Emperor's Mosque

The Emperor's Mosque is an important landmark in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, being the first mosque to be built after the Ottoman conquest of Bosnia. It is the largest single-subdome mosque in Bosnia and Herzegovina, built in the classical Ottoman style of the era.

Isa-bey Ishakovich-Hranushich built Emperor’s mosque, the first mosque in Sarajevo, in 1457 and it was dedicated to the Sultan Mehmed the 2nd, El-Fatih.

First settlements in Sarajevo were built around the mosque, and afterwards the residence of the Sultan's representative was built next to the mosque. Isa-bey also built a hammam (public bath), the bridge that led directly to the mosque (it was disassembled during the Austro-Hungarian government and rebuilt just a few meters upstream, where it still exists).

On the other side of the river he built caravanserai Kolobara-han (What is Caravanserai?). For financing these facilities Isa-bey left a heritage of many shops and land properties.

The first mosque was made of woods and significantly smaller than existing building that was built at 1565. Side rooms were added in 1800 and connected via a door with central prayer area in 1848. Between 1980 and 1983 the painted decorations in the interior of the mosque were conserved and restored.

The burial ground (graveyard) beside the Emperor's mosque contains the graves of viziers, munlas, muftis, sheikhs, employees in the Emperor's mosque and other dignitaries of Sarajevo.