Sarajevo Roses

The skeletal spiral marks on the ground where shells fell on Sarajevo are called "Sarajevo Roses."

They are all over the city, and once you have seen one, they seem to be everywhere and you cannot help but notice them.

I am told that some have been filled in with red paint, symbolizing blood, but I have not personally seen any like that.

I found several of these on the steps of the National History Museum of Bosnia and Hercegovina, which was targetted during the war because it held the history of the country. Serb military forces were viciously effective in destroying cultural heritage of the Bosnianpeople. For example, the History Museum was so pummelled by shells and artillery that now you have to enter through this crazy back-way (which I almost didn't find) because the front end was so badly damaged during the war (and who has the money to repair such things?).

Can you imagine walking everyday past the spot where your daughter, husband, mother, or friend was killed and seeing the mark on the ground that will never be gone? This is life in Sarajevo... and life goes on, roses and all.

In the places where more than 7 people were killed, there is often a plaque commemorating their passing.


I saw "Sarajevo Roses" in Mostar and Dubrovnik too. Maybe there are some in Zagreb, but I didn't know what to look for when I was there before.



Here are some living Sarajevo Roses, which are part of a monument to the people who died in the Srebrenica Massacre.