MAUSOLEUM OF THE SEVEN BROTHERS

A strange place of devotion and superstition, this Muslim mausoleum (Turbe Sedam Braće) owes its name to the seven coffins displayed in the windows, which legend says are those of seven brothers. They are in fact seven unrelated men, executed and buried here between 1663 and 1697. Although they were not brothers, they shared the fact that they had been falsely accused and exonerated after their beheading. In 1815, local residents claimed that lights appeared above the seven tombs. Topal Osman Pacha, then governor of Bosnia and future grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire, came to the site and noticed the same phenomenon. He immediately ordered the construction of a mosque, a tekké and a tomb where the seven coffins would be exposed. Two centuries later, the tekké has disappeared, but the superstition remains. According to popular belief, if you come here with a question about your future, you will get the answer. To do this, you must first recite a prayer in front of the door. Then do the same in front of each of the seven windows, touching them and inserting a coin. After inserting the same amount of money in the seven windows, you must leave by taking a different route than the one you came by. The answer to the question will come from the first words spoken by the passers-by.

A ritual that continues. A student wondering whether he would pass an exam would have heard the first passers-by pronounce the number nine, which must be the mark for his paper. A young woman wondering who will be her husband would have heard two people talking, one of them saying "I got married in Mahmutovac". It is in this same neighborhood near Bistrik that she would have found and married the one of her heart. We don't have to believe it, but it could be an opportunity to get rid of the last convertible marks before getting back on the plane. The coins slipped into the windows are not lost anyway, since they are then used for good works of the Muslim community. Many Sarajevans of all faiths still come here at least once a year to ask their questions. This ritual illustrates the art of komšiluk, the "good neighborliness" between communities. Until the last war it was even more amazing: the tradition was to make a triangle between the Muslim mausoleum, the Catholic Franciscan monastery and the old Orthodox Church of the Archangels to make offerings at each shrine.