The Sarajevo Tunnel was constructed between May 1992 and November 1995, during the Siege of Sarajevo in the midst of theBosnian War. It was built by the Bosnian Army in order to link the city of Sarajevo, which was entirely cut off by Serbian forces, with Bosnian-held territory on the other side of the Sarajevo Airport, an area controlled by the United Nations.

The tunnel linked the Sarajevo neighbourhoods of Dobrinja and Butmir, allowing food, war supplies, and humanitarian aid to come into the city, and people to get out. The tunnel became a major way of bypassing the international arms embargo and providing the city defenders with weaponry.

It took more than six months to dig the tunnel and was done using pickaxes and shovels. The only source of light the workers had was provided by “war candles”, containers filled with cooking oil and fitted with a wick made from string.

After the war, about 20 meters of the tunnel became part of a museum which contains many items from the time of the Siege of Sarajevo – the longest-running siege of any city in modern history.