Downtown SarajevoOnce outside the Baščaršija quarter, the architecture changed. As the street changed its name to Maršala Tita, the city’s Austro-Hungarian influence was more prominent. Some were nicely restored, trimmed in a variety of colors. Cafés lined the pedestrian streets. People leisurely walked about, enjoying an ice cream cone and pushing baby strollers. Storefronts displayed the latest European fashions as well as more modern Islamic women’s dresses and headscarves.
Most buildings
bore scars of the war, with some unrepaired bullet holes and others patched up. One building was still a hollow shell, giving an idea of what the area might have looked like after the war. A few buildings were new. In addition to the numerous mosques, I walked past a few Catholic churches and Serbian Orthodox cathedrals. On Sunday, their bell tolls were heard above the Islamic call to prayers, their joyous sounds reverberating throughout the city throughout the day.
Along one street, I was attracted to a red and cream striped building with yellow stars below the Moorish-shaped windows. Built in 1889 in a pseudo-Maori decorative style, the decorative structure now houses the Islamic Sciences Faculty building.In one square, men played chess with pieces that were
knee-high. Plenty of on-lookers provided advice, wanted or not. For lunch one day, I bought a sirnica (cheese pie) and took it into the nearby small park. It was one of the few areas of the town with larger trees. During the war, people cut down trees and used whatever was available for fuel. Up the slopes of the park were older gravestones, whose tops reminded me of turbans.I also took a quick walkthrough of the Markale market place, located just outside of Baščaršija. Some question who actually committed at least one of the two bombings (one of which took 40 lives), but the second bombing (1995) resulted in the initiation of NATO military intervention. Nearby was the Eternal Flame, a tribute to the partisans who died liberating Yugoslava in WWI.
Skenderija
Crossing the Latin Bridge, I entered into the Skenderija section. I paused and looked back at the stone bridge with its slight peak at the middle. It was on this bridge on June 28, 1914, where the Archduke Fredinand of Austria and his wife Sophie were assassinated, sparking WWI. A plaque to the young Serb nationalist assassin was removed during the civil war. From between the trees of the park, the wooden dome of the music pavilion reminded me a bit of those found on a Serbian Orthodox cathedral. People gathered around the pavilio
n, enjoying a drink in the shade. A child’s size train wobbled along the metal tracks. Others sat on the dilapidated park benches, pausing to enjoy a refreshing bottle of water or ice cream cone.Continuing onward, I passed the Turbeh Burial Chamber “Seven Brothers”, the Emperor’s Mosque, and down to St. Anthony’s Church. Its red steeple punctuated the clear blue sky. Next to it was the Sarajevo Brewery, also a deep red color. Along the river was a beautiful Moorish-style house with flowers overflowing on its decorative metal balcony, likely built by one of Sarajevo's Jews who came over from Spain.
Completing my tour of this section, I walked past the Inat Kuča
restaurant. The owner of this building (originally a house) insisted that the city it be relocated across the river from its former location and reconstructed brick by brick after the authorities wanted to demolish it to build the City Hall. Hence the building got its name – which means “Spite House”. Although a bit pricier than the restaurants in Baščaršija quarter, the spinach pie was served in an authentic copper dish and the view of the river was pleasant. Crossing the Latin Bridge, I was once again in Baščaršija.See more photos of Sarajevo on Melissa's website
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