Sarajevo is an intersection of cultures, a city in which the West and the East collide. It is said that Sarajevo is the European Jerusalem, and in the center of the city, the Muslim, Catholic, Orthodox and Jewish churches are located in practically the same place.
The buildings that were located on the left and right bank of Miljacka testify to the four historical periods during which Sarajevo was built, contemporary, socialist, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman. Archaeological excavations, tourist attractions can be seen in the Old Town and the Center of the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In the city below the Trebevic, in the old part of the city and in the Center there are three archeological discoveries. Tashlihan, Bakr-babina mosque, Misrijina medresa, Kantamirijina kutubhane (libraries) and mekteb and harem – mezaristan at At Mejdan site, and Mosque Kalin Hadji Alija near the National Theater.
Taslihan
Taslihan was one of three Sarajevo warships – saraja (along with Morića han and Kolobara han), which were used to accommodate people and horses. The caravan – in fact, it was a large courtyard where the whole caravan of factory horses and traders could be accommodated.
Usually, caravans – sarays are built on two floors. Almost always a caravan – he only had one entrance, which would have been locked overnight. The yard, the main purpose of which was the loading and unloading of goods, was usually covered with cobblestones, and in one of its parts there would be a well or a fountain.
Around the yard, on one or more sides, was a wide porch, and behind it were the stone magaza where the goods were kept.
Along the side of the yard, there would be a horse stand, and from the ground floor to the floor, where the guest rooms were arranged, it led at least one staircase.
Taslihan was the largest and most representative han in the region, and during his construction, just like the neighboring Gazi Husrev – beg ‘s Bezistana, the masters from Dubrovnik took part. It is also interesting that Taslihan was overwhelmed by lead domes, which was not the case with other Sarajevo hans.
Tashlihan burned several times, the last time in 1879, when it was completely destroyed. The remains of the hana were removed in 1912, apart from the part of the walls built besistan.
Within the project of rehabilitation, reconstruction and extension of the Hotel Europe, archaeological research was carried out in the part of the hotel’s summer garden, which resulted in the discovery of a part of the foundation of Taslihan.
In 2004, the Commission for the Preservation of National Monuments of BiH issued a decision declaring the archaeological site, specifically the remains of Taslihan, a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Bakr-Babina mosque
Bakr-Babina mosque is located near the archaeological park At Mejdan in the Old Town, on the left bank of the Miljacka River, a little east of the Čumuri bridge.
The original mosque in that place was built as a vakuf of the distinguished Sarajevo merchant, Alija Bakr-baba, in 1544, and according to him, the mosque was named Bakr-babina.
This building, with which it was built, was at that time one of the most beautiful and largest Sarajevo mosques, with a minaret about 30 meters high.
When Eugene Savojsky fired the Sarajevo in October 1697, the mosque swallowed a fire.
At the same place, around 1700, a new mosque was built, which later burnt itself, after which it was restored by inhabitants of a nearby mahala.
On the east side of the mosque harem (courtyard with the cemetery), Ismail Misri built a medres in 1741 or 1742, and soon afterwards he built a library across the road from Abdulah – efendi Kantamiri, and at the end of the 18th century, the area around the mosque became a significant educational and cultural center .
At the beginning of the 19th century, this area was losing its significance, and the arrival of the Austro-Hungarian authorities of the Bakr-Babina mosque and the buildings that stood beside it were welcomed in a ruined and deserted state.
Immediately after the Austro-Hungarian occupation Bakr-Babina mosque was turned into a military warehouse, and in 1895 it was destroyed together with the Mekteb building. The place where it was located was aligned with the land and turned into part of the At Mejdan Park.
Kalin Hadži Alijina mosque
Vakif Kalin Hadji Ali built a mosque and mekteb in the area where he used to be a small meadow (Turkish tea-tree) in 1535, and hence it waved Kalin hajji Alija mosque known as the Chajirdzik Mahala. The mosque was of central size, with a stone minaret and a roof of shingles and ceramides. The interior was made of wood. The harem of the mosque is enclosed by a wall of beads, with several windows with iron demirms. In the wall of the harem, towards the street, there was a stone walled fountain.