Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Visiting the Museum and Tunnel:
After buying your ticket, you'll walk through the
small three-room museum, then see the tunnel itself, and have the chance to watch a movie
about this site's history.
The museum's first room displays military equipment, including shell casings (this area
was bombarded with more than 300 grenades daily, with 3,777 being launched here in one
day alone), and photos and orders relating to the tunnel's construction.
The second room displays the chair on wheels used to push the ailing President Izetbe-
govi
ć
through the tunnel—hardly presidential transport, but the only way he could safely
get in and out of the city for diplomatic meetings.
The third room displays various items representing the challenge of simply staying alive
in Sarajevo while it was under siege. Notice the small display of paltry foodstuffs. The can-
isters—includingatinboxwithaspigot—demonstratethestruggletofinddrinkingwater.In
the frame you'll see the contents of an aid package that was expected to last one person for
10 to 15 days. Lighting was often as simple as oil and water in a glass jar with a wick. The
broken glass window over the stove illustrates the absurdity of trying to keep warm through
a frigid winter when basic insulation was an impossibility. Between the doors, notice the
two uniforms that show how the initially improvised Bosnian defense forces evolved as the
war went on: At first, they wore jeans and tennis shoes, while later they had real uniforms
and boots. Also look for the photos of the many celebrities who have visited this place.
Along the back wall, you can see the various types of carts used to transport food,
weapons, and sick people through the tunnel. It was used both by the military (the cart with
artillery boxes), and by civilians (the dolly with backpacks and boxes). The makeshift can-
vas boots—roughly stitched together using material donated by the international commu-
nity—were pulled on over regular shoes to trudge through the water that collected on the
tunnel floor. Notice the cables and pipes along the back wall—a reminder that the tunnel
was used not only for people and supplies, but also for electricity and gas.
Thenfollowthemarkedroutetothetunnelitself(passinganartilleryshellstillembedded
inthecementfloor),whereyoucanclimbdownthetightstairsandsqueezethroughanactu-
al 80-foot-long stretch. Imagine yourself walking, crouched over, 30 times this far from one
end to the other. If you'd like, you can hike through the tunnel wearing a backpack loaded
with 65 pounds—roughly the amount that women typically carried through the tunnel (men
would carry more than double that much).
Near the tunnel entrance (and in the open-air sheds out back), you can watch a good
20-minute film that illustrates the construction and use of the tunnel.
Out back are several places to sit and look at a map of the besieged city—superimposed,
not without irony, over a map from the 1984 Olympic Games. The actual airport sits on the
horizon.(LocalssaythatwhentheysawaUNplanetakingoff—likelycarryinginternation-
al officials to safety—they knew trouble was brewing.) In 1993, for the first time, Bosnia-
