LIFE IN OLD TOWNS

Towns in our country were founded upon the arrival of Ottomans, typically at the places of the already existent medieval settlements. Since the conception of these old towns has to a great extent persisted to this day, at least in the historically preserved cores, we will recognize the principle which was followed when they were built. The basic principle of Ottoman towns is the division into the public and the residential part. Naturally, army is the advance guard of any new authorities, and therefore it is the army who appear the first at places where new towns are formed, and therefore economy which serves the army. Economy of the time rested upon crafts. Crafts for the needs of the army were the first to appear, primarily bakers, cooks, gunsmiths, tailors, shoemakers and others. They were grouped at a single spot, which was the basis for the emergence of čaršija. Čaršija is a word of Persian origin, and refers to the trading quarter of the town, a square. The temple is a constituent part of life, and since town inhabitants were Ottomans, who brought Islam to this region, mosques were always built within the newly formed čaršija. Besides mosques, imarets (public kitchens), public fountains, often hammams – public bathrooms – were built as well. Hammams were also built separated from mosques. However, working of public fountains and bathrooms required water supply, from the nearest springs, which luckily abound in our hilly areas. Ottomans brought water from a spring to a public fountain through wooden and, somewhat later, plumb pipes, and in this way created the first water-supply systems. Thus, construction of the first craft workshops, sacral buildings and public fountains laid foundations of towns. It was in this way that public parts of towns, where people did not live, were formed. Houses were built outside the čaršija, typically on nearby slopes, which is particularly characteristic of Sarajevo, the residential neighborhoods – mahalas - in which emerged on surrounding hills, while the čaršija is in the valley.

Influx of population and growth of towns resulted in greater needs. Trade developed as well, and therefore inns and caravanserais were built in čaršijas. These were buildings which served as travelers' lodging. Imarets were built as well, i.e. public kitchens for chance travelers, for the poor, for officers in religious institutions, where food was handed out free of charge. The number of crafts and craftsmen grew, and the number of shops and magazas (basements for storing goods) also increased. Craftsmen were organized in guilds, and also grouped in the physical sense, to do business more easily. Thus, crafts were distributed by streets, which is clearly confirmed, for instance, by the names of streets at the present Baščaršija in Sarajevo. Sarači (tanners) worked in one street, mudželiti (bookbinders), kundurdžije (shoemakers), ćurčije (furriers), locksmiths, blacksmiths, kazazi (trimmings makers), all had a street of their own or, depending on the level of development of the craft, even more of them. Some crafts, however, did not have streets of their own but were scattered at various sides of the čaršija, for practical reasons. They included coffee shop owners, confectioners (halvadžije), cooks and barbers, i.e. those who were involved in services. Basements – magazas – were found in separate parts of the čaršija. Several magazas under the same roof and with the same yard were called daire. Bezistans (domed markets) were also significant buildings. They were covered čaršijas with many small craft and merchant shops, and occupied one of the central spots in the čaršija. Arrays of shops were lined along outer walls of these buildings.

However, one should not ignore the fact that Ottomans did not prohibit construction of sacral buildings for other religions, and thus churches, Orthodox and Catholic, and synagogues were built in the public parts of towns, depending on local population and their needs. Still, all the other public institutions and services provided by a čaršija were common.   

Thus, the public part of a town founded during the Ottoman administration was a set of narrow streets with small wooden shops of modest appearance from both sides. Between these shops one could see sacral and other buildings for public needs – bezistans, inns, hammams which, unlike the simple architecture of shops, were typically monumental buildings, which are today significant cultural monuments. Public fountains, some of which were built for oneself (sebilj), and shadirvans were also constituent part of this mosaic. During the day, life in this part of the town was very lively, craftsmen and people who worked in the čaršija spent there the whole day. They worked in shops, sold goods, had coffees, lunches and socialized, but at dusk life in this part of the town faded and moved to residential neighborhoods outside the downtown.  

Residential neighborhoods were called mahalas. A mahala was composed of a few sokaks (small streets), typically a small mosque (sacral facilities of other religions were mostly built in the downtown), an obligatory public fountain next to the mosque and a cemetery where local population were buried. Houses of modest appearance of the part overlooking the street, with a protruding bay window towering over the street and overlooking it, enclosed with high walls, revealed a far more peaceful atmosphere than the liveliness of the čaršija.

Entering the front yard of a Bosnian house implied entrance into a completely different world, enclosed within a high white wall, which was built not to separate but rather to protect the family, its intimacy and privacy. The interior of a housing complex differed from the outer world by colors found there: the color of nature, the white color of whitewash, the color of trees and greenery. Union of nature and architecture is a very significant dimension in building of the time when the house appeared. With its bay windows and verandah the house enters the nature, and the nature slips into the interior with vines and flowers.

The ever-modest appearance of the house toward the outside, though rich and luxurious interior design speak of the man who lived in such a house; it was not important for him to show luxury and assert himself; for him, family life and his own enjoyment were the basis.

Houses built in mahalas in the Ottoman period, or more accurately complexes of houses, front yards and gardens, were divided into selamluk (men's ward) and haremluk (women's ward of the house). Still, it seems that these names sound somewhat rough, and if we want to better depict the meaning of these two wards it would be more suitable to name them public and private part. Selamluk was a place for gatherings, receiving male guests, a place where conversations took place, sometimes even of important for the state. In order to be spared from difficult conversations, the wife and other family members would withdraw into the haremluk, i.e. the private part of the house.

This division in the structure of the town into the public and the private part, and the division within the house itself into the public and the private part (popularly called men’s and women’s ward) speak of the importance of the family as an institution and striving to protect it from the hustle reigning outside the house walls.

References:

• Hamdija Kreševljaković (1991), Izabrana djela III, Sarajevo: Veselin Masleša.

• Group of authors (2001), Monografija Svrzina kuća, Sarajevo: JU Muzej Sarajeva.