Bosnia and Herzegovina - Jewish Cemetery in Sarajevo

Jews began to settle in Sarajevo in the early 16th century, at a time when the city was beginning to experience a rapid development (Zlatar, p. 57). The earliest documentary source referring to their presence is a document in the sijill of the Sarajevo court dating from 1557. Another surviving Sarajevo sijill dating from the 16th century, more precisely from 1565, refers to Jews as traders in fine cloth and fine leather (sahtijan). In the late 16th century, the Grand Vizier Sijavush Pashabuilt a large caravanserai known as Sijavush Pasha’s Daira, which Jews called Kortiž. Somewhat later the Old Jewish Synagogue was built alongside itas the first sacral edifice of Sarajevo Sephardic Jews. Its architectural style echoes that of their temples in the faraway Spain.