WHITE FORTRESS (BIJELA TABIJA)
Located on the southeastern slopes of Sarajevo, hiding in a stone mantle the history of the city from the Middle Ages to the present day, Bijela tabija is certainly one of the most impressive and most valuable buildings of the architectural heritage of this area. The dominant position of the White Bastion in relation to the natural amphitheater of the historic city center, and the view that stretches along the Miljacka River all the way to modern residential areas in western Sarajevo, make a specific, almost completely natural, choreography of nature and human creativity.
White bastion as an object of architectural heritage
To this day, different opinions have been expressed about the time of the creation of the White Bastion. According to one, the building was built around 1550 (the opinion is based on data provided by the travel writer Katarina Zeno), and it was demolished during the construction of the town of Vratnica and a new fortress was built in its place, which we recognize today by its polygonal shape.
According to another opinion, in the place of the White Bastion there was a fortress in the Middle Ages, which was not larger than the usual type of medieval defensive fortification that protects the open settlement (suburbs) in its vicinity.
A successful reconstruction of the appearance of the medieval fortress on the site of the White Bastion was done by Alija Bejtić on the basis of data provided by sources from the 17th century. It was a fortress with a rectangular base (approximately 75 m long in the north-south direction, approximately 50 m wide in the east-west direction) with four towers at the corners, a square base and a heel above the entrance gate. This appearance of the city dates it to the end of the 14th or the beginning of the 15th century. One peculiarity in architecture and conception is interesting, due to its unique fortification in medieval Bosnian fortification architecture. The rectangular fortification conceived in this way, with four towers at the corners, has similarities with the Central European fortifications, with a strong influence of Gothic Hungarian construction. There are openings for cannon barrels on the thick stone walls.
With the establishment of permanent Ottoman rule in this area in the middle of the 15th century, nothing significant changed in the appearance of the fortress. A crew of timarli was established in it and a mosque was built inside the fortress for their needs. On the Austrian map from 1882, the foundations of the mosque are drawn in the shape of an octagon, with an entrance that was parallel to the entrance gate of the fortress (north side). Evliya lebelebi also mentions the mosque in his travelogue from 1660. Next to the mosque, inside the fortress, was the house of the imam, two muezzins and military musicians, then a grain magazine and several houses of crew members. E. bijaelebija also explains why the name Bijela tabija came from, so he says that it was called that because of the white painting.
Review of activities performed on the protection of the White Bastion complex in the period from 1991. till today
In the desire to return the White Table to our everyday life, we decided to offer this building to the cultural scene, to make it not only a stage of history, but also a stage of today's modern life.
Activities related to the preparation of project documentation and implementation of certain phases of the project of rehabilitation, reconstruction and restoration of the complex Bijele tabije - fortification complex within the Vratnica rampart are financially supported by the City of Sarajevo - City Administration and the Ministry of Physical Planning of Sarajevo Canton. At all stages of preparation of project documentation (Phases I-IV), the holder of the development was the Cantonal Institute for the Protection of Cultural, Historical and Natural Heritage.
White Frotress Reconstruction Program
http://www.spomenici-sa.ba/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/bijelatabijaprogram.pdf
Source:
Cantonal Institution for the protection of cultural, historicel and nature heritage Sarajevo
http://www.spomenici-sa.ba/2006/12/22/bijela-tabija/ (en)