ARK D-0, Museum and bunker in Grad Konjic, Bosnia and Herzegovina
ARK D-0, also known as Tito's Bunker, is an underground military shelter turned museum near Konjic, in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The complex is spread across four levels and contains a presidential office, command centers, communication rooms, dormitories, a kitchen, and medical rooms, all linked by narrow concrete corridors.
Construction began in 1953 on the orders of Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito and was completed in 1979, with the goal of sheltering the country's leadership for up to six months in the event of a nuclear attack. After the breakup of Yugoslavia, the site was declassified in 1992 and eventually reopened as a museum.
ARK D-0 hosts a Biennale of Contemporary Art, with works installed directly inside the concrete corridors and rooms of the complex. The raw underground setting gives the artworks a particular weight that a conventional gallery space could not replicate.
Visits to ARK D-0 are only possible on guided tours, which last around 90 minutes and cover about 1 mile (1.5 km) of underground passages. The temperature inside stays around 63 degrees Fahrenheit (17 degrees Celsius) year-round, so bringing a light jacket is a good idea.
After the fall of Yugoslavia, local engineers were ordered to destroy the bunker with explosives, but they refused, saving the structure from demolition. Many of the workers who built it never saw the full plans, as each team only had access to its own section of the project.
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