Sarajevo
Vijećnica was completed in 1896 as Sarajevo's City Hall, during Austro-Hungarian rule. Its architects drew on Islamic styles from Spain and North Africa,…
Vijećnica was completed in 1896 as Sarajevo's City Hall, during Austro-Hungarian rule. Its architects drew on Islamic styles from Spain and North Africa, which gives it the striped walls, horseshoe arches and richly painted interior that make it one of the city's best-known buildings. From 1949 it housed the National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina. On the night of 25-26 August 1992 it was shelled with incendiary rounds and burned, and most of the library's books and manuscripts were lost, including much of Bosnia's written heritage. After years of restoration it reopened in 2014. Visitors can see the restored octagonal hall with its stained-glass dome, and an exhibition on the building's history and the siege.