TURBE - MAUSOLEUM IN BIHAĆ

Like the Captain's Tower and the Church of St. Anthony, the turbe (mausoleum) which is situated in the historical core of the city of Bihać testifies of multi-confessionalism and multiculturality of the city. However, same as in the case of the Captain's Tower, a lack of historical sources does not allow a thorough reconstruction which would with certainty confirm “whose endowment it is, when it was built and to whose honor”.

The few sources we have are only sufficient to partially reconstruct the past of the turbe. What historians can now claim, though with a certain amount of reserve, is that the turbe was commissioned by Mehmed-pasha Bišćević, 1792–1874, from a family of beys in Bihać. This fact was also confirmed by the data which we can find in the Riyasat of the Islamic Community, according to which Mehmed-pasha Bišćević owned a building site with a turbe on an area of 0.041 dunams, besides other real estate. One of the few sources which provide some indications for a more complete and thorough elaboration of the history of the turbe are data from the magazine Nada from 1901. It also includes some other interesting data, though they are not in the domain of relevant and fully acceptable historical sources. This historical source notes that the house of Mehmed-pasha Bišćević was in the immediate vicinity of the Captain's Tower. At the spot where the turbe is situated Mehmed-pasha Bišćević's mother saw light (nur), i.e. two flames, and told her son about it. He then ordered that a turbe be built at this site. According to later interpretation of this event the two flames of nur referred to the death of two soldiers, though it is still uncertain whether they were killed during the defense of the city from Austrian troops or during Ottomans' attack on the city in 1592.

Mehmed-pasha Bišćević had equally turbulent past, rises and falls, as his mausoleum. Bišćević was sent to Bursa by Omer-pasha Latas in 1851, after a punitive expedition. It is where he got married, and after he was granted an amnesty he returned to Bosnia, to Sarajevo. The turbe, which dilapidated in the meantime, was renovated by the Hustanbegović family. It is well-known that, in 1878, resistance was offered across Bosnia to the establishment of new Austro-Hungarian government. One of the last cities which were conquered was Bihać, on 19 September 1878, and a similar response was given during the conquest of Bihać in 1592 and the incursion by Ottomans. Only few towns, such as Velika Kladuša and Pećigrad, stayed unconquered for a longer time, and Austro-Hungarian army had to make a lot of effort to subdue them. Thus, conquest of Bosnia always ended in the tough Krajina. Valor of army in Bihać has been described in many history books; unfortunately, after entering Bihać, in 1890, Austro-Hungarian administration decided to raze the wooden turbe and build a new one, of the bihacit stone. The use of bihacit has a long tradition in Bihaćka Krajina, and most religious buildings, tombstones, nišans (Islamic tombstones) and other structures have been built of this kind of stone. The previously built wooden turbe was destroyed, and a church was built instead, since it had been there before the turbe. The new turbe was built of nicely hewn bihacit stone, which was excavated in the immediate vicinity of the city. Joints between individual stone blocks are done very accurately and finely, and sometimes are barely visible. The building has an octagonal base, seven windows, and the entrance door on one side. Window openings end in a form of horseshoe arch. This composition was executed so accurately that it seems as if the window arches hover in the air. This impression is enhanced by a zone with geometrical and floral linear endless ornament, which separate the composition of window openings from the rest of the wall. The decoration is composed of purely linear motifs, which intertwine to create representations of different geometrical shapes and celestial bodies (stars). Zones around windows are decorated with stylized floral motifs, mostly those of carved flowers.

It is assumed that the main reason for building the turbe is paying homage to citizens who defended the city during Austro-Hungarian attacks. This unusual action by Austro-Hungarian authorities did not drive a wedge between citizens, Muslims and Catholics, who largely began to leave the city in the following period. The accurate time of building the turbe cannot be established, though it is certainly related to the time immediately after the formation of Austro-Hungarian government. There are numerous legends about who is buried in it, or whether anybody is, like about any building which is not comprehensively discussed in sources. Nobody is buried in the turbe, because we would know if a significant person is; a written trace would certainly be left about it. Until some sort of confirmation, the option that the turbe was built solely to honor citizens who bravely resisted Austro-Hungarian authorities and as homage to victims of the city is the most likely explanation and reason for building the turbe. The turbe in Bihać was severely damaged during the siege of the city in the latest war in Bosnia and Herzegovina but it managed to survive; it has been restored and now proudly sits in the downtown of the city of Bihać, though it still gives rise to some enigmas. Many buildings in Bihać and whole Bosanska Krajina have been made of bihacit, e.g. many churches, mosques, minarets, characteristic Krajina nišans with epigraphs, tombs, inscriptions on mosques, many forms of stone ornaments, frames and arches, tomb plaques, staircases and other decorations. Today, two wooden tombs are found in the turbe, two sarcophaguses with tombstones topped by turbans. There are no inscriptions on the turbe itself or on the nišans, though they are only decorated with many ornaments, spiral-shaped stripes.

Some interventions have been made on the building several times, though without a project and supervision by the protection office. These interventions have not considerably impaired the authentic appearance of the building. The interventions typically included a change of the roof, which could not serve its purpose due to aging. During electrification of Bihać, steel cable clamps were mounted on the building. During the 1992–1995 war the building was damaged, but the entire damage, which was mostly visible on the roof, has been repaired.

Turbe (mausoleum in Bihać) has been declared a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

References:

• Ančić, Mladen, “Bihaćki kraj od 1262. do početka XV stoljećaˮ, in: Glasnik Arhiva i Društva arhivskih radnika Bosne i Hercegovine, no. XXV, 1985, Sarajevo.

• Lopašić, Radoslav, Bihać i Bihaćka krajina – mjestopisne i poviestne crtice, DIA Ivan Goran Kovačić,  Bihać, 1991.

• Midžić, Fikret, Bihać – urbani identitet grada, Arhiv Unsko-sanskog kantona i Društvo arhivksih radnika Unsko-sanskog kantona, Bihać, 2013.

• Mujezinović, Mehmed, Islamska epigrafika Bosne i Hercegovine – Bosanska krajina, volume 3, 2nd edition, Sarajevo Publishing, Sarajevo, 1998.

• Raunig, Branka, Butić, Fikreta, Bokan, Branko, Bihać i okolina, Turističko društvo “Unaˮ, Bihać, 1963.

• http://old.kons.gov.ba/main.php?id_struct=6&lang=1&action=view&id=2896, accessed on: 27.10.2022.