In the city of Sarajevo, capital and cultural center of Bosnia and Herzegovina

 “It's a rare gift to understand that your life is wondrous, and that it won't last forever.” ―  Steven Galloway, author of The Cellist of Sarajevo

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(in the capital and cultural center of Bosnia and Herzegovina). The city of Sarajevo, found in the narrow valley of the Miljacka River at the foot of Mount Trebević, retains a strong Muslim character, having many mosques, wooden houses with ornate interiors, and the ancient Turkish marketplace (the Baščaršija). A late 16th-century clock tower is adjacent to the Begova Džamija -- the largest historical mosque in the country and one of the most representative Ottoman structures in the Balkans. Museums include the Mlada Bosna (“Young Bosnia”), an annex of the town museum; the Museum of the Revolution, chronicling the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1878; and a Jewish museum. Sarajevo has a university that includes faculties in mining and technology, an academy of sciences, an art college, and several hospitals. The Kazandžviluk (coppersmith’s bazaar) is preserved in its original form. Although war took its toll here, during the 1992-1996 siege of Sarajevo, the lively, museum-rich city has been mostly reconstructed since then. Don't miss Bijambare caves, set in thick forests and amid lakes to the north of the city, or Bosna Springs, from which the country takes its name. Site of 1984's Winter Olympics, Sarajevo again offers spectacular skiing on Mount Bjelasnica Jahorina. Centuries-long rule by the Ottoman Empire has left its mark on this country at the heart of the Balkan region; whether it be in religion, architecture, cuisine or language. A melting pot of cultures and religions for centuries, Sarajevo has emerged from the dark years of the Bosnian war as a cosmopolitan, youthful, and modern European capital, with a unique personality. Cross the legendary Latin Bridge and stop for a bit at the point where Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austro-Hungary was assassinated. Featured here is the Latin Bridge, named Principov most ("Princip's Bridge" in the Yugoslavian era), an Ottoman bridge over the Miljacka River in Sarajevo. The northern end of the bridge was the site of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria by Gavrilo Princip in 1914, which began the July Crisis that ultimately led to the outbreak of World War I. The bridge took its name from the neighborhood on the left bank of the Miljacka, where Sarajevo’s Catholics resided. From 1918 to 1993 the structure bore the name, Principov Most (bridge), after Gavrilo Princip, who was only a few meters from this bridge when he assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand (and his pregnant wife, Sofie). Of all the crossing points of the Miljacka River, this pale-stone bridge is the most famous. After the demise of Yugoslavia, Princip lost his public aura as a heroic revolutionary, and the bridge reverted to its original name. (This incident, known as the Sarajevo Assassination, led to the beginning of the First World War.)