The first Sebilj was built in 1753 by the Ottoman governor Mehmed Pasha Kukavica. The one you see today is a replacement designed in 1891, under Austro-Hungarian rule, by the architect Alexander Wittek.
Its carved wooden walls, small windows and green copper dome sit on a raised stone base with steps, and the square around it is usually full of pigeons, which is why locals also call it Pigeon Square. A popular saying holds that anyone who drinks from the Sebilj will one day return to Sarajevo.
The fountain is the natural starting point for a walk through Baščaršija: the coppersmiths' lane, Morića Han and the Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque are all a few minutes away on foot.
