Hotel Europe
Sarajevo’s first modern hotel, opened in 1882 on the edge of the Ottoman bazaar — destroyed in the 1990s siege and rebuilt to reopen, precisely, on its own anniversary.
At a glance
Hotel Europe stands in central Sarajevo, at the meeting point of the Ottoman Baščaršija and the Austro-Hungarian city. Opened in 1882, it was the city’s first modern hotel, and after a century and a half — including near-destruction in the Bosnian War — it is once again one of Sarajevo’s landmark addresses.
History
The hotel opened on 12 December 1882, in the early years of Austro-Hungarian rule over Bosnia. It was built by the merchant and industrialist Gligorije “Gliša” Jeftanović on the site of the Tašlihan, a fifteenth-century caravanserai that had burned in the great fire of 1879, and designed by the architect Karel Pařík. For sixty years, until the Second World War, the Jeftanović family ran it.
Nationalised under socialist Yugoslavia, the hotel was badly damaged during the 1990s siege of Sarajevo. Re-privatised in 2006 and restored under the architect Sead Gološ, it reopened on 12 December 2008 — the 126th anniversary, to the day, of its first opening.
What you see
The rebuilt hotel keeps its historic Austro-Hungarian character, standing where the imperial city meets the remains of the Ottoman market quarter.
Beside it, the reconstructed arches of the old Tašlihan caravanserai are preserved, tying the modern hotel back to the fifteenth-century building it replaced.
Cultural significance
Hotel Europe embodies Sarajevo’s layered history — Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian, Yugoslav — and its survival. Rebuilt after the siege and reopened on its founding anniversary, it stands for a city that has repeatedly remade itself around the same few streets.
Key facts
- Opened: 12 December 1882 — Sarajevo’s first modern hotel
- Founder: the merchant Gligorije “Gliša” Jeftanović; architect Karel Pařík
- Site: the former Tašlihan caravanserai (15th century), burned in 1879
- War: heavily damaged during the 1990s siege of Sarajevo
- Reopened: 12 December 2008, the 126th anniversary of its opening
Practical information & getting there
The hotel is at the edge of Baščaršija, in the heart of old Sarajevo and within walking distance of the cathedral and the Miljacka river. Its café and restaurant are open to non-residents.
Sources & resources
- Destination Sarajevo — Hotel Europe: sarajevo.travel/en/where-to-stay/hotel-europe/105
- Hotel Europe Group — Hotel Europe: hoteleuropegroup.ba/en/hotel-europe
- Nova Circle — Hotel Europe Sarajevo
- Wikipedia — Hotel Europe (Sarajevo)
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