RECOMMENDED PLACES
Top attractions in Baščaršija — Sebilj and Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque.
Sebilj (iconic fountain), Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque (1531), Morica Han (Ottoman caravanserai), the Clock Tower, Sarači street — all within a 300-meter radius.
Vijećnica is the most extravagant building constructed in Sarajevo during Austro-Hungarian occupation and serves as a symbol of the meeting of world civilizations.
A ledger from 1541 makes the first mention of a bridge located on the spot where the Latin Bridge is found today, stating that it was built by one sarač (leather worker) named Husein, the son of Širmed.
Gazi Husrev Bey’s Mosque, or Bey’s Mosque, as it is known locally, was built in the center of Baščaršija in 1530. Bey’s Mosque was designed by Adžem Esir Ali, a Persian from Tabriz, who was the chief architect in the Ottoman Empire at that time.
It is thought that during the Middle Ages there was a settlement and smaller trading area, called Stara Varoš, which served as a precursor to today’s Baščaršija. In around 1460, Isa Bey Ishaković laid the foundations for Sarajevo, and this trading center on the right bank of the Miljacka River would grow to become a bazaar.
The Emperor’s Mosque is Sarajevo’s oldest mosque and one of the oldest in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is presumed that Isa Bey Ishaković, the founder of Sarajevo, had this place of worship built soon after the city’s founding in 1462 in honor of Sultan Mehmed II “the Conqueror”.