Built during the siege of Sarajevo in the Bosnian War, the underground Sarajevo Tunnel, known as the "Tunnel of Rescue" or "Tunnel of Hope", is now one of the city's main attractions. Local guides take tourists there, immersing them in a heavy military atmosphere. In 1993, the tunnel was the only hope of the citizens, completely cut off from the rest of the world by the Serbian army. Thanks to the tunnel, the citizens could receive humanitarian aid, food, weapons and continue to hold the line firmly, not letting the enemy in.

The massive underground structure was built by rank-and-file Bosnian Army soldiers who worked just below the runway of the Sarajevo Airport while the ground was engulfed in fighting. It is hard to imagine how the soldiers dug this tunnel with shovels and picks, spent every day taking out the excavated earth in wheelbarrows, and received as payment for this hard work only a pack of cigarettes a day (this was the most popular commodity and a unit of exchange at that time). At the same time, this work led by the Bosnian engineer Nedzad Brankovic was top secret.

Forty-five tons of steel and more than 170 cubic meters of wood were used for its construction, about 2,800 cubic meters of land were removed, not to mention thousands of liters of groundwater that had to be pumped out. Besides, communication and electrical cables were laid through the Sarajevo Tunnel to connect the city with the outer world. It took exactly four months to connect the two tunnels from opposite sides in the middle. The very next day, it started operating at full strength.

A little more than 1.5 meters high and less than a meter wide, the kilometer-long tunnel was both a salvation and a threat to people. There was no ventilation system. So everyone had to wear masks, but it didn't help much. Nevertheless, up to 4,000 soldiers and 30 tons of various goods passed through the tunnel every day.