“Sarajevo Meeting of Cultures” is the message of an inlaid marker on Ferhadija St., near Gazi Husrev Bey’s Bezistan. This is the spot where two dominant cultures that once shaped Sarajevo merge.

In essence, what can be seen clearly about Sarajevo is that this is a city that connects East and West – not only as different halves of the world, but also culturally – with the East considered Ottoman and Islamic and the West seen as Austro-Hungarian and Christian.

Their most obvious encounters are visible when one looks them straight “in the face” in the city’s architecture.

The location of the marker, “Sarajevo – Meeting-place of Cultures”, is unique in that it is right where these two cultural influences clearly meet and it seems to be the very spot in town where, with one step, you can cross from one culture to another.

As you stand on this spot, on your “eastern” side you have Gazi Husrev Bey’s Bezistan, Slatko Ćoše (Sweet Corner), Sarači Street… and, actually, this is where Baščaršija starts, with its Eastern look, aromas and so on.

If you turn toward the other side, toward “the west”, you’ll be met by Ferhadija St., which is lined on both sides by the many structures that were built in a more Western style, during the time of Austro-Hungarian rule.