Few locations I have visited have touched me as much as Sarajevo.
It is arguably, where the modern world began and the old world of kings and emperors ended.
The events of 28 June 1914 - when Serb Gavrilo Princip shot Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie set off the events which directly led to WW1.
It is possible to walk the route the Archduke and Sophie took that fateful sunny day and see a city not much changed through their eyes.
The spot where Gavrillo Princip shot Archduke Franz Ferdinand
You can almost hear the crowds lining the river as the doomed motorcade drove by to the incredibly ornate city hall and then the fateful wrong turn from the driver which brought the royal couple to a stop right by their assassin.
Sarajevo is history writ large.
More recently, Sarajevo was the site of Europe’s longest siege from 1992-1995, when civilians were murdered in an indiscriminate fashion by Serb militants. I was fortune to meet survivors on my visit and go down the tunnel which was used to bring supplies into the besieged city.
Sarajevo still wears its scars of the fighting today and is truly significant place to visit.
Within a short drive of Sarajevo is the Srebrenica memorial site, dedicated to more than 8,000 Bosnian men and boys who were murdered at the hands of Serbs militants right under the noses of an impotent United Nations.
The old factory which served as UN HQ provides the centre point of an exhibition which brings home the true horror of Europe’s only genocide since 1945. Never again it was said but it happened in Srebrencia.
While in Bosnia I was able to make many strong connections to enable Sophie’s Great War Tours to offer tours of this crucible of European history. It is an experience not to be missed.
If this is a trip you’d also like to experience, get in touch with SGWT today.