The Svrzo House represents the lifestyle of an urban Muslim family of the late 18th and throughout the 19th century. The house was built by the prominent Glođo family from Sarajevo and passed by marriage to another prominent family, Svrzo. The Svrzo House is a typical example of the architecture of that period, since it is divided into the public section (selamluk) and the women’s and family section (haremluk). 

There are also spacious rooms on the ground and upper floor (halvat), extended parts of the house with a nice panoramic view (čardak, doksat), wooden balconies looking towards the inner yard (kamerija), another type of extended parts of the house (ćošak), a summer house with an ornamented wood enclosure (musandra) and built-in sofas (sećija). It is all surrounded by high outer walls that protect the privacy of family life from the street.

Before ‘Europeanisation’, Sarajevo was dominated by a specific residential culture, symbolising in its full sense the relation towards life and the life philosophy of a Bosnian man. Comfortable, bright, and spacious houses with a yard were built on the city’s steep slopes, enclosed by a high wall from the outside world, and gardens behind the house. The house preserved the intimacy of family life yet offered an insight into life on the street. On the opposite side, across the garden, the view was broadly open to the horizon. The Svrzo’s house is the most remarkable preserved specimen of the exceptional Sarajevo’s residential architecture in the Ottoman period.

Neighborhoods of  Sarajevo - Baščaršija 

We will start with today's bathing area BentbaSa, which was onceknown as medieval village of Brodac. The founder of Sarajevo, Isabeg Isakovié thought this location was just perfect for establishing acity.

In Baščaršija, he builds Kolobara Han (Kolobara Inn), a hotel in modern terms, which was soon surrounded by a multitude of shops creating the economic basis for the development of the city. Kozja ćuprija bridge (Goat Bridge) was built upstream from the village of Brodac in the 16th century, and today is an easy, half hours walk from Bentbaša along the Dariva Street. Not much is known about Kozja ćuprija, but it is certain that everything came to town through it: armies, caravans, religions, cultures and influences.

There are two traditions about the origin of Kozja ćuprija.
According to the first legend, the bridge was built by the Romans, and the second claims it was built by Mehmed Paša in memory of his childhood when he was just a poor goat shepherd.

According to the legend, one of the goats in his care discovered the hidden treasure. Mehmed used it for his education, became elected to the rank of Pasha and constructed a bridge he called “Goat’s Bridge”. Another permanent stamp was left by Gazi Husrev Beg (Gazi Husrev Bey), the conqueror of Belgrade, the irreplaceable warrior in campaigns of Suleiman the Magnificent, triple Bosnian Steward and Builder. In 1530, with his own money, he built the most monumental building of Islamic culture in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest sacral object of Islamic architecture in this part of the world, Gazi Husrev Beg Mosque, sitting on the right bank of the river Miljacka.

Bey Mosque, together with mekteb, wudu inn, two octagonal mausoleums and the clock tower building is the central and largest complex of the “čaršija”, and has had a significant influence on all construction activities in the city.
It is also the first mosque in the world to install electrical lighting.
More on www.visitsarajevo.ba/bascarsija/