"Sebilj" or "Sebil" is an Arabic word which means “road”, but in this context the term defines a very old charity institution, an unusually designed fountain at the city square, where an authorized man would scoop up the water with a salver from the fountain and give it to thirsty people for free.

The Sebilj Fountain in Bascarsija is the only structure of this kind in Sarajevo, constructed in 1891, probably according to project of Josip Vancas. The Sebilj Fountain which was built in 1754 by Bosnian vizier Mehmed-Pasa Kukavica, located a little further down from the existing one, was burnt down in a fire in 1852.