Tunnel of Hope Museum

The Tunnel of Hope Museum, also known as the Sarajevo War Tunnel Museum or Tunel spasa, is at Tuneli 1 in Donji Kotorac, in the Butmir area of Ilidža, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the siege of Sarajevo from 1992 to 1996, the city was surrounded and the airport was controlled by United Nations forces. In 1993 Bosnian army engineers and civilian volunteers dug a passage beneath the airport runway to link besieged Dobrinja with Butmir, which was held by Bosnian forces. The tunnel was roughly 800 metres long, about 1.5 metres high and 1 metre wide, and it carried food, medicine, weapons, soldiers and civilians in and out of the city. The museum is built around the Kolar family house at the tunnel's southern entrance, which was damaged during the war. About 25 metres of the original tunnel survive, and visitors can walk through this stretch. Displays include original rails and handcarts used to move supplies, military uniforms and equipment, communication devices, photographs and personal belongings, along with a short documentary film about the tunnel's construction and use. The presentation is documentary and loosely chronological, led by objects, with outdoor sections around the house. The remainder of the tunnel has collapsed or flooded over the years. Admission is 20 KM for adults and 8 KM for students, children under six enter free, and the audio guide costs about 3 KM, with payment accepted only in cash. Opening hours run from 08:30 to 17:00 between April and October and from 09:00 to 16:00 from November to March. The museum is about 6 km from the city centre and is reached by taxi, organised tour or local transport. Visits usually last about an hour.