Go back in time in Svrzo’s House

Bosnia has been under the rule of the Ottoman Empire for almost 500 years. In the Old Town you can see many buildings left over from that period. Mosques, schools, Clock Tower, inns etc.

But if you want to know more about what life was like in those times, you might want to start by visiting Svrzo’s House, a museum that shows what life was like in a typical 18th century Bosnian house.

Svrzo’s House represents the lifestyle of an urban Muslim family in the late 18th and throughout the 19th century.

The house was built by a prominent Sarajevo family, the Glođos, a member of which was kadi – Islamic judge-administrator – Munib effendi Glođo, famous for his involvement in Bosnia’s struggle for autonomy within the Ottoman Empire. The family failed for want of a male heir, and the property passed by marriage to another prominent Sarajevo family, Svrzo. Svrzo’s House is a typical example of the architecture of that period, with its division into the selamluk or public quarters and the haremluk or private, family quarters. It was purchased from the Svrzo family, refurbished and opened to the public in the 1960s. Following the siege of Sarajevo, the house was renovated and again opened to the public in 1997. Further major renovations were carried out on the house in 2005, when the roof was repaired, the cobbles were relaid, obsolete service installations were replaced, and the painted decoration on the musandera (built-in range of cupboards) in the main halvat (drawing-room), which had faded over the years, was restored. The Museum has published a bilingual – Bosnian and English – monograph on Svrzo’s house.