In recent years, Ramadan canon became a major attraction for both the people of Sarajevo, and many tourists who come to the Yellow Bastion to enjoy the breathtaking view of the capital city and, with the sound of cannon, end more than 14 hours long daily fasting during which believers sustain from eating, drinking and other bodily pleasures…
The shot from the cannon from the Yellow Bastion, in the old Sarajevo settlement of Vratnik, every evening marks the time of iftar (breaking the fast after the sunset) in Ramadan – the end of a long day of fasting for Muslims.
Yellow bastion is especially interesting to the youngest BiH citizens, who are waiting the shot from a cannon with great curiosity.
A shot from the cannon over Sarajevo is more than a hundred years old Bosnian Muslim tradition, that was stopped during the previous political regime, but it was revived in the early 90’s of the last century and nurtured until today.
People who are fasting claim that it is special thing to break their fast from the place from where the canon marks the end of fasting.
Cannoneer Krivic comes on the Yellow Bastion 20 minutes before iftar, to perform all the preparations and checking. When the cannon barrel, gunpowder charge, fuses and igniters are ready, he looks at his watch and waits for the right time. And then, after a cannon shot, flashes the rose in the sky over Sarajevo, lamps on mosques get turned on and begins iftar time.
“Today this is not the only place from which is marked the end of fasting. There are few places in Sarajevo where the end of fasting is marked with the shot from the cannon, and now the Municipality of Ilidza started with this practice as well,” said Krivic.
Krivic says that he enjoys in his 17-years-long work, and that children represent special joy for him, especially in Ramadan, when they come to the Yellow Bastion to see the shot from a cannon.
“This is a real joy for the children, they are excited to see the shot of the cannon. I think there is no place in the world where it is possible to eat iftar dinner with this view and break your fast at the exact moment of the start of iftar,” said Krivic.
A large number of people from Sarajevo, as well as foreign tourists, are coming to the Yellow Bastion to break their fast and enjoy the beauty of Ramadan.
