Branilaca Sarajeva
Branilaca Sarajeva
Type: Street
This short street joins Gazi Husrevbegova (Zlatarska) St. in the west with Mudželiti Veliki St. in the east and was laid out in the first half of the 16th century as part of Gazi Husrev Bey’s Mahala.
The name, Kujundžiluk, originally referred to the entire čaršija reserved for kujundžije (goldsmiths) and comprised what is now Kujundžiluk St., as well as the section of Gazi Husrev-begova St. that runs along Gazi Husrev Bey’s Bezistan, from Zelenih Beretki St. to Sarači St.
The goldsmith trade was very developed in Sarajevo during the Ottoman period. By the second half of the 18th century, the goldsmith guild had more than 200 master artisans, as well as merchants and apprentices. This guild included clockmakers, metalsmiths who gilded copper items and knifesmiths who specialized in making silver knife handles.
It was around the year 1900 that the streets in Kujundžijska Čaršija were broken up, and the larger street was given the name, Veliki Kujundžiluk, and the smaller one was called Mali Kujundžiluk.
Gazi Husrevbegova St. was formed in 1931, when Veliki Kujundžiluk and Predimare were joined to make a single street, leaving Mali Kujundžiluk the only one in Sarajevo to use a variant of “Kujundžiluk.”