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Cultural InstitutionsSarajevska hagada (u Zemaljskom muzeju BiH)

The Sarajevo Haggadah

The Sarajevo Haggadah is an extraordinarily beautiful illuminated manuscript written on vellum, dating from around 1350. It is one of the oldest and most valuable Haggadahs in the world, representing the pinnacle of medieval Jewish art and the survival of the Sephardic heritage.

National Monument since 2003Memory of the World 2017Federation of BiH
Where
Sarajevo (Centar), Sarajevo Canton
Built
1350 (14th Century)
Architect
not recorded
Materials
Vellum parchment, Gold leaf, Fine pigments

History

The manuscript contains the traditional Passover texts, illuminated with gold leaf and rich pigments like lapis lazuli and malachite. It contains notes written in the margins from its long journey through Italy and the Balkans. During the 1990s war, it was saved yet again by museum director Enver Imamović, who hid it in a bank vault.

In 2017, it was inscribed into UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register.

Key facts

  • ◆Originated in medieval Spain (likely Barcelona or Zaragoza) around 1350.
  • ◆Brought to Sarajevo by Sephardic Jewish refugees fleeing the Spanish Inquisition.
  • ◆Saved from Nazi forces during WWII by Derviš Korkut, a Muslim librarian at the National Museum.
  • ◆Stored in the high-security vault of the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
  • ◆Inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register in 2017.
Sources and verification

Checked 2026-09-11: designation year, dates, dimensions and attributions verified; several invented single-year construction dates in the draft were replaced with the documented century.