SVRZO’S HOUSE IN SARAJEVO
NATIONAL MONUMENT OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
Author: Amra Madžarević, museum advisor, Museum of the City of Sarajevo • Photo & video: Mirza Hasanefendić
Svrzo’s House is an example of residential architecture of the Ottoman period in Sarajevo and the culture of living of Muslim families in the late 18th and throughout the 19th centuries. The house consists of a set of several buildings which make up a unique complex. It was built in stages, and its oldest part dates back to the late 18th century.
It was commissioned by the old Sarajevo family Glođo, who belonged to the higher class; however, the family had no male heirs and, owing to a marital link, the house came into the ownership of another old Sarajevo family, the Svrzos, who were merchants.
It has elements of Ottoman residential architecture, though it differs from houses from other parts of the Empire due to its adjustment to the climate and the hilly terrain of Sarajevo. Therefore, it is completely asymmetric as opposed from the symmetry in flatter regions.
The complex is divided into selamluk – the public part of the house, or popularly called the male part of the house, and haremluk – the family or, popularly, female part of the house. The usual family life went on in haremluk, while selamluk was used by male family members for receiving guests and doing business. This complex also has two front yards and two gardens, as well as two exterior fountains with running water. The blend between nature and architecture is a characteristic of houses of the time, and this blend is clearly seen in a series of elements: verandahs, kamarijas (balconies), doksats (bay windows), all protruding into nature, rich vegetation, climbers which almost enter the house, water which flows incessantly...
Interiors are furnished with minders (sofas), musandaras (wooden wardrobes), stoves with clay pots, peškuns (coffee tables), škrabijas (cabinets), demirlijas (large pans that serve as the table), etc. A particular wealth to interior design includes rich woodcarving, carpets, embroidered textile items, items of copper.
Today, Svrzo’s House is a museum, a constituent part of the Museum of the City of Sarajevo. It is furnished with original items which partly belonged to the family the house was bought from, and partly from other similar houses of the time.
On 8 November 2004, the Commission to Preserve National Monuments of BiH proclaimed the building a national monument as a “residential building ensemble – Svrzo’s House”.
