Vijećnica

> ***Perhaps, it doesn’t belong there. It is not part of Čaršija, it is too big. It is not part of a forest, it is too snowy. It is not part of anything but nonetheless, its place is just there, you cannot imagine  anything taller nor shorter, nor less yellow than it.***
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> Furaj.ba - September 2014
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### Demolished

1992 - burnt down during the war (rebuilt in 2014)

### Architect

Karel Pařík (Designer), Alexander Wittek (1892-94), Ćiril Metod Iveković (1896)

### Use

City Hall, National library, National Monument

**Vijećnica** (English name: *Sarajevo City Hall*) is a pseudo-Moorish style building from the Austro-Hungarian reign and one of the largest ever to be built by Austro-Hungarians.

Designed by Karel Pařík (who was the most prominent architect of Sarajevo in the late-19th and early 20th century) in 1891, built by Alexander Wittek from 1892 to 1894 and finally finished by Ćiril M. Iveković in 1896, the building is one of the most prominent national monuments in the city of Sarajevo.

## History

*Vijećnica* was designed in 1891 by the Czech architect Karel Pařík, but criticisms by the minister, Baron Béni Kállay, caused him to stop working on the project. Alexander Wittek, who worked on the project in 1892 and 1893, fell ill and died in 1894 in Graz, and the work was completed by Ćiril Iveković.

The edifice was built in a stylistic blend of historical eclecticism, predominantly in the pseudo-Moorish expression, for which the stylistic sources were found in the Islamic art of Spain and North Africa.

Building works began in 1892 and were completed in 1894, at a cost of 984,000 crowns, with 32,000 crowns provided for fixtures and fittings. It was formally opened 20 April 1896, and handed over to the City Authority, which occupied the property until 1949, when it was handed over to the National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

On 25 August 1992, Serbian shelling during the Siege of Sarajevo caused the complete destruction of the library; among the losses were about 700 manuscripts and incunabula and a unique collection of Bosnian serial publications, some from the middle of the 19th century Bosnian cultural revival. Before the attack, the library held 1.5 million volumes and over 155,000 rare books and manuscripts. Some citizens and librarians tried to save some books while they were under sniper fire, at least one person died.

The majority of the books could not be saved from the flames. The structural repair of the building was planned to be carried out in four stages: 1996–1997 (financed by a donation from Republic of Austria), and 2000–2004 (financed by a donation from the European Commission), and the city of Barcelona among others. The third stage ended in September 2012, with an estimated cost of KM 4.6 million (about €2.37 million) and will return the city hall to its former grace. The fourth stage began following the completion of the third stage and lasted about 20 months, finishing at the end of 2013 and cost of KM 14 million (about €7.23 million) which are secured through the IPA. In this stage the whole interior was built and reconstructed (paintings, sculptures, books), meaning the building is brought back to function. Everything that was possible to restore has been done so, while those things that were not possible to save have been made anew through special molds. The whole reconstruction and restore process was predicted to cost about KM 25 million (about €13 million).

On May 9th, 2014 a grand reopening ceremony was held in a form of a LED show which distributed brief history of the building and Sarajevo.

After it was repaired, the building, now a national monument, has been used for variety of events. Its space has been be used for various protocol events for all levels of government, concerts and exhibitions.

## Refrences

1. ↑ https://www.vijecnica.ba/bs/article/22/prva-faza-obnove
2. ↑ https://www.vijecnica.ba/bs/article/23/druga-faza-obnove
3. ↑ https://hamdocamo.wordpress.com/2012/09/19/sarajevo-ukazala-se-ljepota-vijecnice/