The urban part of today's Zenica was formed during several specific periods which can chronologically be dated to the time of Neolithic community, Illyrian old towns ruins, Roman Municipium Bistua Nuova, and the most important archaeological find, an II to IV century AD, Early Christian double Basilica, in addition to it there is only one more like that indentificated so far in entire Europe. Ruins of an ancient settlement were founded not far from Bilimišce(part of the town on the south-eastern side) in the villages of Putovici and Tišina, with objects like Villa Rustica, baths, pagan temples and a variety of different structures which dominated the scenary of the environment.

The age of independence of the medieval Bosnian Kingdom is directly connected with Zenica, above all with the stone table of the Grand Magistrate Gradiša and the rule of Bosnia by Ban Kulin (Governor) in the second half of the XII century. An Act of Abjuration was sign in Bilino Polje (where the city's football stadium is today) by Kulin with the representatives of the Pope, and that action symbolized the end of an era. The Act determines the facts of the political powers of that time. The closeness to the stony fortress of Vranduk, then to the residence of the Kings of Bosnia at Bobovac and to the village Janjici where the Did, the High Priest of the Bosnian Church use to preside along with its Stecaks (type of a medieval tombstone founded only on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina and some parts of Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia) in the villages of Puhovac and Pojske and the local population with its clerks, writers and builders of that time, who had left their own mark in history, points to the facts and gives evidence of the special significance of this region in the Middle Ages. By its old names Bistua Nuova, Bilino Polje (Bilin's Field), Brod and finally Zenica from the 20th of March 1436 this town has remained connected to the central parts of the Bosnian State and stands in the middle of the river Bosna's flow.

During the rule of the Ottoman Empire (1463 - 1878) and by the fact that the changes to the main trade road had reorganized the function of the town, accept during a brief period until 1557, when Zenica was the residence of Brod's Kadi (Ottoman judge, handles both religious and secular affairs of his subjects), Zenica was a small town with its own individual look and several mosques: Sultan Ahmet's, Osman Cheleby's, Seymen and Jali mosques, with a Madrassa (Islamic religious school), founded in 1737 and several lower primary schools, with interesting Ottoman tombstones, gardens, inns and several stopping inns for caravans. In one description from the year 1697, Zenica is mentioned as a delta of Nile, where melons grow and where the entire landscape is very pleasant. It is assumed that Zenica had 2.000 inhabitants at that time and all were mostly Bosniacs, while Serbs and Croats are mentioned in the documents at the end of XVIII century and in the XIX century Jews are also mentioned.

The raids of Eugene of Savoy have been marked as dark times which left a lot destruction and caused an exodus and after the year 1697, Zenica had started to stabilise and to distinguish itself in the administrative, urban, economical and topographical characteristics all of which have opened the paths to the prosperity that followed in the XX century. At the end of XIX century, during Austro-Hungarian occupation, there were investments in capital projects that had wider social and economic importance, and were soon to become life and fate of Zenica. Those projects include a railroad from Bosanski Brod to Zenica built in 1879, Coal Mine b. in 1880, Paper Works b. in 1885, Steel Factory b. in 1892 and a Detention Facility b. in 1886, all of these investments caused a chain of changes in both the quality and quantity of city's development.

Lamela, the biggest building in Zenica

In the begging of the XX century, there was an urban boom and the official State Register for the year 1910 shows that for only a few years the number of population had increased to 7.215 inhabitants. It is evident that there is a huge urban acceleration. The Orthodox Church was built in 1882, two Catholic Churches in 1910, a Synagogue in 1903, several motels, hotel, school, plumbing system, modern road and etc. The Twentieth Century is marked by several interesting, typical and unusual manifestations, including increased industrialization especially after 1938 and the construction of the rough rail, pauperization of parts of the population, the rise of power of the working class and the mixture of Greater European understandings with the domestic Bosnian mentality and local customs. The city that has developed has different functions and purposes, especially after having to cope with the fact that it has a Detention Facility on one side of the town and a Steel Factory on the other. But is has also a valuable gift, the lives of its inhabitants are closely connected, the Stone Bridge binds the house of Kosta Jefic and Osmanaga Mehmedic along with the Jewish Synagogue for full ninety years.

During Second World War and the preparation for the uprising, there was a struggle of the local population to survive and maintain its existence and respect, that can be seen in the famous Resolution of the Muslims of Zenica, which was sighed in May of 1942 and the formation of its authentic symbol, a Muslim militia in the villages of Šerići, Doglodima, Babino and throughout rise of the partisan movements. All of these struggles had their own hard demands and burdens. That was the dimension of the resistance of Zenica, the town did not have greater damages, terror nor human causalities, which is the fact of first class importance and significance. It is regretful that the goals of the antifascist struggle collided with the ideological determination, which had some dire and unexpected consequences in the aftermath of the war.

Older part of the town at night

The most prominent growth of Zenica started after the partisans liberated the small town in 1945 and began to develop the steel industry. During those years new buildings were constructed there and the town grew rapdily, spreading to encompass Bilino Polje, Klopce, and Radakovo, all villages during the Ottoman period. Many apartment blocks were built to house the new miners.

In 1948 the population was only 12,000 people, but by 1961 it had grown to over 30,000. In 1981 the town had over 63,000 people, and in the last census taken 1991 Zenica was a city of some 96,027 people. Zenica has seen a sixfold increase in its population in the past 50 years.

In 1991, just one year before the Bosnian War, Zenica was the headquarters of one of the first private and independent radio stations in all of Eastern Europe, Radio CD-CEMP. In the spring of 1993, Zoran Misetic, a journalist and the owner of the Radio CD-CEMP, was awarded with the Belgian Award for Independet Journalism; “Pen Of Peace”.