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 20 to 26 January 2004 the Commission adopted a
D E C I S I O N
I
The burial ground of the Hrast Roman Catholic cemetery in Jajce is hereby designated as a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the National Monument).
The National Monument is located on cadastral plot no. 628. cadastral municipality Jajce I, municipality Jajce, 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.
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
To ensure the on-going protection of the National Monument, the following measures are hereby stipulated, relating to cthe area defined in Clause 1 para. 2 of this Decision:
Ÿ all works on the National Monument are prohibited other than regular maintenance of the cemetery in use, and conservation and restoration works with the approval of the Federal Ministry responsible for regional planning and under the expert supervision of the heritage protection authority of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the heritage protection authority),
Ÿ the dumping of waste is prohibited,
Ÿ the felling of timber is permitted only for tree health reasons.
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.
Chair of the Commission
Ljiljana Ševo
No: 07.2-2-506/03-1
21 January 2004
Sarajevo
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 21 February 2003 Jajce municipality submitted a petition/proposal to designate the Hrast Roman Catholic cemetery and chapel as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
At a session held on 1 to 2 July 1999 the Commission issued a Decision to add the Catholic cemetery in Jajce to the Provisional List of National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina, numbered as 283.
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, data on restoration or other works on the property, etc.
Ÿ Copy of land registry entry and details of ownership
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 site are as follows:
1. Details of the property
Location
The old Catholic cemetery is in the residential area of Hrast, not far from the Franciscan cemetery in Jajce and the remains of the church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, bordered by Nova cesta and Franjo Peterković streets and comprising c.p. no. 628, c.m. Jajce I, Federation of BiH, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Historical information
From the gravestones that have been discovered it may be concluded that the cemetery is very old. The dates on the tombstones in the south-eastern or lower area date from 1719, which does not mean that the cemetery is not much older. Until 1961 there were some mediaeval tombstones in the cemetery. The report that preceded the work of the Review Commission for the plan for the adaptation and conservation of cultural monuments and the natural environment of Jajce and environs, held on 19 September 1961 and which consisted of people who were prominent in the field of heritage protection, notes that “there are a number of mediaeval stećak tombstones near the bottom of the cemetery.” It also refers to the lime trees that are a valuable dendrological feature of the flora of the region.
The site provides some features for the study of the social, professional and national make-up of foreign citizens who moved into Jajce after the Austro-Hungarian occupation.
2. Description of the property
The Catholic cemetery in Jajce covers an area of 1 hectare and almost 28 ares. The site lies north-west/south-east, and is bordered on the east by Franjo Peterković street; it stands on a small elevation gradually rising from the north-east towards the highest elevation on the north-west of the complex.
Roughly at the centre of the cemetery is the central path, running north-west/south-east, with the cemetery chapel at the centre. The chapel most likely dates from the Austro-Hungarian period, and there is no evidence that there was a building used for similar purposes on the site prior to that time.
The main entrance is to the north-west of the cemetery.
As with other cemeteries, here too one comes upon a mixture of tombstones, common to cemeteries that have been in use for a long time. The major concentration of older tombstones dating from the first half of the 18th century is at the very bottom of the site, to the south east.
The northern part of the cemetery, and in particular the second half, is divided into new burial plots, and some tombstones were already set in place at the extreme edge of this section a few decades before the 1992-95 war.
There are a good many individual and family graves in the cemetery, particularly from the Austro-Hungarian period.
The oldest tombstones are in the form of stele about 80cm high and arched at the top. The decorative carvings are usually in bas relief, sometimes skilfully executed and sometimes of extremely simple workmanship. A cross always features on every stele, but in various forms such as the Latin cross, calvary-Golgotha, and multiple crosses. On some stele the lower half is reserved for the epitaph, which is to be seen on such stele at the end of the 19th century. The epitaph may be short and incised at the bottom of the stele, but at times it occupied the lower half of the tombstone. The material used for the tombstones is usually stone – limestone, tufa and a particular variety of local sandstone.
The cemetery also contains three tombstones of Austro-Hungarian soldiers on military service in Jajce, who were killed in combat in Serbia during World War I. Such tombstones are to be seen in all town cemeteries around Bosnia and Herzegovina, most of them in the form of stele.
The Jajce cemetery continued in use between the two World Wars and after World War II, when the extensive use of marble and granite tombs began, a custom that continues to this day.
3. Legal status to date
The Catholic cemetery in Jajce is on the Provisional List of National Monuments of BiH under serial no. 283.
4. Research and conservation and restoration works
None.
5. Present condition of the site
An on site inspection revealed the following:
Ÿ The south-eastern part of the cemetery, where the majority of the oldest tombstones stand, is quite neglected.
Ÿ The tombstones have sunk into the ground and some are standing at a slant.
Ÿ Some of the oldest tombstones have been pulled up and deposited at the centre of the lower part of the cemetery.
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:
A. Time frame
C. Artistic and aesthetic value
C. v. value of details
D. Clarity
D.iv. evidence of a particular type, style or regional manner
E. Symbolic value
E.iii. traditional value
E.iv. relation to rituals or ceremonies
E.v. significance for the identity of a group of people
G. Authenticity
G. vi. spirit and feeling
I. Completeness
I.iii. completeness
The following documents form an integral part of this Decision:
- Photodocumentation;
- Drawings
Bibliography:
During the procedure to designate the property as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina the following works were consulted:
1904. Truhelka, Ćiro, Kraljevski grad Jajce. (Jajce, royal city) Sarajevo, 1904.
1916. L. Thalloczy, Povijest Jajca (History of Jajce) Zagreb, 1916.
1952. Mazalić, Đoko, Stari grad Jajce.(Old town of Jajce) Jnl of the National Museum in Sarajevo, n.s. vol VII, Sarajevo, 1952, 59-100.
1953. Kreševljaković, Hamdija, Stari bosanski gradovi.(Old Bosnian towns) Naše starine I, Sarajevo, 1953, 7-47.
1963 Anđelić, Pavao, Jedna etapa izgradnje Jajca. (A stage in the building of Jajce) Collected papers of the Krajina Museum II, Banja Luka, 1963./1964., 50-52.
1963. Basler, Đuro, Manji nalazi iz starije prošlosti Jajca. (Minor finds from the ancient past of Jajce) Collected papers of the Krajina Museum II, Banja Luka, 1963./1964, 40-49.
1970. Jadrić, Radivoj , Revitalizacija istorijskog jezgra Jajca (Revitalization of the historic centre of Jajce), Sarajevo, 1970.
Documentation from the Archives of BiH, Jajce Municipality and the Institute for the Protection of the Cultural, Historical and National Heritage of BiH
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