Status of monument -> National monument
Published in the “Official Gazette of BiH” no. 94/09.
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 16 to 22 May 2006 the Commission adopted a
D E C I S I O N
I
The archaeological site of the hill fort of Varina gruda, in Dživar, Municipality Trebinje, is hereby designated as a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the National Monument).
The National Monument consists of the ruinous remains of a prehistoric hill fort, the foundation walls of a mediaeval church and three stećak tombstones that have been moved from their original position.
The National Monument is located on a site designated as cadastral plot no. 2222/1 (old survey), title deed no. 233, Land Register entry no. 40, cadastral municipality Čičevo II, Trebinje Municipality, Republika Srpska, 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 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
To ensure the on-going protection of the National Monument, the following protection measures are hereby stipulated, to apply to the part of the area defined in Clause 1 para 3 of this Decision, consisting of the area from the corner of plot c.p. 2222/80 (X=6527632 Y=4726732) and following the boundaries of private plots c.p. 2222/20, /21, /22, /23, /24, /25, /26, /27, /28, /29, /30, /31, /32, /33, /34, /35 and /36 southwestwards to the corner of c.p. 2222/37 (X=6527537 Y=4726712), and thence 31 metres southwards to the point (X=6527537 Y=4726681) where the line turns east, as far as the corner of c.p. 2222/53 (X=6527552 Y= 4726680). The line then continues along the boundaries of private plots c.p. 2222/54, /55, /56, /57, /58, /59, /60, /61, /62, /63, /64, /65, /66 and /67 to the corner of c.p. 2222/68 (X=6527636 Y=4726681), where it returns northwards to the starting-point at the corner of c.p. 2222/80. In this area the following protection measures shall apply:
- all works are prohibited other than conservation and restoration works, including those designed to display the monument, with the approval of 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 open and accessible to the public and may be used for educational and cultural purposes,
- the dumping of waste is prohibited.
The Government of Republika Srpska shall be responsible in particular for implementing the following measures:
- providing access to the site by making good the approach road and paths to all parts of the site,
- drawing up and implementing a programme for the presentation of the National Monument,
- fencing off the site and erecting the Commission’s notice board.
IV
All movable artefacts found during archaeological investigations of the National Monument shall be deposited in the closest museum or in the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo, processed, and suitably presented. The removal of the movable artefacts referred to in para. 1 of this Clause from Bosnia and Herzegovina is prohibited.
By way of exception to the provisions of paragraph 1 of this Clause, the temporary removal from Bosnia and Herzegovina of the movable artefacts for the purposes of display or conservation shall be permitted if the leader of the investigations determines that a given artefact must be processed abroad, provides evidence to that effect to the Commission, which may permit the temporary removal of the artefact from the country subject to detailed conditions for its export, treatment while out of the country and return to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Upon receipt of a report on the investigations conducted, the Commission shall identify which movable artefacts shall be subject to protection measures to be determined by the Commission.
V
All executive and area development planning acts not in accordance with the provisions of this Decision are hereby revoked.
VI
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.
VII
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 – VI of this Decision, and the Authorized Municipal Court shall be notified for the purposes of registration in the Land Register.
VIII
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)
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. 666.
X
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.
XI
This Decision shall enter into force on the day following its publication 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: 05.2-2-87/06-2
17 May 2006
Sarajevo
Chair of the Commission
Amra Hadžimuhamedović
E l u c i d a t i on
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 in its previous complement issued a decision to add the archaeological site of Aleksina međa – the prehistoric hill fort of Varina gruda in Dživar to the Provisional List of National Monuments under serial no. 666.
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
Some 4 km to the south of Trebinje, below Hum hill (alt. 415) and Aleksina Međa, is a karst valley in which Varina gruda is blocked by a knoll. It is located in the Dživar plain, which runs north/south. Varina gruda is some 200 m south of the crossroads from Trebinje for Dubrovnik and Herceg Novi. Before the dam was built on the river Trebišnjica, at times of heavy rainfall much of the Dživar plain was flooded with underground water, which sometimes rose as far as Varina gruda and Hum.
Historical information
There are numerous archaeological sites in the Dživar plain, of various periods from prehistory to the late mediaeval period. Part of the antique period road from Vid near Metković (Narona) – Stolac (Dilluntum) – Cavtat (Epidaurum) ran through the Dživar plain, joined by the Nikšić (Anderba) – Epidaurum road. In the 1st millennium BCE and antiquity the Illyrian tribe of Plereji lived in this region.
The route of the antique road through Dživar corresponded almost exactly with that of the modern Trebinje – Dubrovnik road. Small antique settlements in Aleksina međa and Crnač (Čičevo) and the major settlement in Bihovo dating from the 3rd to 4th centuries were located alongside it. Milestones dating from antiquity have been found in Lapja, near the Petrovo monastery in Crnaču and in Bihovo.(1) The Plereji lived in the Trebinje area, occupying the territory between Boka Kotorska and the Popovo plain. The boundary between the Daorsi, who lived in Stolac and its environs, was at Petrov krst at the Rožac pass in Gornje Krtinje near Ljubomir. Somewhere in this area was the boundary between the Plereji and Daorsi territories and the area of the Epidaurum colony and the municipium of Dilluntum(2). The waystation of Asamum was located in Trebinje. In the early mediaeval period this region belonged to the Travunija district, in which there were nine župa (counties), with its centre in Trebinje. From the late 12th century until 1377, when it became part of the mediaeval Bosnian state, the Trebinje district was held by the Nemanjiċ's.
Buildings known to date from the late antique and mediaeval periods here are the churches of St Peter and St Paul in Crnač, the Petkovica church above the village of Crnač in a village cemetery in active use, and the church of St Panteleimon on the new intersection of the roads to Dubrovnik and Herceg Novi. There are also the remains of a church of some kind, known to the locals as Vara's temple, on Varina gruda.(3)
2. Description of the property
Varina gruda is a hillock in the middle of the Dživar plain. It is roughly elliptical in shape, lies east-west, and measures 70 x 50 m. The western half is higher than the eastern. Almost at the centre of the hill, on the most prominent point, is the highest elevation on which there is a mound of stones. During excavations in 1963 it was found that the mound had already been much damaged during the building of the base and workers' settlement in the environs of Varina gruda. The assumption is that this is the remains of a substantial stone tumulus (bastion), and perhaps of an antique shrine. Shards of Iron Age pottery and some remains of antique bricks and pottery were found around the demolished mound.(4) On the western, lower half of the hill are the remains of the foundations of a church, attributed by the local people to St Barbara (Varvara, in the local language), from which the entire hill acquired its name.
These are dry-walled and of an average thickness of 0.60 m. It may be assumed from the remains of the church, scattered with stones, that the church had a semicircular apse at the east end and the entrance at the west end. The church measures 7.9 x 5.8 m on the outside. The entrance is 0.95 m wide. Inside the church, by the south wall, is a slab-shaped stećak tombstone measuring 1.8 x 0.8 x 0.17 m, with a rather smaller stećak alongside it, 1.05 m in length; the other dimensions were not taken since it is partly built into the wall. Presumably this is not its original position. The church is dated roughly to the late mediaeval period. Around the church are three stećak tombstones in secondary positions, in the shape of slabs of poor finish. One of them, measuring 1.95 x 0.65 x 0.15 m, lay between the east of the apse. The grave beneath it has been excavated. The grave was lined with stone slabs and covered with another slab. It contained the skeleton of one person, lying east-west (head). There are several small churches in the environs of Trebinje bearing the name of St Barbara, patron saint of soldiers, firemen and lead smelters.(5)
Stone was extracted for construction purposes from the south-east edge of the hill in the second half of the 20th century. This small quarry destroyed an area of the hill about 20 m long and 12 m wide.
3. Legal status to date
The property is on the Provisional List of National Monuments of BiH as Aleksina međa – prehistoric hill fort of Varina gruda in Dživar, under serial no. 666.
4. Research and conservation and restoration works
In 1963 Ljubinka Kojić carried out a reconnaissance of the site.
In the early 1980s, excavations of a protective nature were carried out, since in the opinion of experts the site was at risk from the construction of the Ivan Milutinović base and workers' settlement at the foot of the hill.(6)
5. Current condition of the property
An on site inspection on 12 December 2005 ascertained that the site is «squashed» between housing built here since the 1992-1995 war. Extensive building has completely destroyed the landscape value of the site, which is now barely noticeable between the houses. The local inhabitants have built stone walls around their vegetable plots outside their front doors, at the edge of the site. The stone on the site has been removed and shifted. The walls of the church are almost completely scattered. The entire site betrays an advanced state of devastation, which will continue, given the extensive building.
6. Specific risks
- Inappropriate use of the site by the local population;
- Lack of funds for investigation and maintenance;
- Removal of stone from the site;
- Underdeveloped integration of the archaeological heritage into development plans;
- Neglect of the site.
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
D. Clarity
D.i. material evidence of a lesser known historical era
D.ii. evidence of historical change
D.iv. evidence of a particular type, style or regional manner
E. Symbolic value
E.iii. traditional value
G. Authenticity
G.iv. traditions and techniques
G.v. location and setting
The following documents form an integral part of this Decision:
- Copy of cadastral plan;
- Copy of Land Register entry;
- Photodocumentation (photographs taken on site);
- Formation of spatial extent and protection zone;
- Part plan of the site (by Đorđo Odavić, archaeologist, Trebinje, Tribunia XXXX).
Bibliography
During the procedure to designate the property as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina the following works were consulted:
1962. Sergejevski, Dimitrije, “Rimska cesta od Epidauruma do Anderbe” (The Roman road from Epidaurus to Anderba), Jnl of the National Museum, new series, Archaeology, vol. XVII, Sarajevo, 1962, 73-109.
1975. Odavić, Đorđo, “Antičko naselje u Dživaru – rezultati dosadašnjih arheoloških istraživanja” (Antique settlement in Dživar – findings of archaeological investigations to date), Tribunia 1, Trebinje, 1975, 65-70).
1982. Odavić, Đorđo, “Neka zapažanja o arheološkom lokalitetu Varina gruda kod Trebinja” (Some observations on the archaeological site of Varina gruda near Trebinje), Tribunia 6, Trebinje, 1982, 41-47.
1983. Bojanovski, Ivo, “Trebinje – rimsko Asamo (Asamum) s kratkim osvrtom na ager kolonije Epidaura” (Trebinje – Roman Asamo [Asamum] with brief survey of the ager colony of Epidaurus), Tribunia 7, Regional Museum of Trebinje, Trebinje, 1983, 7-34.
1988. Bojanovski, Ivo, Bosna i Hercegovina u antičko doba (Bosnia and Herzegovina in antiquity), Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Proceedings, vol. LXVI, Centre for Balkan Studies, vol. 6, Sarajevo, 1988.
(1) Sergejevski, Dimitrije, “Rimska cesta od Epidauruma do Anderbe,” Jnl of the National Museum in Sarajevo, n.s., Archaeology, vol. XVII, Sarajevo, 1962, 77-78; Odavić, Đorđo, “Antičko naselje u Dživaru – rezultati dosadašnjih arheoloških istraživanja”, Tribunia 1, Trebinje, 1975, 65-70; Bojanovski, Ivo, “Trebinje – rimsko Asamo (Asamum) s kratkim osvrtom na ager kolonije Epidaura”, Tribunia 7, Trebinje Regional Museum, Trebinje, 1983, 29; Bojanovski, Ivo, Bosna i Hercegovina u antičko doba, Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Proceedings, vol. LXVI, Centre for Balkan Studies, vol. 6, Sarajevo, 1988, 85.
(2) Bojanovski, Ivo, op.cit. 1983, 28-29; 1988, 83
(3) Odavić, Đorđo, op.cit., 1975., 65
(4) Odavić, Đorđo, “Neka zapažanja o arheološkom lokalitetu Varina gruda kod Trebinja”, Tribunia 6, Trebinje, 1982, 43.
(5) Odavić, Đorđo, op.cit., 1982, 44.
(6) Odavić, Đorđo, op.cit., 1982, 43.
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