5/5 Omer H. 5 years ago on Google
Must
visit
spot
which
is
UNESCO
protected
complex,
hearth
of
the
city
of
Banjaluka,
being
demolished
to
the
grownd
by
the
Serb
forces
in
1993,
built
again
and
have
risen
up
as
a
Phoenix
as
the
symbol
and
a
message
that
killing,
destroying
and
the
war
crime
can't
be
the
way
of
life
and
the
aim
of
the
contemporary
Serb
enclave
RepublikaSrpska,
which
is
the
smaller
part
of
independent
Bosnian
state
(RepublikaSrpska
is
the
result
of
the
Dayton's
peace
agreement).
Commissioned
by
the
Bosnian
Sanjak-bey
Ferhat-paša
Sokolović,
the
mosque
was
built
in
1579[4]
with
money
that,
as
tradition
has
it,[5]
were
paid
by
the
Auersperg
family
for
the
severed
head
of
the
Habsburg
general
Herbard
VIII
von
Auersperg
and
the
ransom
for
the
general's
son
after
a
battle
at
the
Croatian
border
in
1575,
where
Ferhat-paša
was
triumphant.
The
mosque
with
its
classical
Ottoman
architecture
was
most
probably
designed
by
a
pupil
of
Mimar
Sinan.
There
is
no
written
data
about
the
builders
who
erected
the
mosque,
but
from
analysing
its
architecture
it
appears
that
the
foreman
of
the
works
was
from
Sinan's
school
since
the
mosque
shows
obvious
similarities
with
Sinan's
Muradiye
mosque
in
Manisa,
which
dates
from
1585.
Ferhadija
was
listed
as
a
Bosnia
and
Herzegovina
cultural
heritage
site
in
1950.
It
was
subsequently
protected
by
UNESCO
until
its
destruction
in
1993.
Today
the
site,
with
the
mosque's
remains,
is
listed
as
a
national
monument
of
Bosnia
and
Herzegovina.
Destruction
Ferhadija
was
under
reconstruction
2001-2016.
In
2001,
a
building
permit
was
granted
to
the
Islamska
Zajednica
Banjaluke
(Islamic
Community
of
Banja
Luka)
to
reconstruct
the
mosque.
On
May
7,
Serb
nationalists
attacked
about
300
Bosniaks
attending
the
ceremony
to
mark
the
laying
of
the
cornerstone.
The
New
York
Times
reported
that
about
1,000
Orthodox
Christian
Serbs
participated
in
the
attack
and
that
they
threw
rocks
and
burned
vehicles,
a
bakery,
Muslim
prayer
rugs,
and
the
flag
on
the
Islamic
center,
where
they
hoisted
the
Bosnian
Serb
flag;
drove
a
pig
onto
the
site
of
the
mosque
as
an
insult
to
Muslims;
and
trapped
250
people
in
the
Islamic
center
including
the
head
of
the
UN
in
Bosnia,
the
ambassadors
from
Great
Britain,
Sweden
and
Pakistan,
and
other
international
and
local
officials.
Bosnian
Serb
police
eventually
released
them.
More
than
30
Bosniaks
were
injured
and
at
least
eight
were
taken
to
the
Banja
Luka
hospital.
One
died
later
from
head
injuries.[12][13]
The
disrupted
ceremony
took
place
on
the
8th
anniversary
of
the
mosque's
destruction,
a
date
subsequently
chosen
as
Bosnia
and
Herzegovina's
official
Day
of
the
Mosques.
A
few
days
later,
in
secret
and
under
heavy
security,
the
ceremony
was
performed
successfully.
But
because
of
the
earlier
attack,
reconstruction
was
not
undertaken.
The
mosque
is
reconstructed
and
opened
in
2016.
Reconstruction
was
very
slow
and
expensive
because
only
original
way
of
building
had
to
be
used,
as
well
as
the
original
materials
and
with
the
all
original
parts
buried
out
from
the
central
city's
junkyard
being
bulit
in
again
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