Sarajevo

We had a 2 hour guided tour of the pedestrian streets of Sarajevo this morning.  Our guide is a native of the city who was 10 years old at the beginning of the siege and shelling which lasted from 1992-1996. Schools were closed during that time so the teachers came to the students' homes to teach them.  They had no electricity so had to do what they could for lighting.  He mentioned using shoe laces as candle wicks that turned their faces black after an evening of studying.  When water supplies to the city were cut off residents walked to the brewery in town where there was a spring.  It was a dangerous walk and some people were killed carrying water back to their homes.  Our guide is from a Muslim family, but he isn't a practicing Muslim.  He is more of an atheist.  His exposure to religion is that all the religions preach peace while committing horrible acts of cruelty against each other.

These comments on the siege and on religion were an extremely brief part of our tour.  We walked through the city where east meets west, very literally.  One can walk from a very "Turkish" street with mosques, bazaars, coffee houses (Turkish coffee, that is), craftsmen, etc., and passing an intersection, cross onto a street that could be a street of Vienna.  This contrast represents the 4 centuries of rule by the Ottomans and the 4 decades of rule by Austria-Hungary. We saw Catholic nuns in their black and white habits, and Muslim women with the heads wrapped in scarves (no burkas though).  Mostly we saw people in very western attire.

We had a free afternoon which we put to good use by eating some local "fast food", napping, shopping, stitching and reading.  We will be joining our tour group for dinner tonight.

Post dinner entry - we ate dinner at a very small restaurant.  We had to wait a few extra minutes for the place to clear because Penelope Cruz had just been filming a movie there.  Later on, as we were eating, Penelope came into the restaurant with a baby and husband/significant other (I couldn't tell you which because I don't keep up on Hollywood gossip).  Anyway, Tom didn't recognize her.  I probably wouldn't have either if we hadn't just heard about the movie shoot.  It really was a very small restaurant - just our group of 7 downstairs and Penelope and family upstairs.

Yesterday I posted a shot of the museum where the shot was fired that killed Arch Duke Ferdinand and his wife and started WWI.  We went back there today and looked at the roads, etc. where this all took place.

The city is normally considered to be started in the year 1492 when the Ottoman Turks granted land to a Turkish businessman who built a Mosque, a tavern/resting area, and a bridge over the river.  Although there were various settlements prior to this (dating back to at least 800 BC) - they were generally in the overlooking hills and not in the valley where Sarajevo lies.

The city's most famous benefactor lies in the larger of these two mausoleums while his favorite Imam is buried in the smaller one.  His name was Husrev-Beg, was the city's governor, and died in 1521.  He left his estate to endow public toilets, resting houses for traders, mosques, bridges, etc.  Too bad the tradition didn't continue!

Under the Ottoman Turks the city became 60% Muslim, 20% Catholic, 15% Orthodox, and 5% Jewish.  The Catholic cathedral shown here was bombed during the siege in the '90s and has been rebuilt.

In the late 1800's the Turkish Sultan built this Orthodox church for the city.  It too was bombed and has been rebuilt.

Here is what remains of the 14th century Turkish fortress guarding the city.