Oriental Style City House in Bosnia and Herzegovina: The Biscevic Family House in Mostar

The Biscevic family house is located in Mostar (Geographic coordinates: 43º20'26.15''N, 17º48'46.67''E, Elevation: 57 m). It was built in 1635. It is an example of a developed type of oriental type town house in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This type of house is characterized by a highly developed layout of the horizontal and vertical plan, the richness of the contents and the separation of the public, i.e., the 'male part' ('selamluk') and the intimate family, i.e., the 'female part' ('haremluk') of the house complex. There are three units on the ground floor of the house: a hall ('hayat'), a large room ('big halvat') and a kitchen ('mutvak'). The semi-open area of the hall ('hayat') with a rectangular base measuring 7.2 x 3.9 m is paved with rectangular stone slabs and covered with Bosnian carpets (Figure 4). On the west side of the hayat, there is a large room with three windows facing the Neretva River, and one facing the hayat