Magribija mosque is located near the Marindvor, who, at the time of its creation, represented the western periphery of old Sarajevo.
According to the various sources, šejh Magribija came to Sarajevo with Isa-bey, founder of the city and there, he raised the Mosque.
According to some sources, the original Magribija was made at the time of the establishment of Sarajevo near the Mosque today, but it was destroyed in the 1459. In the present form it could only be built between the 1538-1565, when was first mentioned in old documents. It was burned again 1697, and then, only things that were preserved are walls and stones of minaret. Present appearance of the Mosques and all of its painted decorations date from 1766.
Magribija Mosque, Sarajevo.
Ceiling wooden structure, above the main space, which has half-tub, hutch format, developed in the direction of north-south, distinguishes this object from a number of other Sarajevo Mosques. The arch is designed with the wooden ornaments, with polychrome oriental motifs, mostly of vegetable origin, and in the center there is a round rosette filled with floral ornaments. Another particularity of the architectural solution is a system of pillars on sofas - bases and the capitals are made of stone, and the pillars themselves are made of wood.
The way that capitals are shaped and designed will not be seen and find on any other monument of that period. Special attractions of this mosque are wall decorations on the mihrab, the side walls and large mahfila surfaces. During the time of restoration in 1972, pictures of trees in natural colors and size have vanished from the sides of the walls. But before they vanished, special copying of these motifs had been made, so there is a chance of true restoration. Because of its features Magribija mosque is legally protected in 1962, as extremely valuable historical monument.
About šejh Magribijia we know almost nothing, except what we can conclude from the name, that he was a member of Dervish order whose origins are from Magrib (name of the Islamic countries of northern Africa: Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco). Well-known English scholar sir Thomas W. Arnold in 1929, visited Sarajevo, and, at the time he was literally impressed by Magribija Mosque.
He was interested into wooden pillars with stone bases and capitals on sofas, for the construction šišetas (celling) and ornaments in the beautiful colors on the woodwork in the interior of the mosque. On that occasion, he said that something like this can be only seen in mosques in Delhi in India, otherwise nowhere in the whole world. Besides these characteristics, which are identified because they are unique, but also unusual in this part of the world, there is also an unavoidable stone Minaret, which rises proudly in the sky, and reaches a height of 32 meters.
Mihrab and Mimber, Magribija Mosque
Also, there is a porch that is belted with a wooden fence with pillars, what gives the Mosque an ancient appearance. Sarajevo Islamic worship are also known for its harems (gardens), but here we will not find any of those. Only fenced green surfaces form the western side. The entrance to the Mosque is on the northwest side of Magribija Street. The Mosque itself takes 158 m2, and the yard another 223m2.
From all sides on the walls there is a total of 17 windows. In the last war, the Mosque itself suffered a great damage. Roof was on fire, and the minaret was crushed down almost to the bottom. A lot of time and effort was required to restore its original appearance, and today almost everything is being restored, of this, many will say the oldest Mosque in Sarajevo.
