Vječna Vatra (Eternal Flame)
Maršala Tita
Type: Religious, Historical, National Treasure
Hadžijska (Vekil Harčova) Mosque is situated between Toplik Street and Veliki Alifakovac Street on the left bank of the Miljacka River, near Šeher-Ćehajina Bridge.
It is said that this bridge was built between 1541 and 1561 by Mustafa, a vekil harč (quartermaster) who served under Gazi Husrev Bey, a Bosnian governor. This is one of the few mosques in Sarajevo that is not named after a person; rather, it refers to the occupation of the individual whose endowment made its construction possible.
Vekil Harčova Mosque is an example of a single-room mosque with an open portico, a square hip roof and a stone minaret.
The mosque is called Hadžijska Mosque because it was situated near the exit point used by those leaving for the pilgrimage (Hajj) to Mecca, and there was a tradition of reciting the Hajj supplication in this very mosque on behalf of the pilgrims.
Water from the slopes of Trebević was brought to the mosque, and, in 1801, “the fountain beneath Alifakovac” was commissioned by judge Mustafa Fevzi Mostarac. This fountain has been depicted on the canvases of many artists.
The mosque burned during the fire that engulfed Sarajevo after Eugene of Savoy sacked the city in 1697, but mahala residents quickly repaired it.
Besides Vekil Harč Mustafa, other benefactors of the mosque include the wealthy Sarajevo merchant, Hajji Bešlija Mustafa, who directed a good deal of his own fortune toward the upkeep of the mosque.
The tombstones in the mosque’s courtyard include those for the grave of Vekil Harč Mustafa, as well as for the Morić brothers, leaders of a ten-year rebellion against Ottoman authorities, who were killed in 1757.
Hadžijska (Vekil Harčova) Mosque was made a National Monument of BiH on May 9,