"Sarajevo - Balkan History at Your... " a Sarajevo Travel Page by mtncorg

We have heard and seen the fighting in Sarajevo on our TV sets. Some might even know that an assasination in this city started the events leading to WWI. The city was also host to the Winter Olympics of 1984. Most of us don't know a whole lot more about this town, however.

What makes Sarajevo worth a visit is its melange of cultures, religions and ideas. Very few other large European cities will wake you up to the call of the imam, followed by innumerable barking dogs - Turkey and France excepted.

Sarajevo lies along the Miljacka River, sprawling up steep hillsides to the north and south sides of the westward flowing river. The old Turkish quarter - the Bascarsija, lies at the eastern end of the City, compressed by the topography. The western end is socialist sprawl, Novo Sarajevo, with lots of high apartment buildings and the occasional large mosque. Beyond the western end of the town, the valley opens up as the Miljacka flows into the Bosna River. To the south lies the airport with Bijevoso rising high overhead to the west. Atop these peaks are some of the old Olympic sites which are struggling to return to their earlier glory after being the scenes of wartime destruction.