WATER IN NEIGHBORHOOD AND AT HOME

Ako želiš, srce, vidjeti sliku raja, potrudi se da vidiš Sarajevo,

Odmah idi,

Ovaj lijepi grad je Ćaba, kojoj streme zaljubljeni,

To su rekli oni koji su do svojih želja stigli,

Njegov prijatni zrak i voda daju život i krijepe dušu,

Tekuća mu voda nije ništa drugo nego rajski Selsebil.

(Honey, if you want to see a picture of paradise, try to see Sarajevo,

Start right away,

This beautiful city is Kaaba, which those who are in love strive to,

It's what the ones who reached their desires said,

Its pleasant air and water give life and invigorate soul,

The flowing water is the heavenly Salsabil /spring/ itself.)

        Dervish-pasha Bajezidagić (in about 1560–1603)

Words of poets who lived and wrote in the late 16th and early 17th century speak of the beauty of Sarajevo at the time! And water, the source of life, is what gives a particular beauty and wealth to our city.

Sarajevo valley surrounded by hills and rich in springs of drinking water was an ideal place for living. And it was due to this fact that in this very spot settlements were established as early as in ancient times. It was here where Ottomans laid foundations of the šeher (city), making use of the abundance of water and springs.

As is well-known, upon the arrival of Ottomans an increasing number of inhabitants accepted Islam as religion. Water and hygiene have a special place in Islam. To begin a daily prayer (namaz) five times a day, a believer must be clean. Ablution (ritual washing of some parts of the body before the prayer) is necessary, as well as cleaning of the entire body under the given conditions. Of course, there are rules which say that ablution can be performed even if a believer does not have access to clean water, but washing with water is basic. It is for this reason that this segment, besides the abundance of water, contributed to the early exploitation of water flows and the construction of water supply systems.

Sarajevo thus became one of the first European cities which had a water supply system, constructed in 1461. Before Sarajevo, water supply systems existed in Krakow, Gdansk and Golden Prague. Ottomans built a water supply system in Belgrade in 1521, London got a water supply system in 1609; water was brought to Versailles between 1661 and 1682, to Vienna in 1839 and to Moscow in 1878.

In his description of Sarajevo of 1660, Evliya Celebi wrote:

In this city, there are over a hundred and ten fountains with healthy water running from them. They do not have faucets at all, but the water flows all the time like Salsabil. There are many other living waters as well. The spring which arrives from crnilo is like the water of life (abu hayat). According to people who are familiar with Sarajevo, there are a thousand and sixty fresh springs and fountains, but let the one who told me so be responsible for this claim.

Water supply systems were built by benefactors by conducting water from the spring to the public fountains, through earthen and, later on, wooden pipes. Such water supply systems worked on the freefall principle and supplied one or more fountains. Public fountains were mostly built next to mosques. Almost every neighborhood had a mosque and a fountain next to it, which supplied population of the entire neighborhood (mahala). Builders of the water supply systems and rich inhabitants of the neighborhood would separate one arm of the system and thus conducted water into their courtyards and built fountains there. The first water supply system in Sarajevo was the idea of Isa-beg Ishaković, and it supplied his hammam, the palace of Bosnian regents and several public fountains. Nobody was allowed to build a water supply system for his own needs without making a public fountain. By the end of Ottoman rule, Sarajevo had 156 public fountains.  

Besides their practical role, fountains have a historical and architectural value. They were built of stone and with stone troughs, and some of them have caligraphically engraved tarihs (inscriptions), mostly in verses, with the builder's name and the time of construction. The water flew from a pipe in the fountain wall. Most fountains had one or two pipes, but there were also some with more of them; thus, fountains were named by the number of pipes: čifte fountains (with two pipes), učlijas (with three pipes) and suračesmas (with four or more pipes). Fountains with a poor flow of water were named curaks, and those where the water flow was stopped with a piece of wood were named zatikušas. There were also sindžiruša fountains. These pipes had a pan under the pipe fastened with a chain or sindžir, which directed water to shuttles for supplying other fountains. To use water from this kind of fountain the pan with the chain had to be removed. In his travelogue of 1659, Evliya Celebi also wrote about the existence of the so-called hot fountains. It is well known that there were two of the kind, in Bey's and Emperor's mosque. To make ablution more pleasant in winter, water was heated in special kettles and allowed to flow through pipes, so that there were really fountains with warm water.

Water from neighborhood fountains was carried home in ewers and pitchers. Water was carried by older children, guys and girls, and there were also 'water carriers', who earned money by carrying water. Every house had a bathroom or hamamdžik. It was placed in rooms on the ground floor, as part of musandara. Musandara is a closet positioned along a room wall and it contained a stove, section for storing bedding or other household items – dolaf and the bathroom. The bathroom was closed with a wooden door, mostly carved and, looking from the room, it seemed to be part of musandara. It was always positioned next to the stove with built-in clay pots. It was not without a reason. Indeed, there was a large copper vessel built in the stove, called pešnjak, which served for heating water, so that we can proudly say that we had the water heater as early as in the 15th century. In summer, when the stove was not lit, water was heated in the kitchen or on the outside hearth. On the bathroom ceiling people hung a vessel named susak, the shape of which reminds of a cooking kettle, though on its bottom there was an opening with a very simple mechanism for stopping the flow of water. Thus, it was a shower. Water was poured from pešnjak to susak with a ladle, and cold water was added from the ewer to achieve the desired temperature.

Besides the hamamdžik, there were abdestluks on balconies. These predecessors of sinks, wooden drains, were typically positioned by the railing, and water was drained into the garden. Abdestluks were suitable for ablution. Some houses had fountains in their courtyards.

Washing hands before and after the meal was also a very important segment of the culture of local population's behavior. For this purpose, people used the ewer and the leđen (basin); they poured water from the ewer and the water ran into the leđen. Leđen is a kind of copper basin with an add-on for holding the soap. Before a meal and when guests would visit, a young girl or the hostess typically brought an ewer and the leđen, as well as a towel, and poured water to everyone individually to allow him to wash hands.

There was another way of using water in Sarajevo, water-wells. In his travelogue from the 17th century, Evliya Celebi wrote that he was told that there were 700 wells in Sarajevo. Hamdija Kreševljaković wrote that there were 513 of them in 1900. We do not know if these numbers are correct, but it is true that they were there, and still are, somewhere. Many had been forgotten, but were dug again during the siege of Sarajevo in the latest war, or were just opened and activated. In that period they were lifesavers. Wells were built in courtyards and gardens, and there were special craftsmen who dealt with it, known as well-diggers. They dug, cleaned and repaired wells. According to stories by old generations, the spot for digging a well was determined by placing several earthen bowls turned upside down in the courtyard or the garden, before the sunset. The well would be dug where the bowl with most dew had been in the morning, since it was certain that water was nearby. Water from the fountain was typically used for drinking, while that from the well was used for other needs.

The importance that has always been attached to water and the cult of hygiene is confirmed by various ways and coping to bring water closer to the household. Thus, besides fountains and wells, people who lived near a brook or a river conducted an armlet and flowing water through their garden or courtyard. This water was used for washing clothes, cleaning and watering plants.

References:

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

• Mevlida Serdarević (2009), Bošnjačka kultura ponašanja, Sarajevo: Art 7.

• Grupa autora (2001), Monografija Svrzina kuća, Sarajevo: JU Muzej Sarajeva.