The Emperor's Bridge (ćuprija, most) was built at the behest of the founder of Sarajevo – Isa Bey Ishaković – in order to connect Careva mahala on the left side of the Miljacka River with Kolobara Han on the right.

The bridge was swept away by the great flood which hit Sarajevo in 1619 and was damaged by another flood in 1791, but a new bridge was built in its place.

Not long after BiH was occupied by the Austro-Hungarians, a process got underway to regulate the flow of the Miljacka and the old ćuprija was demolished. A new concrete bridge, the first of its kind in Sarajevo, was erected in 1897, some twenty meters upstream from the original bridge, where it continues to connect both sides of the river.

During the interwar period, the bridge was named after Bogdan Žerajić, a member of Mlada Bosna, but was renamed Careva Ćuprija in 1992.

In 2009, the Emperor’s Bridge was placed on the list of National Monuments of BiH.