Marijin Dvor (Mary's Court) is the neighbourhood built by the Austro-Hungarian administration after 1878, when they took over from the Ottomans and set about making Sarajevo look more like a European capital. The result is a dense grid of neo-Renaissance and Secession-style buildings — government offices, apartment blocks, hotels, and cultural institutions — that could have been transplanted from Prague or Ljubljana.
The contrast with Baščaršija is complete and deliberate. Walking from the Ottoman cobblestones to the Austrian boulevard takes five minutes and several centuries. The neighbourhood contains the National Museum, the National Library (Vijećnica), the City Hall, the Academy of Fine Arts, and several of the city's grand hotels. Many of the facades have been recently restored. The tree-lined boulevards along the Miljacka River embankment are pleasant for evening walks.