Roofing in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina's roofs reflect a mountainous, forested country shaped by four centuries of Ottoman rule and a later Austro-Hungarian period. Traditional houses combined stone, earth and timber under timber roofs, while mosques of the Ottoman period introduced domes and semi-domes to the skyline of towns such as Sarajevo.

Climate and hazards

Much of the country is mountainous, with cold, snowy winters inland and a warmer Mediterranean influence in Herzegovina. The country is seismic, and as part of Yugoslavia it came under the first Yugoslav seismic building code, drafted in 1964.

Roofing history

Ottoman rule brought the domed mosque. Early Ottoman domes were usually covered with terracotta tiles, but by the 16th century domes were generally covered with lead. The Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque in Sarajevo (1530-1531), a multi-domed mosque of the early classical Ottoman style, has nine domes; its main dome, on pendentives, is 13 m (43 ft) in outer diameter and 26 m (85 ft) high, and a semi-dome covers the qibla side. The Ferhadija Mosque in Banja Luka (1579) was destroyed in 1993. During the Siege of Sarajevo the mosque was deliberately shelled and badly damaged; reconstruction of the Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque began in 1996.

In the 20th century, architects reinterpreted the traditional house. Reuf Kadić's House Kopčić (1939) combines modern design with traditional eaves and a hipped roof.

Traditional and vernacular roofs

• Traditional house: stone foundations, a ground floor of clay, unfired brick and timber ties, an upper floor of timber frame, and a roof that is almost always of timber.
• Tower houses (odžak, kula): fortified stone towers whose roofs were tented (pyramidal) and covered in wooden shingles or limestone slabs.
• Mosques: domes and semi-domes on pendentives, with porticoes covered by small domes.

Notable roofs

• Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque, Sarajevo (1530-1531): nine domes
• Ferhadija Mosque, Banja Luka (1579; destroyed 1993)
• House Kopčić, Reuf Kadić (1939)

Local roofing terms

• odžak, kula - tower house

Sources and gaps

Climate data specific to roofing, detailed accounts of medieval and pre-Ottoman roofing, of vernacular roofs, wooden shingles (šindra) and Herzegovinian stone roofs, data on current roofing materials, current national regulations and information on domestic roofing manufacturers were not found in published sources.