The Historical Library of the Vechnik, one of the most important symbols of the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina Sarajevo, sheds light on the history of the city.
The building was built in the Andaluz style during the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
The construction of the building, which, states, influenced by the mosques and madrassas of Cairo, began in 1892. Architect Alexander Vitek worked on the architectural project.
the town hall was officially opened on April 20, 1896 and transferred to the city administration. The administration occupied the building until the end of World War II.
The Vechnik, transformed into the National Library in 1945, is the “memory of Sarajevo”.
During the Bosnian War of 1992-1995, the library was seriously injured as a result of a fire that arose after the artillery fire of the Serbian military during the siege of Sarajevo on August 25, 1992.
In a fire that lasted three days, about 2 million works were destroyed, including the national archives of the country, as well as 155 thousand manuscripts.
The restoration of the library, which was considered the “memory of the country” and contained about 6 million books and archival documents, including manuscripts and significant works belonging to the Bosnians, Serbs, Croats and Jews, began in 1996, a year after the war.
After 18 years of reconstruction work, the library again opened its doors for visitors on May 9, 2014.
Today, the library is one of the places visited by local and foreign tourists in sheds, and also remains one of the symbols of the liberation of the city from violence.