Ilijaš

Ilijaš is a town and municipality located in Sarajevo Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located northwest of the inner city of Sarajevo, making it de facto a town and suburb of Sarajevo. The Ilijaš Municipality was established in May 1952 with the organization of people's committees. Those local people's committees founded the local municipalities, which led to the self-management of the municipalities, including the municipality of Ilijaš. Ilijaš is home to the Serbian Orthodox Church of the Holy Prophet Elijah, which was built in the late 19th century.

The oldest traces of life in these areas date back to the Paleolithic era, as evidenced by the Bijambar Caves complex on the Crnorijek Plateau.

Between Olovo and Vareš, Srednji and Čevljanovići, on the vast plateau of the Crnorijek Plateau, there are rich deposits of iron, lead, manganese and mercury. Customs duties were levied in this area as early as 1384, and the ore was transported to Dubrovnik.

The natural resources of forests, ores, unused land and labor became particularly interesting during the Austro-Hungarian rule, when the first industrial enterprises were established, mines were opened, and railways were built.

In the first years of the occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Austria-Hungary, mines were opened, and in 1880 the manganese mine "Bosna" in Čevljanovići came into existence, which met the needs of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy for many years.

The organized education system of the municipality is linked to the last years of the Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The first school began operating in 1908 in Čevljanovići, it was called "" and was attended by the children of the miners of the manganese mine.

In September 1914, priest Tripko Maksimović and 18 peasants who were hostages on the Semizovac-Visoko railway were shot, a monument was erected to them in 1938.[2] (an article in "Politica" talks about 17 people being buried alive[3])

In August 1939 "Jugočelik" began construction of a factory in this town.

Eight-year schools in Ilijaš and Ivančići began operating in the 1955/1956 school year, the school in Ljubina began operating in the 1960/61 school year, and then schools in Šići, Sirovine, Vukasovići, Bioča, Malešići, Karaula and Visojevica. In October 1969, a monument was erected to the 53 patriots killed in 1941.

In the 1991/92 school year, immediately before the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, primary education was provided in the following primary schools: Primary School "27. jul" in Ilijaš, Primary School "Vlado Vuković" in Podlugovi and Primary School "Evgenije Spahić Željko" in Srednji and Podlipnik.

Mostly populated by Serbs population, the municipality was largely under the control of the Army of Republika Srpska from 1992 to 1996. With the Dayton Agreement, the municipality almost entirely belonged to the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Serb population, in fear, largely emigrated and settled throughout Republika Srpska and other countries.