Tabačica mosque in Mostar

There existed 36 mosques in Mostar, and the specific thing abo­ut all of them was that each one got its name after the founder- except for one…Tabačica Mosque.

The mosque is placed some 50 meters from the Old Bridge, in the old town, with Radobolje flowing under it.

Close to the mosque, we find Tabhana (which stands even to­day), where the tanners who wor­ked with leather (“tabaci”) had their workshops.

Tabačica mosque was desi­gned by and for the communi­ty of tanners. It is one of the few mosques that do not have its own burial ground (“harem”) or cour­tyard. Before, an Oriental shop was placed under the same roof as the mosque, and the smiths (“ko­vači”) had their workshops all aro­und the Tabačica mosque.

As we said before, Tabačica mosque is placed above the river Radobolje, with two stone layers that hold it on its place.

In the period when it was bu­ilt, there was also a water mill mo­tioned by a water wheel. The tanners kept their hidden pits in the grounds between the mosque and the Tower of Halebi­ja.

Tabačica mosque is one of the most important monumental wor­ks of Islamic sacred architecture. It is different from the other mosqu­es, because of its location it had to be built differently.