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Muzej Gazi Husrev-begove biblioteke
Photo: Bjoertvedt, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
In a modern building opened in 2014, the museum has a collection of over 1,200 items, displaying Islamic calligraphy, time-keeping and everyday objects of Muslim life. It's within the library which holds some 100,000 historic manuscripts, printed books, periodicals and archive documents, but these are only accessible to registered users.
The Gazi-Husrev-beg Library is a public library in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina founded in 1537 by the sanjakbey of Bosnia Gazi Husrev-beg during Ottoman rule, it is a part of the larger complex with the Gazi Husrev-beg Medresa. It holds one of the most important collections of Islamic manuscripts in Bosnia-Herzegovina, including many originally donated by Gazi Husrev-beg. The collection survived through Bosnian war and Siege of Sarajevo. The library also holds a sizable number of books, journals, newspapers, documents and photographs.
The easiest way to orient yourself in the city is to look for this distinctive 176 m twisted tower, completed in 2008, and hosting the media company Dnevni avaz. There's a café-bar & restaurant on Level 35, reached by lift (free access). From there you pay 2 KM in coins to pass the turnstile and walk upstairs to Level 36, which has an observation deck with outside walkway. The café-bar and restaurant are smoky and the food & service aren't up to much.
Pseudo-Ottoman wooden fountain in the middle of an open square in the old town of Sarajevo. It was built by Mehmed Pasha Kukavica in 1753, and under Austro-Hungarian rule moved to its current location in 1891 by Austrian architect Alexander Wittek. Three replicas of the fountain exist, respectively in Belgrade and Novi Pazar in Serbia, and in St. Louis in the US. The fountain offers shadow and drinkable water. The surrounded Pigeon Square got its name from the countless pigeons swarming around. Feeding pigeons is allowed, and a seller with a trolley sells corn to tourists to feed the birds.
Katedrala Srca Isusova
The largest Christian cathedral in Bosnia, and the seat of Archbishop of Vrhbosna. It was built in honour of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in a Neo-Gothic style with Romanesque Revival elements, and modelled on the Notre-Dame of Dijon. Construction of the cathedral began on 25 August 1884, under Austro-Hungarian reign, was carried out by the Viennese contractor Baron Karl Schwarz, and supervised by architect Josip Vancaš. The cathedral was the scene of peace demonstrations in 1991 before the Bosnian War broke out, and subsequently damaged during the Siege of Sarajevo. The design above the door to the entrance is part of the flag and seal of the Sarajevo administrative canton and the Romanesque towers are featured on the flag and coat of arms of Sarajevo, making the building a symbol of the city. The niche above the portal features an octagonal rosette and a statue of the Sacred Heart. The interior of the cathedral was designed by architect Josip Vancaš, including the main altar which is made from Grisignano marble and rests on four columns of red Tyrolean marble. The frescoes were commissioned to Alexander Maximilian Seitz in 1886 but due to deteriorating health, they were only completed in 1887, and he died a year afterwards. Most of the actual work was undertaken by his assistant Alberto Rohden. A prominent feature is the grave of archbishop Stadler, the first archbishop of Vrhbosna, and the sculpture is of the hand of Marin Studin. The stained-glass windows ornamenting the cathedral were manufactured by the Viennese workshop of the Tiroler Glasmalerei (German for glass painting artisan). An English language mass is held on Sundays at 12:00. For candles, ask the information desk at the entrance (1 KM each). Photography not allowed.
Morića Han
The only preserved Ottoman Inn (han literally means roadside inn) in Sarajevo, built in 1551, under the benevolence of Gazi Husrev-Beg's endowment (vakuf). It served as a caravanserai, able to accommodate up to 300 guests, 70 horses, and offered 43 rooms where travellers could spend the night. On 29 July 1878, the inn became the scene of the protest movement against the Austro-Hungarian occupation of Bosnia, and the People's Council (Narodni Odbor) was founded here. The building was damaged or destroyed by fires numerous times and rebuilt each time, notably in 1697 and again in December 1957 when the entire complex was burned to the ground. Reconstruction took place from 1971 to 1974, and Persian calligraphic inscriptions from poems written by Omar Khayyám, a 12th-century Persian poet, were added as decorations. The property ownership to the inn was returned to the Gazi Husrev-Beg endowment in 1998, and houses a carpet shop and traditional restaurant, occasionally hosts exhibitions and offers business space for purposes that match the historical context and purpose of the building. Stairs on either side of the inner patio allow visitors to reach the first floor with the rooms.
Sahat-kula
The clock tower, at 30 metres, is the tallest in Bosnia, and dates back to the 17th century when it was constructed by Gazi Husrev-beg next to the mosque that also bears his name. The tower has a staircase with 76 wooden steps arranged in a square, and displays the time on all 4 sides. When Eugene Savoy of the Austrian army laid siege on the city in 1697 and looted it, the tower was set on fire, but restored in 1762. After the Austro-Hungarian occupation, the upper part of the tower was upgraded, and the decaying Turkish clock mechanism was replaced by a new one from Gillet & Johnston, made in London in 1873. The original clock mechanism was moved to the Vratnik mosque where it remains on display until today. The last upgrade dates from 1967, when the dials were gold-plated. A peculiarity of the clock tower is that it appears to be the only remaining clock tower in the world that displays the lunar clock (a la turca, lunar reckoning). This method of measuring time counts hours up till the moment of (astronomical) sunset instead of midnight, as with contemporary time calculation, so the hands are in the 12 o'clock position at every sunset, when a new day also begins. Since the setting of the sun is uneven throughout the year, the time needs to be manually controlled and recalibrated every 2 to 3 days. The task of recalibrating the clock was assigned to the muvekit (timekeeper), who used astronomical instruments in a special room called the muvekithana to calculate the position of the sun. The current muvekit, Mensur Zlatar, who works at a nearby jewellery shop, has been assigned the responsibility since 1960s. The exact timing of the sunset used to be an important moment for locals to schedule their time of prayer, but the original religious purpose behind the lunar time has long since had its meaning forgotten, causing many to think that the clock is simply bad at proper time keeping. In 2006, the Commission for the Preservation of National Monuments proclaimed the clock tower as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The tower cannot be visited, but it is possible to stand at its base by following the tunnel leading to Pekara Imaret right next to the tower.
Tašlihan served as one of the three stone caravanserais in Sarajevo (the others being the Morića Han and Kolobara Han), the name literally translates to 'stone han'. It is believed that Tašlihan was the largest and most representative inn of its kind in the region, and built between 1540-1543 by craftsmen from Dubrovnik, who equipped the building with lead cupolas unlike the other two inns. It had a square foundation with sides of 47 m, guest rooms on two levels, and a fountain in the courtyard. Several fires damaged the building, and the last one in 1879 completely destroyed it. The last remaining bits of rubble were removed in 1912, except for the shared wall with the bezestan. When archaeological research was carried out as part of the 1998 renovation of adjacent Hotel Europe, the remains of Tašlihan were uncovered in the hotel's garden. The site was declared a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina by the Committee for the Preservation of National Monuments in 2004.