[wzslider autoplay=”true”]This dependency of the Sarajevo Museum, the oldest part of which dates from the 17th century, was built in several stages at three different periods. The house belonged to the wealthy Orthodox Christian Despić family, which donated the house to the City, along with another property now housing the Museum of Literature and the Performing Arts. The house is noted as the venue for the city’s first theatre performances, so that it may be regarded as the precursor of modern theatre.
With the opening of the Despić House, Sarajevo gained yet another museum property presenting the lifestyle of a wealthy merchant family. The building is located at no. 2 Despićeva St.
Judging from the nature of the load-bearing elements, the types of building materials and the structural system of its various parts, the building of the house began in the 17th century and was completed during the second half of the 19th century.
Curator of the Despić house Senad Kuc emphasized that the uniqueness of this facility is in combination of Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian style of decoration. The first floor of the house is arranged in Ottoman style, one part of it dates from the 17th century as the oldest part. Later, the family bought a house on two floors from the neighbors across the street, and merged two units into one.
“When you go 250 years back and six generations of Despić’s, the first one who came to Sarajevo lived in the area of today’s Despić house. The family was working as furriers for 20 years. After that was born Maksim Despić and the family was in their golden age at the time, they had five shops and three houses in the city. This was the biggest one,” he emphasized.
Maksim Despić had very important political role in the society, which was a feature of the wealthiest families. Moreover, he did extremely important thing for the culture in B&H, he opened the first private theater in B&H in the large guest room on the ground floor.
The house was renovated according to the authentic appearance 15 years ago, which includes furniture and items from the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian period that the family bought and used.
“Since the family Despić died out, this museum is showing how great it is to leave something in the city to be seen. The names are changing, families come and go, but some things like this house will remain for future generations,” concluded Kuc.
The number of tourists, especially foreign, that are visiting Despić house is increasing by 5 to 10% every year. During the summer months this year a total of 2,000 visitors were recorded, while somewhere between 6,000 and 7,000 tourists visited this house on an annual basis.
(Source: klix.ba, muzejsarajeva.ba, visitmycountry.net)
