Architectural Ensemble
The ensemble of the Ferhadija mosque consisted of the mosque itself, the courtyard, a graveyard, the fountain, 3 mausoleums ("turbes") and the surrounding wall with the gate. The original canopied wall was pulled down after 1884 and a more massive wall partly of masonry and wrought iron was built with a new gate and a drinking fountain. In the courtyard there was an ablutions fountain ("šadrvan") with a stone basin and twelve pipes. The water for the fountain was brought from a spring that is still known as Šadrvan. Above the stone basin was a decorative wrought iron trellis, and in the 19th century a wooden baldaquin and dome and painted attic in the so-called Turkish baroque style was added which was demolished in 1955. One of three small adjacent mausoleums - Ferhad Pasha Turbe - contained the tombs of Ferhat-paša Sokolović, the others were for his granddaughter Safi-kaduna, and his ensign. A clock tower ("Sahat-Kula") was added later .
Like most buildings of this type in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the mosque was on a modest scale: 18 meters (59 ft) wide, 14 meters (46 ft) long and 18 meters (59 ft) high at the top of the main dome. The minaret was 43 m (141 ft) high. According to legend, when the mosque was completed in 1579, Ferhad-Pasha had the masons locked inside this minaret, sentencing them to death so they could never make anything so beautiful, but one night they made wings and flew away.
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.
Read more about this topic: Ferhat Pasha Mosque