Mudželiti Veliki & Mali

It crosses Ćurčiluk Veliki and Ćurčiluk Mali and is connected to Mudželiti Mali and Kujundžiluk.

This street was first laid out in around 1530, when Gazi Husrev Bey’s Mosque was built, and one of the exits from the courtyard comes out right onto Mudželiti Veliki.

It was here on this street that important facilities were built that were part of Gazi Husrev Bey’s vakuf (endowment), including the oldest public toilet in Sarajevo, the clock tower and public kitchen.

This street takes its name from the mudželiti (bookbinders), who had many shops here and who would eventually form an entire čaršija on this street just for their trade.

The oldest known trace of these shops dates from 1557, and by the 18th century the number of bookbinders on this street had grown to such an extent that there wasn’t room for all of them, so they spilled over to the next street, which is called Mudželiti Mali.

Mudželiti Mali runs west to east, connecting Gazi Husrev Begova St. with Mudželiti Veliki and up until the end of the 17th century Ajas Pasha’s Hamam occupied the area around Mudželiti Mali. It was built in 1477 and was demolished in a fire that was started by Eugene of Savoy’s forces.

With the arrival of the modern printing press, there was less demand for those who bound books by hand and the last bookbinder on this street closed their shop at the end of the 19th century.