In Sarajevo: two essential sites to visit
Despite his recent tragic past, Sarajevo strives to look optimistically for a present and a future in peace. This feeling can be perceived when visiting the monuments The eternal flame and Sarajevo meeting of cultures.
According to the Official Destination Sarajevo Guide "The Eternal flame / Vječna Vatra is a memorial to those who liberated Sarajevo during World War II and was first unveiled during a commemorative event held on April 6, 1946 for the first anniversary of the liberation of Sarajevo.
The monument is comprised of tiles that are inscribed with text in the colors of the flag of former Yugoslavia – blue, white and red – and there is a copper receptacle in the shape of a wreath of bay leaves which contains an open flame that is always burning. The flame symbolizes that Sarajevo’s liberators and the coat of arms of former Yugoslavia will be forever remembered."
This is the English translation of the text inscribed on the monument:
"With Courage and the Jointly Spilled
Blood of the Fighters of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian,
Croatian, Montenegrin, and Serbian Brigades
of the Glorious Yugoslav National Army; with
the Joint Efforts and Sacrifices of Sarajevan Patriots
Serbs, Muslims and Croats on the 6th of April 1945
Sarajevo, the Capital City of the People's Republic
of Bosnia and Herzegovina was liberated.
Eternal Glory and Gratitude to the Fallen Heroes
of the liberation of Sarajevo and our Homeland,
On the First Anniversary of its Liberation
a Grateful Sarajevo"
On the other hand and according as well to the Official Destination Sarajevo Guide "Sarajevo Meeting of Cultures is the message of an inlaid marker on Ferhadija St., near Gazi Husrev Bey's Bezistan. This is the spot where two dominant cultures that once shaped Sarajevo merge.
In essence, what can be seen clearly about Sarajevo is that this is a city that connects East and West – not only as different halves of the world, but also culturally – with the East considered Ottoman and Islamic and the West seen as Austro-Hungarian and Christian."
