The Tunnel
The Pigeon Square
Sarajevo
After a long overnight train ride I arrived in Sarajevo early in the morning. The train leaves Slovania, enters Croatia, leaves Croatia and finally enters Bosnia. As a result, my passport was checked out four times. The first time by the fully armed Croatian Police Force!
At the station I took a tram for the 15 minutes ride to the Old Town. This area, called Bascarsija, is
full of narrow lanes with small shops selling copper and brass containers and other hand-made gifts. People from restaurants deliver trays full of small Turkish coffee cups to nearby business. This area could be anywhere in Turkey, and the numerous mosques around complete the picture.
This region has a long history of occupation by different ethnic groups. The Romans are the first in recorded history until the region slipped back in relative obscurity until the Turks arrived in mid-15th century. Eventually the Austro-Hungarian replaced the fading Ottoman empire and built railroads that connected Sarajevo with the West.
Sarajevo attracted the world attention by hosting the 14th Olympic Winter Games in 1984. Then, from 1992 to 1995, the city was under siege, more than 10,000 Sarajavans died more than 50,000 were wounded by the Bosnian Serbs snipers and shelling.
Lonely Planet reports this quote by Radko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb commander “ Shoot at slow intervals until I order you to stop. Shell them until they can’t sleep, don’t stop until they are on the edge of madness.”
The National Library was also targeted by the Serbs as the repository of Bosnians books and manuscrits, an irreplaceable collection of records of an entire people’s culture. So far, a lack of found as prevented the complete restoration of the building.
A tunnel was built under the airport to provided a safe mean of bringing in supplies into the city. It is said that this is the tunnel that saved Sarajevo. The tunnel was started in somebody’s garage. It took about 6 months of 24-hours a day work to bring the 800 meters long, by 1.60 m high, by 1 meter wide
to completion. During the construction the underground water was a constant problem, and had to be removed frequently by manual means.
I had to see this tunnel for myself. To get there I had to take a 40 minutes tram ride followed by a 10 minutes bus ride, and a 15 minutes walk. It was well worth it. At the museum, they presented a 25 minutes movie about the siege of Sarajevo and the tunnel. Amazingly, the movies included pictures of the Serbians shooting at their targets from the top of the hill above Sarajevo.
Today, the city seems to be at peace, withness the multicultural history and tolerance as expressed by the fact that within one city block one can find places of worship for four religion; Catholics, Jewish, Orthodox, and Muslims.
Next Mostar.
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