Things to do in Bascarsija

Bascarsija is Sarajevo's Ottoman bazaar, founded around 1462 by Isa-beg Ishakovic, and it still works as a market rather than a museum piece. In the Kazandziluk lane, kazandzije hammer sheet copper into coffee pots the way they have for generations, and the smell of grilled meat and the ring of metal carry across the whole quarter.

The Sebilj fountain marks the centre, a useful landmark rather than a sight in itself. A bosnian coffee costs 2-3 KM and a plate of cevapi 8-12 KM, but the restaurants ringing the main square routinely charge more for less: walk 100 m down a side street and prices drop.

Ferhadija, one block over, is the Austro-Hungarian quarter and looks and feels different again.