The Carsija

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   THE CARSIJA

During the course of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans, a new style of trade and business was introduced.

A little cluster of white buildings with red-tile roofs were built in
the center of many important towns and in areas where no settlement
previously existed, along important trade routes. Each narrow lane in
these neighborhoods would be named for a different trade - for example,
Ironworker's Lane - and they quickly became the most common and popular
way of doing business.

In many cities, these carsijas became the new center of town as
business owners and tradespeople moved to be closer to their place of
work. Residents soon followed and with time cities like Sarajevo,
Skopje, and Tuzla geographically shifted slightly to surround these new
neighborhoods.

The Bas Carsija, or "Old Marketplace", of Sarajevo is the
best-preserved example of carsija in the Balkans. It is considered by
many architects and historians to be the architectural and sociological
symbol of the Ottoman Empire in this part of the world.

The Bascarsija is lined with various mosques, churches, synagogues, universities, public baths, and other cultural monuments.

At the very edge of civilization,
national and religious relationships were very tolerant because the
ethnic structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina in general, and of Sarajevo in particular, has never been a homogenous one.
There are also many important communal and business institutions characteristic of the past times.

Some monuments in the Bascarsija are of extreme importance for the
culture of the wider region - like the famous Bey's Mosque, the old Serbian Orthodox Church and museum, the old
Jewish Temple, and so on. 

The monuments of the Bascarsija are situated in
numerous, densely intertwined streets and between them lie
numerous shops, workshops and stores in which many old crafts are still
practiced and their products sold. The crafts and trade practiced from
Middle Ages until present day have always made the Bascarsija a very
lively place. 

At the time when the carsija was at its peak, there were about 80
different crafts, which produced clothes and footwear, arms and
jewelry, fine engraved copper dishes, fur and metal products, and so on.

As
many as 45 streets were named after crafts practiced in them and many
of them have retained those names until present day, like Abadziluk
(tailors), Asciluk (inn-keepers), Bravadziluk (locksmiths), Cizmadziluk
(boot-makers), Curciluk (fur-dressers), Halaci (cotton manufacturers),
Kazandziluk (coppersmiths), Kovaci (blacksmiths), Kujundziluk
(goldsmiths), Saraci (shoemakers). Among the still active crafts
particularly interesting are the coppersmiths, goldsmiths with silver
and gold filigree, bag-makers, fur-dressers etc.

Enjoy the Bascarsija...