Baščaršija
Baščaršija
Type: The Bridges of Sarajevo
The Skenderija Steel Bridge is a pedestrian bridge that is known to Sarajevans as Eiffel's Bridge. Somewhere near the bridge's current location the Ottoman governor, Skender Pasha, had a wooden bridge erected at the end of the 15th or beginning of the 16th century. One whole neighborhood on the left bank of the Miljacka bears his name – Skenderija.
The unpredictable Miljacka would often wash Sarajevo's wooden bridges away, which is exactly what happened to this bridge. It was for this very reason that the Austro-Hungarian administration took action to regulate the river's flow and rebuild many new bridges, including the steel Skenderija Bridge (1893).
While there is nothing to back it up and there isn't a single written document to confirm the claim, there is a legend that says this bridge was designed by the famous Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, the architect responsible for the iconic Eiffel Tower in Paris.
The bridge was badly damaged during the last war and underwent reconstruction in 2004.