Vijećnica (Sarajevo City Hall)

The Vijećnica, Sarajevo's former City Hall, stands on Obala Kulina bana on the right bank of the Miljacka river in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was built between 1892 and 1896 during Austro-Hungarian administration of Bosnia, designed first by Karel Pařík and then by Alexander Wittek, with Ciril Iveković completing the work after Wittek's death. The building is the finest example of the Pseudo-Moorish style in the city, with a striped facade of alternating light and dark bands, horseshoe arches, ornate stonework and an interior atrium topped by a stained-glass roof. It served as the City Hall until 1949, when it became the home of the National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Vijećnica is tied to two defining events. On 28 June 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand attended a reception here shortly before his assassination. On the night of 25 to 26 August 1992, during the siege of Sarajevo, Bosnian Serb artillery shelled the building with incendiary shells. The fire destroyed most of the library collection, an estimated two million books, periodicals and manuscripts, and left the building a shell. Reconstruction was funded by the European Union and other donors over many years, and the building was officially reopened on 9 May 2014. Today it houses the city's cultural offices and exhibition spaces and a restored interior with the central atrium, staircase and decorated halls, and visitors can enter during the day for a small fee. The collection is no longer the library's, but exhibits and displays on the building's history are shown. A visit takes about 30 to 45 minutes and combines naturally with the nearby Latin Bridge and Baščaršija. Confirm opening times at the entrance, as they vary with events.