City Hall

Vijećnica

Iconic pseudo-Moorish revival style building in Sarajevo, constructed between 1892 and 1894 under Austro-Hungarian occupation of the city. It was designed in 1891 by Czech architect Karel Pařík, but after disagreements with the ministry, it was Alexander Wittek who continued work on the project from 1892 to 1893 until he fell ill and died in Graz in 1894. The work was completed in 1894 by Ćiril Iveković, at a total cost of 984,000 crowns. The city hall was formally commissioned in 1896 by the City Authority which occupied the building until 1949, after it became the National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina. On 25 August 1992, the building was set ablaze by Serbian shelling at the beginning of the Siege of Sarajevo, causing its destruction. Most of the 1.5 million volumes in the library's collection, of which 155,000 rare books and manuscripts were lost in the fire, despite civilian efforts to save them. Vijećnica was restored between 1996 and 2013 with financial aid from Austria, the European Commission and the city of Barcelona, at a total cost of 25 million KM. It is now a national monument, reopened since 2014, and designated as a cultural building for protocol events, concerts and exhibitions.

Address

Obala Kulina Bana

Getting there

Vijećnica

Hours

Closed · opens 10 am tomorrow

Weekly hours

Mon	10 am–8 pm
Tue	10 am–8 pm
Wed	10 am–8 pm
Thu	10 am–8 pm
Fri	10 am–8 pm
Sat	10 am–8 pm
Sun	10 am–8 pm

Price

10 KM

Website

vijecnica.ba (opens in a new tab)