House of Spite

The ‘Inat Kuća’ or House of Spite was one of the coolest things I heard while in Sarajevo.  Today the Inat Kuća is a restaurant, but there is much more to this story. In 1878, when Austria-Hungary gained control of Bosnia and Herzegovina, their immediate goal was to start building these beautiful buildings that after all, they were known for.

With this being said, in 1892, they started to build this beautiful city hall. A building that was supposed to show off the great strength and power of the Austro-Hungarians. After buying off and demolishing several houses the Austro-Hungarians came to a problem- there was a house that was in their way but the guy, an elderly Bosnian did not want to sell. After long negotiations with the Austro-Hungarians, they came to an agreement: he would sell but under one condition the authorities, aside from the gold he would receive, would have to move his house brick by brick to the other side of the river. This is exactly what happened thus, why the house got its name House of Spite.

Many Bosnians are proud of this because it symbolizes the Bosnians stubbornness and trust me, the men are very proud of this.