PLACE SEBILJ

This square (Trg Sebilj) is a must-see. Also called "pigeon square" (Trg Golubova) or Baščaršija Street (its official name), it is the central part of Sarajevo's oldest neighborhood. It is known for its hundreds of pigeons and its Sebilj fountain, but also for its mosques, vendors of oriental pastries and ćevapčići, and, of course, for its tourists. It is 100 meters long between the Baščaršija mosque in the south and Mula-Mustafe-Bašeskije Street in the north, where the arrival and departure line of streetcar lines^Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 5 is located. It is only a few meters wide, overlooking the busy pedestrian streets Sarači to the west and Kazandžiluk to the east. Around the square there are still Bosnian and Ottoman houses built of wood and stone. The tourist office is located nearby (58 Sarači Street). In the adjacent streets, goldsmiths and boilermakers perpetuate ancient traditions... and also sometimes sell objects imported from China and Turkey.

Sebilj Fountain. The public fountain that stands on the north side of the square has a name that comes from the Arabic sebil, which refers to the "path" by which water used to arrive and, by extension, to the charity that provided free water for the inhabitants. In Ottoman style, it is an octagonal stone column placed on a promontory and protected by a wooden dome. The kiosk-like structure was erected thanks to a donation from the governor of Bosnia Mehmed Pasha Kukavica in 1753. The water came from a spring on Mount Trebević via a 6.5 km long aqueduct, which has now disappeared. The spring was later replaced by the city's water system. It is the only surviving fountain of this type in Sarajevo. In 1660, the Ottoman chronicler and traveler Evliya Çelebi described the Baščaršija district with 300 fountains. Most of them were destroyed during the two great fires in 1697 and 1852. The present building was rebuilt (probably by the architect Josip Vancaš) and installed in the square during the redevelopment of the city by the Czech architect Alexander Wittek in 1891. Damaged by a shell in 1992, the Sebilj Fountain was partially renovated in 1997 and then completely in 2006. Several replicas of the fountain exist around the world, including one in Belgrade, donated by the municipality of Sarajevo in 1989. Legend has it that whoever drinks from the Sebilj Fountain is guaranteed to return to Sarajevo.