MORIĆA HAN

Hans (inns) and caravanserais served for the accommodation of travelers. Caravanserais were bigger buildings which could accommodate both travelers and goods and horses, thus entire caravans. Hans were somewhat smaller, with smaller capacities and free food.

Although it is labeled as a han, Morića han is one of the best-preserved caravanserais. The term 'caravanserai' eventually went out of use completely, and all buildings of the kind are now called hans. It was built in the late 16th and early 17th century, at one of the busiest sites in the marketplace of the time.

It is distributed around a closed central courtyard. The building is of a rectangular shape and completely surrounds the courtyard. On the ground floor there are storages, shops and a coffee shop, while rooms for sleeping are found on the upper floor. The storages and shops are indented below the upper floor, and this part rests on pillars, so that a part of the courtyard is covered, which serves for loading and unloading goods even if it rains or snows. The ground floor, with storages and shops, is built of stone, with extremely thick walls, for fire and humidity protection, as well as a sound base for the upper floor.

Morića han was commissioned by Gazi Husrev-bey and it is part of his endowment. Its present name dates back to the early 19th century, after the first tenants Ibrahimaga Morić and his son.

Today, it is a valuable architectural monument and the only preserved building of the kind in Bosnia and Herzegovina.