Sarajevo 1; Bascarsija (Turkish Quarter)

Sarajevo is the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and is located on the Sarajevo valley, by the Miljscka River and surrounded by the Dinaric Alps.

A group of villages was founded as a city in the 15th century by the Turks of the Ottoman Empire and developed further by Gazi Huzrev Bey with the building of mosques and bazaars. Sarajevo was destroyed in 1697 by Austrians, rebuilt in the form of a Citadel and became part of the Austro-Hungarian empire in 1878. Sarajevo is known as the Jerusalem of Europe as it has mosques, Catholic churches, Eastern Orthodox churches and synagogues in the same area.

This post focuses on Bascarsija, the bustling old Turkish Quarter in the centre of town (see captions).Read more