The Gazi Husrev-Beg Mosque that features the Ottoman architecture was completed in the 16th century. To this day, the mosque remains the largest in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In 1898, this elegant mosque became the first in the world to receive electricity. However, that wasn’t the only exciting episode hanging on the building’s past. During the Siege of Sarajevo (which lasted from April 1992 to February 1996), the mosque was an obvious target for air raids that sought to bombard significant monuments of art and culture across Sarajevo.
With the result, it sustained significant damage. With donations from the international community, however, the mosque was rebuilt in 1996. While the exterior retains the Ottoman architecture, Bosnian calligrapher Hazim Numanagić redesigned the interior in 2001.
Today the mosque serves as the main congregational mosque of the Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but there isn’t a day you can’t find tourists and guests visiting the building.
