The Sebilj is an Ottoman-style wooden fountain (sebil) in the centre of Baščaršija Square in Sarajevo. The original Sebilj was built by Mehmed Pasha Kukavica in 1753, but it was destroyed in a fire in 1852. It was reconstructed by the Austrian architect Alexander Wittek in 1891, and was relocated to its present site several metres away from the position of the earlier structure.[1] According to local legend, visitors who drink water from the fountain will return to Sarajevo someday.[2]
A multinational collaborative public arts project created a life-size contemporary interpretation of the famous public fountain and landmark in Birmingham, using traditional Bosnian design and craft techniques, combined with modern digital technology.[3][4][5]
There is a replica of Sarajevo's Sebilj in Belgrade, Serbia, donated by the city of Sarajevo in 1989 as a gift ahead of the 9th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement.[6][7] Another replica in St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States, was donated by the Bosnian community to the city of St. Louis for the city's 250th birthday.[8] A third replica is in Novi Pazar, also a gift from the city of Sarajevo. In Bursa, Turkey a replica of Sarajevo’s Sebilj was built as a symbol of friendship between the city of Bursa and the city of Sarajevo.
In 2018, another replica of the Sebilj was completed in the town of Rožaje, Montenegro.
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