Status of monument -> National monument
Pursuant to Article V para. 4 Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Article 39 para. 1 of the Rules of Procedure of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, at a session held from 2 to 8 November 2004 the Commission adopted a
D E C I S I O N
I
The residential architectural ensemble of Svrzo's House in Sarajevo is hereby designated as a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the National Monument).
The National Monument consists of four interconnected residential units, two courtyards with gardens, and the courtyard walls.
The National Monument is located on a site designated as cadastral plot no. 1970 (new survey), cadastral municipality Sarajevo III, corresponding to c.p. nos. 61 and 22 (old survey), c.m. Mahala LXXV Sarajevo, Land Register entry no. LXXV, Municipality Stari Grad Sarajevo, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The provisions relating to protection measures set forth by the Law on the Implementation of the Decisions of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, established pursuant to Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of the Federation of BiH nos. 2/02, 27/02 and 6/04) shall apply to the National Monument.
II
The Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzeg (hereinafter: the Government of the Federation) shall be responsible for ensuring and providing the legal, scientific, technical, administrative and financial measures necessary to protect, conserve, and display the National Monument.
The Commission to Preserve National Monuments (hereinafter: the Commission) shall determine the technical requirements and secure the funds for preparing and setting up signboards with the basic data on the monument and the Decision to proclaim the property a National Monument.
III
To ensure the on-going protection of the National Monument, the following measures are hereby stipulated:
Protection Zone I consists of the area defined in Clause 1 para. 3 of this Decision. The following protection measures shall apply in this zone:
- all works are prohibited other than routine maintenance works on the buildings, conservation and restoration works, the reconstruction of destroyed or missing components of the buildings, and works designed to display the monument, with the approval of the Federal Ministry responsible for regional planning and under the expert supervision of the heritage protection authority of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
- the presentation of the National Monument for educational and cultural purposes in such a way as shall not be detrimental to it is permitted,
- the full presentation of the National Monument shall be carried out using scientific museum methods, so that each part of the building shall be fitted with the appropriate movable items as set out in the Elucidation of this Decision, or items of a similar nature, so as to facilitate an understanding of the form and function of the architectural ensemble and the historical circumstances in which it came into being.
Protection Zone II consists of the entire townscape of Glođina Street. In this zone the following protection measures shall apply:
- all extensions or alterations to existing buildings and the construction of new buildings that could in dimensions, appearance or any other manner be detrimental to the National Monument or the townscape value of the area are prohibited,
- all works of any kind that could have the effect of diminishing the townscape values of the area or altering the townscape are prohibited,
- the restoration of existing buildings shall be permitted subject to using traditional materials, as are interior alterations designed to adapt them to modern living conditions,
- the street shall be paved with original materials,
- the street shall be lit on the basis of an appropriate project.
IV
All executive and area development planning acts not in accordance with the provisions of this Decision are hereby revoked.
V
Everyone, and in particular the competent authorities of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Canton, and urban and municipal authorities, shall refrain from any action that might damage the National Monument or jeopardize the preservation and rehabilitation thereof.
VI
The Government of the Federation, the Federal Ministry responsible for regional planning, the Federation heritage protection authority, and the Municipal Authorities in charge of urban planning and land registry affairs, shall be notified of this Decision in order to carry out the measures stipulated in Articles II to V of this Decision, and the Authorized Municipal Court shall be notified for the purposes of registration in the Land Register.
VII
The elucidation and accompanying documentation form an integral part of this Decision, which may be viewed by interested parties on the premises or by accessing the website of the Commission (http://www.aneks8komisija.com.ba)
VIII
Pursuant to Art. V para 4 Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, decisions of the Commission are final.
IX
On the date of adoption of this Decision, the National Monument shall be deleted from the Provisional List of National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of BiH no. 33/02, Official Gazette of Republika Srpska no. 79/02, Official Gazette of the Federation of BiH no. 59/02, and Official Gazette of Brčko District BiH no. 4/03), where it featured under serial no. 521.
X
This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption and shall be published in the Official Gazette of BiH.
This Decision has been adopted by the following members of the Commission: Zeynep Ahunbay, Amra Hadžimuhamedović, Dubravko Lovrenović, Ljiljana Ševo and Tina Wik.
No.:006.2-2-33/04-8
3 November 2004
Sarajevo
Chair of the Commission
Amra Hadžimuhamedović
E l u c i d a t i o n
I – INTRODUCTION
Pursuant to Article 2, paragraph 1 of the Law on the Implementation of the Decisions of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, established pursuant to Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a “National Monument” is an item of public property proclaimed by the Commission to Preserve National Monuments to be a National Monument pursuant to Articles V and VI of Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina and property entered on the Provisional List of National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of BiH no. 33/02) until the Commission reaches a final decision on its status, as to which there is no time limit and regardless of whether a petition for the property in question has been submitted or not.
The Commission to Preserve the National Monuments adopted a decision to add Svrzo’s House in Sarajevo to the Provisional List of National Monuments under serial number 521.
Pursuant to the provisions of the law, the Commission proceeded to carry out the procedure for reaching a final decision to designate the Property as a National Monument, pursuant to Article V of Annex 8 and Article 35 of the Rules of Procedure of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments.
II – PROCEDURE PRIOR TO DECISION
In the procedure preceding the adoption of a final decision to proclaim the property a national monument, the following documentation was inspected:
- Data on the current condition and use of the property, including a description and photographs, data of war damage, data on restoration or other works on the property, etc.
- Documentation on the location and current owner and user of the property
- Historical, architectural and other documentary material on the property, as set out in the bibliography forming part of this Decision.
The findings based on the review of the above documentation and the condition of the site are as follows:
1. Details of the property
Location
The residential complex of Svrzo's House is located in Sarajevo, at no. 6 Glođina (Glođo) Street, in the quarter known as Ćurčića Brijeg, in the immediate vicinity of the Jahja-pasha (Ćurčića) mosque. The residential complex of Svrzo's House is entered from the west, from Glođina Street.
Historical information
Urban features began appear on the site of the mediaeval market place and settlement of Vrhbosna as early as the 15th century, but its structure took shape during the 16th century.
The urban structure of the city in the Ottoman period was based on the principle of organization into a number of residential quarters known as mahalas, spatially and functionally linked with the separately organized commercial zones of the city. A mahala would consist of 30 to 40 houses, a mosque, a mekteb (Islamic primary school), a primary school, a bakery and a public fountain. Accordingn to the 1895 census, Sarajevo then had 106 mahals (Kurto, 1997, 23).
The Bosnian sandžak-beg Jahja Pasha built a mosque in 1482 on the northern slopes of old Sarajevo, immediately above the čaršija (commercial and trades quarter). This was one of the finest and most spacious mahala mosques with a stone minaret(1). Over time, the mahala of the Jahja Pasha mosque took shape around it. The mosque was damaged in the great fire of 1697 that devastated Sarajevo. It was rebuilt by Hajji Salih-aga Ćurčić in 1698, after whom the mosque and mahala are now named.
The Svrzo’s House complex, the only surviving example of old 17th century Sarajevo residential architecture, is located in the Ćurčića mahala. According to Prof. Hamdija Kreševljaković, the house was already in existence in 1640. It was among the buildings destroyed in the great fire of 1697. Only the foundations of the house of that period remain; the house was rebuilt in the 18th century. The single-storey house in the eastern part of the complex, small women’s quarters, dates from around 1832.
The house was built by the prominent Sarajevo family of Glođo. The last owner from that family was Ahmed Munib-efendi Glođo, who was exiled to Crete in the autumn of 1848 on account of his refusal to obey the Bosnian vizier. He died there two years later. He had no male heirs, and the house passed by marriage to the Svrzo family, which sold it to the Museum of the City of Sarajevo in the 1960s. The Svrzos are an old aga (aristocratic) and ulema (Islamic scholar) family of Sarajevo, who were very active in the social and political life of the city. Ahmed efendi Svrzo married Zlatka, daughter of Ahmed Munib Glođo, and his father Ašir Svrzo married the widow of Ahmed Munib Glođo, Ašida, née Imaretlić.
2. Description of the property
Svrzo's house is located in a street that has largely preserved its original townscape value. It is one of the most representative surviving examples of residential architecture of the Ottoman period in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The residential concept was to divide the house into two parts, the men’s and the women’s quarters, known as the selamluk and haremluk.
The oldest part of the complex is a single-storey building lying east-west, consisting of two parts: the first, called the older women's house, and the second, called the men's house (selamluk or baškaluk). The men's and the women's quarters on the first floor are interconnected via a special passageway called the mabejn, a narrow wooden corridor.
The Svrzo's House Complex consists of :
A. Courtyards and gardens
B. The older women's house
C. The men's house
D. The bachelors’ house
E. The young women's house
A. Courtyards and gardens
The complex of Svrzo's House is entered from the west, from Glođina Street, through a wide, almost square double wooden entrance gate with a canopy roof.
This leads into the men's courtyard, which is rectangular in shape and of which the longer sides run north-south. The courtyard is cobbled, and covers an area of 163.65 m2. In the northeast corner of the men's courtyard is a niche with a fountain which has a stone trough. Here there is another double wooden gate, similar to the entrance gate, leading through the araluk (passageway) into the women's courtyard – the more private part of the house, known as the haremluk.
The women's courtyard is to the east of the bachelors’ house. It is cobbled. It is rectangular in shape, with the longer sides lying north-south. It covers an area of 215.21 m2. Part of the courtyard one metre wide, alongside the building known as the young women's quarters, is paved with stone slabs extending by some 1.5 m into the halvat (main ground floor room). There is a fountain with a stone trough in the courtyard, with a canopy roof clad with hollow tiles. There is a corridor in the northwest part of the women’s courtyard, using to a small garden used for household purposes.
The first garden is located in the northwest part of the complex and occupies an area of 92.34 m2.
The second garden is in the northeast part of the complex and occupies an area of 71.50 m2.
There was a third garden to the south of the complex, but this no longer belongs to the complex; it was entered through the large double wooden gate that is still in the east wall of the men’s courtyard.
The Svrzo's house complex is surrounded by high courtyard walls. The foundations of the walls are of quarry stone, which merges into a socle, above which the walls are of unbaked (adobe) brick with horizontal tie beams set approx. 1-1.5 m and joined in places on the wall surface by wooden uprights. The walls are plastered and whitewashed. They are 4.00 m in height overall. In places (in the women’s courtyard) they terminate in a zigzag cornice, and all have a coping of hollow tiles. As a result of their height and length, and the effects of rain, they are noticeably distorted, particularly the wall facing the street. It was the custom to leave a space about 1.20 m wide between the walls and the courtyard cobbles for flowers and greenery (the čičekluk).
B. The older women's house
The ground floor of this two-storey building contains two storerooms with areas of 16.65 m2 and 38.34 m2, and a covered porch supported by four wooden pillars with stone bases.
A wooden single-flight staircase leads from the porch to the upper floor, where there are covered terraces and rooms:
o The women's divanhana with kamerija
o The large čardak(2)
o The čardačić, or girls' room
o The čardak(3) above the araluk(4)
The structure of the older women’s house is relatively simple. The walls of the first floor rest directly on the walls of the ground floor. Quarry stone was used for the foundation parts of the structure.
The roof consists of three panes, since the building abuts to the north on the adjacent, taller building. The roof is of deal, and clad with hollow tiles.
The ground floor is 195 cm in height and the first floor approx. 257 cm.
All the door jambs and window jambs in the older women’s house are of wood, with a cut stone frame approx. 20 cm wide on the exterior and a relieving niche on the inside. Almost all the windows are fitted with iron grilles and wrought iron shutters.
Storerooms
The walls of the storerooms on the ground floor are made of quarry stone for their full height, and are approx. 60-68 cm thick. Baked clay pipes are bulit into the walls just above ground level, to help ventilate the walls and prevent rising damp affecting the upper parts of the walls. The storerooms have ceilings of close-packed half logs daubed with clay. The joists are supported by horizontal oak beams and pillars set on cut stone bases. The larger storeroom has a deal board floor, and the smaller one a stone floor.
The storeroom windows are of wood, 55-67 cm wide and 70 cm high, with iron grilles. The single, arched door is made of wrought iron, and is set two steps above the level of the cobblestones. There are two plaster trefoils in relief above the storeroom door.
The women's divanhana with kamerija
On the first floor, above the porch, occupying the full length of the south side of the older women's house, there is a semi-closed space of the women's divanhana (open first-floor landing), with an area of approx. 37 m2.
The southwest part of the divanhana contains the projecting, roofed area of the kamerija (verandah), with an area of approx. 6.5 m2. The women’s divanhana is open to the south facing the women’s courtyard, and the kamerija is open to both the south and the east. On these sides of the women’s divanhana and kamerija is a wooden partition running from floor to roof eaves. The partition is divided vertically into five sections by wooden uprights, which also form the load-bearing structure of the roof, and terminate below the roof in five wooden arches with empty spaces between. The lower part of the partition is about 100 cm in height and consists of thick horizontal wooden beams at the top and five tall spindle-shaped uprights fixed to the beams to provide rigidity. The infill between them consists of close-packed wooden uprights in the upper section and wooden boards in the lower section. The west side of the women’s divanhana, where the abdestluk (area for ritual ablutions before prayer) is located, is enclosed by a wooden partition the central section of which is composed of a lattice of wooden slats set at a 45 degree angle.
The large čardak and the smaller čardačić
The walls of the large čardak (main first-floor room) and the smaller čardačić are approx. 50-60 cm thick. They are built of unbaked (adobe) bricks, joined by tie beams, and then plastered and painted. The ceilings are made of half-logs with no separate structural connection with the roof. Beech šišeta (slats) are nailed to the ceiling joists. The floor is made of deal planks. The room has three windows each on the south and east sides, approx. 73-89 cm wide and 120 cm high. The small čardačić has two windows in the west wall, measuring 80 x 120 cm , and one in the south wall, measuring 61 x 70 cm. The čardak door is of wrought iron with a stone frame. The other door is wooden, with a wooden lintel, and measures 110 x 120 cm.
The interior of the large čardak consists of a wooden sećija (built-in seating along the walls), škrabija(5),musandara, wooden shelves and a richly carved ortakluk (ceiling).
The musandara is made of wood, and takes up the entire west wall, a length of 568 cm. It consists of the following:
- a dolaf or wall cupboard for storing small items,
- a dušekluk, where bedlinen is kept during the day,
- a hamamdžik – a small washroom.
Adjoining the washroom is the stove that heated the whole room.
In form, and with its decorations of Saracen arches and carved wooden ornamentation, this musandara is one of the most beautiful in this house. Artistic plasticity is accomplished by the 4 cm wide edging slips set with rivets decorating almost every part of it.
The central part of the šiše – ortakluk (ceiling), at the centre of which is a chandelier, an oil lamp, consists of three parts. It is octagonal in shape, and surrounded by carved wooden slats. The central section is of a single, almost circular piece of wood, around which is a moulded wooden ring. The next section consists of a wooden painted panel surrounded by an octagonal moulded wooden frame. It is painted in two different colours, brown and dark grey, with geometrical motifs radiating out from the centre of the circle towards a second panel, with circles with rivets between. This pattern is repeated in the third section, except that there is an undecorated, brown-painted section next to the larger moulded wooden frame. This section is repeated on the other side, extending as far as the edging slats, which are carved in the form of a grid.
The interior of the small čardačić is occupied by long sećijas, musendara and wooden shelves.
The musandara is made of wood, and is 336 cm long. Its decoration is composed of Saracen arches. The door (110 cm wide) is made of solid wood and is richly decorated. It is rectangular in shape, and consists of a 20 cm wide plain section along outer edge with caisson panels within. This part of the musandara is divided horizontally by wooden slats into eight sections, each of which has three square caissons and one smaller rectangular one. These panels are surrounded by carved channels and punched circles. There are iron rivets where the slats meet and at the centre of the circles.
The čardak above the araluk
The walls of this čardak are half-timbered, with unbaked (adobe) brick infill. The wooden ceiling joists are structurally connected direct to the rafters, with beech šašavci (slats) fixed to the underside. The floor is of beech planks.
This čardak is located above the araluk, and has three windows in the south and two in the east wall. These windows measure 60-75 x 120 cm. The windows are fitted with wooden mušebak (lattices) (6).
The walls of this čardak are occupied by wooden sećijas, škrabijas, a musandera and wooden shelves. The musandara is 421 cm long, and made of wood, with no pronounced carved ornamentation. The decoration consists of Saracen arches.
C. The men's house
The ground floor of the men's house has two premises:
- a storeroom
- a stable for horses
On the south side of this house, there is a ground floor porch, from which a wooden staircase leads to the upper floor. The porch is approx. 2.8 m in width, and is supported by two wooden pillars (measuring 20 x 17 cm).
The upper floor of the men's house consists of the following rooms:
- the men's divanhana with kamerija
- the bachelors’ room
- the men's ćošak (large room, oriel-style)
- a kahveodžak (coffee-making area)
The men's house is mainly used for male visitors.
The structural system of the men's house is of the kind usually found in old Sarajevo residential architecture. The foundations are of quarry stone, there are no ventilation pipes, the massive walls of the ground floor are made of unbaked (adobe) bricks with horizontal tie beams 60-68 cm thick, and the walls of the upper floor are half-timbered with unbaked brick infill, approx. 17-20 cm thick, plastered and painted. The ceilings above the ground floor are the same as those of the storerooms in the women's quarters. The upper floor of the men's house is mainly half-timbered with unbaked brick infill. The ceiling joists are attached directly the rafters, with beech šašavci slats attached to the underside. The floor is made of beech planks. The height of the ground floor is approx.l 295 cm, and the height of the upper floor is 267 cm. The roof has several panes, and consists of a deal rooframe clad with hollow tiles. All the door and window lintels are of wood, with iron grilles fitted to the windows.
The storeroom has an area of 29.23 m2 and a stone floor. The windows are wooden. The cellar has three small windows (measuring 30 – 40 x 70 cm). The door to the cellar is a single wooden door.
The stable for horses has an area of 17.5 m2 and has an earth floor. The stable has two wooden windows (measuring 60 - 75 x 70 cm), and a double wooden door.
There is a porch to the south of the men's house on the ground floor, from which a wooden staircase leads to the upper floor. The porch is made of wood, approx. 2.8 m wide, and is supported by two wooden pillars, measuring 20 X 17 cm.
The bachelors’ room has an area of 5.46 m2, and has two windows, one in the west and one in the south wall. The windows measure 70 – 76 x 120 cm. The interior of the bachelors’ room is very austere, with almost no built-in furniture.
The men's ćošak has an area of 28.98 m2 and is located on the upper floor of the house, with four windows to the west and one to the south (measuring 65 - 75 x 120 cm). On the west, street-facing wall this room has a doksat (oriel) projecting out above the ground floor, with a width of 100 cm.
This room contains wooden sećijas, škrabijas, a musandara on the east wall, and wooden shelves. The musandara is made of wood. Part of it has a wooden grille resembling window lattices. It is 489 cm long. The rectangular door, which is 110 cm wside, is made of solid wood and richly decorated. The decoration is almost the same as that of the musandera door in the čardačić of the older women’s house, being rectangular, with a plain 20 cm wide section on the outside with caissons within. The interior of the musandera is divided horizontally by wooden slats into eight panels, each of which has three square caissons and one smaller rectangular one. Carved channels and punched circles surround these panels. Where the slats meets and at the centre of the circles are iron rivets.
The kahveodžak (coffee-making area) is a room with a hearth. It has an area of 9.96 m2, and contains no furniture.
D. The bachelors’ house - musafirhana
To the east of the central part of the men's courtyard is a separate single-storey building known as the bachelors’ house. This was used as a musafirhana (hostel), as accommodation for male visitors.
The building measures 13.8 x 7.6 m.
The foundations of the bachelors’ house or musafirhana are of quarry stone, merging into the socle and then continuing in the form of unbaked (adobe) brick walls with tie beams. The kahveodžak alone has a half-timbered partition wall facing the hajat. The ceilings in this house is composed of close-set half-logs with infill, and in part of wooden joists. The ceilings in all the rooms in this house have šišeta laths fixed to the underside of the ceiling joists, and the floors are wooden. The hipped roof is of deal clad with hollow tiles. The height of the rooms is 275 cm.
The bachelors’ house consists of the following rooms:
- a hajat
- a kahveodžak
- a bachelors’ halvat
The bachelors’ house is entered from the south via four steps and a roofed porch or hajat (measuring 10.46 m2), into a smaller room called the kahveodžak (measuring 10.23 m2), used for preparing and serving coffee.
The larger room, used for guests, is known as the bachelors' halvat. It has an area of approx. 31.23 m2. This room has three windows each in the west and south walls. These windows are 70 cm wide and 120 cm high. All the window frames are wooden, with iron grilles on the windows. The door jambs are also made of wood.
This room contains wooden sećijas along the south and east walls, a musandara on the north wall, and wooden shelves. The musandara is made of wood, with no pronounced carved ornamentation. It is 522 cm long.
E. Young women's house
On the east side of the women's courtyard is a more recent single-storey building known as the young women's house. It measures 21.8 x 13.9 m. This house was presumably built later to meet the needs of the Glođo family. Since this family was of high standing in the social life of Sarajevo at that time, they needed a large reception room for female visitors during weddings, hatmas (complete readings of the Qur’an) or mevluds (commemorative religious gatherings).
The foundations of the young women's house are of quarry stone, merging into the socle and then into walls of unbaked (adobe) bricks with tie beams. The ceilings of this house are of close-set half-logs with infill, and in part of wooden joists. The hipped roof is of deal clad with hollow tiles. The rooms are 295 cm in height.
The young women's house consists of the following rooms:
- a hajat
- a large halvat
- a children's room
- a mutvak
- a hudžera
Hajat
This single-storey building is entered via a covered hajat (area 27.57 m2), to the west of the building, facing the women's courtyard.
The floor of the hajat is made in part of stone slabs 1.6 m wide, and in part of wooden planks. Under the roof eaves is a decorated wooden arch terminating in wooden pillars by the walls of the hajat. A wooden arch of the same shape also features above the double wooden doors leading to the mutvak in the east wall of the hajat.
The ceiling of the hajat is made of wood, and was probably painted long after the building was erected. It is rectangular in shape and consists of three parallel rectangular panels separated by decorative wooden slats. The first and smallest panel is almost square, and is at the centre of the hajat ceiling. It consists of three sections, one composed of two wooden boards painted light green, to which a copper chandelier is affixed, and two composed of laying adjoining slats; these are painted ochre and blue. The second section occupies the greater part of the ceiling. It is decorated with narrow slats forming small rhomboids, within each of which is a painted flower, in various colours: white, ochre and blue. The third section surrounds the ceiling on the outer edge, along the walls of the hajat, and is decorated with narrow slats forming five small squares and a rectangule. This section is painted yellow and light green, with a radiating motif drawn in each square and a flower in the rectangle.
The large halvat
The hajat leads into a large representative room called the large halvat (area 61.90 m2). This room is on the south side of the house.
The room has two doors, one entrance door, and one leading into the children's room. The entrance door is rectangular in shape, 98 cm wide, and is decorated with geometrical designs. The outer edges of the door consist of slats 20 cm wide dividing the door horizontally into four panels. The slats are undecorated, whereas the panels are carved in the form of geometrical figures in the shapes of rhombs and concentric circles with two types of rivets. The other door, in the east wall, has a high wooden threshold of approx. 30 cm. It is round-arched and is decorated in similar fashion to the first, except that only one side – the one facing the large halvat – is carved.
The large halvat has five wooden windows in the west wall, four in the south wall, and one in the north wall. The windows are wooden (measuring 80 x 120 cm) with iron grilles on the outside.
The ceiling of the large halvat was made of šiše. The central part of the šiše – the ortaluk, with a chandelier hanging from the centre – consists of four parts. It is nine-sided in shape, and surrounded by carved wooden slats. The central section consists of a single piece of wood, almost circular in shape, around which is a moulded wooden ring. The second section consists of a panel decorated with carved geometric designs, rhombs with rivets. This is surrounded by a nine-sided moulded wooden frame. The third section consists of a panel decorated with carved geometric honeycomb designs with rivets, and is surrounded by a nine-sided moulded wooden frame. The fourth section consists of a panel decorated with carved geometric designs with elongated rhombs with rivets in one part and smaller rombs in the other. It is surrounded by a nine-sided moulded wooden frame. The edging slats are wider than the ortaluk and are carved in the form of a grid with large rivets suggesting stones.
The large halvat contains wooden sećijas, škrabijas, a musandara, and wooden shelves. “The musandara of the large halvat is enhanced by sumptuous floral and geometric ornamentation which further enriches the ambience. . . [I]n the stylistyic treatment of details, there are elements of the older stylistic forms of the 16th and 17th centuries as well as newer ones, closer to Ottoman baroque. While the musandera offers to the gaze finely carved forms, as in other parts of the interior (škrabija, shelves, wooden chests or coffers), the doors of the halvat, the doors of the dušekluk (linen cupboards) and parts of the šiše (ceiling) are decorated with geometric and floral motifs using the technique of intarsia. These motifs, formed of rhomboidal, swtar-shaped and polygonal elements together with rivets, demonstrate the existence of abstract artistic elements and complexes in the culture and expression of the inhabitants who lived in an Islamic culture and civilization.” (Krzović, 91-98).
The musandara consists of a dolaf or wall cupboard for storing small items, a dušekluk, where bedlinen is kept during the day, and a hamamdžik or small washroom. Adjoining the washroom is the stove that heated the whole room. Seen from left to right, the musandera consists of several different components, divided both vertically and horizontally. First comes a section with central double wooden doors and two lower doors. The outer edges of the doors have 4 cm wide slats, within which the entire surface is carved. The larger doors are topped by irregular arches, with the inside filled with geometric figures in the shape of rhombs and circles with quite large rivets. The upper part of the door is carved, as is much of the musandara, to compose lace-like floral designs. The second section of the musandara has a single wooden lower door, with the same finish as the first, while the upper part is composed of shelves terminating in a pointed arch. The section by the entrance door is decorated with a large pointed arch richly adorned with floral designs. The section housing the hamamdžik consists of two doors decorated in the same way as the previous ones. The final component of the musandara, by the stove, projects outwards by 100 cm and has pillars to the side and front, supporting richly decorated pointed arches. At the top of the musandara, at a height of 245 cm, is a decorative beading projecting outwards by about 20 cm. The space between the beading and the šiše ceiling is clad with carved wooden boards, at every 25 cm between which are vertical slats on which there is a section composed of an irregular arch to which stars with rivets are affixed, meeting at the top to form an interesting design.
The children's room
There is a smaller halvat to the south-east of the large halvat, known as the children's room.
The children's room measures 5.20 x 4.94 m. The floor is covered with wooden planks, and the ceiling is a šiša. The room has two windows in the south wall. They are of the same shape and size as the windows in the large halvat.
At the back of the house is the mutvak (kitchen), with two smaller halvats and a hudžera (larder) in the northeast corner(7).
The interior of these two rooms is not fully finished.
MOVABLE HERITAGE
The Museum of the City of Sarajevo was established in 1945. The Museum has nine thematic collections, a library, a phototeque and four annexes. Over the past fifty or so years, the Museum has set up a number of museum departments: Svrzo's House, the Despić House, the annex known as the Museum of Sarajevo 1878 - 1918, and the Museum of the Jews of BiH.
The ethnological collection is the Museum’s largest collection, and includes home-made, artisanal and factory-made items, illustrating the material and spiritual culture of the City from the Ottoman period to the present day.
The items are grouped into collections, as follows: urban and rural folk costumes, crafts, weapons, household textile items, dishes, ornamental and ritual items, smoking accessories, and children's toys.
The urban folk costumes of the 19th and 20th centuries are particularly attractive and valuable, as are certain artisanal products, accompanied by the tools, semi-finished and finished products produced by brass-smiths, coppersmiths, blacksmiths, barbers, slipper makers, haberdashers, and the like.
The collection of weapons includes precious examples of cold steel and firearms, from the late 18th and early 20th century: sabres, rifles, shotguns, pistols.
The Museum of Sarajevo also possesses three complete shops: a barber's, a tinsmith's and an attar (herbalist’s) shop.
The Museum has fitted out one of its annexes, Svrzo's House, to present the interior of a typical Ottoman city house of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The display includes items of household textiles, various vessels, weapons, ornamental and ritual items, and smoking accessories. These are not items that were originally in the house, but are owned by the Museum and skilfully incorporated into the existing space, and as such can be changed. The Museum acquired the items on display by gift or systematic purchase in the attempt to document the way of life at that time.
Since the items on display are of ethnological value, being of typical production, and are indubitably unique and original in being hand-made and because of the skills and talent of the individuals who made them, these items meet some of the criteria of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments(8), but only within the building in which they are the subject under consideration, i.e. within Svrzo's House, not as individual items, because similar ones do exist in other museums and collections or in private ownership.
1. THE BACHELORS’ ROOM
There is a red sećija along two walls of this room.
There is a kilim (Inv. no. 1382/E) on the floor, measuring 180 x 220 cm. It was made in Sarajevo, of wool, using the flatweave technique. It was dyed with aniline dyes, with red predominating. The edges of the carpet are decorated with small rhombs, and the central section is decorated with two large rhombs with several smaller ones woven around them.
2. THE MEN'S HALVAT (ĆOŠAK)
There is a sećija along two walls of this room. The backrest of the sećija is covered with cotton fabric (jajgija) and the seat with makat (carpet-like covering).
The room has six windows, each of which has two cotton curtains (a total of 12).
There is a kilim (Inv. no. 1374/E) on the floor, measuring 267 x 335 cm. It was made in Pirot, in the early 20th century. It is made of wool, using the flatweave technique. It was dyed with aniline dyes, mainly red but also with a good deal of black. The border of the carpet (20 cm or so) is woven in white wool, with small polychrome designs of rhombs with hooks, making them look like turtles. This white border is followed by a black one, also decorated with polychrome rhomb designs. The ground colour of the central section of the carpet is red, with five large rhomboid designs woven into it in white and black wool. The edges of the carpet are fringed.
A Persian prayer mat (no inventory number or basic museum data) hangs on the east wall. This carpet measures 273 x 103 cm and is made of wool dyed with aniline dyes, mainly in sombre dark tones, red, green and ochre. This prayer mat consists of a number of components: the border is divided into a number of lines decorated with small oriental floral motifs (pomegranate, rose and jasmine flowers), and the central section into nine rectangles. Each rectangle contains the motif of a mihrab niche with a lamp in the centre. Small tree motifs feature a the base of the motif of the mihrab, five per mihrab, or a total of 45, and the corners are decorated with pillar motifs. The narrow borders of the prayer mat are fringed.
The following items, for which there are no museum data, hang on the west wall:
- rifle – size: 168 cm. The place of manufacture is unknown. It is made of metal alloy, sheathed in wood. The wooden sheath is decorated with metal rings at nine points, set at regular distances of 12.5 cm aparet.
- sabre – size: 93 cm. The place of manufacture is unknown. It is made of metal, silver, and leather. The handle of the sabre is made of highly polished wood with a silver covering decorated with engraved floral and geometrical motifs. The scabbard of the sabre consists of two parts, the upper part of leather, and the lower of silver. The leather part is longitudinally decorated with silver twisted wire, and with silver rings in the middle and at the top. The lower part of the scabbard is decorated with tapped vegetable motifs. Two metal rings are fixed onto the sabre with the scabbard.
- shotgun – size: 32 cm. The place of manufacture is unknown. It is made of wood, iron and silver. The silver parts of the shotgun are embossed. They are decorated with plant motifs. The trigger mechanism is made of iron.
Below these weapons is a sehara – a chest for clothes (without museum data). It is made of wood and is probably home-made. It measures 100 x 48 x 54 cm. The front of the coffin is decorated with carving. There are several separate components:
- the outer edge, composed of parallel impressed lines, surrounding the top and sides. The bottom horizontal line is so worked as to compose a carved floral wreath.
- a wavy line in between which large tulip-like flowers are carved.
- a central section, forming a rectangle. It is bordered with a twisted garland within which are three panels of double tulips. The tulip panels are interrupted by two arches with a flower in the centre of each.
A wooden box (without museum data) stands on the wooden chest. The box measures 33 x 33 x 26 cm. The corners of the lid are decorated with tendrils. The central space in the form of a circle is filled with crescent and star motifs (26). An illegible calligraphic inscription, in the form of a tughra is carved in the central section(9). The inscription reads: Sultan Abdul Hamid han Muzafferdina – Al Gazi (translated by Hazim Numanagić).
There is a brazier set (without museum data) in the middle of the room. Its size is as follows:
o overall height: 89 cm
o radius of the base: 94 cm
o height of the brazier (without legs): 75 cm.
It is made of iron and copper.
The brazier consists of three components:
- the base, made of copper, and circular in shape. The rim curves outwards slightly and is embossed to create a series of plant motifs. Four circular sections compose the surface of the base:
a. a narrow circular band filled with plant motifs
b. a wide band filled with vertical stylized floral and geometrical motifs
c. a narrow circular band filled with plant motifs (this band is almost identical to band a)
d. a central section embossed with a six-pointed star. The remainder of the central section is decorated with plant motifs.
- the brazier, which stands on four iron S-curved legs. The legs are cast in a shape reminiscent of a long, curved leaf. The legs support the brazier itself, which is decorated here and there with embossed planat motifs. Four oval handles are affixed to the brazier at its widest point. The brazier curves outwards at the top. The rim is decorated with embossed plant motifs;
- the cover, shaped like a sač (high, curved lid on which coals are heaped to bake bread or roast meat from above as well as below). It is perforated with small holes. A crescent is affixed to the top.
Above the brazier set, there is an oil lamp fixed to the ceiling (without museum data). Its height without the three chains is 65 cm. It is made of copper, by casting and cutting. The place of manufacture and the manufacturer are unknown. Some of its openings are glazed. It is spindle-shaped, with the upper part in the form of a dome.
The smoking accessories (without museum data) consist of three parts: a round metal deep dish (h = 10 cm, R = 28 cm), a pipe with handle (h = 65 cm) and a rod for packing tobacco (h = 33 cm). The pipe is made of wood, and the other items are made of metal.
A Qur’an stand (without museum data). The X-shaped stand measures 40 x 15 cm. It is made of wood, with the outer sides, echoing the shape of the stand, decorated with mother-of-pearl inlay.
3. THE ČARDAK
There is a sećija along three walls of the room. The backrest and seat of the sećija are covered with cotton fabric (jajgija).
The room is dominated by a made-up bed on the floor, next to which is a baby’s cradle. The cradle measures 95 x 50 x 30 cm, and is made of wood. The manufacturer, place and year of production are unknown. The head and foot of the cradle are decorated with perforated motifs of a six-pointed star, flower and leaves. The bed and cradle are both made-up with hand-made bedlinen decorated with embroidery (cotton thread and gold wire).
There is a kilim (Inv. no. 3420/E) on the floor, measuring 250 x 300 cm. It was made in the 20th century in Sarajevo, of wool in flatweave technique. It was dyed using aniline dyes, dominated by red and black. The colours were woven so as to compose narrow and wide horizontal panels containing rhombs, lines and crosses.
An oil lamp (without museum data) hangs on three chains from the centre of the ceiling. It is made of copper, and was probably brought to Sarajevo from the East. The manufacturer and the time of manufacture are unknown. The lamp is in the shape of a globe, curved at the base and cut short at the top. The globe was cast, with petals forming a flower on the surface. The inside of the petals is filled with small floral ornamentation, and every other petal has a cast inscription in Arabic. The part of the globe that is cut short has six fixtures resembling cup handles affixed to it.
4. THE SMALLER ČARDAČIĆ
There is a sećija along one wall of the room. The backrest and seat of the sećija are covered with cotton fabric (jajgija), the hems of which have a design of roses embroidered in cotton thread.
There is an embroidery stand with an embroidery sample in front of the sećija.
A sehara (chest) for clothing stands beside the embroidery stand. The chest measures 100 x 40 x 40 cm. It is made of wood. The front is carved with a decoration of plant motifs.
The room is dominated by a mirror on the wall above the sehara. Including frame, the mirror measures 50 x 40 cm. The frame is made of solid wood, gilded and decorated in places with blue glass.
There is a kilim (Inv. no. 2194/E) on the floor of the čardačić, measuring 150 x 250 cm. The carpet comes from Pirot and dates from the 19th century. It is made of wool dyed with aniline dyes, using flatweave technique. The carpet is dominated by white, red and black, and the woven motifs are rhombs with hooks, and lines.
5. THE ČARDAK
There is a sećija along three walls of the room. The backrest and seat of the sećija are covered with cotton fabric (jajgija), the hems of which are embroidered with geometric motifs.
The room has six windows, each of which has two cotton curtains (12 curtains in all).
There is a kilim (Inv. no. 1376/E) on the floor of the čardačić, measuring 350 x 300 cm. The carpet comes from Pirot and dates from the early 20th century. It is made of wool dyed with aniline dyes, using flatweave technique. The carpet is dominated by red. Black wool was used to form the main outlines of the motifs (mainly stylized geometric branchlets), and white, yellow, green and blue to fill the spaces inside the outlines.
There is a sofra (low table) on the kilim, with dishes and spoons. A white bošča (cloth) surrounds the sofra.
There is an oil lamp (without museum data) above the sinija (sofra). The lamp is 80 cm high excluding its chains. It is fixed to the ceiling by three chains, and is made of copper. It was probably brought from the East. It was made by casting, and is cylindrical in shape. The central part of the cylinder is six-sided. Each surface has circles containing the outlines of a six-petalled flower. At the top the cylinder merges into a dome at the top of which a moon and star are attached.
There is a mirror (without museum data) on the wall, measuring 100 x 50 cm. There is a cast floral garland at each corner and the centre of each side of the frame.
There are several more items of everyday use in the room (plates, glasses, tea pots, wall clocks, etc.).
6. THE HALVAT
There is a sećija along almost the full length of three walls of the room. The backrest and seat of the sećija are covered with cotton fabric (jajgija), the hems of which are embroidered with geometric motifs. The seat is covered with makat and prayer mats (Inv. nos. 1401/E, 1402/E, 2185/E). All the prayer mats are 19th century Persian, and are embroidered with gold thread using chain-stitch.
The room has nine windows, each of which has two cotton curtains (18 curtains in all).
There is a kilim (Inv. no. 1377/E) on the floor, measuring 700 x 550 cm. The carpet was made in Pirot and dates from the early 20th century. It is made of wool dyed with aniline dyes, using flatweave technique. The carpet is dominated by red. Blue wool was used to form the main outlines of the motifs (mainly stylized geometric branchlets), and white, yellow, and light blue to fill the spaces inside the outlines. The edges of the carpet are fringed.
There is a mirror (without museum data) on the only free wall, measuring 150 x 80 cm. The frame of the mirror is gilded and resembles slender barleytwist pillars. The top of the frame is triangular.
There is a brazier set (without museum data) in the middle of the room. It is made of
The brazier consists of three components:
- the base, made of copper, and circular in shape. The rim curves outwards
- the brazier, which stands on a square plinth widening at the top to terminated in a flat circular surface. Two ring handles are affixed to the brazier
- the cover, shaped like a sač and perforated with small holes.
A Qur’an stand (without museum data) stands next to the sećija. The X-shaped stand is 80 cm in height. It is made of wood, with the outer sides, echoing the shape of the stand, decorated with wood inlay.
There is an oil lamp (without museum data) attached by three chains to the ortaluk. The lamp is 60 cm high excluding its chains. It was made of copper using the casting technique. It was probably brought to the house from the East. It is cylindrical in shape. Six roller-like components are attached to the central, widest part of the lamp.
The room contains several pieces of furniture, three tables, two chests-of-drawers/sideboards, and a chest for clothing (120 x 60 x 60 cm).
7. THE SMALL ROOM
There is a sećija along almost the full length of three walls of the room. The backrest and seat of the sećija are covered with cotton fabric (jajgija), the hems of which are embroidered with geometric motifs.
The room has two windows, each of which has two cotton curtains (4 curtains in all).
There is a kilim (Inv. no. 2193/E) on the floor. It was made in Sarajevo in the early 20th century, and measures 450 x 450 cm. It is made of wool dyed with aniline dyes, using the flatweave technique. The carpet is dominated by red. Red wool was used to form the basic outlines of the motifs – five large rhombs from the sides of which small stylized geometric motifs emerge. The inside of the rhombs are filled with a multitude of smaller rhombs composing a large, filled rhomb.
The sehara (chest) for clothing (without museum data) measures 95 x 42 x 46 cm It is made of wood, and is of local manufacture, but the workshop is not known. It was made in the late 19th century. It is painted in green, with the motifs painted violet to make them stand out more. The front of the chest is decorated with wood carving forming lines, tendrils and floral motifs.
There is an oil lamp (without museum data) attached to the ceiling by three chains. The lamp is 40 cm high excluding the chains. It was made of copper using the casting technique. It was probably brought to Svrzo’s house from the East in the late 19th century. The lamp is cylindrical in shape. The widest part of the lamp is glazed with green and orange panes.
3. Current legal status
By Ruling the National Institute for Protection of Cultural Monuments and Natural Rarities no. 433/50 dated April 17, 1950, the building was placed under the protection of the state.
The Regional Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina to 2000 listed the Svrzo's House complex in Sarajevo as a Category I monument.
The Svrzo's House complex in Sarajevo is on the Provisional List of National Monuments of BiH under serial no. 521.
4. Research and conservation and restoration works
Differences in the construction of the buildings suggest that the older women's part is the oldest part of the complex, probably dating from the first half of the 17th century, whereas the men's part must have been “reconstructed“ after the 1697 disaster. A certain “burned“ surface to the unbaked brick in parts of the women’s house could be confirmation of a serious fire.
Certain interventions on the house were carried out before WWII, and part conservation and restoration interventions followed in the 1950s and later.
In the 1970s, the City Museum reconstructed the porches on the men's, women's and bachelors’ houses, when some deal components were replaced by oak.
During the 1992 -1995 war, the Svrzo's house complex was damaged by two direct hits to the roof. In 1996, repairs were carried out to the damaged roof structure and cladding, the damaged sanitary fittings were replaced, and the electric wiring was made good.
5. Current condition of the property
The current owner of the property is the Museum of the City of Sarajevo, which uses the property as one of its annexes, a permanent display of the residential culture of the old Sarajevo. An on the site inspection in October 2004 ascertained that the residential complex of Svrzo's house has mainly survived in its original form, but that the current owner of the property, the Museum of the City of Sarajevo has not been able carry out full restoration, which in particular pertains to the interior of the ground floor of the young women's house. In addition to the hajat, the large halvat and the children's room, where the interiors have been refurbished, the other rooms have not been refurbished or are used for other purposes (storage). Svrzo's house is open to visitors as a museum almost every day, except in winter when it is closed to visitors due to the lack of heating.
Certain parts of the Svrzo's House complex have completely disappeared with the passage of time, and others have suffered irreversible change. Despite protection, the complex was devastated from several quarters during WWII. The men's courtyard was shortened to the south, all the way to the entrance gate, which meant the loss of the privy and the odunluk (wood shed), which was to the right of and behind the entrance gate. The garden in the northeast part was also shortened to the north. The large garden on the south side of the complex was removed as a whole from the complex by being handed over to the previous owners to build a new house on it, which was a condition of the contract of sale. The area of the courtyard with outbuildings in the northwest part (the leather workshop area) has survived in its original size, and valid technical documentation exists for the facilities which used to be located there, which will make it possible to reconstruct them in full. What is particularly missing in this complex is an authentic mutvak in the eastern part of the women's area. All the features of the main residential part – the older women's and men's houses – survive in their authentic historical form.
III – CONCLUSION
Applying the Criteria for the adoption of a decision on proclaiming an item of property a national monument (Official Gazette of BiH nos. 33/02 and 15/03), the Commission has enacted the Decision cited above.
The Decision was based on the following criteria:
A. Time frame
B. Historical value
C. Artistic and aesthetic value
C.iii. proportions
C.iv. composition
D. Clarity (documentary, scientific and educational value)
D. iv. evidence of a particular type, style or regional manner
D. v. evidence of a typical way of life at a specific period
E. Symbolic value
E.iii. traditional value
E.v. significance for the identity of a group of people
F. Townscape/ Landscape value
F.ii. meaning in the townscape
F.iii. the building or group of buildings is part of a group or site
G. Authenticity
G.iii. use and function
G.iv. traditions and techniques
G.v. location and setting
The following documents form an integral part of this Decision:
- Copy of cadastral plan
- Copy of land register entry and proof of title;
- Photodocumentation;
- Drawings
Bibliography:
During the procedure to designate the architectural ensemble of the residential complex of Svrzo's House in Sarajevo as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina the following works were consulted:
1953 Bejtić, Alija, Spomenici osmanlijske arhitekture u Bosni i Hercegovini (Monuments of Ottoman architecture in Bosnia and Herzegovina) offprint – Contributions to oriental philology and the history of the Yugoslav peoples under Turkish rule, volume. III-IV, Oriental Institute, Sarajevo, 1953.
1957. Grabrijan, Dušan, Neidhart, Juraj, Arhitektura Bosne i put u savremeno, (Architecture of Bosnia and the road to modernity) Ljubljana, 1957.
1984. City Institute for the Protection and Use of the Cultural, Historical and Natural Heritage, Sarajevo, Svrzina kuća u Sarajevu (Svrzo’s House in Sarajevo), current condition, Sarajevo, June 1984
1989. Amir Pašić, Prilog proučavanja islamskog stambenog graditeljstva u Jugoslaviji na primjeru Mostara, koliko je stara stambena arhitektura Mostara autohtona pojava (Contribution to the study of Islamic residential architecture in Yugoslavia – the example of Mostar, the extent to which the old residential architecture of Mostar is an indigenous phenomenon), doctoral dissertation, Zagreb, 1989.
1991. Kreševljaković, Hamdija, Selected Works, I III –Veselin Masleša, Sarajevo, 1991.
2001. Monografija, Svrzina kuća/Monograph, Svrzo’s House, Museum of Sarajevo, Sarajevo, 2001: chapters:
Husedžinovic, Sabira, Nastanak i razvoj Svrzine kuće/Svrzo’s House (origins and development), pp. 37 -52
Krzović, Ibrahim, Likovne vrijednosti Svrzine kuće/The aesthetic value of Svrzo’s House, pp. 91-98
Zlatar, Behija, Sarajevo, cvijet među gradovima/Sarajevo, a flower among cities, pp. 9 -23
Čelic -Čemerlic, Velida, Svrzina kuća vrijedan spomenik kulture/Svrzo’s House, a precious cultural monument pp. 123 -143
(1) Next to the mosque is the mosque graveyard, in which M. Mujezinović registered 109 graves with epitaphs dating from the 18th and 19th centuries, pertaining to the residents of the mahala, the Glođos, the Svrzos, the Ćurčić’s, the Uzunijas, the Alikadić’s and others buried there.
(2) This room was used as a living room, dining room, bedroom and guest room
(3) This room was used as a bedroom
(4) The araluk is the space dividing the men's and women's courtyards
(5) part of the sećija
(6) a lattice composed of wooden slats set at a 45 degree angle.
(7) In addition to these rooms, there is also a men's and women's toilet, which was built later for the needs of the museum.
(8) D. Clarity (documentary, scientific and educational value)
D. v. evidence of a typical way of life at a specific period
E. Symbolic value
E.iii. traditional value
E.v. significance for the identity of a group of people
(9) This form was used to write the names of sultans. The tughra, in addition to the name of the sultan and his titles, also contains the inscription – muzafferdima – the eternal winner.
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