Sarajevo
Baščaršija is the old Ottoman market quarter at the heart of Sarajevo, laid out after Isa Bey Ishaković founded the city in the 1460s. Its narrow lanes are…
Baščaršija is the old Ottoman market quarter at the heart of Sarajevo, laid out after Isa Bey Ishaković founded the city in the 1460s. Its narrow lanes are still grouped by craft, as they were centuries ago, with streets of coppersmiths, jewellers, shoemakers and bakers, and it remains the place most visitors start their time in the city. At its centre stands the Sebilj, a domed wooden fountain in Ottoman style. The first Sebilj was built in 1753 by Mehmed Pasha Kukavica, and the present one was rebuilt in 1891. It still gives free drinking water, and local saying has it that whoever drinks from it will return to Sarajevo. The square around it, with its pigeons and coffee houses, is the city's favourite meeting point.