Kulturarv utan Gränser
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The Despica Kuca merchant house
Despica Kuca means literally the house of Despic and refers to the name of the Serbian merchant family that owned the house up until the 1960's. It is one of the few remaining examples of a Serbian Orthodox merchant house from the Ottoman period. In the 1880's an annex to the house was built that became Sarajevo's first theatre. One of the sons in the Despic family was an actor.
The building seen today is the result of alterations undertaken during the centuries ever since it was first built in the 17th century. The house is now owned by the City Museum of Sarajevo and its restoration was begun in 2000 as one of the Foundation's principal projects for the year. The initial idea for the project originated from the former Swedish ambassador who brought the building to our attention as it was considered to have great cultural significance despite its derelict state. Soon afterwards discussions were held with the Heritage Institute in Sarajevo and the City Museum.
Selma Begic, an architect and the project assistant, has written a report describing the way in which Cultural Heritage without Borders has undertaken this project. 
Download it here as a pdf file and read the report.
Despica Kuca in front of the busy street Obla Kulina bana. Photo CHwB, October 1999.
The merchant's house after restoration.
Photo CHwB, December 2001.
Concept of a historical home museum
During the war between 1992 and 1995 the roof of the building had been damaged by mortar attacks. Poor maintenance of the building throughout the last decades had resulted in serious structural damage so that some of the supporting beams had collapsed. The ground floor is to be used for the City Museum's administration, whilst the upper floor is to be converted into a historical home museum and open to the public. The idea is to put on display a Serbian merchant home from the end of the 19th century in the same way as the Svirzas House represents a Muslim home, a property also owned by the museum. The aim is to show how the Serbian and Muslim cultures have lived together side by side and how they have influenced each other down throughout the centuries.
Building survey and workshop
During the winter of 1999-2000 the Federal Heritage Institute in Sarajevo conducted a thorough cultural, historical and technical survey of the entire building including a careful assessment of its damage. At the same time the museum also carried out an inventory of the collection of objects from the Despic House. In collaboration with the Heritage Institute a workshop was arranged by Cultural Heritage without Borders in April 2000 with the building survey as its theme and with the participation of both Swedish and Bosnian specialists. Discussions then led to establishing the aims and goals for this project.
Conservation work
Restoration of the building's exterior and interior has involved extensive work. Its frame has been restored, using the original building techniques and material such as dried mud bricks. The building has been secured against the threat of earthquakes by not only bricking in the horizontal timber beams (hatula) but also by placing flat steel rings round the house on each storey. In addition the roof and attic of the main building has been repaired and an earlier demolished annex has been rebuilt to house such modern facilities as toilets and a kitchen. Work on the interior has involved restoring the original wallpaper, repainting, installing new electricity, and as mentioned above new toilets and kitchen.
Name Despica Kuca
Building Merchant house
Built 1700-1900
Geographical area Sarajevo, Federation, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Joint partners Institute for Protection of Cultural, Historical and Natural Heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo, City Museum in Sarajevo
Local architect in charge Azra Hadzic, Institute for Protection of Cultural, Historical and Natural Heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo
Project manager Tina Wik, Cultural Heritage without Borders
Funding Sida (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency)
