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 27 June to 2 July 2005 the Commission adopted a
D E C I S I O N
I
The architectural ensemble of the Church of St Nicholas in Srđevići near Gacko is hereby designated as a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the National Monument).
The National Monument consists of the church and burial ground.
The National Monument is located on a site designated as cadastral plot no. 2464 (new survey), corresponding to c.p. nos. 810/1 and 810/2 (old survey), Land Registry entry no. 260, cadastral municipality Rudo Polje, Municipality Gacko, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The provisions relating to protection 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 Republika Srpska no. 9/02) shall apply to the National Monument.
II
The Government of Republika Srpska shall be responsible for ensuring and providing the legal, scientific, technical, administrative and financial measures necessary to protect, conserve, and display 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. 3 of this Decision. The following protection measures shall apply in this zone:
- all works are prohibited other than conservation and restoration works with the approval of the Ministry responsible for regional planning in Republika Srpska (hereinafter: the relevant ministry) and under the expert supervision of the heritage protection authority of Republika Srpska (hereinafter: the heritage protection authority),
- works of any kind to the infrastructure are prohibited other than in exceptional cases with the approval of the relevant ministry and under the expert supervision of the heritage protection authority,
Protection Zone II consists of a 100 metre wide strip around Protection Zone I. In this zone the following protection measures shall apply:
- the only construction permitted is residential buildings with a maximum size of 10 x 12 m and a maximum height of 6.50 to the base of the roof structure, i.e. ground floor + 1,
- the dumping of waste is prohibited,
- the construction of industrial buildings and facilities is prohibited,
- the siting of potential environmental polluters is prohibited.
The Government of Republika Srpska shall be required to draw up a Study for the protection of the church of St Nicholas in Srđevići. The study shall incorporate all the measures on the basis of which repair works to the damage to the church shall be carried out.
The Government of Republika Srpska shall be required to draw up a Study for the restoration of the murals in the church of St Nicholas in Srđevići. Prior to drawing up the study, the causes of damage to the frescoes shall be analysed, as shall the quality of the plaster and other building materials.
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 Republika Srpska, 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 Republika Srpska, the relevant Ministry and the 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 – 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
On the date of adoption of this Decision, the National Monument shall be deleted from the Provisional List of National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of BiH no. 33/02, Official Gazette of Republika Srpska no. 79/02, Official Gazette of the Federation of BiH no. 59/02, and Official Gazette of Brčko District BiH no. 4/03), where it featured under serial no. 247.
X
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. 06.2-2-154/05-7
28 June 2005
Sarajevo
Chair of the Commission
Ljiljana Ševo
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.
The Commission to Preserve National Monuments issued a decision to add the Church of St Nicholas in Srđevići near Gacko to the Provisional List of National Monuments under serial no. 247.
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)
- Details of legal protection of the property to date
- Data on the current condition and use of the property, including a description and photographs, data of war damage,
- Details of 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 church of St Nicholas in Srđevići is four kilometres to the south-west of Gacko, on the edge of the broad Gacko plain.
Access to the churchyard in Srđevići is from the south, from the access road that forks off from the main Nevesinje-Gacko road.
The church stands on a slight elevation in the Orthodox cemetery of the village of Srđevići.
The church lies west-east, with the entrance at the west end.
The church of St Nicholas is located on a site designated as cadastral plot no. 2464 (new survey), corresponding to c.p. nos. 810/1 and 810/2 (old survey), Land Registry entry no. 260, cadastral municipality Rudo Polje, Municipality Gacko, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Historical information
The earliest written information on Srđevići, dating from the early 15th century, is to be found in Dubrovnik archive sources and in the Sopoćani Pomenik. Srđević probably acquired its name from the surname of the prominent Srđević fammily.
The exact date of origin of the church of St Nicholas in Srđevići has not been identified, but it was certainly built before 1598(1).
The church in Srđevići dedicated to St Nicholas was probably built by the Gacko dukes (military leaders) Srđević or their relatives the Trković's.
The Trković dukes are associated with the church as its founders, and their grave is not far from the church, on the other side of a village known as Vrtina. Three dukes of Gacko are buried together there, Radoje, Petar and Ivan Trković, whose names are inscribed on three cut stones on the west side of the grave. The grave measures 4.5 x 2.5 metres, and the epitaphs are on the west side. The Trković dukes were probably killed fighting the Ottoman authorities in the late 16th century.
The next reference to the name Srđević is on an epitaph on a stećak tombstone in Tvrdoš monastery near Trebinje, where Jovan Srđević probably took refuge from the unrest in Gacko: «V ljeto 1595 m(e)s(e)ca fevr(ara) 19 pamet Ioanu Vladkovu ot Gacka Srđević» (Mošin-Traljić, 1959, 156).
The church was again damaaged in 1790 or 1798, as recorded on an inscription in a Minaeion now in the library of the Orthodox eparchy in Mostar (Kajmaković, 1971, p. 190).
Despite all the damage and vandalism suffered by the church over the centuries, fragments of its frescoes have survived to this day. Given the high cost of fresco painting, the very presence of these frescoes indicates the former importance of the place.
2. Description of the property
The church of St Nicholas is a simple, small-sized building on a slight elevation and almost half sunken into the ground. It stands in the Orthodox cemetery of the village of Srđevići. The same plot includes a number of old tombstones and some of more recent date.
In layout the church in Srđevići belongs to the type of single-nave church of rectangular ground plan with apse and belltower «na preslicu» (over the entrance).
The church lies east-west, with the entrance at the west end.
The exterior dimensions of the church are 10.25 x 5.60 m, and the interior dimensions are 8.85 x 3.95 m. The height from floor level to the top of the vault is 3.57 m.
The church has solid stone walls of large cut stone blocks laid in horizontal courses, of fairly regular shape but coarse finish, set in mortar with wide joints in more or less regular horizontal courses which remain visible on the outside. Since the walls are not plastered on the outside, the larger and more regularly-shaped stone blocks forming the quoins arealso visible, while the blocks used for the main body of the walls are mainly smaller and of varying sizes.
The walls of the church are of varying thicknesses, with the south and west walls 75 cm thick, the north wall 85 cm thick and the walls of the apse 65 cm thick.
Structurally, a slightly depressed vault transfers the stress to the solid longitudinal walls.
The church roof is clad with stone slabs, with a characteristic overlap of the ridge slabs.
The church is lit by small windows in the south wall and narrow openings in the apse and below the belltower.
The rectangular portal at the west end of the church has a simple wooden door and massive doorjambs and lintel. The door is made of unplaned wooden boards with a metal cross attached to the outside. The door measures 77 x 150 cm.
In the light of the size of the doorjambs (the north doorjamb measures 153 x 50 cm, the south 143 x 60 cm, and the lintel 350 x 50 cm), the presence of stećak tombstones in the village, and the barely discernible decoration on the doorjambs, stećak tombstones found in the environs were used for the doorjambs and lintell
The belltower na preslicu that tops the west end of the church is of finely dressed limestone, with one opening for the bell. The belltower is 6.8 m high and contains a large bell. The belltower was built in the 19th century (Ševo, 2002, 158.)
The stone floor consists of unequally sized slabs set in mortar.
At the centre of the church, where the apse begins, is a stone altar table. To the left and right of the altar, in the side walls, are small square niches for the proscomidion and diaconicon.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is not rich in sites with frescoes, which are much more common in Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia. Nonetheless, of the total of seventeen sites with frescoes, dating from the Ottoman period, five were painted by the four finest Serbian painters of their day: the unidentified masters from Papraća and Srđevići, and the monks Longin and Georgije Mitrofanović. Their works, which are supreme achievements of late Serbian mural painters of the mid 16th century (Papraća), the 1570s (Lomnica), the early 18th century (Dobrićevo and Zavala), greatly improve the average quality of late frescoes in Bosnia and Herzegovina as a whole (Kajmaković, 166),
The earliest reference to the painting in the church in Srđevići is by one Milje, in Putne crtice, Bosanskohercegovački istočnik, 1898 (Milje, 1898, 361), who writes: «In the interior [of the church] the walls consisted entirely of icons, and it is a pity that almost all of them are faded, with the holes filled in with plaster, so that not one of them is recognizable other than the one in the altar space, with a dining table where Jesus Christ is shown with the four evangelists.(2)»
The presence of frescoes in this church suggests that the village of Srđevići was a place of some importance in the mediaeval period. The frescoes decorating the walls reflect the former importance of this place, or the fact that even an impoverished rural community felt the need to adorn its parish church with fine, expensive murals. The frescoes are the work of a gifted and trained artist.
All that survives of the murals in the Srđevići church are traces of some of the compositions. The largest surviving fragments are to be seen on the east wall of the church and in the apse.
The first section, in the apse, features one saint on each side: to the north, Basil the Great; to the south, St John Chrysostom. Above them are the archangels Michael and Gabriel, with icons mounted on wooden staffs, one archangel over each saint, in a composition of the Service of Christ's priests to the Lamb. Christ the sacrifice on a paten features on a table, below a window. To avoid cramming the modest available space with minute details, the Srđevići master skilfully selected the scenes and showed them in large scale, clear evidence that he was trained in the finest tradition of the old Serbian painters and that he had probably painted other religious buildings prior to this one.
«Almost half the north wall, as the remains of a coiled dragon indicate, was taken up by a scene of St George subduing the monster, which the saint is leading on a rope. It is likely that the south wall bore the figure of St Demetrius on horseback, the usual counterpart to this composition. However, this composition [on the south wall] has not survived, apart from a few minute fragments. Larger surviving fragments on this wall include the end of a text which, to judge from its contents, was held by St Simeon the Serb: «...STRAHU GOSPODNEM NAU^U VI.»
On the south wall of the apse, the figures of the Mother of God from the composition of the Annunciation and St Basil the Great in the conch of the apse can be made out. It is from these two partly surviving composition that the quality of the unknown master of the frescoes in the Srđevići church can be judges.» (Kajmaković, 1971, 191).
«The Srđevići master was an excellent draftsman and refined colourist, but very average as a calligrapher – rather rapid and careless. A certain rigidity in the plasticity of the figures is caused by the dark maroon skin tones, on which an unreal grey-ochre light plays, the effect of thin colour values laid over the most highly lit areas. Fine white lines complete the modelling of the contours. The painter adds four small fine lines below the eyes, with another two around the nostrils and at the tip of the nose. He details the figures of older people with coiled, semicircular, concentric clusters of lines on the cheeks, which he paints in lighter tones. Add to this the considerable skill and ease with which the eyes are painted, as well as the regular, natural, undistorted ears, which some artists have difficulty mastering, and the strictly conceived and routinely executed hair with discreet locks on the forehead and back of the head, and the select palette of pastel harmony and the craftsmanship of the folds of drapery with a range of semitones, and it becomes clear that the endowment of the Gatački dukes played host to a fine artist., However, there is too little material to be able to compare this work with others so as to identify with greater precision the school to which he belonged. It has not been possible thus far to identify his work with any known fresco ensemble, but there is no doubt his painting can be dated to the 1560s or 1570s. This dating is suggested by the stylistic affinity of his frescoes with those of masters working at that time on the great Serbian monasteries of Peć, Studenica, Gračanica, Mileševa and Banja near Priboj. A marked stylistic affinity will be sensed if the frescoes from Srđevići are compared with those in the Papraća monastery, which date from the end of the first half of the 16th century, and of Savina, dating from 1565. Despite the possible similarity with these painters, however, this is a new artist, whose work demonstrates that he is at the centre of the evolution that brought Serbian painting from these predecessors and Longin to Georgije Mitrofanović and Kozmo, who worked until the mid 17th century.» (Kajmaković, 1971, 191-193).
In 1970, an older layer was discovered under this layer of paintings on the upper half of the south wall of the nave, close to the entrance door. The artist had used reddish pigment to outline the contours of a saint shown in half figure, with a halo, and a zoni (cincture) around his waist. Wings can be made out in the background.
ICONOGRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF THE FRESCOES(3)
- St Basil the Great – a stooping figure of the saint in a white polystavrion with maroon squares arranged to form white crosses. His omophorion is ochre in colour with a green cross. His epitrachelion is decorated with a yellow border and rows of pearls. His nabedrenik (4) is red, and his robe is violet. His slippers are of the same colour, decorated with green lines. The skin tones are maroonish, with white azure washes of ochre over the highlighted areas. Short white lines are used to model the tip of the nose (two lines), the cheeks (two longer lines), the cheekbones (four lines) and the ear (two lines). The background is of three colours: the upper part black, the centre green, and the lower black with yellow and red flecks. The scroll is inscribed with the following text in maroon lettering: «I POKAZAL ESI NAM VLINKOU SIO SPASENIA TAINOV TI SPDBILIN ESI SMOENNI DA...VOE»
- Archangel Michael – all that survives is the tips of the wings and the lower part of a red divitision with a broad yellow border, decorated with pearls and coloured gemstones. The edge of a blue robe is visible below the divitision. His slippers are red with yellow lines.
- The area featuring the table with the Lamb, bisected by a window. All that can now be made out is oblique red lines to the left and right of the window.
- Archangel Gabriel – a badly damaged fresco. All that can be made out is a stooped, moving figure in a violet divitision with a red border around the neck. The archangel is holding ripidas (icons mounted on a wooden staff) over the remains of the red royal table where the Lamb was featured.
- St John Chrysostom – all that survives are details of the upper part of the figure and the scroll. The polystavrion was white with cruciform appliques. The scroll bears the words: «GI BE NA[ IE....@AVA NESKANNA I SLAVA.. IE POLO.. EGO@ MLT... SMONAA» (a prayer from the liturgy of St John Chrysostom in antiphon I).
- Bogorodica Širšaja nebes (Mother of God spanning the heavens) – damaged. A precisely modelled maphorion with intense red borders and ochre on the highlighted areas and deep, dark shadows. The chiton is blue. The ground is green, with a violet pedestal. The throne is red above and yellow to the sides, with ochre hatching. The cushion on which she is seated is red. The back of the throne is violet, and behind it is an architectural feature in bluish tones. Her fingers are rather thick, but the nails are executed with minute care. Above, on each hand, the painter has added two horizontal white lines.
- Ochre floral design on a red background.
- Remains of the upper part of the figure of an unidentified archdeacon in a yellow vestment and blue epitrachelion with yellow floral designs. He is holding a thurible in his right hand.
- St Simeon the Serb – all that survives is part of a scroll with maroon lettering, in the middle of the north wall. «POSLU[AITE MENE STRADAH' GSNIO NA'[VI».
- Yellow curtain folds on the socle in the altar space. The borders are decorated with double red lines.
- Stylized white palmette on a red background (socle of the walls outside the altar space).
- Lower parts of a composition of St George killing the dragon. All that survives is part of the coiled body of the monster with its head and neck. The dragon has a rope around its neck.
In addition to these details, there are the remains of frescoes in a few other places in the church.
Traces of other murals can still be seen in the church of St Nicholas in Srđevići as:
- minor superficial remains of murals on the west wall around the door, and in the lower corners of the west wall where it meets the north and south walls,
- fragments in the upper part of the north wall towards the altar space,
- small areas in the central part of the south wall around the figure of St George,
- small fragments on the vault of the nave, at the centre of which was the figure of Christ Pantocrator. A barely discernible inscription in white Cyrillic lettering on a blue background runs around the circumference,
- the remains of a socle in the south-east corner of the building, and remains of the first painted zone (h+1.5m)
It is clear that the church was once entirely frescoed, and that, not counting the socle of approximately 50 cm in width, the murals were divided into three sections. Compositionally, the first section was filled with standing figures at a height of 167 cm, the second of 110 cm, and the third, at the top of the vault, of 130 cm. On the north wall, traces of drawing in synopite are visible on the lower layer of plaster. Two layers of frescoes can be seen on the north wall by the iconostasis. The upper layer, which is the same as the plaster on which the frescoes of the altar layer were painted, features curtain folds, rather large in size and clumsily executed, with ornamental design by the niche. Below this layer, a lower layer with black and red borders is visible. The components of the lower layer only partly match those of the upper layer. Since the figure of a saint was discovered here, there was probably a pre-16th century mural in this part of the church (Kajmaković, 1971, 342-344).
3. Legal status to date
In the procedure prior to the adoption of a final decision on designation, documents concerning the protection of the property were inspected, revealing the following:
There is no information as to whether the church of St Nicholas in Srđevići with necropolis of stećak tombstones was previously entered in the register of protected properties of SR BiH.
The Regional Plan for the Republic of Bosnia andn Herzegovina to 2002 lists the Church of St Nicholas in Srđevići as a Category I monument.
The church of St Nicholas in Srđevići near Gacko is on the Provisional List of National Monuments of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments under serial no. 247.
4. Research and conservation and restoration works
1966 – basic conservation and restoration works – cleaning and fixing the frescoes. The works were carried out by the Republic Institute for the Protection of the Cultural and Historical Heritage. The works supervisor was Jusuf Začinović.
1967 – basic conservation and restoration works – cleaning and fixing the frescoes. The works were carried out by the Republic Institute for the Protection of the Cultural and Historical Heritage. The works supervisor was Jusuf Začinović.
5. Current condition of the property
An on site inspection in May 2005 ascertained as follows:
- The church of St Nicholas in Srđevići is in poor structural condition
- The building has subsided to below ground level; the pressure of soil is endangering the structural stability of the walls
- Structural damage and cracks can be seen on the facades
- The stone slabs of the roof are in rather poor condition and the roof is leaking
- Rust is visible on part of the belltower below the bell
- There are signs of damp in the building
The surviving fragments of the murals in the church of St Nicholas in Srđevići are in poor condition as a result of subsidence, which has led to cracks appearing in the walls, particularly where the west wall meets the north and the south walls. The cracks have in turn led to damp, which extends over the lower reaches of the west, north and south walls at a height of 50 cm. Some of the damp-affected areas of the walls are covered with mould, and fragments of the frescoes have changed colour, turning black.
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
B. Historical value
C. Artistic and aesthetic value
C. i. quality of workmanship
C.iii. proportions
C.iv. composition
C. v. value of details
D. Clarity
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.iii. traditional value
E.iv. relation to rituals or ceremonies
E.v. significance for the identity of a group of people
G. Authenticity
G.ii. material and content
G.iii. use and function
G.iv. traditions and techniques
G.v. location and setting
G.vi. spirit and feeling
H. Rarity and representativity
H.i. unique or rare example of a certain type or style
The following documents form an integral part of this Decision:
o Copy of cadastral plan
o Copy of land register entry and proof of title;
o Photodocumentation;
o Drawings
Bibliography
During the procedure to designate the historic monument of the Church of St Nicholas in Srđeviči near Gacko as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina the following works were consulted:
1890. Stojanović, Sopoćanski spomenik (The Sopoćani pomenik), Spomenik SKA, III, Belgrade, 1890.
1898. Milje. Putne crtice. Bosansko hercegovački istočnik, no. 23, Sarajevo 1898.
1959. Traljić, Mošin, Ćirilski spomenici u Bosni i Hercegovini (Cyrillic monuments in BiH), Naše starine VI, Sarajevo, 1959.
1964. V. Korać-V. J. Đurić, Crkve sa prislonjenim lukovima u staroj Hercegovini i dubrovačko graditeljstvo XV-XVII vek (Churches with rebated arches in old Herzegovina and Dubrovnik architecture of the 15th-17th century) Proceedings of the Faculty of Philosophy VIII, Belgrade, 1964, 576.
1971. Zdravko Kajmaković, Zidno slikarstvo u Bosni i Hercegovini (Wall painting in BiH) Sarajevo 1971.
1985. Mandić, Novak Studo, Gacko kroz vijekove, Prilozi istoriji Gacka (Gacko over the centuries, Contribution to the history of Gacko), Trebinje, 1985. .
2002. Ševo, Ljiljana, Pravoslavne crkve i manastiri u Bosni i Hercegovini do 1878. godine (Orthodox churches and monasteries in BiH to 1878), Glas Srpski, Banja Luka, 2002
(1) Stojanović cites the following inscription: «In Gacko, in the village of Srđevići, the Turks captured the entire cerkov in the summer of 1598» (Stojanović, 1890, 891)
In Herzegovina at that time there were numerous actions against the Ottoman authorities, mainly led by the church. There were attempts to form a union with Rome, various conspiracies, uprisings, and the formation of links with Russia. (Mošin-Traljić, 1959, 156)
(2) Milje has confused the figure of Christ with that of the Mother of God Širšaja with Christ, and the evangelists with archpriests Basil the Great and John Chrysostom and the archangels Gabriel and Michael.
(3) The numbers indicate the schematic plan of the remains of the painting, which constitutes an integral part of this Decision.
(4) A square or rectangular cloth suspended on the right side by two adjacent corners from a strap drawn over the left shoulder (trans. – from Nationmaster.com Encyclopedia: Vestment)
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