BOSNIAN TRADITIONAL PUBLIC SERVICE BUILDINGS

BUILT BEFORE THE END OF THE 19TH CENTURY

Rough categorization of Bosnian architecture (purpose and function):

1. Private buildings 4. Production buildings
2. Religious and sepulclar 5. Public buildings
3. Defence and military

Definition of public service buildings:

-public buildings serve to the community
-public buildings are commissioned by the state or they are an endowment of a person
-establishment of the public buildings is connected with the establishment of urban centres in
Bosnia
-separation of public and private functions in present in most historical cores of Bosnian
towns until the 19th century

Form and function:

-public buildings express the power and social, cultural and economical level of the society
-they represent the most developed expressions of architecture

1. EDUCATIONAL BULDINGS
-Mektebs -Orthodox, Jewish or Catholic schools
-Medresasa usually close to the church or temple
-Hanikhakhs

Mektebs
-established close to almost every mosque in the centre of the residential quarter
-small simple buildings that in 19th century were westernized in the sense that students were
using chairs and tables instead of sitting on the floor

(now in Male daire)

Madrasah
-private, public or parochial school as well as for primary, secondary,… education
-children between ages of 10&12 enrolled in the medresa and their education was not
designed to last for a specific term so they studied between 12 and 16 years
-the medresa operated on the same principle as a university faculty, with pupils having a
certain number of “books” which they were required to pass

1
-a study of the layout of medresas in Bosnia reveals the following architecture:
 Enclosed, with inner  U-shaped medresas
courtyard  Longitudinal medresas
 L-shaped medresas  Medresa - dershanas
-the treatment of medresas has retained the division by ground plan

Gazi Husrev-bey`s (Kuršumlija) Medresah, Sarajevo 1536/1538

-U shaped plan medresah
-consists of 12 study cells for students and one big lecture room (dershana)
-each room is domed and has its own fireplace with chimney that makes specific architectural
axpression
-It was built in memory of Gazi hurev-bey`s mother, Seljuk sultana and thus was known to
the locals as the Seldžukija but with the addition of the lead roof it acquired the name
Kuršumlija

Počitelj Šišman Ibrahim paša`s Medresah 17th century

-dates before 1664
-it belongs to the standard L type of smaller religious schools, with five classrooms and a
lecture room, with and inner courtyard (15x17metar exterior size)

2
-lecture room is more prominent than the classrooms, set symmetrically at the end of the row
of rooms and larger in size

Hanikhakhs
-khabaqah-Sufi centre for the sufy of tasawwuf or Sufi lodges in which dervishes both lived
and received their theoretical education, began to develop in the 11th century and were then
adopted to the institutions
-initially simple institutions and groups of dervishes, specific educational iinstitutions, whose
task was to provide a home for anf to uplift and lend nobility to dedicated dervishes

Gazi Husrev-beg khanaqah 16th century

-The Gazi Husrev-beg khanaqah occupies a unique position among the khanaqas in BiH
(Sarajevo and Mostar)
-along with the Gazi Husrev-bey`s mosque and medresa, it constitutes an architectural and
aesthetic townscape and the centre of Sarajevo
-competed until 1531 to the northwhile the opposite side was done by late 938 when gazi
Husrev-bey`s second vakufnama was issued
-dervishes here acquired the knowledge they required

2. BOSNIAN CLOCK TOWERS

-mechanical clocks first appeared in Europe in the middle Ages, above on all clock towers.
-the construction of buildings of this type in the Ottoman Empire began in the mid 16th
century

3
-First clock tower in Bosnia was built in Banja Luka in 17th century
-clock towers were usually erected in the centres of the town čaršijas by the mosques…
-clock towers are tall buildings, square in cross section, usually stoen built with a pyramidal
roof
-below the roof of a clock tower there was usually a cornice, and below this four apertures,
one on each façade, where the clock and striking mechanism were located. The clocks were
connected to a bell
-in addition to these foiur openings, there were also loopholes on the clock towers, arrayed
from the base to the top. These apertures served to let in a modicum of light to illuminate the
steep wooden staircase that led to the clock mechanism
-the stairs were set into the walls and had landings at the angles
-the legators provided for the maintenance of their clock towers, each clock tower had an
official responsible for winding up the clock, while a sahačiaja was responsible for repairs

-21 clock towers in Bosnian

-2 in Travnik and Sarajevo (others are in Banja Luka, Jajce, Foča, Gornji Vakuf, Donji Vakuf,
Gračanica, Gradačac, Livno, Maglaj, Mostar, Nevesinje, Počitelj, Prozor, Prusac, Tešanj,
Trebinje, Stolac)

Clock Tower in Sarajevo, late 16th or early 17th century

-at 30 metres it is the tallest clock tower in BiH
-clock tower was built in part with limestone, but mainly with cuf tufa blocks laid in lime
mortar
-in addition to this one, there was another one in Vratnik near the White mosque built in wood
in 1874 but it was removed during the time

4
Clock Towers in Travnik 17th century
-Travnik is the only town in Bosnia with two clock towers
-One is located in Donja Čaršija and the other in Gornja Čaršija
-these two čaršijas are quite apart
-older one is the one built in Musala (Donja)

Mehmed paša Kukavica Clock Tower in Foča 18th century

-stands in the immediate vicinity of his mosque and other endowments in Foča
-assumtion it was built after 1758 since it is not refered in the Mehmed Paša Kukavica`s
vakufnama
-The clock tower was thus built after that date, but certainly prior to 1761 when mehmed paša
was banished from Bosnia and executed

Clock Tower in Gracanica 17th century

-built by Ahmet Paša
-the tower gradually narrowing to the top, at a height of 27 metres
-it does stand perpendiculary but leans to one side, which earned it the name of the Crooked
Tower in Gracanica (true also for the towers in Gradacac and Banja Luka)

5
Clock Tower in Gornji Vakuf (1710-1711)
-a legend states that it was built because a girl from Stolac who married a man in Gornji
Vakuf when asked by her father what she misses the most said the chiming of the clock tower,
so her father built it to make her wish come true.

3. BOSNIAN HAMAMS
-56 hamams in Bosnia out of which 7 in Sarajevo:
1. Isa bey Ishakovic Hamam, oldest one in Sarajevo, mentioned in 1462, near Careva
mosque
2. Ajas bey`s bath 1477
3. Firuz-bey`s hamam
4. Bali-bey Jahjapašić`s hamam 1521 Bistrik
5. Medmed Paša`s bath in Šejh Ferahova mahala 1556
6. Gazi Husrev bey`s hamam 1537
7. Kemal-bey`s hamam
-2 classifications of the hamams:
• Tek-hamam- single hamam, women could only enter during the day
• Čifte-hamam-double haham, women had completely separate premises, some
had sections for Jewish
-had floors of large stone slabs, and roofs consisting of domes or barrel vaults constructed of
tufa, with lead cladding. The vaults and domes rows, sealed with a thick, round, markedly
projecting glass pane
-principal materials used to built a hamam were stone and tufa, with lime mixed with goat hair
used as mortar
-walls were from 70 to 155 cm thick
-each hamam had at least three areas:

6
  Šadrvan (apodyterium)-used as waiting area and cloakroom, where tea and coffee
weer usually served
 Kapaluk (tepidarium)-for washing with soap and water
 Halvat (caldarium)-for steaming
In addition each hamam had two additional premises, the Hazna (water cauldron) and the
Ćulhan or furnace room and a lavatory or privy

Gazi Husrev-bey`s haham Sarajevo 1537

Isa bey`s hamam Sarajevo 1462 (Josip Vancaš 1891)

-was double type of hamam
-closed in 1887 and new built in 1891 (Moorish style by Josip Vancaš)
-consisted of the old type of the steam bath and of the new type of public bath with showers

7
 4. BOSNIAN KHANS
-most typically a caravansaries was a building with square or rectangular walled exterior, with
a single portal wide enough to permit large and heavily laden beasts such as horses to enter
-the courtyard was almost always open to the sky, and the inside walls of the enclosure were
outfitted with a number of identical stalls, bays, niches, or chambers to accommodate
merchants and their servants, animals and merchandise
-caravansaries provided water for human and animal consumption, washing and ritual
ablutions. Sometimes they even had elaborate baths
-they also kept fodder for animals and had shops for travellers where they could acquire new
supplies. In addition, there could be shops where merchants could dispose of some of their
goods

Caravansary of Mehmed-paša Kukavica, Foča, 18th century

-one of the few surviving buildings of this type in Bosnia, built before 1758 by Mehmed-paša
Kukavica, an Ottoman feudal lord, who financed the nearby mosque and clock tower
-typical example of the group of hans with no courtyard, of rectangular ground plan and very
simple layout
-the ground floor had ample stabling for horses and to the left and right of the entrance a
goods magaza where travellers could buy and sell
-by the main entrance to the stables was a staircase leading to the central landing on the first
floor, around which the bedrooms were arranged.

8
 5. BEZISTANS
-6 bezistans in BiH (3 in Sarajevo 1463-1551, 1 Banja Luka 1587-1659, 2 Travnik 1759s)
-bezisten is a coumpound word meaning a place where bez or fabric is sold.

Gazi husrev-bey`s bezistan 16th century

9
-also known as the Old bezistan or the Large bezistan was built in the first half of the 16th
century (earliest mentioning in 1551)
-arastas-covered street- longitudinal, barrel-vaulted buildings with shops in rows along the
main walkway. Arastas usually interconnect with a han or caravanserai built close by.

Brusa bezistan, 1551, Sarajevo

-built in 1551, founder was Rustem paša
-has six large domes with a diameter of 7 metres and two small domes made of Turkish brick.
The domes in the central area are supported on two pillars with a cross-section.

6. BOSNIAN BRIDGES
-the fundamental stereotomic form common to all bridge-building worldwide is the arch
between two banks, or a number of arches linking the river banks in a certain rhythm
-better-quality, longer-lasting bridges were erected on all major trade routes
-more than 200 bridges were built in Bosnia until the end of the 19th century
-as a building material, stone was tailor-made in essential characteristics and formal potential
for stereotomic forms
-in bridge building, the configuration of the terrain and the width of the river have a major
impact on the choice of site for the bridge, and play an important part in determining its form

Stari most, Mostar, 1567

-the bridge was constructed by Mimar Hajredin
-destroyed in 1993
-reconstructed and inscribed into the World heritage list

Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge in Višegrad

-architect was Mimar Sinan
-The uniqueness of the Višegrad Bridge is associated largely with its form-a geniculation
structure composed of a section with eleven arches spanning the Drina, and a four-arched
ramp by means of which the bridge takes a right angle to join the left bank, following the line
of the land

10
Arslanagića Bridge in Trebinje 1574
-the bridge was dismantles because of the construction of the water dam of Trebišnjica river
in 1965 and stones were transferred downstream in 1970, so the bridge was recomposed on
the other site.

11