Coppersmiths hammer in the city’s heart.
If you were to get lost in Sarajevo ’s Ottoman - era Old Town , amongst the sprawl of cobble streets and hidden alleyways , you might get hold a small garden or family - run eatery . You could respire in the smell of shisha from rows of outdoor cafe , or pop into a tiny bakeshop to buy a baklava or burek . Perhaps you ’d listen a clanging strait and follow it — and trust me , that ’s the correct thing to do in Sarajevo — all the way to Kazandžiluk , better cognize as " Copper Street , " where vendors have been hammer and selling handmade pig items since the metre of the Ottomans .
The city ’s metalworking practice date back to the 1500s , pioneer by local artisan and goatherd Sagrakči Hajji Mahmud . The first coppersmiths of Sarajevo began their craft create kettle hole for the Turkish army , and their practice eventually extend to creating hundreds of everyday household items out of alloy and copper color . The coppersmiths settled on Kazandžiluk Street in the 16th hundred , and have been there ever since .
Over 300 geezerhood later on , a dozen or so menage of coppersmiths rest in business . The Jabučar , Baščaušević , Huseinovic , Kobiljak , Hidić , and Brkanić family shop can be get here , just to name a few of the home that are part of save this nontextual matter active in Sarajevo . These shops have often been in the family for more than a hundred , thecraftsmanshippassed down between generations . Coppersmith Adnan Hidić , for case , learned from his father , who also get wind from his own father . And as the coppersmiths proceed to make for local and international tourists , the architectural plan is to get the next genesis imply .
Photo by Kiana Hayeri for Thrillist
It ’s worth perusing the shops , each fill to the lip with shining , in an elaborate way engraved bull and metalsouvenirs . During my last sojourn , I centre over etched copper plates , tea sets , dining tray , and rows upon rows of handmade džezvas(traditional long - handled coffee mass ) . Coppersmiths like Hidić also craft smaller items , include ring , bangle , bookmark , and magnets , for tourist to take home . But if you’re able to happen way in your travelling bag for a larger detail , you ’ll be bring home something unfeignedly special ; a coppersmith tells me that a large photographic plate takes seven twenty-four hours to craft .
While many thing on Kazandžiluk Street are done the sometime agency , some thing have sure changed . While mines in Bosnia and Herzegovina were fighting when the pig craft began in Sarajevo , a number of local mines have closed down over the last few decades . As of belated , most of the bull used here comes from the Majdanpek mine across the molding in Serbia , and some of it comes from Germany and Chile .
But obtaining cop has n’t always been potential , and local coppersmiths have had to get creative to survive . With the 1994 warfare lingering in the not - so - distant yesteryear , forcible grounds like military racing shell and bullet can still be found throughout the metropolis and the surrounding countryside . And from throw away shells to bare grenades , coppersmith have made use of the materials by turning them into beautiful objects . Even bullet casings are metamorphose , cut up , and craft into Biro pen .
Kovaci Cemetery memorializes those who perished in the war from 1992 to 1995.|Photo by Kiana Hayeri for Thrillist
“ My favourite thing to make is the mortar shell vase , ” tell Hidić . “ After the Siege of Sarajevo , we had approximately half a million shell all around the city , but we did n’t have the money to bribe and import copper . So so as to earn money to grease one’s palms copper again , we collected these shell , made them into flower vas , and trade them . ” As a consequence , he explain , “ something that was once used for cleanup , was now return life . ”
In the store , my guide Arna ( who contribute a walking tour with local agencyMeet Bosnia ) points out a row of lustrous metal items on a ledge . you’re able to hardly comment them , as they blend in with the other Cu small-arm that sit down on either side , but she notes that we are looking at repurposed military shells . Now , they stand in this little shop , being sold as flower pots .
When I ’ve wind up exploring Kazandžiluk Street , I deal myself to a strobilus of Egyptian vanilla - flavored ice ointment ( Arna ’s recommendation ) before heading up to the Yellow Fortress to catch the sundown . Along the way , I pass Pigeon Square , followed by Kovaci Cemetery , also known as the Martyrs ' Memorial Cemetery for those who kick the bucket in the state of war from 1992 to 1995 . I make it up to the Yellow Fortress for magic 60 minutes , and ride and take it all in .
Sarajevo’s Pigeon Square|Photo by Kiana Hayeri for Thrillist
Staring out at the arresting , sunny panorama of Sarajevo in front of me , I debate how it reflect its own prolonged and live history , weathering the close of two major empires ( Ottoman and Austro - Hungarian , in that ordination ) , two World Wars , the nascency and death of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia , the 1984 Winter Olympics , and the Siege of Sarajevo . A mortar shell vase or copper džezva might service as a like reminder of how this position has become the vibrant metropolis it is today , a symbol of a much large story . And throughout all of it , in the heart of Sarajevo , the coppersmiths have hammered on .
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