Access to Sarajevo from the southeast, since the ancient times was across Trebević slopes, along the left Miljacka coast.

From the Goat’s Bridge, Constantinople road came up to Alifakovac and Bistrik. The right bank of the river from the east was closed by steep rocky cliffs, and the border for the former village Brodac, and present day Bentbaša, is a vertical rock under Vratnik fort.

Miljacka dam

Old Bentbaša stretched only to tekija of Isa-bey Ishaković, to the point where, in the old times the wooden timbers from Pale and Mokro were sailed and pulled out of the river. That lasted untill the establishemnt of the Austro-Hungarian authorities in Sarajevo, when city adminstration realized Constantinople road, as an important corridor for the breakthrough on to East in order to secure the border with Serbia and Montenegro.

River Miljacka without the dam

So, the decision that was made, was that the existing Constantinople road can not longer meet the needs of city development, and that in sequence of Bentbaša a new road should be break what would alleviate the communication to the east.

Already in 1880, began the construction of this road, which is one of the reasons why along the right coast of Miljacka, from the Bentbaša to Goat’s Bridge, a new settlement was starting to appear, and integrate into urban tissue. At the beginning of the route, the engineers already have a problem, an obstacle.

It was rock in shape of slender tower, connected with a massif beneath White tabija, amongst people known as Babin Zub. Drilling a tunnel through Babin Zub was a difficult task. Tunnel passage, which was and still is 15 meters long, and 4 meter high, had been followed with a slight bend in road and river direction.

Old Womans tooth at Bendbaša

Inside and the façade are covered with a stone, so good that it never needed to be repaired or rebuilt, even through the decades of traffic through it. In 1884, huge amount of terrain along the new road, and at the mouth of Miljacka and Mošćanica was bought by Giuseppe da Riva, who built the storage for building materials and restaurant. In the summer time there was a swimming yard, and in the winter times, when Miljacka would freeze, it would become ice skating area.

Tunnel at Babin Zub

Upon the completion of the road in 1888, the right coast of Miljacka became a favorite resort of most of the Sarajevo inhabitants. Along the road, quickly were made, first swimming pool, and a little lower by the river, very famous Šabanova Kafana (Šaban tawern), as a welcoming into the city. The dangerous whirlpools in the Miljacka River have been buried, as a reason of a new road completion.

Once dangerous river Miljacka flow

The whirlpools, very commonly related the lives of swimmers. Names of slides and beaches such as, Čifutnjak, Katilovac, Arapovac, Mali i Veliki Golubnjak disappeared in the whirlwind of time, and were replaced by the name Dariva, as that part of the Sarajevo is still carrying today.

Every Ambassador/Embassy in Sarajevo has planted a tree there and today the part of the road is called Alley of Ambassadors.

Alley of Ambassadors at Bendbaša