Sarajevo Brewery (Sarajevska Pivara)

The Sarajevo Brewery (Sarajevska Pivara) at Franjevačka 15 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, was founded in 1864 and is the oldest operating industrial plant in the city. The brewery grew up beside a spring of clean water on the western edge of the old town, and its Sarajevsko pivo lager became a national staple. The complex has a large Austro-Hungarian-era brewery building in red brick and stone, with a tall chimney and arched windows, and a restaurant-pub (Pivnica Sarajevo) in the old building that serves local lager, dark beer and Bosnian dishes. During the siege of Sarajevo in the 1990s the brewery was a vital source of drinking water for the city, with residents queuing to collect water from its wells, a fact often retold by locals. Visitors can enter the pub free of charge and sit in the hall or the outdoor terrace, ordering beer at about 4 to 6 KM and food such as ćevapi, goulash and grilled meats. Brewery visits depend on prior arrangement. A visit takes one to two hours, usually as a meal or drink stop. The best photographs are of the brick facade and chimney from the street and of the interior with its copper tanks and vaulted ceilings. Evenings are the liveliest period, with locals and groups filling the terrace, while early afternoon is quiet. The pub is open roughly 11AM to midnight daily. The brewery is a five-minute walk west of the Latin Bridge, near the Sarajevo Cathedral and the pedestrian streets of the centre.