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 historic structure of the Bridge in Klepci is hereby designated as a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The bridge is situated in Čapljina Municipality, Federation of BiH, 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 ensuring the resources needed to draw up and implement the necessary technical documentation for the rehabilitation of the historic structure of the bridge in Klepci.
The Commission to Preserve National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina Ihereinafter: 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 the ongoing preservation of the structure, protection zones I and II are hereby defined.
Protection Zone I comprises the structure itself and the area with a radius of 100 metres measured from the centre of the bridge. Within this zone the following measures shall apply:
- All works are prohibited other than works of conservation and restoration to a design project approved by the relevatn ministry and under the professional supervision of the heritage protection authority of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
- The dumping of all forms of waste is prohibited
- Heavy traffic (lorries and construction machinery) is prohibited
- All infrastructural works are prohibited other than in exceptional cases with the approval of the relevant ministry and under the professional supervision of the heritage protection authority of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Protection Zone II comprises an area with a radius of 200 metres measured from the centre of the bridge. In this zone the following measures shall apply:
- The quarrying of stone and exploitation of other natural resources is prohibited
- The dumping of all kinds of waste is prohibited
- All construction is prohibited other than the erection of agricultural buildings of a temporary nature
- Heavy traffic (lorries and construction machinery) is prohibited
- All operations that might be detrimental to the protected structure and surroundings (as a result of air pollution, noise, vibration etc.) are prohibited.
The Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is particularly responsible for ensuring the implementation of the following measures:
- conducting scientific and research work on the bridge with the purpose of assessing the damage and designing the overall program for its repair,
- preparing the technical documentation for the repair of the bridge, which must provide for:
o repairs the arch from light portable scaffolding, with cleaning of joints and repointing them with mortar,
o the removal of vegetation from the arch structure
o repairs to the parapet walls on the left river bank,
o the reconstruction and repair of the bridge footway,
o the inspection and repair of the bridge piers,
o the repair of the upstream and downstream wing walls,
o the repair of the bridge cornices,
o the reconstruction of the bridge parapet using the original stone and traditional binding elements – clamps, spikes, and lead,
o landscaping the surroundings of the bridge and clearing self-sown weeds.
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 and enforceable.
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.: 08.2-6-725/03
Sarajevo,
21 January 2003
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 22 July 1997 the Commission issued a Decision to add the Bridge in Klepci to the Provisional List of National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina, numbered as 183.
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 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 structure are as follows:
1. Information on the Site
Location
The bridge spans the river Bregava and is located in the immediate vicinity of settlement Klepci, Municipality Čapljina, 1 km north of the town. It is located 200 m upstream from the point where the Bregava flows into the Neretva. The major Sarajevo-Adriatic coast road M-17, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, runs to the west of the bridge.
Historical Information
Bearing in mind the fact that the remains of roads dating from earlier periods have been found at this location, it is likely that a Roman bridge stood on the site of the present bridge. The precise date of construction of the bridge of that period has not been determined.
In 1517, Sandžak-beg Mustafa-beg of Herzegovina built the present bridge, which was reconstructed approximately 150 years later. It is not known whether its original appearance was altered. According to written sources, there was an inscription on the bridge which has been lost without trace. The builder and legator was Šišman Ibrahim-paša. (According to folk tradition, the builder of the bridge, Šišman Ibrahim-paša, also built the mosque in Počitelj, but it has in fact been ascertained that the the person who built the mosque as it is today, as well as certain other public facilities, was Hadži Alija, son of Musa-aga. Šišman Ibrahim-paša probably restored the bridge, given that his death followed the building works).
Legal Status to Date
By Ruling No. 1295/50 of 9 October 1950 issued by the Institute for the Protection of the Cultural, Historical and Natural Heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the bridge was place under the protection of the state.
The Regional Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina to 2002 evaluated the bridge, in the light of its outstanding beauty, as a category I asset.
2. Description of the Monument
The bridge is of very elegant arch construction, recalling in some features the arch of the Old Bridge in Mostar, but has its own particular characteristics that make it one of the finest infrastructural works of the Ottoman period.
The bridge has a span of 17.52 m (the rise of the arch is 6.30 m above low water-level and extends approximately 1.0 m below the surface of the water). The arch is of segmental construction. Specific to the bridge is that the span is the largest of this type over any lowland river. The river bed is relatively wide here, and the banks are shallow; as a result the builder erected substantial stone embankments forming a broad access ramp, which limited the span.
The under surface of the arch is made of finely dressed ashlar with radial pointing. The facing of the arches is set back some 4 cm from the surface of the wall, making the width of the arch 3.69 m. These elements are made of regular dressed stone laid horizontally in the lower section and diagonally and radially in the upper section.
The cornice above the facing walls is 17 cm high with a very simple moulding, and a korkaluk or parapet 88 cm high. The cornice projects 10 cm beyond the parapet, and is some 15 cm thick. The footway is 3.75 wide with a steep gradient. The highest point is 7.20 m above low water level, 6.44 m on the right bank and 5.71 on the left bank of the Bregava river. It is cobbled with large river pebbles with unequal-sized steps (at the level of the cornice on the facing walls).
3. Research and Conservation and Restoration Works
Long-term neglect and lack of maintenance have led to the destruction of the korkaluk or parapet, the cornices over the facing walls, and the cobblestones. Part of the parapet and cornices were destroyed between 1957 and 1987 when parts of the upstream and downstream wing walls were also destroyed. The conservation authority carried out certain works of conservation and restoration in 1952, when the cobbles and minor walls were repaired, but with the use of inappropriate building materials in the form of cement as a binder and various forms of concrete.
Under the aegis of a project to regulate the flow of the river Bregava, upstream from the bridge significant alterations to the riverbed were planned, but were prevented by timely intervention on the part of the conservation authority. Nevertheless, some works were carried out which partly damaged the natural environment in which the bridge was built. In 1991, the reconstruction of the existing village bridge on the left bank of Bregava also partly damaged the access ramp, but intervention by the conservation authority prevented more serious damage from being inflicted.
4. Present Condition of the Site
The condition of the bridge deteriorated markedly during and has continued to deteriorate since the 1992-1996 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Lack of maintenance and many years of neglect have led to part of the cobbled walkway over the bridge collapsing on the right bank of the river, even though the binder used in earlier works (cement) is very resistant to external influences. As a result of the choice of this binder material, there has been some damage within the structure of the bridge as well, the extent of which it will be possible to determine only after carrying out a comprehensive investigation. The soffit of the arch needs to be studied in detail as do the parts of the structure that are above water level when the river is low.
After an analysis of parts of the cobbles and the binding elements between the stone blocks, it was concluded that the process of deterioration of the walkway has accelerated of late. The extraction of stone in the immediate vicinity of the bridge and the vibration from the passage of heavy traffic as construction machinery comes and goes are the main causes of this deterioration. The condition of the bridge is also seriously worsened by a garbage depot some 10 to 15 metres away and by self-sown weeds.
During an on site inspection on October 3, 2002, the following was found:
Ÿ The bridge was not directly destroyed by war action;
Ÿ The bridge and the entire area surrounding it are at risk from the quarry located in the immediate vicinity of the bridge;
Ÿ The bridge is exposed to specific risks (heavy traffic of construction machinery, pollution from vehicle exhaust funds, the nearby garbage dump);
Ÿ The bridge is at risk of rapid deterioration due to the lack of regular maintenance.
III - CONCLUSION
In its date of construction, historical value, treatment and proportions, the bridge in Klepci represents a very valuable structure of this type 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 is based on the following criteria:
A. Time frame
B. Historic value
C. Artistic and aesthetic value
C.iii. proportions
C.vi. structural value
F. Landscape value
G. Authenticity
G.i. form and design
G. ii. Material and content
The following documents form an integral part of this Decision:
- Ruling on placing the structure under protection issued by the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments
- Technical documentation of the Institute for the Protection of the Cultural, Historical and Natural Heritage of BiH,
- Photodocumentation.
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 historic structure of the Bridge in Klepci as a national monument, the following works were consulted:
Čelić, Džemal, and Mujezinović, Mehmed – Stari mostovi u BiH (Old Bridges in BH), Sarajevo 1969
Gojković, Milan, Reconstruction Plan for the Bridge in Klepci, Institute for Protection of Cultural, Historical and Natural Heritage of BH, 1989
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