Cultural Corridors of South East Europe

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Seranic House

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Seranic House

About the site


Corridor: Diagonal Road
Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Banja Luka
Type: Vernacular Architecture
Epoch: Middle Ages
Theme: Vernacular Architecture
World Heritage:
Middle AgesVernacular ArchitectureVernacular Architecture

The Ilidza Mahala was named after hot, healing springs among which there passed a stream of hot water, going down into the river of Vrbas.
There are no certain historical data as to the existence of these spas during the Roman period, although the road from Salona to Servitium used to pass through that area. A large musalla (prayer room) was built in the Middle Ages, already at the beginning of the 16th century, and after that the Mahmud Celebi (Ilidzanska) Mosque, as the centre of the whole mahala. Housing facilities, which often included a healing spa each, were very soon built around it. Covered baths (hauzi - Arabic baths) and two small mills, which could be operated even during severe winters, were also built during that time.
The Seranics were rich landowners and the largest family in Gornji Seher. They built a house in Seher at the end of the 18th century. That building is one of the rare surviving examples of this type of housing facilities in the Ilidza Mahala, characteristic of their baths (hauzi) located immediately next to the houses.

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