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60th session - Decisions

Čaršija (Sultana Esma) mosque and ancillary buildings of the fountain, residential building, mekteb (Muslim religious school) and graveyard, the site and ruins of the architectural ensemble

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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 21-27 January 2003 the Commission adopted a

 

D E C I S I O N

 

I

 

            The site and ruins of the architectural ensemble of the Čaršija (Sultana Esma) mosque and ancillary buildings of the fountain, residential building, mekteb (Muslim religious school) and graveyard, are hereby designated as a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

            The site and ruins of the architectural ensemble are located on a site covering cadastral plots 1251, 1252 and 1253, cadastral municipality Jajce 1, Jajce Municipality, 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 and 27/02) shall apply to the National Monument specified in the preceding paragraph.

 

II

 

            The Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina 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 specified in Clause I of this Decision.

            The Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina shall be responsible for drawing up and implementing the necessary technical documentation for the rehabilitation of the Čaršija (Sultana Esma) mosque and ancillary buildings in Jajce

            The Commission to Preserve National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina (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

 

            For the purpose of ensuring the ongoing preservation of the monument on c.p. nos. 1251, 1252 and 1253, cadastral municipality Jajce 1, all works are prohibited other than works of conservation or restoration to a project approved by the relevant Federal ministry and under the supervision of the heritage protection authority of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

            The Government of the Federation of BiH shall be responsible in particular for ensuring that the rehabilitation is carried out in compliance with the following conditions:

Ÿ          the mosque, graveyard, fountain and other premises shall be reconstructed in their original form, with the identical horizontal and vertical dimensions,

Ÿ          all original parts of the building that are still on the site must be rebuilt into the reconstructed building using the method of anastylosis and with the use of traditional building materials and binders (mortar) and construction techniques, and shall be protected until such time as they are so reintegrated,

Ÿ          the surface layers of soil shall be removed for the purpose of uncovering the original foundation walls,

Ÿ          surviving sections of the original foundations and walls shall be rehabilitated and consolidated,

Ÿ          all those fragments that are too badly damaged to be reintegrated shall, after laboratory examination, be preserved and displayed in appropriate manner within the mosque graveyard

Ÿ          all usable material shall be built into the mosque,

Ÿ          all missing elements shall be reconstructed on the basis of existing technical documentation,

Ÿ          the mosque graveyard and its entrance area, in particular the surrounding wall, shall be reconstructed on the basis of evidence of its former appearance,

Ÿ          all tombstones shall be conserved and attempts shall be made to restore them to their original positions on the basis of available documentation.  In the case of those for which the previous location cannot be accurately determined, they shall be preserved and displayed in an appropriate manner within the mosque graveyard.

 

IV

 

            All executive and area development planning acts not in accordance with the provisions of this Decision are to be 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 specified in Clause I of this Decision or jeopardize the preservation and rehabilitation thereof.

 

VI

 

            The Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Federal Ministry of Urban Planning and the Environment, 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, III and IV 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 to Preserve National Monuments (http://www.anek8komisija.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 and the Official Gazette of the Federation 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.

 

Number: 08.2-6-4/03-4   

21 January 2003,

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 (hereinafter referred to as the Commission) 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 (hereinafter referred to as Annex 8) and as 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.

            At a session held on 1 and 2 July 1999 the Commission issued a Decision to add the Sultana Esma mosque to the Provisional List of National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina, numbered as 275.

            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:

Ÿ          Data on the current condition and use of the property, including a description and photographs, data of war damage if any, data on restoration or other works on the property if any, etc.

Ÿ          Documentation on the location and current owner and user of the property (copy of cadastral plan and copy of land registry entry)

Ÿ          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 property are as follows:

 

1. Data on the Site

Location

            The Sultana Esma mosque stands in the centre of the Jajce čaršije or old crafts and commercial centre, in the main street linking the Travnik and the Banja Luka gates, on cadastral plots 1251, 1252 and 1253 of cadastral municipality Jajce 1, and is owned by the Islamic Religious Community of BiH,  Federation of BiH, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Historical Data

            The chronogram over the portal recounts that the mosque was built in 1749/50, and that its founder was the čauški čehaja or senior military officer Emir Mustafa. The chronogram also indicates that there had been an earlier mosque on the site, that of Mir Mustafa Čehaja (Mujezinović, 1998, p. 261).

            In regard to the name Esma Sultana, there is a tradition that Esma, wife of the Bosnian governor Mehmed paša Muhsinović, built this mosque and two bridges over the river Vrbas.  When she fell ill, astrologists predicted that she would recover if she endowed three buildings.  She used her jewellery to endow the mosque and the bridges over the Vrbas.  (Mujezinović, 1998, p. 262).

            Since Mehmed Pasha Muhsinović was twice Bosnian governor – first to 1763, and second from 1770 to 1772, the question arises of reconciling the date on the chronogram, 1749/50, with these dates. It would be logical to assume that where the present Sultana Esma mosque stands there used to be the mosque that was erected by the čehaja Emir Mustafa in 1749/50. The Sultana Esme Mosque could only have been built between 1760 and 1763 or between 1770 and 1772 when Mehmed Pasha Muhsinović was governor of Bosnia.

            For some time, until 1992 to be exact, the dome of the mosque had a shingle roof, but in the course of works that year the wooden shingles were removed and the mosque restored to its earlier appearance.

 

2. Description of the Monument

            The Sultana Esma Mosque belonged to the type of mosque with a central dome with roofed sofas (porches) and a stone-built minaret.

            The dome was set over a roughly square ground plan of 9.49 x 9.55 m (interior dimensions). The dome was somewhat elongated, departing from the regular hemispherical outline, in which it differed from other larger domed mosques. Structurally, the building belonged to the type of mosque where the transition from the square ground plan to the circular dome was effected by pendentives.  The mosque had eight windows below the dome, with transennas. The dome rested on four points, and the height from floor level to the apex of the dome was about 13.00 metres. The mosque walls were of limestone and tuff and were 118-120 cm thick.

            Outside the mosque was a porch enclosed by two solid side walls 75 cm thick.  The north-east wall of the porch had a window.  The porch was 3.96 m. wide.  As well as these two walls, there were two solid square pillars in the centre holding up the porch roof.  The openings in the façades had moulded frames of the same form as the openings themselves.  In the lower part of the building the windows were rectangular, whereas the upper windows were in the Gothic style with pointed arches.  There was a bold, prominent cornice at the top of the façade.

            The minaret was slender and very well proportioned, and built of the same stone as the mosque.  The base of the minaret was octagonal, whereas the body was sixteen-sided.  The transition from the octagon to the hexadecagon was achieved above the base of the minaret, which was decorated with bud motifs; these also appeared in stylized form at the base and near the top of the body of the minaret, beneath the balcony (šerefe). In the view of some authors (Mujezinović, 1998) it had stalactite ornaments under minaret balcony (šerefe), but this is not visible in later photographs.  The sides of the minaret railing have moulded decorations with circles, stars and hexagons.  Each side of the railing is decorated differently.

            Within the building, over the entrance portal and the north-east and south-west walls, was a wooden mahfil on wooden pillars. The mimber was stone-built.

            Above the entrance into the building was a carved chronogram in Turkish prose, composed of four lines in the nasta’liq script on a stone plaque measuring 43 x 80 cm.

            In the Ottoman period the Sultana Esma mosque was the finest of Jajce’s mosques. In the view of M. Mujezinović this mosque was one of the last domed mosques to be built in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

            Within the mosque premises there was a fountain, a mekteb (Muslim religious school) and graveyard. The fountain had a wooden canopy roof with a dome resting on eight wooden pillars.  There were about twenty nišans (pillar-shaped Muslim tombstones) in the graveyard, of which eight bore epitaphs.  The oldest dated from 1238 AH (1822 CE) and the most recent from 1292 AH (1875 CE) (Mujezinović, 1998, p. 262).

 

Legal Status to Date

            By Ruling of the Institute for the Protection of the Cultural, Historical and Natural Heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the building was place under the protection of the state and entered in the register of cultural monuments as no. 139.

            The Regional Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina to 2002 listed the Sultana Esma mosque in Jajce as a category II building.

 

3. Research and Conservation and Restoration Works

            During the 1960 structural repair works were carried out on the Sultana Esma mosque, including repairs to the main dome by adding a reinforced concrete ring.  Various works were carried out on the building on several occasions, mainly to the façades.

 

4. Present Condition of the Monument

            The Sultana Esma Mosque was completely destroyed in 1993. All the fragments were removed from the site and transported to an unknown destination.  Works are currently under way to uncover the original foundations and walls.

 

III - CONCLUSION

            The Sultana Esma Mosque was the finest of Jajce’s Ottoman period mosques. In size and form it differed from the other mosques in Jajce. In the view of M. Mujezinović this mosque was one of the last domed mosques to be built in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

            Applying the Criteria for the adoption of a decision on proclaiming an item of property a national monument, adopted at the fourth session of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments (3 to 9 September 2002), the Commission has enacted the Decision cited above.

            The Decision was based on the following criteria:

A. Time frame

B. Historic value

C. Artistic and aesthetic value

C.ii. quality of materials

E. Symbolic value

Eii. religious value

E.iii. traditional value

E.v. significance for the identity of a group of people

F. Townscape value

F.ii. meaning in the townscape

 

            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

 

            The documentation annexed to the Decision is public and available for view by interested persons on written request to the Commission to Preserve National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

 

Bibliography

            During the procedure to designate the Sultana Esma mosque in Jajce as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina the following works were consulted:

 

Reconstruction project drawn up by the Institute for the Protection of the Cultural, Historical and Natural Heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina, author Azra Hadžić, B.Sc.Arch.Eng., 1999

 

Mujezinović, Mehmed, Islamska epigrafika u BiH (Islamic epigraphy in BiH), Volume II, Sarajevo publishing 1998.

 

Radivoje Jadrić, Revitalizacije istorijskog jezgra Jajce (Revitalization of the Historic Nucleus of Jajce), Sarajevo, 1970



Residential building and the minaretSultan Esma mosqueView at Čaršija mosque with surroundingsČaršija (Sultan Esma) mosque in Jajce
Graveyard of the mosqueNorth-west facade, the porch of the mosqueSultan Esma mosque with fountainThe minaret of the mosque
Cross section and planReconstruction of the mosque during 60'thThe site of the Čaršija (Sultan Esma) mosque, photo from 2003Reconstruction of the Čaršija mosque in 2004


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