Alifakovac ( cyrl, Алифаковац) is a

neighbourhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...

in Babića bašća

local community A local community has been defined as a group of interacting people living in a common location. The word is often used to refer to a group that is organized around common values and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical l ...

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Stari Grad, Sarajevo Stari Grad ( sr-cyrl, Стари Град, ; lit. "Old Town") is a municipality of the city of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the oldest and most historically significant part of Sarajevo. At its heart is the Baščaršija, the old tow ...

. As one of the oldest urban settlements in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

, it is situated on the spine of the northern end of the slope

Trebević Trebević ( sr-cyrl, Требевић) is a mountain in central Bosnia and Herzegovina, located in the territories of Republika Srpska, Sarajevo and Istočno Sarajevo, bordering Jahorina mountain. Trebević is tall, making it the second shortest ...

, on the lowest

hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit, and is usually applied to peaks which are above elevation compared to the relative landmass, though not as prominent as Mountain, mountains. Hills ...

in the row at the last

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the Channel (geography), channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erosion, erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank (cut bank, cut bank or river cl ...

Miljacka The Miljacka ( sr-Cyrl, Миљацка) is a river in Bosnia and Herzegovina that passes through Sarajevo. Numerous city bridges have been built to cross it. Characteristics The Miljacka river originates from the confluence of the Paljanska Mi ...

, before it pours out of its narrow

canyon A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency t ...

. An abandoned village by the road was found in the 15th century by the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

when they conquered

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

. It is believed that there was a smaller

necropolis A necropolis (: necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'' (). The term usually implies a separate burial site at a distan ...

of stećci, which with the arrival of Ottomans became again an active

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

. Today it is one of the biggest and most beautiful cemeteries in Sarajevo.

History

Alifakovac is as old as the modern city of

, as it got its name after Ali-Fakih, a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

and one of the witnesses of Isa-bey's endowment of the city in 1462 which set the foundation for the city. Even in those times, the

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

was very frequent, which can be seen in the cemetery as aside of local peoples, it is the final place of many travellers and

emigrant Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

s who died in Sarajevo, but also of

officers An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

ulama In Islam, the ''ulama'' ( ; also spelled ''ulema''; ; singular ; feminine singular , plural ) are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam. "Ulama ...

and ordinary citizens. Jakub-paša decided to build a

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

near the cemetery in 1491, after which completion the streets Veliki (big) Alifakovac, Mali (small) Alifakovac, Megara, Magoda and Carina were established, giving birth to the neighbourhood. In the mid-16th century, at the bottom of Alifakovac, Gazi Husrev-beg's quartermaster Mustafa Vekil-Harač, built a mosque which would be soon known as the Pilgrim mosque as most pilgrims started their journey to

Hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...

from that place and around the same time, some

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of Sarajevo connected the old

Tsargrad ''Tsarigrad'' or ''Tsargorod'', also ''Czargrad'' and ''Tzargrad'', is a Slavic name for the city or land of Constantinople (present-day Istanbul in Turkey), the capital of the Byzantine Empire. Variations The terms ''Tsargrad'', ''Tsarigrad ...

road with

Baščaršija Baščaršija (Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, Cyrillic: Башчаршија; ) is Sarajevo's old bazaar and the historical and cultural center of the city. Baščaršija was built in the 15th century when Isa-beg Ishaković founded the city. Bašča ...

square with a stone bridge which is nowadays known as Šeher-Ćehajina ćuprija, with which construction the modern

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...

of Alifakovac was almost finalized. The last touch on the urban landscape was given with the Inat kuća, which found itself a place on the south bank of the river with the construction of

City hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

just across the river, when the owner of the house requested for the house to be transported, stone by stone, on the other side of the river, where it stands even today. Alifakovac is an example of

construction Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...

based on humanity and mutual respect. The neighbours were not allowed to build houses the way to block the view and the sunlight for the neighbour, which allowed the

roofs A roof (: roofs or rooves) is the top covering of a building, including all materials and constructions necessary to support it on the walls of the building or on uprights, providing protection against rain, snow, sunlight, extremes of tempera ...

to elude below each other in rows and thus draw up one of the most beautiful monuments of old Sarajevo.

Cemetery Alifakovac

References

External links

Establishment and history of Alifakovac
{{Neighborhoods of Sarajevo Geography of Sarajevo Populated places in Stari Grad, Sarajevo Neighbourhoods in Grad Sarajevo