Sarajevo is a city where beauty and tragedy coexist in every street, every wall, every gaze that lingers a little too long on the past. Nestled in a valley and ringed by green mountains, it offers postcard views from nearly every angle. Yet those same slopes once hid snipers whose bullets tore through the lives of its residents.
Today, the scars of that time remain visible—etched into buildings, pavements, and memory.
A Walk Through History
Strolling through Sarajevo feels like walking through layers of time. Ottoman mosques, Austro-Hungarian facades, and modern cafes line the same boulevards. But just as striking are the walls peppered with bullet holes. Entire apartment blocks, still standing, look as if they’ve been chewed through by fire.
Plaster crumbles around the impact marks, while fresh coats of paint in other places attempt to mask what happened.
Locals move past these reminders with quiet resilience. For them, the holes are part of the city’s fabric, not just wounds but testaments to survival. For a visitor, they’re impossible to ignore.
The “Sarajevo Roses”
One of the most haunting memorials isn’t grand or monumental—it’s underfoot. On sidewalks and squares, you’ll find patches of red resin filling craters left by mortar shells. Known as “Sarajevo Roses,” these marks honor the civilians killed on those very spots. They are small, silent memorials you stumble upon unexpectedly, reminders that everyday life here was once lived under siege.
Sniper Alley
The infamous boulevard once dubbed “Sniper Alley” is now a busy thoroughfare lined with shops, offices, and trams. During the siege, anyone crossing risked being targeted. Today, the buildings along the stretch still bear visible scars, their facades punctured by gunfire. Standing there, you feel the surreal contrast between what it was and what it is—ordinary people bustling through a space once defined by fear.
A City That Chose Life
What struck me most was not just the evidence of war but the determination of Sarajevo to move forward. The bullet holes remain, but so do flower boxes, new windows, laughter spilling out of cafés. Street musicians play sevdalinka songs, children run through the Baščaršija market, and the scent of fresh ćevapi drifts through the air.
Sarajevo is not a city that hides its scars. It wears them, gently but firmly, as reminders of resilience. Walking its streets is both sobering and inspiring—an experience that leaves you with a deeper sense of what it means for a city, and its people, to survive and rebuild.
Beyond the streets, Sarajevo offers places where history is preserved and confronted head-on. The War Childhood Museum displays toys, letters, and drawings donated by those who grew up under siege, each object paired with a personal story. The Tunnel of Hope, a narrow passage dug beneath the airport, once served as a lifeline for food, medicine, and hope. Walking through its dim, cramped space gives you a visceral sense of what survival required.
