Registration no. 4200543100009 Parent organization University of Sarajevo Phone +387 33 225-353 Staff 19 | Official language Bosnian Website www.ois.unsa.ba Founded 15 May 1950 | |
Formation 15 May 1950 (1950-05-15) Address Zmaja od Bosne 8b, Sarajevo 71000, Bosnia and Herzegovina Hours Closed today SundayClosedMonday8AM–4PMTuesday8AM–4PMWednesday8AM–4PMThursday8AM–4PMFriday8AM–4PMSaturdayClosedSuggest an edit Similar National and University, National Museum of Bosnia a, Historical Museum of Bosnia a, Gazi Husrev‑beg Mosque, Museum of Literature & Performin | ||
The Oriental Institute in Sarajevo (Bosnian: Orijentalni institut u Sarajevu) is an academic institute in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It has existed since 1950, but it suffered significant destruction in 1992 during the Siege of Sarajevo.
1992 shelling
Its premises, research library and complete manuscript collection (more than 2,000 codices and 15,000 other archival material) were deliberately destroyed in shelling on May 18, 1992 by Serb forces around the besieged city of Sarajevo. According to interviews with eyewitnesses, the building had been hit with a barrage of incendiary munitions, fired from positions on the hills overlooking the town center. No other buildings in the densely built neighborhood were hit. The Institute, which occupied the top floors of a large, four-storey office block on the corner of Veljka Cubrilovica Street and Marshal Tito Boulevard (Sarajevo Centar municipality), was completely burned out, its collections destroyed.
The manuscript collection of the Oriental institute was one of the richest collections of Oriental manuscripts worldwide. These manuscripts over centuries were written in the wide areas of the East to serve worldwide as life manuals for the people.
Losses also included 5,263 bound manuscripts in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Hebrew and local arebica - (Bosnian in Arabic script), as well as tens of thousands of Ottoman-era documents.