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 site and remains of the architectural ensemble of the mosque in Kazanci (the Osman-pasha Kazanac mosque) near Gacko is hereby designated as a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the National Monument).
The National Monument is located on a site designated as cadastral plot nos. 1253, 1254, 1255, 1256, 1257 and 1258 (new survey), corresponding to c.p. nos. 1064, 1065 and 250/1 (old survey), Land Registry entry no. 113, cadastral municipality Kazanci, Gacko Municipality, 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
The following protection measures shall apply to the area defined in Clause 1 para. 2 of this Decision:
- clearing the site of self-sown vegetation, litter and waste matter;
- carrying out conservation and restoration works on the minaret of the mosque;
- protecting the structure of the minaret from the adverse effects of the natural elements;
- research works may be permitted in order to find the original foundations of the buildings constituting the architectural ensemble and their conservation and presentation, in line with an appropriate project;
- all interventions should be carried out on the basis of approval from the ministry responsible for regional planning in Republika Srpska and under the expert supervision of the heritage protection authority of Republika Srpska;
- the site of the National Monument shall be surrounded by a temporary security fence, which should be 2 m in height and erected in such a way as to prevent unauthorized persons from entering the protected site.
A protective strip with a radius of 100 m from the protected site of the National Monument is hereby stipulated. In this strip the following protection measures shall apply:
- the only construction permitted is of residential buildings with maximum dimensions of 10 x 12 m and a maximum height to the base of the roof frame of 6.50 m, i.e. ground floor and one upper storey;
- the dumping of waste on the site is prohibited.
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 thereof.
VI
The Government of Republika Srpska, the Ministry responsible for regional planning in Republika Srpska and the heritage protection authority of Republika Srpska, 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
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: 06.2-2-677/03-7
31. August 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.
On 17 March 2003 the Commission to Preserve National Monuments received a petition from the Centre for Islamic Architecture for the designation of the property of the Mosque of Osman-pasha Kazanac in Kazancima near Gacko as a national monument.
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)
- 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.
- 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 village of Kazanci is right on the border with Montenegro, twenty kilometres to the south-east of Gacko. A side road leading to Kazanci branches off from the main road from Gacko to Montenegro (Nikšić).
The site and remains of the architectural ensemble of the Mosque in Kazanci (the Osman pasha Kazanac mosque) near Gacko are on a site designated as cadastral plot nos. 1253, 1254, 1255, 1256, 1257 and 1258 (new survey), corresponding to c.p. nos. 1064, 1065 and 250/1 (old survey), Land Registry entry no. 113, cadastral municipality Kazanci, Gacko Municipality, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The mosque in Kazanici was in a fertile part of the village of Kazanci, not far from the Oko and Stubanj drinking water springs. The water for the šadrvan fountain outside the mosque came from the Stubanj spring (which is also known as the Pasha's spring) (Hasandedić, 1990. p. 203).
Historical information
Historical data on the mosque in Kazanci is very sparse.
Ottoman rule was established over the Gacko area and surroundings in 1465.
Kazanci and its environs came under various kadiluks (areas under the jurisdiction of a qadi): the Foča, Cernik and Gacko kadiluks.
The mosque in Kazanci was endowed by Osman-pasha Kazanac(1), who was born in Kazanci in 1620. At the age of 13 he was taken as adžami oglan (the creme de la creme of the boys taken for the Janissary corps) to Istanbul, where he became beglerbeg of Anatolia in 1671.l In 1675 he was appointed as vizier in Syria, and in 1683 he became vizier in Bosnia. The following year he was reassigned to Egar in Hungary, where he was killed in 1685 (Hasandedić, 1990. p. 203).
In 1675 Osman-pasha built a mosque, maktab, madrassa and šadrvan fountain in his native village of Kazanci (Hasandedić, 1990. p. 203).
A number of soldiers were permanently stationed in Kazanci, to protect the pasha's residences and Muslim houses from attack by uskoks (deserters, fugitives) and hajduks (brigands) (Hasandedić, 1990. p. 202).
The second half of the 17th century saw the Ottoman Empire constantly at war: first came the Candian war with Venice (1645-1669), followed by wars with Poland and Russia, and the Great Viennese War with Austria (1683-1699).
During and after the Candian war the Venetians carried out constant incursions into Bosnian territory, penetrating into eastern Herzegovina as far as Gacko with uskok and hajduk companies with their headquarters in Perast. The Venetians found plenty of hajduks and uskoks in Montenegro, whom they paid, fed and trained.
In 1684 the Kotor providur, Antonije Zeno, hired Bajo Pivljanin, providing him with arms, equipment and rations. Pivljanin assembled 700 hajduks from Montenegro and attacked the village of Kazanci, burning the village to the ground and demolishing the mosque, madrassa, towers and shops, all endowments built by Osman-pasha in Kazanic. Much of the Muslim population was killed, and the surviving Muslim families fled, to settle in nearby villages (Tanović, 2000. p. 26).
All that remains of the Ottoman-period buildings in Kazanci are the minaret up to the šerefe, the foundations of the mosque, and the mosque harem, in which there are no nišan tombstones.
2. Description of the property
According to Hivzija Hasandedić, Muslimanska baština u istočnoj Hercegovini, the mosque was square in ground plan, with exterior dimensions of 10 x 10 metres.
The same author records that the mosque was built of regular ashlar stone blocks and that the roof was clad with slabs (Hasandedić, 1990. p. 202).
The minaret of the mosque was built against the south-west facade wall, and had an arched entrance to the north-east.
The base of the minaret was square in plan, with the sides measuring approx. 1.90 m, and was approx. 4.5 m in height. It was built of regular ashlar stone blocks.
The transition from the square base to the twelve-sided shaft of the minaret was executed via a «waist» approx. 1.50 in height. The prisms at the base and top have two shallow, simply moulded stone string courses top and bottom. The sides of the prisms bear a shallow frieze in the shape of rhombuses.
The shaft of the minaret is twelve-sided in section, with a diameter of 1.4 m. The body of the minaret does not taper, but is of the same diameter over its entire height. The walls of the body of the minaret are approx. 25 cm thick. The height of the body of the minaret is approx. 9.0 metres. It is topped by a moulded string course decorated with blind arcades. This is assumed to mark the end of the body of the minaret, the point at which the conical steeple woulkd have begun.
The šerefe of the minaret is at a height of approx. 12.0 m above ground level. The šerefe balustrade is composed of simple, undecorated stone slabs, with a simply moulded stone string course at the base.
The overall height of the minaret is approx. 15.0 metres.
The minaret had 28 spiral stone steps leading to the šerefe.
The harem by the mosque in Kazanci stood on the plot designated as c.p. 1258 (new survey).
It formerly contained the old nišan tombstones of the Muslim families who lived in Kazanic until 1684, when they fled: the Brković, Čustović, Hasanbegović, Tanović, Pašić, Sarić, Zvizdić and other families (Hasandedić, 1990. p. 202)
There are now no tombstones in the mosque harem.
3. Legal status to date
During the procedure prior to the adoption of a final decision to designate, documents on the protection of properties were inspected, and it was ascertain that the Regional Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina to 2002 did not list the mosque in Kazanci near Gacko as a national monument.
4. Research and conservation and restoration works
No research or conservation and restoration works of any kind have been carried out under the supervision of the heritage protection authority.
5. Current condition of the property
During an on-site inspection carried out in May 2005 it was ascertained as follows:
- all that remains of the architectural ensemble is the minaret;
- the minaret leans to the north-east;
- the entrance to the minaret is almost completely in ruins;
- the spiral stone staircase of the minaret is also in ruinous condition;
- the old nišan tombstones have been removed from the site;
- the entire site is neglected and no maintenance is being carried out.
6. Specific risks
- There is a possibility that the entire stone minaret will collapse as a result of lack of maintenance and adverse weather conditions
- The building requires urgent protection measures.
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.iii. proportions
C.iv. composition
D. Clarity
D.iv. evidence of a particular type, style or regional manner
E. Symbolic value
E.ii. religious value
E.iii. traditional value
E.v. significance for the identity of a group of people
F. Townscape/ Landscape value
F.ii. meaning in the townscape
G. Authenticity
G. v. location and setting
The following documents form an integral part of this Decision:
o Copy of cadastral plan
o Copy of land register entry
o Photodocumentation (to be listed)
Bibliography:
During the procedure to designate the site and remains of the architectural ensemble of the Mosque in Kazancima near Gacko as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina the following works were consulted:
1980. Institute for architecture, town planning and regional planning of the Faculty of Architecture in Sarajevo, Regionial Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina; Stage «B» - valorization of natural, cultural and historical monuments, Sarajevo, 1980.
1985. Mandić, Novak Studo, Gacko kroz vijekove (Gacko through the centuries), Contributions to the History of Gacko, Trebinje, 1985.
1990. Hasandedić, Hivzija, Muslimanska baština u istočnoj Hercegovini, (Muslim Heritage in eastern Herzegovina) El Kalem, Sarajevo, 1990.
2000. Tanović, Dž, Tahir, Ključka kapetanija u Hercegovini i porodica Tanović (The Ključ captaincy in Herzegovina and the Tanović family), Des Sarajevo, 2000
(1) Tradition has it that Osman-pasha Kazanac was born into a Christian family, that his first name was Drago, and that at the age of 13 he was taken to Istanbul as adžami oglan. One version of the tradition is that he was of the Papović family, while another claims he was from the Tepavčević family. He was raised in the imperial court in Istanbul, where he embraced Islam and adopted the name Osman. Another version of this tradition recounts that he took the name Hasan on embracing Islam, and a third is that his new Muslim name was Mahmud (Hasandedić, 1990, 202).
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