The Carsija
Printed From: History Community ~ All Empires
Category: General History
Forum Name: Historical Pictures Gallery
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URL: http://www.allempires.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=8031
Printed Date: 06-Jun-2024 at 13:11
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Topic: The Carsija
Posted By: Mila
Subject: The Carsija
Date Posted: 02-Jan-2006 at 21:37
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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...                      ------------- |