Historijski pogledi (Nov 2023)
The role and significance of water in the development of Sarajevo over the course of history
Abstract
Water represented a very important segment in the design and functioning of Sarajevo over the course of its long past. Water, as a symbol of life, in various forms and shapes, has been an indispensable factor in the creation and development of many urban areas in human history, which is very clearly visible in the Sarajevo example. Based on data from unpublished archival materials, published sources and relevant literature, this text attempts to present certain elements that undoubtedly led to the city's development. The work deals with different thematic areas that chronologically presented the exploitation of the water potential of Sarajevo and its immediate surroundings, as one of the key causes of the city's urban development and its economic and social transformation. In the classic Ottoman era, Sarajevo was, to the greatest extent thanks to the institution of the Waqf, an area with an extremely large number of different forms of construction on the water. Wells, fountains and shadirwans as well as a wide branched network of water supply systems, made it possible to use the bounty of water unhindered. Mills and bridges were in the function of economic activity, which directly affected the prosperity of the city. In addition to these positive examples, the paper also provides information on certain problems caused by the natural effect of water power. During the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian periods, Sarajevo was faced with floods which, depending on the intensity and whether the Miljacka or one of its tributaries flooded, caused damages of different scopes. Therefore, special attention was paid to the efforts of the city authorities to prevent such scenarios. The paper deals with the construction and maintenance of Sarajevo's water supply network. Its beginnings in the Ottoman period are presented and analyzed, as well as the first, at that time, modern approaches in the construction of a modern water supply system after the Austro-Hungarian occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Austro-Hungarian authorities, aware of the existing water potential of the source of the Mošćanica river not far from Sarajevo, tried to make maximum use of these facilities with the aim of supplying the city with sufficient quantities of drinking water. The Ottoman waterworks were dilapidated and could not meet the needs of the entire population, which was constantly growing, and the city's territory was expanding year by year, so this was also an aggravating circumstance. The paper shows in detail how the construction of the first modern water supply system in Sarajevo proceeded in 1889, as well as how it functioned in the following period. The presented and analyzed cases from the original material clearly illustrate the problems faced by the residents who wanted to connect their housholds to the water supply network as well s how the new water supply system caused various types of damage to their private properties. The last segment that this paper treats refers to the use of water power for the production of electricity. Towards the end of the First World War, the Dudin Hrid power plant was put into operation, which used the water power of the existing water supply brought from the Jahorina mountain. In this way, the city was supplied with water and electricity, which was extremely important. Particular attention was paid to the construction of a hydroelectric plant on the Željeznica River, in Bogatići, not far from Sarajevo. This project, although conceived and planned at the beginning of the twentieth century, was only realized after the Second World War and represented the first built object of the First Five-Year Plan. The results of the research presented here can serve, not only within the framework of the historiographic range, but also for the needs of knowledge that is of various social significance.
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