A Sarajevo Rose is a type of memorial in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...

made from

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...

scar caused by a mortar shell's explosion that was later filled with red

resin In polymer chemistry and materials science, resin is a solid or highly viscous substance of plant or synthetic origin that is typically convertible into polymers. Resins are usually mixtures of organic compounds. This article focuses on n ...

. Mortar rounds landing on concrete during the

siege of Sarajevo The Siege of Sarajevo ( sh, Opsada Sarajeva) was a prolonged blockade of Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the Bosnian War. After it was initially besieged by the forces of the Yugoslav People's Army, the city was then be ...

created a unique fragmentation pattern that looks almost floral in arrangement, and therefore have been named "

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

". There are around 200 "roses" in the entire city, and they are marked on locations where at least three people were killed during the siege of Sarajevo. In addition to the official marking of "roses" by the Ministry of Veterans' Affairs of Canton Sarajevo, some of them are marked or recolored by citizens themselves.

Reconstruction

Since these memorials are located on streets, through the years they have been damaged by pedestrians and vehicles, and therefore several reconstructions (in 2012, 2015 and 2018) have been done to preserve the memorials. The Sarajevo Rose located on Markale market, where the first Markale massacre occurred, was covered with glass, but this type of protection was not practical, and therefore it is planned to protect it with a 3.2 m cone with an LED light on the top.

References

External links

Sarajevo roses , War residue as a memorial
{{Siege of Sarajevo Aftermath of war Siege of Sarajevo Monuments and memorials in Bosnia and Herzegovina