SARAJEVO - In Your Pocket

Ghazi Husrev-beg
Ghazi Husrev-beg B-4, Veliki Saraći, tel. (+387)
33 53 43 75, vakuf-gazi@lsinter.net, www.vakufgazi.ba.
The Gazi Husrev-Beg Mosque was built by the
famous Ottoman architect Mirnar Sinan and is considered
to be one of the most important Islamic buildings in
Bosnia. Gazi Husrev-beg had it constructed by the
Persian architect in an early Istanbul style in 1531. The
45m-high minaret towers over the 26m-high dome and
the surrounding area. The grounds include an abdest
hana, or washing room, a wooden sadrvan (fountain), a
mekteb, or primary school, and a muvekithana, or prayer
caller’s home. To the left are two elaborate 16th century
buildings. The large red house in the enclosed garden
behind the Careva mosque was the official residence of
the Ottoman rulers of Bosnia, and is also the place where
the heavily wounded Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his
wife were brought, and died, after they had been shot by
Gavrilo Princip in 1914.
Jewish Cemetary A-4. Located on the front-line during
the war this historic cemetery was severely damaged
during that time and now faces an ever-present threat
from landslides due to its steep hillside location. Ongoing
rescue and restoration work has seen some of the 3800+
tombstones repaired but much remains to be done and
about 95% of the stones are still damaged. On the site,
located in the Kovačići-Debelo Brdo area and not far above
the transit road, visitors can wander through one of the
largest Jewish cemeteries in Europe. Containing graves
from the 16th century onwards, the cemetery is an integral
part of Jewish history in the region and an atmospheric
and interesting place for the casual visitor though those
wandering through should be aware that the site is in
poor condition and be careful of both the gravestones and
sarajevo.inyourpocket.com
What to see
monuments and their own safety. Also on the site are a
chapel, a fountain and several monuments dedicated to
the victims of fascism. Though it can be walked to and
one can get relatively close by public transport, a taxi
might be the easiest way for visitors who don’t fancy the
steep uphill climb.
Jewish Museum B-4, Mula Mustafe Bašeskije bb,
tel. (+387) 33 21 55 32/(+387) 33 53 56 88, fax
(+387) 33 47 57 49, kontakt@muzejsarajeva.ba,
www.muzejsarajeva.ba. The bare stone walls and timber
floors of this museum, located in a Sarajevo synagogue
built in 1581, provide an aesthetically pleasing space for a
small but well designed and laid out museum dedicated to
the city’s long Jewish history. Along with religious artifacts
the museum displays personal and professional objects
associated with notable local writers, artists, composers
and humanitarian workers. On the upper floor the displays
turn their attention to one of the darkest periods in
human history. The 12000 Jewish Bosnian victims of the
Holocaust are commemorated in a large book bearing
their names while photographs, documents and items
such as concentration camp clothing provide the ‘faces’
behind these names and a testament to their suffering and
the Jewish community’s ultimate survival. QOpen 10:00
- 18:00, Sun 10:00 - 15:00. Closed Sat.
Latin Bridge B-4, Obala Kulina Bana. The name
Latinska Ćuprija may not mean much to the casual visitor
to Sarajevo but mention ‘Franz Ferdinand’ and ‘World War
I’ to anyone who did modern history in high school and the
penny will drop. Dating from 1798 the structure is a fine
example of Ottoman bridge design in itself, but that’s not
why it is world-famous. Latinska Ćuprija is best-known as
the place where the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke
Franz Ferdinand, and his pregnant wife were assassinated
on 28 June 1914 by a Bosnian Serb nationalist, Gavrilo
Princip. Beyond a plaque at the site and a small museum
nearby little fuss is made of its notoriety but standing here
you are at the place where Princip fired his pistol and where
the rest, as they say, is history.
The pseudo-Moorish Vijećnica
Autumn 2009
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