Quote: One of the best-preserved examples of Ottoman architecture in the world, The Gazi Husrev Beg Mosque, is the most important and well-known mosque in Bosnia-Hercegovina. Built in 1531, taking up an entire city block, covered by a 13 metre dome, with a 45 metre high minaret and a clock tower that’s almost as high, the mosque is also perhaps Sarajevo’s most prominent building regardless of architectural style, religious affiliation or century of construction.

Gazi Husrev Beg’s father was Bosnian and his mother was a Turkish princess. He studied in Turkey and after returning to Bosnia and becoming the province’s first native-Bosnian governor, he set about a building program that included not just this impressive mosque and clock tower but also Europe’s first public toilets (still operating today), a high school (Madrasah), hospital and traveller’s inn (Han).

At any time of day or night, the mosque seemed to be alive with people and activity. During the day at regular intervals, young men pour out of the high school across the street and into the mosque for prayer, older men and women come and go at any time, and until noon each day the mosque and its grounds are open to tourists. The grounds are also home to a fountain (Šadrvan) covered by an ornate carved wooden canopy, a baths complex, and smaller outbuildings for harems and tombs, including that of Gazi Husrev Beg himself.

There’s a small outbuilding by the front gate that acts as reception for visitors. On the day that we visited there was a very welcoming gentleman on duty and despite the prices being clearly displayed, 2KM per person, plus another 1KM if you intend to take photographs; we were given a generous discount for no apparent reason. There’s another prominent sign requesting visitors to observe several customs within the grounds of the mosque; no cycling, no smoking, no guns and no talking on mobile phones; and another at the entry to the mosque itself, explaining that shoes should be removed, headscarves put in place and for those who missed the first sign-that mobile phones should be turned OFF.

Entering the mosque was a lovely experience. I’ve always liked getting around just in my socks and the carpets there were thick, soft, and patterned with beautifully intricate designs in warm colours. I often find Christian churches to be cold austere places, but padding around on the carpets, with the low winter sunlight streaming into the mosque and bouncing off the gold leaf in the many inscriptions and decorative patterns, I thought that if I had to choose a religion based on which building I’d most like to spend time in, then I’d have to go with Gazi Husrev Beg in Sarajevo.
From journals Snowflake's Chance in Hell