The Ottoman Empire ruled over Bosnia and Herzegovina for over 400 years. When it lost all its territories in the Balkans with the Treaty of Berlin in 1878, the empire left hundreds of buildings behind, including mosques, inns, public baths and madrasahs (Islamic schools). Some of these treasures were either torn down or destroyed by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs and Yugoslavia, which had inherited the lands from the Ottomans. [Adnan] Muftarevic and [Mirsad] Avdic [of the Sarajevo Museum], who are the founders of the 1894 Archaeologists Association, have been conducting archaeological excavations focusing on lost Ottoman heritage since 2005.

Read More: Ottoman Artwork and Buildings Unearthed in Balkans