Balkans | Vijecnica Bookstore “Memory of Sarajevo” opened 127 years ago

The historic Vijecnica Library, which has become a symbol of Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, has been in service for 127 years.

The Vijecnica Library, which is one of the most important symbols of Sarajevo and remarkable with its architecture, was built in the Andalusian architectural style during the Austro-Hungarian Empire period.

Vijecnica, which entered service on April 20, 1896, as the town hall, was used for this purpose until the end of World War II. After World War II, the historic building, which was converted into a national library in 1945, became the “Memory of Sarajevo”.

It is reported that when the construction of Vijecnica, one of the emblematic buildings of Sarajevo, began in 1892, the architect Aleksander Witke was influenced by the mosques and madrasahs of Cairo, the capital of Egypt, while drawing up the project.

About 2 million artifacts were destroyed in the war

The historical building suffered severe damage in the fire that broke out as a result of the artillery shelling of the Serbian soldiers who surrounded Sarajevo on August 25, 1992, during the days of the Bosnian War.

In the fire that lasted for three days in the library, which became a living witness to the siege of Sarajevo, almost two million works were destroyed, including the country’s national archive, as well as 155 thousand manuscripts.

Before the demolition, the library was the country’s memory with about 6 million books, archival documents, including Bosnian, Serbian, Croatian, and Jewish manuscripts, and important works.

The library, whose restoration began in 1996, a year after the war, was born from the ashes on May 9, 2014, after 18 years of work, and opened its doors to the people of Sarajevo.

Vijecnica is on the list of places to see in Sarajevo

Currently functioning as a museum, Vijecnica sheds light on the history of Sarajevo and hosts many important city programmes, exhibitions, invitations and organizations.

Today, the library, which has become one of the places frequented by local and foreign tourists in the city, still exists as one of the signs of the city’s liberation from tyranny.

Vijecnica, one of the must visit places in Sarajevo, is visited by thousands of people every year.

Due to its location, Vijecnica emerges as the most preferred place for photography lovers.

AA