Visit Tito’s Bunker in Konjic, Day Tour from Sarajevo with Meet Bosnia guides

If you would like to discover one of the biggest and best-kept secrets of former Yugoslavia you should certainly join us for our Visit to Tito’s Bunker in Konjic Day Tour.

Tito’s Bunker is of one of the largest and best-kept secrets of the former Yugoslavia. The Bunker is a real miracle of construction, complex for a special purpose – in case a catastrophe happened, Tito, the former president of Yugoslavia and his closest associates would be sheltered here.

The ARK is the largest nuclear shelter, and one of the largest underground facilities, ever built in the former Yugoslavia

This 6500 square meter bunker was one of the most expensive structures in the former Yugoslavia – there was incredible $4.6 billion spent for this project. With your local guide you will discover that took 26 years to build it (from 1953 to 1979) and it was completely designed to withstand nuclear war and shelter communist leaders and army generals. Its air conditioning system, power generator, toalets and many other facilities are still working and the water container cistern is filled with fresh water.

For over a decade after it was constructed, it was the best kept secret military installation in the country since all construction workers were carefully selected and vetted, signing a contract of silence, and all staff members held the highest security clearance.

After Tito’s death in 1980, the complex was still kept ready in case of a war. In March 1992, during the breakup of Yugoslavia, the Jugoslavian Army ordered the demolition of the Bunker, but the military detachment refused to carry out the order and instead surrendered the structure to the Bosnian government.

In the ranking of top-secret military sites in the countries that comprised the former Yugoslavia, bunker number D-0 in the town of Konjic, 50km south-west of the capital Sarajevo, was the most important.

Presidents office

Once it was the best kept secret in Yugoslavia only very few people knew about its existence not to mention the whereabouts. The bunker still isn’t easy to access. The entrance lies behind a nondescript garage door of a remote house at the end of a lonely road east of the town of Konjic, 40 kilometers south of Sarajevo and you must ask for a special approval from the Ministry of Defence to enter the area.

Its air conditioning system, power generator, toalets etc are still working and the water container cistern is filled with fresh water. It was built to withstand an attack with bombs up to 25 kilotons – far more powerful than the ones that were dropped on Hiroshima. In the event of an attack, the bunker could accommodate President Tito, his family and his closest collaborators – about 350 people.

From here it would be possible to govern the country, or what was left of it. It’s a kind of labyrinth, a complex of residential areas, conference rooms, offices, halls for strategic planning, a ‘presidential bloc’ and other sections. The construction of the tunnel was done in total secrecy.
Teams of workers often changed so no one would know too much about the bunker, and workers were brought there blindfolded so they wouldn’t know its exact location.

In 1992, Bosniak members of the rump JNA refused to carry out JNA orders to destroy the bunker.
The bunker is now a venue for a biennial of contemporary art. Prompted by the letters in the code of the bunker, the project has been dubbed D-0 ARK Underground. There is irony in the fact that the bunker, designed and built strictly to accommodate a small circle of the elite, has been reborn and is open to all.

Visit Tito bunker in Konjic, day tour from Sarajevo