Where To Buy Souvenirs In Sarajevo

If you come to Sarajevo for a few days for the first time then you will definitely want to bring souvenirs home. The question is: what to buy? What is so special about this place that you should pack it in your suitcase and bring it home. Refrigerator magnets, key chains, or postcards? Although I confess that I buy a postcard from every city I have visited, it is not the best souvenir from this city. There are much more special souvenirs in Sarajevo than magnets or postcards.

You most certainly have noticed how Bosnians drink coffee, this is the so-called “ritual”. Whenever a guest comes to their house, a Bosnian man makes a delicious coffee in a special pot (dzezva or cezva) made of copper and brings out beautiful copper cups and Turkish sweets (if you have been to Turkey, you would find it similar to the way Turkish coffee is served). This means that the conversation will be long and enjoyable. I also learned about the Bosniak secret weapon. If an uninvited guest visits them, they will also make coffee, but in a small pot and very concentrated, after such a coffee the guest will not stay long (this is of course a joke that was told us by a tour guide from a free walking tour, but I am sure this method is effective) .

In the centre of Sarajevo’s old town, there is Kazandziluk Street, which houses cute workshops. You will immediately notice the sparks of copper coffee sets and various tea sets. All copper ornaments are made by the master in the workshop. Here you can find different types of coffee sets at different prices. Usually the set includes a copper plate with a beautiful ornament, on which is placed a copper pot, a copper bowl with a lid for refined sugar and two or more small ceramic coffee cups, which are placed inside the copper cup. Such coffee sets look very original and beautiful, not surprisingly Bosnians drink coffee all day, filling small coffee cups and serving Turkish sweets.

The price of such souvenirs range from 30 KM = $17 to 150 KM = $85 , depending on the number of coffee cups, how big the copper pot is and how  detailed the ornamentation is on a coffee set.

In addition to coffee and tea sets, you can see various copper jewelry, pens made from cartridges used during the siege of the city in 1992-1995, silver and copper boxes in which you can store jewelry. Particularly noteworthy is the portable coffee grinder in which you simply pour coffee beans and make freshly ground coffee anytime anywhere.

We purchased one of these souvenirs – a coffee set, and I cannot wait  when we get home so I can invite friends and make coffee and repeat the Bosnian ceremony with an interesting conversation about Sarajevo and the culture of this part of the world.

These souvenirs in Sarajevo are not just a picture on the refrigerator, it is a piece of country in your home.