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St. Mary’s Church with St. Luke’s Belltower in Jajce, 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 to 27 January 2003 the Commission adopted a

 

D E C I S I O N

 

I

 

            The architectural ensemble of St. Mary’s Church with St. Luke’s Belltower in Jajce is designated as a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

            The National Monument is situated on cadastral plot VIII/30, land registry No. 708, cadastral municipality Jajce according to the old survey,  equivalent to c.p. 989, c.m. Jajce I, Jajce Municipality, Federation of 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.

 

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 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

           

            The Government of the Federation shall be responsible for drawing up a conservation project.

            The following programme for the active preservation of the complex of the National Monument is hereby approved, on condition that the following measures are enforced:

            The concept of programme of the architectural revitalisation of St. Mary’s Church and St. Luke’s Belltower may be implemented by converting the area for a purpose that shall not be detrimental to the monument.

            Any future project must ensure that the following are not disturbed:

Ÿ         the stone construction of the outer and inner church façade

Ÿ         all recognisable historical layers of the site-complex

Ÿ         all archaeological findings,

            The monument shall be preserved and conserved consistent with international standards and principles.

            No new construction shall be permitted in a contact zone 50 metres to the north and 40 metres to the south of Zone I, but rehabilitation may be permitted.

            Zone II shall be defined pursuant to a subsequent comprehensive town plan for the town of Jajce.

 

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, the Federal Ministry responsible for town 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, 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 (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.

 

No.: 07-6-1/03/1

22. Jan. 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.

            The Commission issued a Decision to add St Mary’s Church with St Luke’s Belltower in Jajce to the Provisional List of National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina, numbered as 273.

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

Ÿ          Decision of the  Institute for the Protection of the Cultural, Historical and Natural Heritage of BiH, Sarajevo No. 1087/51 dated 28 December 1951 and Decision of the Institute for the Protection of the Cultural Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo, No. 02-757-3 dated 18 April 1962;

Ÿ          Data on the current condition and use of the property, including a description and photographs.

Ÿ          Historical, architectural and other documentary material on the property, as set out in the bibliography forming part of this Decision.

Ÿ          A revitalization programme drawn up by an experts’ group of the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

 

            The findings based on the review of the above documentation and the condition of the site are as follows:

 

1. Information on the site

Location

            The Monument of St. Mary’s Church with St. Luke’s Belltower is located within the historical nucleus of Jajce, at the foot of and to the south east of the citadel. The monument was erected on cadastral plot No. VIII/30, land registry No. 708, c.m. Jajce based on the old survey , equivalent to cadastral plot No. 989, land registry No.590, c.m. Jajce I (Annex 1.1.).

Historical information

            In the first half of the fifteenth century, when Jajce became the capital of the Bosnian kingdom, the old twelfth to thirteenth century Romanesque church was altered in the Gothic style.  According to historical evidence, after her marriage to the heir to the Bosnian throne, Stjepan Tomašević, on 1 April 1459, Jelena Branković, daughter of the Serb despot Lazar, brought with her by way of dowry a relic of St. Luke the Evangelist that had been purchased from the Ottoman Sultan in 1453 by the despot Đurađ Branković for the sum of 30 000 ducats. In November 1461 the Papal Nuncio crowned the last Bosnian king, Stjepan Tomašević.  Members of several families of the mediaeval town of Jajce are buried in the church.  During the Ottoman period, in 1528, the church was turned into a mosque and named after Sultan Suleyman II.  It was damaged by fire on several occasions, most seriously in 1658 and again in 1832 by a fire that left only the walls of the building standing. The building has not been in use since the mid nineteenth century.

 

Legal status to date

1.     With the establishment of Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878, the ruins of the church/mosque was left without a nominal owner, and in 1892 the Austro-Hungarian authorities designated it as a cultural monument under the terms of a law dated 27 June 1892, with the National Museum in Sarajevo entrusted with its care. 

2.      Pursuant to the law, and by decision of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments and Natural Rarities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo, No.: 1087/51 dated 28 December 1951 in Sarajevo the complex of St. Luke’s Belltower with the ruins of St. Mary’s church was placed under protection as a cultural monument, and by Decision of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo No. : 02-757-3 dated 18 April 1962, the complex of St. Luke’s Belltower with the ruins of St. Mary’s church was listed in the Register of Immovable Cultural Monuments numbered as 221.

3.      The Regional Plan of Bosnia and Herzegovina, section on the Regional Plan for Natural, Cultural and Historical Valuables (Sarajevo, August 1980) listed St. Luke’s Church as a category I monument of national significance.

4.      The Town Planning Institute of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as designer of  the Regional Plan for Jajce in 1988,  included in the Draft Plan a list of 74 individual monuments and small groups, among them St. Luke’s Church and Belltower on c.p. 989, c.m. Jajce I, subject to the previous regime of protection.

5.      St. Mary’s Church and St. Luke’s Belltower are registered as “St. Luke’s Church and Belltower” on the Provisional List of National Monuments of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments numbered as 273.

 

2. Description of the monument

Architecture

            St. Mary’s church and St. Luke’s belltower underwent several stages of construction. Given the complexity and date of the buildings, and the number of times they were subjected to alterations and demolition over the centuries, it is impossible to determine with any certainty their original appearance. The assumption is that the original building was a simple single-nave basilica of Romanesque style – a simple oratory with a wide nave and rectangular extension for the choir (sanctuary) where the altar stood against the wall. On the west wall of the present-day building, over a length of about 10 m, the remains of the west wall of the original church are visible, with the ashlar quoins of the former wall clearly observable, and the end of the wall indicating the lie of the former south wall (annex 4.10).  In the centre of the west wall is the entrance portal to the church, with a rounded arch and rope twist, and a simply moulded surround to the door jambs; above it is a round Gothic oculus with moulded surround, without any trace of rosette.  This is the only decorative element surviving on the facades. It is impossible to determine with certainty the original position of a semi-circular piece of moulded cornice, subsequently built into the later substructure of the church. The exact length of the original church and the position of the sanctuary-choir could not be determined from architectural investigations. The remains of a portico abutting onto the south façade of the church were found.  The portico consisted of Romanesque pillars with capitals on which rested the horizontal wooden beams of the portico and a secondary wooden pent roof (Kujundžić: 1972, page 282). The older church was altered in the Gothic style during the first half of the fifteenth century, when the remains of the old western wall of the church were used, with a Gothic rosette of 2.20 m diameter combined with four cruciform fields over the portal. There are no remains of this window in the present wall. The choir with a spacious rectangular apse to the east was added, as was a square sacristy alongside the apse to the south (annex 1.4). Somewhat later, probably in the first half of the fifteenth century, St Luke's belltower was added on the north-east side of the church. The belltower was built in the late Gothic style with Renaissance overtones, as interpreted by local builders. The lower part of the belltower is closed, with Gothic style masonry, while the three upper levels or galleries of the tower are open, with rich windows, trifora with geminate columns (annex 3, 4.3, 4.12, 4.13 and 4.14). The cornice, with its Gothic mouldings, and the cornices at the level of the capitals indicate a late Gothic date for the belltower.

            On the basis of archaeological research conducted in 1961 it can be assumed that the later addition of the choir had sharply pointed Gothic vaulting (Programme for the repair, restoration and revitalisation of the complex of St. Mary’s church in  Jajce: 2002, page 38.)

            The poorly preserved fragments of stone sculpture that have been found are pure Gothic with some signs of Renaissance style. The church was richly endowed artistically. Surviving pieces of stone decoration from the interior of the church, found in the ruins as parts of what were obviously larger compositions, testify to the rich interior decoration of the church.

            The frescoes of St Luke’s church in Jajce are assumed to date from the first half of the fifteenth century. Stylistically, they belong to the western late Gothic.

            The frescoes have survived only here and there on the lower reaches of the north wall (some 4 m long, and with an average width of about 25 cm), and the somewhat later frescoes of the south wall of the church.  During excavations of the ruins of the church, several fragments with remains of frescoes were found in the rubble. It is impossible to tell from these and the surviving frescoes on the walls who the artist might have been. Using a string soaked in red pigment, the artist drew a horizontal line on a thick single coat of plaster, separating the lower part, which was painted grey, from the rest of the wall surface. He then painted stylized flowers on the lower section. The entire north wall was covered with a composition of the Last Judgment, a very common Gothic composition in the first half of the fifteenth century in Europe. Fragments of four torsos of naked figures survive in the lower parts of the frescoed north wall.  They are mere sketches and could more properly be called coloured drawings rather than frescoes. (Z. Kajmaković, 1971, 86-90)

            It was probably when the church was turned into a mosque, in the early sixteenth century, as well as in the later fires, that the mediaeval stone and frescoed decorations were destroyed.  After the great fire of 1658, the floor level of the prayer space of the mosque was raised, the west door and rosette were walled up, and the southern wall was pulled down and a new one built. On the north side, lateral sofa walls were added, and a new entrance and windows to the porch were pierced. All the perimeter walls were raised in height, a balcony was constructed at the top of the belltower and a minaret added, the triforia were walled up, and an entrance to the belltower was pierced at the level of the new prayer space.  On the inside walls of the building, traces of the mihrab, mimbar and beams supporting the mahfil floor are visible. From the poorly preserved remains dating from the Ottoman period, it can be concluded that the interior was painted with polychrome decorations (annexes 1.3, 3.1, 3.4, and 4).

            The mosque remained in use until the fire of 1832, since when it has been out of use, and only minor conservation and restoration works have been carried out on the ruins.

 

3.  Research and Conservation and Restoration Works

-         In its early years, the National Museum carried out minor conservation works to the church ruins on several occasions, and in 1888, on the occasion of the visit by the Habsburg Prince Rudolph, the remains of the minaret were removed from St Luke’s belltower.

-         In 1949, the belltower was covered

-         In 1952, the alterations to the belltower dating from the Ottoman period were removed and repairs to the cornice and bifora were carried out.

-         In 1961, extensive archaeological research was carried out within the walls of St Mary’s church, with the removal of the layers dating from 1528, 1660 and 1832, and the discovery of sepulchres and other features of the mediaeval church

-         In 1978 the Institute for Geotechnique and Funding of the Faculty of Civil Engineering in Sarajevo conducted a geo-mechanical study of the underlying soil and foundations of St Luke’s belltower,

-         In 1982 a Study was drawn up on the state of the structure and proposed measures to repair it, the author of which was Prof. Dr. Ismet Tahirović from the Faculty of Architecture in Sarajevo

-         In 1983 a project to reinforce the underground parts of St Luke’s belltower in Jajce was drawn up by Prof. Dr. Ismet Tahirović of the Faculty of Architecture in Sarajevo,

-         In 1983-84 the outer underground part of the tower was strengthened with reinforced concrete and the existing foundation walls of the interior of the tower were injected, below the slabs covering the sepulchre. The works were carried out by GRO Pliva OOUR Građenje, of Jajce, and Geoexport from Zagreb,

-         In 1985 the stone used to build the tower was studied prior to the continuation of works to the above-ground parts of the tower; a report on the findings of the study of the stone from St Luke’s belltower in Jajce was published by the Institute for the Study of Materials of SR Serbia, Belgrade (Centre for Stone and Building Ceramics)

-         In 1985 a project for the structural repair of the above-ground parts of the tower was drawn up by Prof. Dr. Ismet Tahirović of the Faculty of Architecture in Sarajevo;

-         In 1985-86 repair works to the above-ground parts of the belltower were carried out by URO Klesar of Posušje

-         In 1987 stone-masonry conservation and restoration repair works were carried out to the damaged cornice, the columns and their bases and capitals,  and other superficially damaged stone; the contractors were SUOR GIK Kozara of Banja Luka, GRO Pliva of Jajce; and in 1987 injection works were also carried out by RO Geoinženjering of Sarajevo,

-         In 2002, repair works were carried out on St Luke’s belltower to replace damaged or destroyed stone parts (columns with their bases and capitals, the cornices below and above doors and windows, the roof cornice) and reconstruction of the roof structure and shingle overlay; the works were conducted by Lora Foundation.

                    

4. Current Condition of the Site

            St. Luke’s belltower is in good structural condition and additional structural repairs are not necessary.

            The ruins of St. Mary’s Church are not seriously damaged. On the south-east upper corner of the building, sharply angled cracks inclining to the vertical are observable (annex 4.6.) Their cause should be ascertained and the necessary repairs specified. In particular, the various features of the soil where the edifice stands should be ascertained and appropriate measures to strengthen the foundations should be stipulated.

            However, St. Mary’s Church is at risk of deterioration since it has no roof and is exposed to the elements, in addition to which the building is not in use and is therefore not regularly maintained.

            In the immediate vicinity of the belfry and the church some construction work has been completed or is still under way that is detrimental to the considerable value of the ensemble (belltower, church, catacombs, Medvjed-tower etc.) Especially damaging to the ensemble is the complete alteration in shape of a house with a cafe against the Medvjed-tower (Pašagina kafana), which has encroached on part of the walls of the Medvjed-tower (annex 3.4.)

 

III - CONCLUSION           

           

            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.  Historical value

C.  Artistic and aesthetic value

C.iii. proportions

D. Clarity

D.i. material evidence of a lesser known historical era

D.ii. evidence of historical change

D. iv. evidence of a particular type, style or regional manner

E. Symbolic value

E.ii. religious value

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

F. Townscape/ Landscape value

F.ii. meaning in the townscape

F.iii.  the building or group of buildings is part of group or site

G. Authenticity

G.iv. traditions and techniques

G.v. location and setting

H. Rarity and representativity

H.i. unique or rare example of a certain type or style

I. Completeness

I.i. physical coherence

I.ii. homogeneity

I.iii. completeness

I.iv. Undamaged condition

 

            The following photographic and graphic documents form an integral part of this Decision:

1.       GRAPHIC DOCUMENTS

1.1.    LOCATION OF THE MONUMENT ON A GEODETIC BASe

1.2.    PROTECTION ZONES FOR MONUMENT COMPLEX

1.3.    St. Luke’s church GROUND-PLAN from Journal of the Museum, ĐOKO MAZALIĆ

1.4.    GROUND-PLAN OF THE CHURCH BY ĐURO BASLER

1.5.    DRAWING OF THE EASTERN FACADE OF ST. MARY’S CHURCH BY  ĐURO BASLER

1.6.    DRAWING OF THE WESTERN FACADE OF ST. MARY’S CHURCH BY ĐURO BASLER

2.       REVITALISATION OF HISTORICAL NUCLEUS OF JAJCE (R. JADRIĆ)

2.1.   CHRONOLOGICAL AND STYLISTIC  FEATURES

2.2.    USE OF BUILDINGS AND TREATMENT OF OUTER SURFACES

2.3.    RESTORATION PROGRAMME AND TREATMENT OF BUILDINGS

2.4.    RULING OF THE CENTRE BASED ON THE 1968 GENERAL URBAN PLAN 

2.5.    CURRENT USE OF BUILDINGS

2.6.    NUMBER OF FLOORS OF BUILDINGS

2.7.    DEGREE OF PRESERVATION OF BUILDINGS

2.8.    DEGREE OF PROTECTION USE PROGRAMME

2.9.    VALORISATION AND DEGREE OF PROTECTION

3.      PHOTOGRAPHS

3.1.    DRAWING OF ST. LUKE’S BELLTOWER IN ABOUT 1880

3.2.    JAJCE ST. LUKE’S BELFRY  - ĐOKO MAZALIC

3.3.    JAJCE PANORAMA OF OLD TOWN PHOTOGRAPH BEFORE 1972

3.4.    PHOTOGRAPHS OF CURRENT CONDITION

 4.      PHOTOTERESTIC SHOTS OF MONUMENTS

4.1.    SITUATION OF THE CHURCH

4.2.    GROUND-PLAN OF CHURCH CONSERVATION

4.3.    FOUNDATION AT THE LEVEL OF THE ENTRANCE TO THE BELLTOWER

4.4.    EASTERN FACADE

4.5.    EASTERN INNER FACADE

4.6.    SOUTHERN FACADE VIEW

4.7.    SOUTHERN INNER FACADE

4.8.    NORTHERN FACADE

4.9.    NORTHERN INNER FACADE

4.10.  WESTERN FACADE

4.11.  WESTERN INNER FACADE

4.12.  BELLTOWER FOUNDATIONS

4.13.  BELLTOWER FACADE AND VERTICAL CROSS SECTION

4.14.  EASTERN, NORTHERN AND WESTERN FACADE OF THE BELFRY

 

            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

 

Basler, Đuro: Klesarski majstori i radionice u srednovjekovnom Jajcu (Stone masons and workshops in medieval Jajce); Collection of Krajina museums (Zbornik Krajiških muzeja) Offprint 1962,

 

R. Jadrić: Revitalisation of historical core of Jajce

 

Kujundžić, Juraj: Srednjovjekovne crkve u Jajcu (Medieval churches in Jajce), The Good Shepherd (Dobri pastir), vol . I-IV, year XXI-XXII, Sarajevo, 1972,

 

Mazalić, Đoko: Stari grad Jajce (Old town of Jajce), Journal of the National Museum Sarajevo,. 1952

 

Programme of repair, restoration and revitalisation of complex of the St. Mary’s Church in Jajce, Sarajevo 2002



Jajce Old townSt. Mary’s Church with St. Luke’s Belltower in JajceSt. Mary’s Church with St. Luke’s Belltower, photo from 2002St. Luke’s belltower
St. Luke’s belltower, Đoko MazalićInterior of the St. Mary’s churchPlan of the St. Mary’s Church with St. Luke’s Belltower by Đuro BaslerWest and east facade, Đuro Basler
Mosque of the sultan Sulejman II   


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