Sarajevo is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo Canton, East Sarajevo and nearby municipalities is home to 555,210 inhabitants. Located within the greater Sarajevo valley of Bosnia, it is surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of the Balkans, a region of Southeastern Europe.
Zenica is a city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and an administrative and economic center of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Zenica-Doboj Canton. It is located in the Bosna river valley, about 70 km (43 mi) north of Sarajevo. The city is known for its Ironworks Zenica factory but also as a significant university center. According to the 2013 census, the settlement of Zenica itself counts 70,553 citizens and the administrative area 110,663, making it the nation's fourth-largest city.
The Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina, based in Sarajevo, is the chief officiating body of football in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Bosnian football association was founded as the Sarajevo football sub-association of Yugoslavia in 1920. In 1992, the association was re-founded as the Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Oświęcim Synagogue, also called the Auschwitz Synagogue and officially called the Chevra Lomdei Mishnayot Synagogue, is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at Plac Księdza Jana Skarbka 5, Oświęcim, in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship of Poland.
Baščaršija is Sarajevo's old bazaar and the historical and cultural center of the city. Baščaršija was built in the 15th century when Isa-Beg Ishaković founded the city.
Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mid-19th century, part of a widening vocabulary of articulated decorative ornament drawn from historical sources beyond familiar classical and Gothic modes. Neo-Moorish architecture drew on elements from classic Moorish architecture and, as a result, from the wider Islamic architecture.
The history of the Jews in Croatia dates back to at least the 3rd century, although little is known of the community until the 10th and 15th centuries. According to the 1931 census, the community numbered 21,505 members, and it is estimated that on the eve of the Second World War the population was around 25,000 people. Most of the population was murdered during the Holocaust that took place on the territory of the Nazi puppet state called the Independent State of Croatia. After the war, half of the survivors chose to settle in Israel, while an estimated 2,500 members continued to live in Croatia. According to the 2011 census, there were 509 Jews living in Croatia, but that number is believed to exclude those born of mixed marriages or those married to non-Jews. More than 80 percent of the Zagreb Jewish Community were thought to fall in those two categories.
The history of the Jews in Serbia is some two thousand years old. The Jews first arrived in the region during Roman times. The Jewish communities of the Balkans remained small until the late 15th century, when Jews fleeing the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions found refuge in the Ottoman-ruled areas, including Serbia.
The history of the Jews in Bosnia and Herzegovina spans from the arrival of the first Bosnian Jews as a result of the Spanish Inquisition to the survival of the Bosnian Jews through the Holocaust and the Yugoslav Wars. Jews are one of the minority peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to the country's constitution. The Bosnian Jewish community is composed of both Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews.
The Sarajevo Synagogue is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located on the south bank of the river Miljacka, in Sarajevo, in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The synagogue was constructed in 1902 and is the only functioning synagogue in Sarajevo today. The congregation worships in the Ashkenazi rite.
Ivan Čerešnješ, also known as Ivica Čerešnješ, is a Bosnian architect-researcher at the Center for Jewish Art at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem specializing in the documentation of the Jewish architectural-cultural heritage in the former Yugoslavia and Eastern Europe. During the Bosnian War of 1992–1995 he served as the president of the Jewish community of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and played a central role in the rescue and evacuation of thousands of Sarajevo residents.
The most widely professed religion in Bosnia and Herzegovina is Islam and the second biggest religion is Christianity. Nearly all the Muslims of Bosnia are followers of the Sunni denomination of Islam; the majority of Sunnis follow the Hanafi legal school of thought (fiqh) and Maturidi theological school of thought (kalām). Bosniaks are generally associated with Islam, Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the Roman Catholic Church, and Bosnian Serbs with the Serbian Orthodox Church. The State Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and the entity Constitutions of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska provide for freedom of religion, and the Government generally respects this right in ethnically integrated areas or in areas where government officials are of the majority religion; the state-level Law on Religious Freedom also provides comprehensive rights to religious communities. However, local authorities sometimes restricted the right to worship of adherents of religious groups in areas where such persons are in the minority.
Historic synagogues include synagogues that date back to ancient times and synagogues that represent the earliest Jewish presence in cities around the world. Some synagogues were destroyed and rebuilt several times on the same site. Others were converted into churches and mosques or used for other purposes.
The Križevci Synagogue is a former Orthodox Jewish synagogue, located in Križevci, Croatia. Completed in 1895, the building was used as a synagogue until World War II when it was desecrated. Following the war, the building was used for cultural events, as a youth center, and, since 2014, as a visitor center.
Central Bosnia is a central subregion of Bosnia, which consists of a core mountainous area with several basins, valleys and mountains. It is bordered by Bosnian Krajina to the northwest, Tropolje to the west, Herzegovina to the south, Sarajevo to the east and Tuzla to the northeast. It is a part of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and is divided between the Central Bosnia Canton and the Zenica-Doboj Canton, with a population of around 800,000. The largest city in the region is Zenica, with the Sarajevo-Zenica basin being the most densely populated area. Its highest peaks are Vranica, Šćit and Bitovnja.
Kruščica was a concentration camp established and operated by the fascist, Croatian nationalist Ustaše movement near the town of Vitez, in the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), between August and October 1941, during World War II.
The MESS International Theatre Festival (MESS) is a theatre festival that takes place annually in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the oldest living theatre festival in the Balkans, programming international experimental performances and emerging artists. MESS was the largest theatre festival in the Former Yugoslavia and was named one of Living Theatre's international showcases in 1974. It survived the Siege of Sarajevo, during which it hosted directors such as Susan Sontag and Peter Schumann. It organized the first edition of the Sarajevo Film Festival in 1993 and still acts as a collective board member today. Today it is the largest theatre festival in Bosnia and Herzegovina and one of the largest in South-Eastern Europe. In 2009 it expanded its activities to the city of Zenica, which now hosts parts of the regional program.
See also History of the Jews in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Balkan Jews refers to Jews who live or lived in the Balkans.
The Jewish Municipality of Sarajevo, also the Jewish community of Sarajevo, is a religious organization of citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina of Jewish origin. The seat of the municipality is in Sarajevo.
