SARAJEVO HOUSES AND ARCHITECTURE

Sarajevo is very unique and romantic city. There are lots of parks, trees and beautiful sightseeing. It has lots of history and beautiful architecture. People say there is something about Sarajevo that makes you want to stay there. Sarajevo is surrounded by mountains and is gorgeous in all four seasons. The climate is very pleasant.

Native Bosnians, Sarajevans really love their city. They are very proud of being born there, being native, living there, being part of it… Sarajevans even developed their own way of talk, and in many ways it is cool to be Sarajevan.

The houses are usually built from the brick, and with balconies and high quality material that lasts long. The garden is important, thus Bosnians pay lots of attention to area around the house. They usually plant all kind of flowers, roses, vegetables, and fruits in small gardens.

[IMG]http://i44.tinypic.com/2wqr347.jpg[/IMG]
View over the Sarajevo
brawery 2004, pbase.com

Bosnians, Sarajevans in general usually build their own houses, you can see that from the pictures, almost entire city is covered with private houses. These houses are not sold, like in the US for example, but rather kept for life, and then left to their children, who again, would not sell it, but rather leave it to children again.

[IMG]http://i51.tinypic.com/r2nbjq.jpg[/IMG]
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Photo by mhodges

 As seen in this photo, clay roofs are ubiquitous throughout Sarajevo.

Bosnians like to live in groups, so the families often build own houses next to each other, and if the family has more than one child, the children are helped to build their house next to their parents.

[IMG]http://i45.tinypic.com/mayl9k.jpg[/IMG]
Bosnian old house

[IMG]http://i48.tinypic.com/9u6s83.jpg[/IMG]
Bascarsija, Old Town – Sarajevo, Photo by Simon Belcher

[IMG]http://i50.tinypic.com/2954nmd.jpg[/IMG]
Begova Mosque Doorway – Sarajevo, Photo by Simon Belcher

( also referred to as The Ghazi Husrevbeg Mosque ) The building has undergone extensive renovations since the Bosnian war in 1992.

[IMG]http://i46.tinypic.com/2r7nj13.jpg[/IMG]

Gateway into a Garden with red roses, Photo by Simon Belcher

Here is the great article about Sarajevo history that I find accurate.

"For over four hundred years, mosques, synagogues, Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches have been built and stand side by side in Sarajevo.

Citizens of different nationalities and religious orientations lived and worked together, developing their city and their own style of togetherness regardless of conquerors and foreign rulers whose identity changed over and over again."

Sarajevo is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to a 1991 census, its population was 529,672; currently estimated at around 400,000.

( According to Census from the year 2000. population of Sarajevo is 390.534 )

Sarajevo is located close to the geometric center of the triangularly-shaped Bosnia and Herzegovina, and covers an area of some 142 km².
The city is surrounded by mountains which are part of the Dinaric Alps mountain range that winds through Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia and Montenegro.

[IMG]http://i46.tinypic.com/21mvout.jpg[/IMG]

Sarajevo Bosnia "Vilsonovo"

The city is considered one of the most important cities in the Balkans and has had a long and rich history ever since it was founded by the Ottomans in 1461, when the first Ottoman governor of Bosnia, Isa-beg Ishaković, transformed this village cluster into a city and a state capital by building a number of key objects, including a mosque, a closed marketplace, a public bath, a hostel and the Governor's palace (Saray) which gave the city its present name.

Sarajevo flourished in the 16th century when its greatest donor and builder Gazi Husrev-beg built most of what is now the old city.

In the event that triggered World War I, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg were assassinated in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. After World War II, Sarajevo grew rapidly as it became an important regional industrial center in Yugoslavia. The peak of city growth occurred in the early 1980s, when Sarajevo hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics.

[IMG]http://i45.tinypic.com/2i04zyf.jpg[/IMG]

Sarajevo Olympics 1984, Bosnia

On April 6, 1992, Sarajevo was surrounded by forces of Bosnian Serbs. The warfare that lasted until October 1995 resulted in large scale destruction and dramatic population shifts. Reconstruction of Sarajevo started as soon as the war ended, in 1995. By 2003, most of the city had been rebuilt, with only a few remaining visible ruins in the city centre. Modern office buildings and skyscrapers have since been constructed throughout the city." ( meridiantours )

[IMG]http://i55.tinypic.com/21c711j.jpg[/IMG]

"Snowy in Sarajevo" by David Harbin

Another nice photo, larger version here

Komentariši