When Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife the Duchess Sophie came to Sarajevo on 25 June 1914, they were ushered into a suite at a spa resort in the nearby municipality of Ilidža. The room, decorated in a Turkish style in vogue at the time, was provided by a local Jewish merchant from the …
Rebellions against the Ottoman Empire were not solely the province of the Christian Ottoman subjects. On 29 March 1831 an army of Bosnian subjects, 1/3 of them Christian, marched toward the Ottoman headquarters in Travnik. At its head was the son of a Bosnian noble family, the Captain of Gradačac, Husein Gradaščević, the Dragon of …
In 1817 an incident occurred in Travnik which would change the schedule of religious holidays for Sarajevo’s Jews forever. It did seem like a big deal at the time, although it wasn’t too different from the sorts societal stresses which happen from time-to-time when multiple religions have to coexist in one space. It certainly did …
After Eugene of Savoy sacked Sarajevo in 1697, the city had a very rough century-and-a-half. Nearly all the wooden buildings had been burned to the ground and many of the stone buildings had suffered significant damage. The city’s Catholic population had fled in fear of retribution, following the Austrian army which had specifically targeted Muslim …
War produces monuments and detritus; which is which often depends on which side of the line you are standing on after the end of the war. The Greek and Italians famously repurposed old monuments, treating them as detritus which went into building their homes. Many old villas are built from the remains of older monuments …
This morning, in the middle of summer, the snow fell, heavy and wet Weeping astonished gardens, I record it and keep quiet because I’m used to miracles. I see, through the shop windows, worried passages of faces, and mute Where will he end up, God, who knows everything? I am not blaspheming, I received this …
Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated on St Vitus’s Day. To those who applauded the assassination, the members of Young Bosnia who carried it out would be forever known as “The Vidovdan Heroes.” And even though Gavrilo Princip and his cohorts were imprisoned throughout the Austro-Hungarian empire, where most of them died in prison of tuberculosis, …
Getting ready for travel can be almost as much fun as the actual traveling. Actually, given the issues with airline seats, airborne infections, and jet lag, the travel part isn’t that great. Visiting is great, for sure. But traveling to the area to be visited? Maybe some people are masochists and enjoy the armrest struggle …
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