University City is the campus of the University of Banja Luka, laid out on the grounds of the Austro-Hungarian “Vrbas” barracks. The army used the site until 2004; since 2016 it has been a protected park.
At a glance
The complex began as the “Vrbas” barracks at the end of the nineteenth century, when Bosnia was under Austro-Hungarian administration. It stayed in military use for more than a century. In 2004 the site was assigned to the University of Banja Luka, and the barracks became a campus. Two buildings from the Austro-Hungarian period are recorded as having cultural-historical value: the Vice-Chancellor’s Building and the Therese building.
The newest building on the grounds belongs to the Faculty of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy, which shares it with the Faculty of Forestry. It opened on 24 October 2023.
Key facts
- Origin: the Austro-Hungarian “Vrbas” barracks, end of the nineteenth century
- Military use until 2004, then assigned to the University of Banja Luka
- Protected area since 2016, covering 273,817 m²
- A 270-metre alley of 99 American sycamores
- New building of the Faculty of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy and the Faculty of Forestry, opened on 24 October 2023, about 7,300 m² of usable space
History
The barracks were one of the military buildings the Austro-Hungarian administration raised in Banja Luka after 1878. The army stayed after the empire was gone. In 1948 the School Center of Armored and Mechanized Units “Petar Drapšin” moved here, to what was then called the “Mladen Stojanović” barracks. A memorial room on the campus still recalls it.
Military use ended in 2004, when the area was assigned to the University of Banja Luka. The Genetic Resources Institute was given the grounds to manage, and the park became a protected area in 2016, in the category of protected areas with sustainable use of natural resources.
The Faculty of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy began teaching on 10 October 1996. In 2008 the faculty and the university commissioned the design of a building of its own on the campus grounds, by Saša B. Čvoro, Malina Čvoro and Radovan Beleslin. Construction ran from July 2021 to April 2023, and the building opened on 24 October 2023.
What you see
The campus is first of all a park. Its best-known feature is the alley of 99 American sycamores, 270 metres long; the protected area also lists four Ponderosa pines, a group of bald cypresses and a paper birch among its nature monuments, and 55 bird species have been recorded in it. The barracks buildings of the Austro-Hungarian period stand among the trees, now used by the university. The faculty building of 2023 is a single contemporary volume set into the same grounds.
Practical information
- University City, Bulevar vojvode Petra Bojovića 1A, 78000 Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- The protected park is managed by the Institute of Genetic Resources of the University of Banja Luka; the buildings are working faculties, not museums.
Getting there
University City lies near the Vrbas river, on Bulevar vojvode Petra Bojovića, in the Borik area of Banja Luka.
Further reading
M. Malinović, M. Okilj, J. Guzijan, S. Cvijić, J. Stanković Aćić, D. Aleksić, “Establishment of Austro-Hungarian Military Buildings in Banja Luka and Their Subsequent Repurposing”, Buildings, vol. 14, no. 12, 2024, article 3876. doi:10.3390/buildings14123876. The authors teach at the Faculty of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy of the University of Banja Luka.
Gallery
Sources
- G. Đurić et al., “The Botanical Garden of the University of Banja Luka”, Agro-knowledge Journal, vol. 13, no. 4, 2012: doisrpska.nub.rs
- Center for Investigative Reporting (CIN), “Monument of Park Architecture ‘University City’”: cin.ba
- University of Banja Luka, “Rehabilitation of a memorial room on the University Campus”, 26 March 2025: unibl.org
- Faculty of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy, “History”: aggf.unibl.org
- University of Banja Luka, “Construction works on the building of the Faculty of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy and the Faculty of Forestry completed”, May 2023: unibl.org
- University of Banja Luka, “Ceremonial Opening of the Faculty of Agriculture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy and the Faculty of Forestry Building”, 26 October 2023: unibl.org
- OpenStreetMap, University City: openstreetmap.org
Find it on the map
See this place and what’s around it →📷 Become a Cultural Heritage Online photographer
Share your photos of places: they stay published under your name as the author. The more they're seen, the more you get noticed — and soon a contest will reward the most appreciated photos.
Log in or sign up free to add a photo