Djamila
Bosnjakinja
At the far western edge of suburban Sarajevo, along the flood plain of the Bosnia river, there is a small, well-maintained stone trail.
It's a trail that seemingly leads nowhere. It crosses the flood plain and ends at the river's summer bank (in spring, the river is generaly wide enough to cover all the grass you see in the photo above - that's why the bridge in the distance extends so far inland).
This trail, though, is older than the city its in - these are the remains of an ancient Roman Road that travelled from Imunisipia (a Roman city near modern-day Sarajevo) north to what is today Italy. It wasn't preserved as a historic landmark, though - most of that road now lies beneath centuries of human settlement.
It was preserved as a Roman Catholic religious site. Where the road meets the river, there used to be a bridge - you can still see, in the photo above, the river water displaced by the remains of the bridge beneath the surface.
The memorial, as you might imagine, has a symbolic importance. The destruction of that bridge is linked to the fall of Imunisipia to the heretical Bosnian Church, at which time it became known as Hodidjed. It also symbolizes the fall of Hodidjed to the Muslims, at which time it became known as Sarajevo.
Roman Catholics visit the site to lay flowers and pay their respects to those who went before them - but not in the way you might think.
A plaque outside the nearby Water Mill Cafe reads:
It's a trail that seemingly leads nowhere. It crosses the flood plain and ends at the river's summer bank (in spring, the river is generaly wide enough to cover all the grass you see in the photo above - that's why the bridge in the distance extends so far inland).
This trail, though, is older than the city its in - these are the remains of an ancient Roman Road that travelled from Imunisipia (a Roman city near modern-day Sarajevo) north to what is today Italy. It wasn't preserved as a historic landmark, though - most of that road now lies beneath centuries of human settlement.
It was preserved as a Roman Catholic religious site. Where the road meets the river, there used to be a bridge - you can still see, in the photo above, the river water displaced by the remains of the bridge beneath the surface.
The memorial, as you might imagine, has a symbolic importance. The destruction of that bridge is linked to the fall of Imunisipia to the heretical Bosnian Church, at which time it became known as Hodidjed. It also symbolizes the fall of Hodidjed to the Muslims, at which time it became known as Sarajevo.
Roman Catholics visit the site to lay flowers and pay their respects to those who went before them - but not in the way you might think.
A plaque outside the nearby Water Mill Cafe reads:
Glory be to God Almighty,
And his mercy, Jesus of Nazareth.
Blessed is His hand, which struck down this bridge
So that we might remain on the banks of the Bosnia
And his mercy, Jesus of Nazareth.
Blessed is His hand, which struck down this bridge
So that we might remain on the banks of the Bosnia
It's one of the most unusual memorials I've seen, and it's also one that means a lot to me personally. 
