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All Bosnia and Herzegovina Ilidža Sarajevo War Tunnel Museum

Sarajevo War Tunnel Museum

This museum preserves the hand-dug tunnel that kept Sarajevo afloat during the Serbian siege.

Ilidža, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Added By
Chris Staring
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The Sarajevo Tunnel   SkareMedia / Atlas Obscura User
The Sarajevo Tunnel   SkareMedia / Atlas Obscura User
The exterior of the tunnel museum.   Damien Smith on Flickr
Some of the supplies that were transported down the tunnel.   Jennifer Boyer on Flickr
The southern entrance to the tunnel.   Luigi Guarino on Flickr
  mordekia / Atlas Obscura User
March 2023   DMStephenson / Atlas Obscura User
Tunnel   stevensbecca / Atlas Obscura User
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About

During a large portion of the 1990s Sarajevo was under siege by Serbian forces who controlled almost the entire city. However, Bosniak loyalists built a tunnel which would secretly supply much of the rest of the city during the occupation.

Begun in January of 1993 under the codename "Objekt BD," the tunnel was built to link the Bosnian neighborhoods of Butmir and Dobrinja under a Serbian-controlled aircraft runway. The crude tunnel was dug by hand and shovel from both sides, by workers who chiseled away at the earth in eight-hour shifts. The clandestine laborers, who were paid in cigarettes, had to contend with near constant shelling and underground water which would rise to waist high in the cramped tunnel and had to be emptied one bucket at a time. The two tunnels finally met in July of 1993 creating an 800-meter lifeline between the two neighborhoods. Once completed the tunnel had an average height of one and half meters, and was shored up with tons of steel and concrete. A small railway was finally built into the floor and crucial food, gas, and weapons were finally able to be secreted into the very heart of the siege.

After the war ended the tunnel was abandoned, but a museum was built in the building which covered the Dobrinja entrance. The museum displays weaponry and ephemera from the war and allows visitors to explore a short distance into the tunnel. The war may be over, but the Sarajevo War Tunnel Museum makes sure that no one will forget the unstoppable determination and resourcefulness of Sarajevo's citizens.

Related Tags

Museums Museums And Collections Military History Tunnels Subterranean Sites Military
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Added By

SkareMedia

Edited By

Martin, EricGrundhauser, mordekia, stevensbecca...

  • Martin
  • EricGrundhauser
  • mordekia
  • stevensbecca
  • DMStephenson

Published

November 18, 2013

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Sources
  • http://skaremedia.com/365/?p=1122
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarajevo_Tunnel
  • http://www.visitsarajevo.biz/sightseeing/attractions/historical-sarajevo/war-tunnel/
  • http://www.lonelyplanet.com/bosnia-and-hercegovina/sarajevo/sights/museums-galleries/tunnel-museum
Sarajevo War Tunnel Museum
Tuneli 1
Donji Kotorac 34
Ilidža
Bosnia and Herzegovina
43.819815, 18.337388
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Nearby Places

Hotel Austria & Bosna

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Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Ilidža

Ilidža

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Places 2

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Photo of Ilidža

Ilidža

Bosnia and Herzegovina

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