in Europe.