SARAJEVO 515

Old Synagogue and

Jewish Museum 4

Velika avlija i muzej
jevreja

Velika Avlija bb. Map E2.
Tel (033) 533 431. # 10am–6pm
Mon–Fri, 10am–1pm Sun. &
http://www.muzejsarajeva.ba

Built in 1850, the Old
Synagogue long served as the
centre of Sarajevo’s vibrant
Jewish community. The major-
ity of Sarajevo’s Jews were
Sephardis, descended from the
Jews of Spain and Portugal
who were expelled from the
Iberian Peninsula in the 1490s.
Bosnia’s Ottoman rulers gave
them refuge, valuing their
expertise in banking and trade.
The interior once featured
arched balconies, but the
build ing was plun dered during
World War II and used as a
Jewish prison during the
Holocaust, when Sarajevo’s
Jewish pop ulation of 12,000
was reduced by 85 per cent.
The synagogue’s restoration
in 1965 was timed to coincide
with the cele bra tion of 400
years of Jewish presence in
Bosnia, when it became a
museum of Jewish history.
It was then badly damaged
after repeat ed shelling during
the Bosnian War, but was
renovated in 2003.
The museum’s collec tions,
which include some rare
manuscripts, document the
thriving Jewish culture in the
region up until the Holocaust.

Hand-decorated shell and mortar cases on sale in the bazaars

Long Bazaar and

Brusa Bazaar 6

Dugi bezistan i Brusa

bezistan

Kundurdžiluk 10, Baščaršija.

Map E3. # 15 Apr–15 Oct:

10am–4pm Mon–Fri, 10am–3pm

Sat. & http://www.muzejsarajeva.ba

Sarajevo’s largest covered

market, the Long Bazaar was

built in 1542 on the orders of

Governor Gazi Husrev Bey.

The massive stone structure

is covered by a vaulted

ceiling and once housed 52

shops selling goods imported

from all over Europe and the

Ottoman Empire. The bazaar

lies along Kundurdžiluk

Street, which also leads to

the Gazi Husrev Bey Mosque

commis sioned by the

governor 12 years earlier.

The nearby Brusa Bazaar

was built in 1551 by the

Ottoman General Grand Vizier

Rustem for trade in Bursa silk

from Turkey. Its eight cupolas

and rough stone walls were

dam aged by shell ing, but since

its reconstruc tion it has been

used as an ethno graphic and

historical museum.

brought in to design what was

to be the region’s grandest

mosque. This was achieved by

combining a series of domes

with a 45-m (148-ft) minaret,

and by illumi nating the interior

with over 50 win dows around

the base of the central dome.

Elaborate calli graphic quota-

tions from the Koran adorn the

walls and thick Oriental rugs,

gifted by visiting rulers over

the cen turies, cover the floor.

The mosque’s spacious

courtyard is dominated by an

ancient chestnut tree and con-

tains two domed mauso leums

as well as a beautiful marble

fountain used by worshippers

for their ritual ablutions. The

mosque was, however, a key

target during the Bosnian War

and despite its 2-m (7-ft) thick

walls suffered extensive

dam age from shelling, though

Gazi Husrev Bey

Mosque 5
Gazi Husrev-begova
džamija

Sarači 8. Map E2. Tel (033) 532

144. 
     

     1 May–30 Sep: 9am–noon,

     
     

     2:30pm–4pm & 5:30pm–7pm daily.
     = http://www.vakuf-gazi.ba

     
     

Regarded as one of the finest
examples of Ottoman Islamic
architecture in the world, this
stunning old mosque with its
five-arch porch and multiple
domes was commissioned in
1531 by Gazi Husrev Bey,
who governed Bosnia between
1521 and 1541. Persian archi-
tect Adzem Esir Ali was

Ornate entrance to Gazi Husrev

Bey Mosque

it has since been restored.

Gazi Huzrev Bey also funded

the construction of a children’s

religious maktab (school)

within the complex and an

advanced madrasa (school)

opposite, with an intricately

decorated arched entrance.

The adminis trative building

to the west of the courtyard

is notable for its imposing

clock tower. Built in 1697,

the tower measures lunar

time and shows precisely

when the sun sets.