Bazaar
Kujundžiluk
Mostar · Herzegovina
QUICK INFORMATION
- CATEGORY
- Bazaar
- COUNTRY
- Bosnia & Herzegovina
- REGION
- Mostar · Herzegovina
- DURATION
- 1–2 days
ABOUT THIS ATTRACTION
Kujundžiluk is the coppersmiths’ street — the old Ottoman bazaar that tumbles down the east bank of the Neretva to the very feet of Stari Most. The name comes from kujundži, the coppersmiths whose guild gave the lane its purpose, and five centuries on you can still hear their hammers before you see their wares: a soft, irregular tapping that rises from low workshops set into the stone walls. This is the living heart of the old town — a single cobbled street of overhanging eaves, tiny shops and side alleys that has traded in much the same way since the 1500s, and the place where Mostar feels most like itself.
HISTORY & BACKGROUND
The story behind it
When Stari Most was completed in the 1560s, the east bank became the commercial spine of the new town, and the Ottoman guild system organised its trades street by street. Kujundžiluk was set aside for the coppersmiths, who produced the coffee sets, trays, ewers and ornaments used in every household and sold across the region. Other crafts — leatherworkers, tinsmiths, wool-carders — filled the lanes running off it. The street survived the Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian and Yugoslav periods largely intact, and although the 1992–95 war destroyed many of its buildings, the lane was rebuilt along its old lines. Today the coppersmiths work alongside souvenir stalls and small cafés, but the street plan, the cobblestones and the scale of the workshops are those of the original bazaar.
WHAT TO SEE
What to see here
The coppersmiths at work — step into a workshop and watch a kujundži hammering a coffee set or tray by hand, raising the metal over a stake exactly as it was done in the 16th century.
The cobblestones and overhanging eaves — the street itself is the attraction: a narrow canyon of pale stone, wooden upper storeys and tiny arched shopfronts.
The side alleys — lanes such as Biskupova and Tabhana run off the main street to quieter courtyards, older houses and small mosques away from the crowds.
The approach to Stari Most — Kujundžiluk leads directly down to the bridge, so the walk ends with the most famous view in Mostar opening out before you.
WHY IT MATTERS
Why it matters
Kujundžiluk is not a museum street but a working one. The coppersmiths’ guild has practised here for nearly five hundred years, and the sound of hammering that greets you is the same sound that greeted Ottoman travellers. In a city where so much was destroyed, the survival of this lane — its plan, its craft and its everyday commerce — is what keeps the old town alive rather than merely preserved. To walk it is to understand Mostar as a trading town first, built around a bridge that existed to be crossed on the way to buy and sell.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before you go
THROUGH THE LENS
From the road
MAP & LOCATION
Kujundžiluk
Kujundžiluk, Mostar, Herzegovina, Bosnia & Herzegovina
43.3435, 17.8085
MORE ATTRACTIONS
More to see in Mostar
FOOD & DRINK
Where to eat nearby
Hindin Han — traditional Herzegovinian dishes beside a rushing creek
Šadrvan — classic ćevapi and begova čorba right on the bazaar
Tima-Irma — legendary mixed grill plates, beloved by locals
HOTELS & STAYS
Where to stay nearby
Hotel Mepas — modern comfort and a pool in the city centre
Pansion Nur — family-run, steps from the Old Bridge
Hostel Miran — a social, budget-friendly base for backpackers
ITINERARIES
Day-by-day routes
NEARBY DESTINATIONS
Continue the journey
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INTERESTS
Explore by what you love
ROUTES
Routes through here
Mostar to Sarajevo via the Neretva Canyon
A classic Balkan ride north up the Neretva canyon — river, cliffs and forest from Mostar to Sarajevo.
130 km · 3 h · moderate
VIEW ROUTEBogodol–Velika Vlajna Summit Route
A demanding out-and-back ascent from Bogodol to Velika Vlajna, the high point of the bare Čabulja massif northwest of Mostar.
12.1 km · 4.8 h · challenging
VIEW ROUTEPART OF
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