Balkans | The National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina is 135 years old

The National Museum, the oldest museum and scientific institution in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which left behind its 135th anniversary on February 1, hosts permanent exhibitions as well as content that may attract the attention of people of all ages.

Founded on February 1, 1888, the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina was previously located in a building next to Sarajevo Cathedral. The construction of the museum building in the current Marijin Dvor began in 1909. The building was built according to the project of Karl Parzik, and was completed in 1913.

The museum houses many objects from the most ancient times in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s past to ethnological collections whose interiors evoke a traditional country house atmosphere of the Ottoman period.

The permanent exhibition “Medieval Bosnia and Herzegovina” is located in three halls where artifacts from medieval culture from the 6th to the 15th centuries are presented. Among the 11,500 inventory there are also pieces that adorned the gardens of the Kotromanic dynasty of the Bosnian king.

The most valuable piece in the museum’s collection is the famous Sarajevo Haggadah that Sephardic Jews brought with them from Spain to Sarajevo!

On the other hand, the Department of Natural Sciences has a rich collection of living and non-living worlds. The skeleton of Pradhan’s eagle, a giant winged bird known to have long flown over Bosnia and Herzegovina, can also be seen indoors.

In the botanical garden located in the center of the museum complex, more than 3,000 species of plants have been cultivated, including some endemic species.

On July 31, 2018, the National Committee for the Protection of Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina decided to declare the museum as a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

source: Balkan News