He was late — and not just the five-minutes-on-my-way kind of late. He turned up after around half an hour, following a phone call answered by a sleepy-sounding man. Our guide for the day Kenan showed us to his van. It looked as though it had not moved from its roadside space for about a year. Needless to say, after Kenan launched a sign into the back, dusted some old food from the seats and ushered us in, it would not start. Kennan stepped outside, apologising endlessly to us as he waved his arms and swore (I presumed) in Bosnian at whoever was on the other end of his phone. I watched as he danced around in his canvas shoes and checked shirt. He decided we should run, hop on the tram, head to the other end of town and make our way into a more usable vehicle. It was the start of our adventure: an unorthodox and slightly chaotic day exploring the abandoned buildings of Sarajevo, and I liked Kennan already.
The first stop on our tour was the abandoned Trebević Observatory. High on the slopes of Trebević Mountain, the views from the top were extraordinary. Kennan told us about the building as we climbed up to the tower and viewpoint, which was originally built as a Hungarian fortress. It was easy to see why this place had been used as a military lookout, given its commanding view over Sarajevo. Standing on a crumbling wall of the remains to truly appreciate the view, however, was nauseating. The wind felt as though it could take my feet from underneath me. I asked Kennan why he decided to run abandoned buildings tours. ‘’I love it’’ he said simply. He told us that after the war, the fortress was repurposed as an astronomical observatory; however, after the siege of Sarajevo in the 1990s, the building was destroyed along with all of its equipment. What remains is a crumbling structure, heavily decorated with street art. It is a haven for urban explorers, being relatively isolated in its location.
The view from the top of the tower
Next on the itinerary was Jajce Military Barracks. This was in the middle of a residential area and accessed by climbing a wall, to the shouts of a concerned resident from her nearby window: “There is a bomb in there!” The building felt pretty precarious as we climbed the floors: entire ceilings and rooms had collapsed, leaving mountains of debris, timber and exposed beams, with gaping holes down to the floors below and the echoes of the resident beneath us. Our spirits were buoyed by the completely unfaltering Kennan, as he literally hopped over beams and gaps. The street art really took centre stage in this building, my personal favourite being a scrawl and unique take on feminism:
“Feminism is a collective adventure for women, for men and everyone else; a worldview choice.”
A take on feminism ..
And, of course, a little reminder to “never stop exploring”.
A little reminder – in case we ever needed one.
Some of my favourite art
Leaving the building and looking back, the architecture was striking and imposing. The white bastion is visible throughout the city and dominates the area. The building has not been in use for over two decades but still retains its grand façade. It was mostly destroyed, heavily shelled and gutted by fire during the Sarajevo siege. Our guide had earlier told me he was 36; he had been alive at the time of the siege. I asked him if he recalled much about that period. “My parents do,” he said, “but they don’t like to speak about it much.”
Military Barracks
Our third visit took us to the abandoned Tito’s villa. This was a very exposed and open building in the middle of a large, publicly accessible park. It did not feel as “forbidden” or off-limits as the previous building, and hordes of children played on the roof and floors around us. The building was a former villa for the Yugoslav president Josip Broz Tito, or so our guide informed us. What was particularly intriguing was the labyrinth of underground tunnels and an exit hatch, with metal ladders leading all the way out of the tunnel. The bunker was conceived to provide protection for Tito, his family and his inner entourage. It is debated whether Tito himself ever actually visited this villa and bunker. Kennan told us he had climbed the metal rungs to the exit hatch for the first time only the other week, out of curiosity. Little fazed him, but he admitted the nerves set in when he was halfway up the tunnel after ten minutes and committed to continuing.
one of the exits from the underground tunnels.
Lastly, our final visit was to an abandoned residential home. Right at the side of a main road, this construction was built with the intention of becoming a residential home but never actually opened. There is no evidence of what this building would have been, and as an urban metropolis it was my least favourite of the sites, perhaps because it felt so exposed. This building offered less in terms of history and architecture and more as a site for modern recreation and shelter for the homeless. I evaded human poo, sleeping bags and jackets, but abandoned is as abandoned says. There was a solitary man sitting on the roof, smoking and clearly enjoying the shared views. As hard as I tried, I simply could not imagine this building being anything other than what was that day: a crumbling ruin, evidence of what should have been in the middle of a city, now serving as shelter for the homeless.
What should have been a residential home.
There is a reason why we explore abandoned and empty buildings in the first place: the sense of danger, the forbidden and the intrigue, perhaps. The difficulty when doing this abroad is that you never know what you might encounter: armed guards, hefty fines, or worse. On this tour, I found a perfect mix of danger, suspense and recklessness, but with safety in the company of a local, knowledgeable guide. He was actually so friendly and true of the reflection of my time in the city, he went out of his way to make sure we were ok even going so far as to drop us thirty minutes out of town the next day for a waterfalls hike.
The tour is bookable through Get your Guide as a half day tour via the following link: and I would recommend it for anyone interested in history and looking for something a bit different.
