Ilidà ¾a (, ) is a spa town and a municipality located in Sarajevo Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It has a total population of 66,730 with 63,528 in Ilidà ¾a itself, and is a chief suburb of Sarajevo and de facto its neighborhood. It is best known for the Vrelo Bosne spring, as well as the natural environment of its surroundings and historical tradition dating back to Neolithic times. Sarajevo International Airport is located nearby.
Ilidà ¾a is known to have a pleasant and attractive geography. The town itself is built on fairly level ground, although it is surrounded by mountains. The biggest is Mount Igman, whose peak towers above the town. On the mountain grows the "Golden Lily" (Lilium bosniacum), a branch of the Lily family of flowers that is a historical symbol of Bosnia. The area is rich in flint, especially in the Butmir neighborhood.
The à ½eljeznica river, a tributary of the Bosna, passes through the town's center. The Bosna itself passes through Ilidà ¾a's outskirts. Its spring, Vrelo Bosne, is found a few kilometers to the west of the town centre and is a national park. A number of smaller streams also pass through the town's area.
A number of horticulture projects have been undertaken in the history of Ilidà ¾a. The town is today very rich in trees. The total area of the town's parks is about 50% of that of Sarajevo, which has six times its population. In 1894, an article in a London newspaper called Ilidà ¾a "One of the most beautiful places in the world".
Climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year-round. The Köppen climate classification subtype for this climate is "" (Marine West Coast Climate/Oceanic climate).
Ilidà ¾a is one of the longest continuously inhabited regions in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since the 19th century, numerous archeological finds have been made in the Butmir area, dating from Neolithic times. The so-called Butmir culture, is one of the best documented Neolithic cultures in Europe of the 26th and 25th centuries BC.
During Roman times, the Ilidà ¾a area was the location of the town known as Aquae Sulphurae. This was a Roman colony, and the largest settlement in the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the time. Today numerous traces of Roman civilisation have been found, such as mosaics, ceramics, jewellery, coins, and even structural remains.
During the medieval period, the Ilidà ¾a area was part of the Bosnian province of Vrhbosna. Katera, one of the two original Bosnian towns mentioned by Constantine VII in De Administrando Imperio, was found on the ground of today's Ilidà ¾a municipality. The disciples of Saints Cyril and Methodius considered the area important enough to stop at Vrelo Bosne and build a church in the area.
The modern town of Ilidà ¾a as we know it was founded during the Ottoman rule of Bosnia. Its name derives from the Turkish word Ilñca, meaning "warm thermal springs". Numerous elements of Turkish culture found their way into Ilidà ¾a, such as a number of oriental homes from the 15th and 16th centuries that have survived to this day. Numerous mosques and bridges were also built at this time.
Ilidà ¾a, like the rest of Bosnia and Herzegovina, experienced industrialisation and westernization with the coming of Austria-Hungary. A railway station and tracks, hotels, and various other structures made Ilidà ¾a the most important town after Sarajevo in the region. This continued into the 1900s as Ilidà ¾a continued to grow and develop.
Before 1990, Ilidà ¾a was populated mainly by Serbs 47,21% and Bosniaks 31,58%. When the Bosnian War started in 1992, until the 1995 Dayton Agreement, the municipality was divided between Bosnian Muslims (Hrasnica, SokoloviàKolonija, Butmir) and Serb (Ilidà ¾a, Kotorac, VojkoviÃÂi, Grlica) parts. When, under the terms of the Dayton Agreement, Ilidà ¾a was placed within the territory of the Bosnian Federation, the vast majority of Serbs fled the town to live in Republika Srpska, destroying some buildings as they did so. In the process, NATO and EU observers reported about violence between those Serbs who decided to leave and ones who wanted to stay, as those who were leaving looted and set on fire not just their but also houses and property of those who were staying as well. From 1996, Ilidà ¾a was home to the headquarters of the NATO peacekeeping force IFOR (later SFOR and EUFOR) before its move to nearby Butmir in the year 2000. During this period, the hotels Terme, Srbija (Serbia), Bosna (Bosnia) and Jadran were barricaded and the area was used as NATO HQ. Today Ilidà ¾a remains a bustling, largely Bosniak-dominated town. VojkoviÃÂi and Grlica formed Eastern Ilidà ¾a Municipality which is dominated by Serbs.
The municipality is administered through sixteen local communities ():
Although a fully incorporated suburb of Sarajevo, Ilidà ¾a is its own municipality and thus has its own municipal government.
The current political parties are represented in the Municipal Assembly:
The current municipal mayor is Nermin Muzur, elected in the 2020 local elections and serving since 23 December 2020.
Prior to the war, Ilidà ¾a municipality was one of the five wealthiest in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and one of the ten wealthiest in the whole of Yugoslavia. The war had a devastating effect on the town's economy, but today it has returned to its pre-war wealth. Several important local companies are based in Ilidà ¾a. The town's economy is based on food processing, electronics, and manufacturing.
According to the 2013 census, the municipality had a population of 66,730 inhabitants, with 63,528 in Ilidà ¾a itself.
The municipality consists of the following settlements with their respective populations:
Ilidà ¾a has ten public and two private primary schools, as well as five secondary schools, including one public gymnasium. Three private universities, the International University of Sarajevo, the International Burch University and the Sarajevo School of Science and Technology, are also located in Ilidà ¾a. All three are regarded as the most prestigious private universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina based on their wealth and rankings.
Sarajevo International Airport is located just a few kilometers from the town. The region's natural environment and historical sites are draws for tourists.
Ilidà ¾a with its historic Roman archaeological site consisting of thermae and the village of Aquae Sulphurae, the 19th century hotel complex from Austro-Hungarian period, and a modern bath and spa resort hotel, Banja Terme Ilidà ¾a, is a spa town. This, along with a rich natural heritage, makes tourism the most important parts of Ilidà ¾a's economy. The natural environment of the area is used to the town's advantage, attracting tourists from both abroad and from neighboring Sarajevo. There are plans for future development to enhance tourism, including hotels and a cable cars line to mount Igman as a destination for skiing and hiking.
Vrelo Bosne is one of the country's most popular protected areas. The Rimski Most ("Roman Bridge") over the Bosna river was built in the 16th century using actual Roman stones.
Ilidà ¾a is twinned with: