Emperor’s Mosque

The Emperor's Mosque is the oldest mosque in Sarajevo and one of the first built in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was originally raised in 1462, in honour of Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror, and its construction was made possible by Sarajevo's founder, Isa-beg Isaković. After being badly damaged in an attack in 1480, it was rebuilt in its present form in 1566, under Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, by one of the pupils of the chief imperial architect, Mimar Sinan.

It is a central-type mosque with a three-sided porch and a hemispherical dome typical of classical Ottoman architecture, while its octagonal minaret, with a stalactite-adorned balcony, is among the finest in the country. Behind it lies a cemetery with tombstones from the 15th to the 19th century, where the grave of Isa-beg Isaković is believed to lie. The mosque remains the spiritual and historical heart of Sarajevo.