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 30 August to 5 September 2005 the Commission adopted a

D E C I S I O N

I

The historic site of the Necropolis with stećak tombstones of Delijaš near Trnovo is hereby designated as a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the National Monument).

            The National Monument consists of a necropolis with 243 stećak tombstones. 

The National Monument is located on cadastral plots nos. 383, 384 and 1369, in the land register entry no. xx, cadastral municipality Delijaš, Municipality Trnovo, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 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 the Federation of BiH nos. 2/02, 27/02 and 6/04) 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 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 provide 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:

Protection Zone I comprises the area defined in Item I, Paragraph 3. of this Decision. The following protection measures shall apply in this zone:

• all works are prohibited other than research and conservation and restoration works, routine maintenance works, and works designed to display the monument, with the approval of the Federal Ministry responsible for regional planning (hereinafter: the relevant ministry) and under the expert supervision of the heritage protection authority of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the heritage protection authority),
• the site of the National Monument shall be open and accessible to the public, and may be used for educational and cultural purposes,
• no new burials are permitted within a distance of less than 5 metres from the stećak tombstones,
• works of any kind to the infrastructure are prohibited unless with the approval of the relevant ministry and under the expert supervision of the heritage protection authority,
• the dumping of waste is prohibited.

Protection Zone II consists of a strip with a width of 200 metres around Protection Zone I.

The following measures shall apply in this zone:

• all construction or works that could have the effect of altering the site or the landscape are prohibited,
• works of any kind to the infrastructure are prohibited unless with the approval of the relevant ministry and under the expert supervision of the heritage protection authority,
• the dumping of waste is prohibited.

To ensure the on-going protection of the National Monument the following works shall be carried out:

• clearing the site of self-sown vegetation;
• cleaning the stećak tombstones of lichens and moss;
• repairing cracked tombstones;
• making good the cutting above the Zabojska road on c.p. no. 383 to prevent further shifting of the tombstones/landslides, on the basis of a project approved by the relevant ministry;
• drawing up and implementing a programme for the presentation of the National Monument.

IV

All executive and regional 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 the city and municipal authorities, shall refrain from any action that might damage the National Monument or jeopardize the preservation thereof.

VI

The Government of the Federation, the relevant Ministry, 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 to VI of this Decision, and the authorised 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 Article 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.

No: 05.1-2-1070/03-6

1 September 2005

Sarajevo

Chair of the Commission

Ljiljana Ševo

E l u c i d a t i o n

I – INTRODUCTION

Pursuant to the Law on the Implementation of the Decisions of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, established pursuant to Article 2, Para. 1 of 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, as well as the property entered on the Provisional List of National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of BiH no. 33/02) until the Commission reaches the final decision on its status, as to which there is no time limit and regardless of whether a request for the property in question has been submitted or not.

            On 7 June 2004 Zilka Kujundžić-Vejzagić, museum advisor in the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, submitted a proposal/petition to proclaim the historical site of the necropolis with stećak tombstones Delijaš a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

            Pursuant to the provisions of the law, the Commission proceeded to carry out the procedure for reaching the 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 the 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 land registry excerpt),
• Data on the current condition and use of the property, including a description and photographs, data on war damage, data on restoration or other works on the property, etc.,
• Historical, architectural and other documentary material on the property.

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

1. Details of the property

Location

Delijaš is a village near Trnovo, in the Crna rijeka area, located on the slopes of Mt. Jahorina and in the valley of a small river, below Gradina. To the north of the village, alongside the road leading to Zabojska, on a locality called Vitica or Groblje, next to a modern Orthodox graveyard, there is a necropolis with stećak tombstones.

Historical information

            Until the mid-14th century the Vrhbosna župa (county) was a large area extending along the basins of the rivers Miljacka and Željeznica and in the upper course of the river Bosna. The area was bordered by Mt. Romanija to the east, Mt. Jahorina to the southeast, Mts. Treskavica and Bjelašnica to the south, Mt. Igman and the Kobiljača saddle to the west and the river and county of Vogošća to the north. In the second half of the 14th century the large early mediaeval counties in central Bosnia broke down into smaller units – districts. This process also affected Vrhbosna county, which, starting in the second half of the 14th century, ceased to be a single territorial and political unity (Anđelić, 1982, 13). Several county districts arose out of it, usually around a fortified town or within a clearly defined geographic entity.

            The area around the upper course of the river Željeznica, located between the mountain ranges of Treskavica and Bjelašnica on one and Jahorina on the other (now the environs of Trnovo), was a separate territorial and political entity. Much of this area marched with the holdings of herceg Stjepan, to which it was finally annexed in the conflict of 1435/6 (V. Mušeta-Ašćerić, 1985, 266). The stylistic features of the motifs on the mediaeval stećak tombstones of this region indicate a certain connection with the stećak tombstones of eastern Herzegovina, more precisely of Stolac and Bileća, which is associated with the migrations of Vlach cattle breeders from these parts of Herzegovina to the mountain regions south of Sarajevo.

            The stećak tombstones from the environs of Trnovo can roughly be dated to the 14th and 15th centuries, and a smaller number of them probably to the early years of the 16th century (Š. Bešlagić, 1967, 135).

2. Description of the property

The necropolis in Delijaš lies on high ground, divided into two, east and west, by the road leading to Zabojska. It consists of 243 stećak tombstones of which 28 are ridge-shaped and 215 chests and slabs(1). In terms of numbers, it is one of the ten largest necropolises in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The stećak tombstones are aligned in rows lying west-east, with minor deviations. A number of stećaks, located immediately above the road, have slid down the steep slope and are not in their original places. The majority of stećaks are of average dimensions, though there are a few very large and a few very small ones.

Six(2) of the tombstones, 3 chests and 3 ridges, are ornamented. All the ornamented stećaks are located to the west of the access road.

Stećak no. 1 is a ridge with pedestal, ornamented on two sides. On the north side is a relief figure of a man, holding a drawn bow with an arrow in one hand and his other hand on his hip. On the south side is a scene of a man’s kolo (round dance). Five men have garlands on their heads, which can be clearly made out in three places.

Stećak no. 2 is a chest with a relief crescent moon on its upper surface.

            Stećak no. 3 is a chest with a relief rectangle on its upper surface.

Stećak no. 4 is a tall chest with pedestal. There is one relief apple on each of the east- and the west-facing sides of the stećak. On the south-facing side is an unusual motif consisting of two relief circles connected with a thick band. There is also a large relief circle on the upper surface.   

            Stećak no. 5 is a large ridge with pedestal. There is a hunting scene on the east-facing side, in which the hunter is riding a horse, with a deer in front of him. On the west-facing side are the barely identifiable motifs of a bow and arrow. The stećak is rather damaged and leaning.

            Stećak no. 6 is a smaller ridge with a relief crescent moon on the upper surface.

In the northwest part of the necropolis, modern Orthodox graves are located next to the stećak tombstones.

3. Legal status to date

The property is not on the Provisional List of National Monuments of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments. The Decision is adopted on the basis of the above-mentioned petition.

Until the year 2000 it was registered as Category III in the Spatial Plan of BiH.

4. Research and conservation and restoration works

From 1958 to 1961 Š. Bešlagić carried out a systematic survey and recording of stećak necropolises in the vicinity of Trnovo.

5. Current condition of the property

On the basis of an on-site inspection, carried out in August 2005, the following has been ascertained:

Trenches were dug in the eastern part of the necropolis during the 1992-1995 war, traces of which can still be seen. Movement between the stećaks is difficult in some parts of the necropolis due to tall vegetation and uneven ground, which, according to the locals, has been caused by wild pigs.

The stećak tombstones are covered with moss and lichen, making the ornamental motifs very difficult to make out. A large number of stećaks, particularly chests and slabs, have sunk into the ground. Ten or so are leaning or have overturned, especially along the edges of the necropolis.

A number of stećaks are cracked (30%), as the result of weathering.

The tombstones in the Orthodox cemetery were destroyed during the 1992-1995 war.

There are village houses several hundreds of meters south of the necropolis.

6. Specific risks to which the monument is exposed

There is a risk of the stećaks above the road leading to Zabojska sliding down the steep slope or cutting that was dug when the road was built.   A retaining wall should be built to prevent this from occurring.

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 is based on the following criteria:

A) Time frame

B) Historical value

C) Artistic and aesthetic value

iv. composition

v. value of details

G) Authenticity

i. form and design

ii. material and contents

v. Location and setting

H) Rarity and representativity

i. Unique and rare example of a certain type.

The following documents form an integral part of this Decision:

• Copy of cadastral plan,
• Photo documentation (August 2005):

-    decorated stećak tombstones nos. 1-6

-    view of necropolis, 1, 2, 3

-    groups of stećaks 1 and 2

• Graphics:plan of the necropolis (Š. Bešlagić, 1967)

Bibliography

During the procedure to designate the property as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina the following works were consulted:

1967.    Bešlagić, Šefik, Trnovo, Srednjovjekovni nadgrobni spomenici (Trnovo, Mediaeval Tombstones), Naše starine XI (Our Antiquities XI), Sarajevo, 1967, 101-135.

1971.    Bešlagić, Šefik, Stećci, kataloško-topografski pregled (Stećak Tombstones, Catalogue and Topographical Overview), Sarajevo, 1971, 142-143.

1982.    Vego, Marko, Postanak srednjovjekovne bosanske države (Origin of the Mediaeval Bosnian State), Sarajevo, 1982, 51-54.

1982.    Anđelić, Pavao, Osnovne značajke teritorijalnopolitičke organizacije u srednjovjekovnoj Bosni (Basic Characteristics of Territorial and Political Structure in Mediaeval Bosnia) in: Studije o teritorijalnopolitičkoj oranizaciji srednjovjekovne Bosne (Studies of Territorial and Political Structure of Mediaeval Bosnia), Svjetlost, Sarajevo, 1982, 9-25

1982.    Bešlagić, Šefik, Stećci-kultura i umjetnost (Stećci-Culture and Art), Sarajevo, 1982.

1985.    Mušeta-Ašćerić, Vesna, Srednjovjekovna župa Vrhbosna, Problem granica i vlasti (Mediaeval County of Vrhbosna, Problem of Borders and Power), in: Prilozi (Contributions), Institute for History in Sarajevo, Sarajevo, 1985, 257-268.

1998.    Various authors, Bosna i Hercegovina od najstarijih vremena do kraja Drugog svjetskog rata (Bosnia and Herzegovina from Ancient Times to the End of World War II), Sarajevo 1998.

(1) The exact number of chests and slabs cannot be ascertained since many of them have sunk into the ground.

(2) Š. Bešlagić recorded five ornamented stećaks, one chest with a crescent moon relief motif included. On the basis of an on-site inspection, carried out on 12 August 2005, Commission staff member Jasna Burnazović recorded a smaller ridge stećak in the northwestern part of the necropolis, also bearing this motif.