Restaurant Avlija Where to eat service

Avlija - the place where people enjoy being with friends

Every Bosnian understands the meaning of the word “Avlija” that represents a house courtyard. Avlija has been, is and will always be a place where people meet, a place where children make noise, a place where people meet friends until late in the evening (Bosnian word akšamluk) and a place where young couples flirt (Bosnian word ašikluk). I am writing about such courtyard. The famous Bosnian writer Bašeskija once wrote about courtyards and gardens in Sarajevo, which are decorated with blossom in spring, and day after day they are changing their physiognomy and getting more and more beautiful. After blossom, the May roses are blooming, and then the flowers called zambaci, ilduzi and African marigold. There is not any avlija without bushes of box, which are taken good care of, and which can be shaped in different ways, which depends on the gardener’s imagination, however we are not here to talk about the horticulture. Avlija (courtyard) is usually fenced with high walls in order hide it from the curious ones.

This space provides the intimacy of the family life; it is usually paved with cobblestones that were brought from the nearby brook and put with the utmost care in the right place in order to create the lace structure of white rugs surrounded with green colour of grass. First layer of cobblestones were never covered with concrete but the line of grass dragged by the snow-white balls, which were scrubbed by diligent women on those days, which were not holydays. Mr. Juraj Najthart, the student and associate of the famous French architect Le- Corbusier, the excellent architect and professor, one of the greatest admirers of the Bosnian way of building , and great follower of the unwritten rule of the right to the view, told wonderful stories about avlija to his students. I was lucky and had a great pleasure to attend his lectures even though I was not studying architecture.

Today, this space is simply called the “Avlija”. It has changed and has become the place where meet those who enjoy listening to the slow music, talking and good food. When the unfortunate war ended, we were sitting one day in that old avlija when Fiko told us about his idea to give the opportunity to some, to us unknown people, to enjoy the blessing of his yard, his hospitality and his cordiality.

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