Sarajevo is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, located within the Sarajevo valley of Bosnia, surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River. Due to its long history of religious and cultural diversity, Sarajevo is sometimes called the “Jerusalem of Europe” or “Jerusalem of the Balkans”.  The area where Sarajevo is located has been inhabited since the Neolithic period, with the Butmir archaeological site being particularly famous for its unique artifacts, now housed in the National Museum. During the Roman period, Sarajevo was settled and organized as the Roman municipium “Agua S…” (Aquae Sulphurae – this name is used in science although there are no official records), named after the thermal springs that were crucial for the Roman way of life. In the medieval period, Sarajevo was known as Vrhbosna, a region within the Bosnian Banate. It was a modest urban trading center characteristic of the Middle Ages. Many of the names of settlements from this period are still in use today for some parts of the city.

Sarajevo, as known today, was founded by the Ottoman Empire in the 1450s upon conquering the region, with 1461. being typically used as the city’s founding date. The city was named by the governor castle „Saray“, the first known Ottoman governor of Bosnia was Isa-Beg Ishaković. Sarajevo was the biggest and most important Ottoman city in the Balkans after Istanbul itself. It is one of a few major European cities to have a mosque, Catholic church, Orthodox church and synagogue within the same neighbourhood. Although settlement in the area stretches back to prehistoric times, the modern city arose as an Ottoman stronghold in the 15^th century. Sarajevo has attracted international attention several times throughout its history. In 1885, Sarajevo was the first city in Europe and the second city in the world to have a full-time electric tram network running through the city, following San Francisco. In 1914, it was the site of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princip that sparked World War I, which also ended Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia and resulted in the creation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Later, after World War II, the establishment of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina within the Second Yugoslavia led to a massive expansion of Sarajevo, then the constituent republic’s capital, which culminated with the hosting of the 1984 Winter Olympics marking a prosperous era for the city. From April 1992 to February 1996, the city suffered the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare, during the Bosnian War and the breakup of Yugoslavia.

Travel guide series Lonely Planet named Sarajevo as the 43rd best city in the world, and in December 2009, listed Sarajevo as one of the top ten cities to visit in 2010. Sarajevo one of the world’s eighteen Cities of Film.