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Sarajevo was founded in the early 15th century, at the junction of Roman roads in an area inhabited since the Neolithic Age. It was a time of expansion of the Ottoman Empire over the Kingdom of Bosnia, a time of great social and cultural changes. Ishak Bey Ishaković is regarded as a founder of Sarajevo – he was the first to build a mosque, a court, a bridge, and several public institutions - but the fact is that the city was established by native inhabitants of this region, Bosniaks, many of whom had by then already converted to Islam, a religion that came to this part (Balkan) of the world with the Ottomans. A rapid development of crafts and trade made Sarajevo a rich town, a crossroad of religions and cultures, trade routes, and all sorts of travellers. In the 16th century it was one of the most affluent cities in this part of the Balkans, and it was during this period that some of the monumental buildings were built which to this day represent masterpieces of the architecture and civilisation of that age. A higher education institution was also established under the legacy of Gazi Husrev Bey in 1537, which in almost all its aspects mirrored the universities of other large cities in Europe. Sarajevo has been a cosmopolitan city ever since it was founded. It was a place of refuge and settlement of Jews expelled from Spain in the 15th century, who built their synagogues, Orthodox churches, and then Catholic cathedrals were also built.