Status of monument -> National monument
Pursuant to Article V para. 4 Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Article 39 para. 1 of the Rules of Procedure of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, at a session held from 19 to 24 January 2006 the Commission adopted a
D E C I S I O N
I
The architectural ensemble of the Partisans' Memorial Cemetery in Mostar is hereby designated as a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the National Monument).
The National Monument is located on a site designated as cadastral plot no. 2446, cadastral municipality Mostar II, and on 45 plots designated as c.p. nos.: 470/2, 470/3, 470/4, 471/1 (part), 471/2, 471/3, 467/2 (part), 469/4, 480, 481/1, 482/2, 482/3, 482/4, 483, 486/1, 486/2, 482/2, 488/1, 489/1, 490/1, 490/3, 494/1, 479/1, 478/1, 477/1, 476/1, 475/1, 474/1, 473/1, 473/2, 484, 387/1, 387/2, 382, 386/2, 378/2, 365/1, 340/2 (part), 479/2, 478/2, 477/2, 476/2, 475/2, 474/2, 473/4, 493/1, 491, 1371/4, title deed no. 1066, Land Register entries 5549, 6465, 3941, 6475, Schedule I, 5681, 5139, 1986, 5474, 3941 and 3101, City of Mostar, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The provisions relating to protection and rehabilitation measures set forth by the Law on the Implementation of the Decisions of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, established pursuant to Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of the Federation of BiH nos. 2/02, 27/02 and 6/04) shall apply to the National Monument.
II
The Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the Government of the Federation) shall be responsible for ensuring and providing the legal, scientific, technical, administrative and financial measures necessary to protect, conserve, display and rehabilitate the National Monument.
The Commission to Preserve National Monuments (hereinafter: the Commission) shall determine the technical requirements and secure the funds for preparing and setting up signboards with the basic data on the monument and the Decision to proclaim the property a National Monument.
III
Protection Zone I consists of the area defined in Clause 1 para. 2 of this Decision. The following protection measures shall apply in this zone:
- Missing parts of the complex shall be made good and reconstructed, and provision shall be made for the maintenance and presentation of the complex;
- Changes to the fundamental purpose of the site as a memorial complex are prohibited;
- The interpolation of new buildings shall be permitted subject to their being of such form, dimensions and exterior treatment as shall not be detrimental to the structure of the protected area, and to their promoting the fundamental function of the complex (entrance area, souvenir sales point, toilets, small-scale parking area solely for the use of the memorial complex);
- No building, building-cum-artisanal or artisanal works shall be carried out without the approval of the Federation ministry responsible for regional planning (hereinafter: the relevant ministry) and under the expert supervision of the heritage protection authority of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the heritage protection authority);
- The dumping of waste is prohibited.
A protective strip with a width of 50 m from the boundaries of the site where the National Monument is located is hereby stipulated. In this protective strip the construction of industrial or agricultural facilities that could endanger the architectural ensemble and the siting of environmental polluters are prohibited. Residential buildings shall not exceed a height of 6.50 m to the base of the roof frame, i.e. ground floor and one upper floor, and maximum dimensions of 12 x 10 m. Infrastructural works shall be permitted only with the approval of the relevant ministry and subject to the conditions prescribed by the heritage protection authority.
IV
All executive and area development planning acts not in accordance with the provisions of this Decision are hereby revoked.
V
Everyone, and in particular the competent authorities of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Canton, and urban and municipal authorities, shall refrain from any action that might damage the National Monument or jeopardize the preservation and rehabilitation thereof.
VI
The Government of the Federation, the Federal Ministry responsible for regional planning, the Federation heritage protection authority, and the Municipal Authorities in charge of urban planning and land registry affairs, shall be notified of this Decision in order to carry out the measures stipulated in Articles II to V of this Decision, and the Authorized Municipal Court shall be notified for the purposes of registration in the Land Register.
VII
The elucidation and accompanying documentation form an integral part of this Decision, which may be viewed by interested parties on the premises or by accessing the website of the Commission (http://www.aneks8komisija.com.ba)
VIII
Pursuant to Art. V para 4 Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, decisions of the Commission are final.
IX
This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption and shall be published in the Official Gazette of BiH.
This Decision has been adopted by the following members of the Commission: Zeynep Ahunbay, Amra Hadžimuhamedović, Dubravko Lovrenović, Ljiljana Ševo and Tina Wik.
No: 07/1-2-924/03-4
21 January 2006
Sarajevo
Chairman of the Commission
Dubravko Lovrenović
E l u c i d a t i o n
I – INTRODUCTION
Pursuant to Article 2, paragraph 1 of the Law on the Implementation of the Decisions of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, established pursuant to Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a “National Monument” is an item of public property proclaimed by the Commission to Preserve National Monuments to be a National Monument pursuant to Articles V and VI of Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina and property entered on the Provisional List of National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of BiH no. 33/02) until the Commission reaches a final decision on its status, as to which there is no time limit and regardless of whether a petition for the property in question has been submitted or not.
On 16 June 2003, SUBNOR Mostar submitted a petition to designate the property as a national monument.
Pursuant to the provisions of the law, the Commission proceeded to carry out the procedure for reaching a final decision to designate the Property as a National Monument, pursuant to Article V of Annex 8 and Article 35 of the Rules of Procedure of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments.
II – PROCEDURE PRIOR TO DECISION
In the procedure preceding the adoption of a final decision to proclaim the property a national monument, the following documentation was inspected:
- Documentation on the location and current owner and user of the property (copy of cadastral plan and copy of land registry entry)
- Data on the current condition and use of the property, including a description and photographs, data of war damage, data on restoration or other works on the property, etc.
- Historical, architectural and other documentary material on the property, as set out in the bibliography forming part of this Decision.
The findings based on the review of the above documentation and the condition of the site are as follows:
1. Details of the property
Location
The Partisans' Memorial Cemetery in Mostar is on a site known as «Biskupova glavica» alongside King Petar Krešimir IV street (formerly Blagoje Parović street), where the main entrance to the complex is located. The tradesmen's and motor vehicle access to the upper levels of the memorial cemetery is via the J.P. Parks Mostar complex with warehouses to the west of the facility, and there is another footpath leading to the com,plex via the path through the forest park to the east. The complex of the memorial cemetery stands on the northern slope of the Biskupova glavica hillock (an artificially-created forest park) planted in the 1960s, at the top of which is the first protection zone of the gravitation water-supply reservoir.
Other facilities located in the immediate vicinity of the complex are the city trim-track, the complex of the Bishop's Ordinariat, the complex of the «Tobacco Institute» and the building begun for the RTV Centre (now the Faculty of Agronomics), to the north-west is a residential complex dating from the early 1960s designed by architect Romeo Tiberio, the buildings-material store of the Parkovi corporation, and to the south the glasshouses of the nursery-garden in Bare. To the west is the building of the former guards' monument.
The area and buildings in the contact zone have undergone certain changes: the ZG Bank has become the Caritas building; a new road access to the Bishop's Ordinariat has been laid on the bowling court on c.p. 387/1 and 387/2, beside which a new home for retired priests has been built (architect Zlatko Ugljen), a new filling station by Bishop Čulo street (the continuation of the avenue), new houses for persons with physical handicaps to the north-west of the hill, and the new building of the Pedology Laboratory of the Faculty of Agronomics of the University of Mostar within the «Tobacco Institute» complex to the east.
The National Monument is located on a site designated as cadastral plot nos. (2446) cadastral municipality Mostar II, and on 45 plots designated as c.p. nos.: 470/2, 470/3, 470/4, 471/1 (part), 471/2, 471/3, 469/4, 480, 481/1, 482/2, 482/3, 482/4, 483, 486/1, 486/2, 488/1, 489/1, 490/1, 490/3, 494/1, 479/1, 478/1, 477/1, 476/1, 475/1, 474/1, 473/1, 473/2, 484, 387/1, 387/2, 382, 386/2, 378/2, 340/2 (part), 479/2, 478/2, 477/2, 476/2, 475/2, 474/2, 473/4, 493/1, 491, 1371/4. A cadastral plot of the complex with an area of 79.248 m2 is the property of the Mostar Municipal Assembly. The total surface area of the plots listed is almost 8 ha, while the 1980 programme for the maintenance of green areas of the Parks and Plantations corporation contracted for only some 1.5 m of the inner area of the complex to be landscaped(1).
„An inspection of the Land Register revealed that the land on which the complex stands was nationalized and expropriated from the Bishop's Ordinariat in Mostar, and that the legal ownership thereof has not yet been fully resolved.“ (City of Mostar, 2005, po. 2)
Historical information
In the run-up to World War II, Mostar had a population of 18,000, of which almost six thousand, or every third inhabitant, was actively engaged in the War of National Liberation. More than 750 National Liberation combatants were killed in the war, along with more than a thousand victims of fascism. Mostar also gave thirteen National Heroes (City of Mostar, 2005).
After World War II, a great many memorials to the War of National Liberation were erected, and in early 1959, at the initiative of Džemal Bijedić, the design of a memorial cemetery in Mostar was entrusted to architect Bogdan Bogdanović(2). The decision to build the memorial was passed by the Municipal Assembly in 1960, and the works were carried out by Mostar's Parks and Plantations Corporation.
«The preparatory works began in October 1960, with the official start of the works on 1 December 1960. The drilling and dynamiting works on the hill and the construction of the monument were carried out by Ahmet Ribica, a civil engineer(3).
The memorial was formally opened on 25 September 1965 by Josip Broz Tito on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the liberation of Mostar from fascism and on the date of formation of the Mostar Battalion(4).The construction was financed by the Municipal Assembly and numerous donations from Mostar's labour organizations. The wider area of the monument was afforested by voluntary youth actions.» (City of Mostar, 2005, p. 3).
In the spring of 1992, the Partisans' Memorial Cemetery was badly damaged by war action and dynamiting. After the war, the destruction and devastation of the memorial continued as a result of neglect and lack of maintenance. The deterioration of the memorial cemetery was brought about by both natural and human factors. Despite the devastation, the memorial has not lost its physical completeness.
By Decision of the Lord Mayor of the City of Mostar no. 02-02-185/03 dated 31 January 2003, a Committee to support the renovation of the complex of the Partisans' Memorial Cemetery in Mostar was formed, composed of Academician Bogdan Bogdanović, Boris Podreka, Amir Pašić, Darko Minarik, Ekrem Krpo, Zdravko Gutić, Tihomir Rozić, Alija Bijavica, Milica Dogan, Florijan Mičković, Milivoj Gagro, Radmilo Andrić, Mumin Isić and Mustafa Selimović, which proposed that a study for the renovation of the complex be drawn up. At the end of 2004 the Committee drew up an operational programme of measures to renovate the Memorial.
During 2005, works were carried out on the memorial to clear, make good and reconstruct various component parts of the complex and greenery. On 9 May 2005 the part-restored memorial was formally opened (City of Mostar, 2005, p. 6)
2. Description of the property
The Partisans' Memorial Cemetery on Bijeli Brijeg contains all the features of a complex architectural, aesthetic and landscape design. It is a unique monument in the urban scale of Mostar, and is of particular ambiental value. Its sacrosanct quality consists in the unity of nature (water and greenery) with the architectural expression of the designer. As the architect says, «using the universal symbolics of the elements of the sun, planets and moon, the monument becomes close to everyone, and succeeds in imposing itself as an authentic element of space.» Thanks to the skill of the designer, Bogdan Bogdanović, the effect is a harmonious composition of plant species, running water and stone, which is of aesthetic, decorative, landscape and ambiental value. Although this is a memorial coomplex, visitors are able to enjoy the unique blend of light, architectural forms and greenery, and enjoy the views of the city and the river as they stroll. The interplay of architectural forms borrowed from the quintessence of the ambiental architecture of the region (Herzegovina's necropolises, the roof cladding of Mostar's houses, the use of river pebbles to cobble the paths, the intermingling of greenery with architectural and urban elements, the interplay of light and shadow) create an almost imaginary vision of the necropolis as a place for the living. Bogdanović says of his monument that it is a «fort of stone birds» in which «stone birds» utter the message of peace through the symbolical and metaphorical language of forms (Trumić, 1988, p. 371).
The entire memorial cemetery can be seen as a «fortress» into which one climbs via separate ramps, and which is in fact an acro-necropolis(5), an open-air crypt which «recounts the myth of peace and liberty» (Trumić, 1988, p. 201).
One may glimpse the intention and desire of the designer to present the memorial as the personification of the city, with streets, passage-ways, houses, terraces and squares, creating the impression of a «negative of the real, living city» or, as the designer writes in his book Ukleti Neimar: «Mostar in little, a replica of the city on the Neretva, its idealized diagram.» Referring to Bogdanović's monument, Lukretić notes that he does not make use of the iconography of death or of the social realism typical of the time when the work came into being, so that one can find in this necropolis no crosses, no hammers and sickles, no representations of human figures, no coarse naturalism of representation and shaping of elements. The designer reduces all these components to ornament created «by combining local, historical features of building and Bogdanović's wholly inner imagination.» In this way, he «avoids the clumsy transference of reality into the language of architecture, which often – paradoxically – denotes merely a glorification of death.» (Katarina Luketić, http://www.zarez.hr/76/z_esej.htm)
Bogdanović makes use in his works of the semiotic meaning of «signs» (symbols) as monuments. He thus creates the image of the entire monument on the basis of five fundamental architectural forms: megaliths (points of reference); ramparts (boundaries); gateways (roads); mausolea (focal points) and memorial complexes (quarters).
- In his memorial cemetery in Mostar, he uses as megaliths the «historical memory of Stonehenge» of a circular symbol set on the walls of the complex with conical creations arranged around a central circle.
- He uses as ramparts the «historical memory of the walls of the city» as linear architectural elements defining space.
- He uses as gateways the «historical memory of the gateways and roads used by people to enter or leave a city. The street, the last road by which one leaves the city for ever is a kind of minor town-planning homage, a kind of farewell to those leaving.» These roads supplement the «content of the mental image» the limits of which have already been defined by points of reference and boundaries.
- He uses as focal points the three-dimensional element of the mausoleum, of which he says: «these are strategic foci which the onlooker may enter, while in terms of structure either they are crossroads or street intersections, or certain specific characteristics are concentrated within them.» These are the architectural forms with which the designer begins or concludes his urbanistic composition. In the case of the Mostar memorial park, this constitutes the topmost plateau, which provides a view of the entire complex. The culmination of the complex is the centrally-placed stepped cone, calling to mind the stepped pyramids or ziggurats of Mesopotamia, symbolically at the centre, the «temple that links heaven and earth,» the «historical memory.»
- Memorial complexes or quarters are represented by the unified recognition of the whole, determined by the precedent elements of knowledge, so that in Mostar the entire complex of the Memorial Cemetery stands for this determinant. (Trumić, 1988, pp. 105-116).
The memorial complex in Bijeli Brijeg in Mostar consists of an entrance section, a central area of amorphous shape with running water and paths, a section with a circular fountain with still water, and a central, raised area with terraces and access ramp. The entire area of the memorial complex is permeated with amorphous, organic forms of walled structures interwoven with greenery and water as the primary element of expression. Gently curving forms lead the visitor to the central area with its burial places, this too gentle shaped into a series of terraces echoing the natural lie of the land. The central element on the seventh, topmost terrace, is a fountain from which there is a view of the entire complex and the surrounding city.
The design of the memorial cemetery provided for 810 burial places, but the mortal remains of only 560 fallen combatants, eight of whom were National Heroes, were collected. Their remains were laid in concrete chambers measuring 60 x 40 x 50 cm beneath the grave markers, while the bones from mass graves were laid in a mausoleum in a semicircular niche where wreaths are laid(6).Six hundred and thirty tombstones were erected in the memorial cemetery, which were replaced in 2004, with the agreement of the designer, by new ones made of tenelija limestone, of the same shape and with the same epitaphs.
The second stage of construction of the monument was to have been a Square of the Victims of Fascism with a Museum of the Revolution on the site of the old Zrinjska playing fields, to a design by architect Nedim Džudžo. A residential-cum-commercial complex was later built on this site(7). (City of Mostar, 2005, p. 3)
The original project documentation for the construction of the Partisans' Memorial Cemetery was destroyed during the recent war, and neither the designer nor the authorities now have a copy.
The Partisans' Memorial Cemetery is also an urban landscape. The natural surroundings of the complex consist of thickets of indigenous trees and shrubs supplemented by cypress and alpine pine, creating a Mediterranean-style landscape and generating the impression of unity between the memorial complex and nature. Low-growing evergreen Mediterranean plants are distributed irregularly about the complex. There is a variety of flowers, for spring and winter bedding. The wider area around the complex was afforested in the 1960s, and the trees have now reached full physiological maturity. The steep slopes of the memorial complex were informally planted with evergreen Mediterranean shrubs – rosemary, lavendar, green and silver santolina, and sage.
The urban park and forest of Biskupova glavica - Bijeli brijeg, within which the memorial cemetery is located according to the current Regional Plan for Mostar Municipality no. 01-023-147/90 dated 17.07.1990, is very close to residential areas, and is used for brief or half-day outings by the local population. In this region, interventions to make good the forested areas and open up footpaths are permitted, as is the erection of urban furniture appropriate to the setting. The greenery of the complex itself and of the contact zones fall within Category I for the maintenance of the city's green areas, which entails intensive maintenance (weeding, mowing, planting, earthing-up, fertilizing etc.).
The area of the complex within its contours is 5.276 m2, and that of the feature together with the fountain is 15.150 m2, while the forest part covers a further 20.000 m2. Within the memorial complex itself, 5.345 m2 is under grass. Including six terraces of 1.326 m2. The area planted with flowers is 2.950 m2, and shrubs cover 1.865 m2. (City of Mostar, 2005, p. 4)
3. Legal status to date
There is no information concerning legal protection of the complex to date.
4. Research and conservation and restoration works
In 2005, thanks to donations from the government of the Netherlands in the amount of 11,000 KM and of the Kingdom of Norway in the sum of 22,000 KM, all the tombstones were replaced by new ones made of tenelija stone. City of Mostar funds with co-financing from FBIH of approx. 20,000 have been used to carry out the following works so far:
- clearing and making good green areas (16,572 KM). This includes mowing the lawns, clearing, shifting, preparing and planting approx.4500 seasonal bedding plants. Reconstruction, which entails the removal of plants that had gone woody and their replacement with new bedding, was not included in this programme of making good. A contract for the regular maintenance of green areas for approx. 5,500 KM per month was also entered into
- reconstruction and repair to the lighting in the complex (20,750 KM). Nine new Schroeder 1.5 kW floodlights were installed on new concrete plinths, the existing wiring was made good, and a new branch box and plug box for the lighting were installed
- works on the reconstruction and repair of the water and sewage mains were completed, of which the building works amounted of 11,175 KM, the water supply pipe was restored to use, the drainage network was repaired, and two chambers were built for two local water circulation systems; these still need to be fitted with pumps, for which about 5,000 KM is required.» (City of Mostar, 2005, p.6)
5. Current condition of the property
The Memorial Park is in relatively good condition. All visible damage dates either from the 1992-1995 war period or since.
The works carried out in 2005 on the rehabilitation of the memorial have only in part rectified the general condition of the complex, so that there are still fairly extensive traces of destruction to be seen. Some of the features then restored have already suffered new damage (lighting on the terraces). The following types of damage can currently be observed on the monument: deformation of the cobbles, damage to retaining and facing walls, damage to stone facings of the walls, damage caused by war action, damage caused by the penetration of water into the walls, non-structural damage, damage to water and sewage pipes, damage to the electric supply for the lighting, and danage and changes to the condition of the green surfaces.
- Deformation of the cobbles has resulted from soil beneath the cobbles being washed away and from plants whose roots are causing heaving and irregularities. Puddles have formed in the hollows, which are causing further damage to the cobbling;
- Cracks are visible on part of the facing and retaining walls. The worst cracks are to be found on the vertical bond of the semicircular niche, serpentine walls and level areas. The damage has been caused by water penetrating into the body of the wall, where it freezes and expands, causing the walls to crack;
- Various areas of damage to the monument have been caused by water penetrating into the stone facings of the walls, stone carving, and the finish of the stone niches. Long-term weathering acting on open cracks has turned them into holes as a result of which the distortion of the walls is continuing;
- Damage resulting from war action was caused by the impact of shells or by dynamiting. The worst damage is on the topmost section of the memorial in the «corridor» leading to the topmost terrace, and on all the steps. There is significant damage to the lower part of the stone facing of the second higher gate and to part of the wall to the right of the exit to the topmost plateau. One of the «hooks» in that area is missing altogether, and also on the wall behind the western serpentine which leads to the highest level of the memorial. Damage to the stone facings of the walls is also to be seen on the low wall of the highest ramp, leading to the central part of the memorial, and on the massive side walls of the second and third terraces of the central part of the memorial;
- Action of precipitation – the natural flow of subterranean and surface water from the summit of Biskupova glavica runs below the memorial. Presumably the drainage was blocked, resulting in water overflowing through the memorial along the stone niches, washing away the walls;
- Non-structural damage is to be seen on the stone «tombstones» engraved with names on the terraces of the central area and extensive graffiti on the wall surfaces throughout the monument, particularly within the central area with water, at the lowest level of the memorial, and on the entrance gate.This type of damage also includes weeds all over the memorial complex;
- Damage to mains water and sewerage – lack of running water throughout the complex;
- Damage to electricity supply for the lighting – damage to the newly-installed floodlights can be seen, particularly in the upper areas of the complex;
- The decorative greenery was left to continue its natural growth unhindered. Although the complex was left unmaintained for a long period, since the latest interventions the entire complex has the appearance of abundant greenery.
III – CONCLUSION
Applying the Criteria for the adoption of a decision on proclaiming an item of property a national monument (Official Gazette of BiH nos. 33/02 and 15/03), the Commission has enacted the Decision cited above.
The Decision was based on the following criteria:
B. Historical value
C. Artistic and aesthetic value
C.iv. composition
D. Clarity
D.iii. work of a major artist or builder
E. Symbolic value
E.v. significance for the identity of a group of people
F. Townscape/ Landscape value
F.i. Relation to other elements of the site
F.ii. meaning in the townscape
G. Authenticity
G.i. form and design
G.ii. material and content
G.iii. use and function
G.v. location and setting
G.vi. spirit and feeling
H. Rarity and representativity
H.ii. outstanding work of art or architecture
H.iii. work of a prominent artist, architect or craftsman
I. Completeness
I.i. physical coherence
I.ii. homogeneity
I.iii. completeness
The following documents form an integral part of this Decision:
- Copy of cadastral plan
- Copy of land register entry and proof of title;
- Photodocumentation;
- Drawings
Bibliography
1988. Trumić, Aleksander, Nacrtane riječi i napisani crteži, spisateljski i graditeljski opit Protomajstora Bogdana (Words in drawings and drawings in words, a literary and architectural experiment by Arch-designer Bogdan), doctoral dissertation, University of Sarajevo, Faculty of Architecture, Sarajevo, March 1988
2005. SUBNOAR BiH documentation
2005. Department of Town Planning and Building, City of Mostar, Designation of the Partisans' Memorial Cemetery as a National Monument, documentation, Mostar, 2005.
http://www.meandar.hr/autor.asp?id=122
Katarina Luketić, http://www.zarez.hr/76/z_esej.htm
http://www.bljesak.info/slike/partizansko-groblje (photographs of the complex)
(1) On approx. 22 plots designated as c.p. 470/2, 470/4, 471/3, 471/1, 471/2, 469/4, part of 467/2, 478/2, 478/1, 477/1, 477/2, part of 494/1, 565/1, 474/1, 474/2, 473/4, 473/1,473/2, 475/2, 475/1, 476/1, 476/2, all in c.m. Mostar II
(2) Bogdan Bogdanović, architect, artist and philosopher, was born in 1922 in Belgrade. He designed the "Kameni cvijet" (Stone Flower) memorial in Jasenovac and numerous other monuments in former Yugoslavia.From 1982-1986 he was Lord Mayor of Belgrade. In 2002 he received an award from the Austrian government for his life’s work for science and art. He is a major architect and author of numerous works of international importance on the architecture of the city, particularly as regards its mythical and symbolic aspects, and on ”human interior architecture”. He is the author of 25 books, of which the latest are Sreća u gradovima and, for Zagreb, the cult Zaludna mistrija; he has also featured articles in publications such as El Pais, Svenska Dagbladet, Die Zeit etc. (http://www.meandar.hr/autor.asp?id=122)
Bogdanović’s monuments consist of 21 works denoted by the ”signs” of symbols:
- Monument to the Jewish victims of fascism, Belgrade, 1952
- Memorial cemetery in Sremska Mitrovica, 1960
- Partisans’ necropolis in Prilep, 1961
- Slobodište – symbolic necropolis in Kruševac, 1961
- Partisans’ memorial cemetery in Mostar, 1965
- Jasenovac memorial site, 1966
- Symbolic necropolis in Leskovac, 1971
- Monument to the start of the uprising in Bela Crkva, 1971
- Monument to the history of the struggle for liberation in Knjaževac, 1971
- Shrine to the revolution in Kosovska Mitrovica, 1973
- Addison’s altar in Labin, 1974
- Partisans’ necropolis in Štip, 1974
- Necropolis to the victims of fascism in Travnik, 1975
- Monument to fallen combatants of the revolution in Vlasotinac, 1975
- Freedom monument in Ivangrad, 1977
- Dudik memorial park near Vukovar, 1980
- Memorial park to the struggle ande victory in Čačak, 1980
- Tombstone of Dušan Petrović-Šane in Banja near Aranđelovac, 1980
- Garavice memorial park near Bihać, 1981
- Popina memorial park near Vrnjačka Banja, 1981
- Monument in Klis, 1988 (Trumić, 1988, p. 57)
(3) During the works, 11.000 m3 of soil were excavated and removed, 4.750 m3 of embankments were built, and 1.300 m3 of concrete were used to build walls. Drainage was installed to remove water from precipitation from the walls of the monument. 1.647 m3 of stone were brought from Dračevo near Čapljina, and 12,000 moulded stone blocks were cut. 1.193 m2 of quarry-stone slabs were used to face the walls, mainly taken from old Mostar houses and replaced by tiles. 87,000 river pebbles were used to cobble an area of 871 m2. Between 30 April 1963 and 15 May 1964 the works proceeded more slowly (because of the earthquake in Banja Luka, when there was a shortage of cement on the market). (Grad Mostar, 2005, p. 3)
(4) Source: «Likovna pozornica Mostara» Salko Šarić- Puljko Press, Zagreb 2001.
(5) Acro – Gr. akros – prefix of compound words meaning final, uppermost, peaked; necropolis – Gr. nekros, polis – city of the dead, underground tomb, cemetery. Anić, Kalić, Domović, Rječnik stranih riječi (Dictionary of Foreign Words)
(6) Source : Ahmet Ribica MSc, civil engineer and works manager
(7) Source: publication «Partizanski spomenik u Mostaru»; IKRO «Prva književna komuna» Mostar; Ist ed. 1980
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