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 16 to 22 January 2007 the Commission adopted a

D E C I S I O N

I

The architectural ensemble of the parish church of the Assumption of the Blesed Virgin Mary and the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa, together with movable heritage, are hereby designated as a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the National Monument).

The National Monument consists of the parish church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the old and new monastery buildings, and movable heritage consisting of a collection of paintings (21), an archaeological collection, a numismatic collection (approx. 1200), a collection of textile articles (7), a library (8), a firman granting consent to build the church, and an organ.

The National Monument is located on a site designated as cadastral plot nos. 5109, 5110, 5111, 5112, 5113, 5114 and 5115, cadastral municipality. Tolisa, Municipality Orašje, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The new monastery building on cadastral plot no. 5133, c.m. Tolisa, and the outbuildings on c.p. no. 5115, c.m. Tolisa, are not protected as a national monument by the provisions of this Decision, and the restrictions set forth in this Decision do not apply to them, but they do form part of the architectural ensemble.

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 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 zones are hereby stipulated:

Protection Zone I consists of the site of the parish church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary defined as cadastral plot no. 5111, c.m. Tolisa, and the area defined as c.p. nos. 5109, 5110 and 5114, c.m. Tolisa. The following protection measures shall apply in this zone:

• conservation and restoration works and works designed to display the monument shall be permitted subject to 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).

Protection Zone II consists of the site of the old monastery building defined as cadastral plot no. 5114, c.m. Tolisa, and the area defined as c.p. no. 5112, c.m. Tolisa. The following protection measures shall apply in this zone:

• works that do not endanger the monumental value of the National Monument shall be permitted subject to the approval of the relevant ministry and under the expert supervision of the heritage protection authority.

Protection measures applicable to the movable heritage:

The Government of the Federation shall provide suitable physical and technical conditions to house the movable heritage, and shall above all:

• ensure that the items in all the collections shall be inventoried
• provide suitable museum conditions for housing the items within the collections to prevent any further damage, and provide showcases in which to display the movable heritage. 

IV

            All executive and area development planning acts not in accordance with the provisions of this Decision are hereby revoked.

V

The removal of the movable heritage items referred to in Clause 1 of this Decision (hereinafter: the movable heritage) 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 heritage for the purposes of display or conservation shall be permitted if it is established that conservation works cannot be carried out in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Permission for temporary removal under the conditions stipulated in the preceding paragraph shall be issued by the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, if it is determined beyond doubt that it will not jeopardize the movable heritage in any way. 

In granting permission for the temporary removal of the movable heritage from Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Commission shall stipulate all the conditions under which the removal may take place, the date by which the items shall be returned to the country, and the responsibility of individual authorities and institutions for ensuring that these conditions are met, and shall notify the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the relevant security service, the customs authority of  Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the general public accordingly.

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 VI 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: 06.1-2-215/06-4

17 January 2007

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.

            At a session held on 14 June 2000 the Commission to Preserve National Monuments issued a Decision to add the Franciscan monastery and church in Tolisa to the Provisional List of National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina, numbered as 452.

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 para. 4 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
• 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,
• Data on restoration or other works on the property, etc.
• Details of the movable heritage forming part of the property
• 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 architectural ensemble of the parish church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa is located in the eponymous town on the right bank of the Sava, close to Orašje. An asphalt road connects the ensemble to the Orašje-Bosanski Šamac road, and thence, through Orašje, to the main Županja-Tuzla road.

The architectural ensemble is located on a site designated as cadastral plot nos. 5109, 5110, 5111, 5112, 5113, 5114, 5115, cadastral municipality. Tolisa, Municipality Orašje, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina. (1)   

Historical information

The earliest reference to the name Tolisa(2) is in a deed of gift from the Croatian herceg (duke) Koloman to the bishop of Bosnia and his bishopric, confirmed by Koloman’s brother, the Hungaro-Croatian King Bela IV(3), on 20 July 1244.

The Tolisa monastery dates from the second half of the 19th century, but there has been a Franciscan presence in that part of Bosnia since mediaeval times, and there were several Franciscan monasteries there (Modriča, Skakava, St. Mary’s in Polje and others), most of which were laid waste in the 15th and 16th century.

The first reference to the monastery of St. Elijah in Modriča dates from 1378, in a Census of the Custodiate of the Bosnian Vicariate, drawn up at one of the triannual assemblies of the Bosnian Vicariate(4). According to the census, between 1375 and 1383 the Bosnian Vicariate had seven custodiates, the Duvno, Greben, Bosnian, Usor, Mačvan, Bulgarian and Kovin custodiates, and 36 monasteries.  After a fire in the 1570s, a modest house, providing cramped living conditions, was used as the monastery. During the 17th century the Franciscans of this monastery served four parishes: Modriča, Crkvište, Tramošnica and Bastiće.  In 1673, Modriča had 4,120 Catholics, Tramošnica had 6,300 and Crkvište had 1,915.

Major changes took place in the Province of Bosnian Argentina in the late 17th century, as a direct consequence of the war between Austria and Turkey (the Vienna war, 1683-1699).  During the war large numbers of Catholics (some 100,000, it is believed) moved away from the area of present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina to settle in Slavonia and Dalmatia, and with them went many Franciscans whose monasteries had been destroyed or set on fire.  Several monasteries were closed down: Gradovrh (1688), St. Elijah in Modriča (1685), Olovo, Rama and Srebrenica (1687), Tuzla (1690), and Visoko (1688), and new ones were founded in the lands across the Sava. The Franciscans of Modriča at first settled in Kopanica, moving to Đakovo in 1714.

Only three Franciscan monasteries remained in Bosnia: Sutjeska, Fojnica and Kreševo, and the number of Franciscans fell to 26 priests and three friars. Under the terms of the 1699 Treaty of Karlowitz, the river Sava became the border between Bosnia and Austrian lands, and Mt. Dinara formed the boundary between Bosnia and Dalmatia. The Franciscan province of Bosnia Argentina then straddled three states. However, in the late 18th century 1786, the number of Franciscans increased to 141, while by 1798 the number of Catholics had increased to 83,480.(5)   

In the early 18th century there were very few Catholics left in the north-eastern part of Bosnia. Some of them lived in the area covered by the present-day parish of Tolisa, and were provided with pastoral care by the Franciscans of Kraljeva Sutjeska. It was only in the 1730s that reference is to be found to the parish of Ravne (later Bijela), which covered the whole of north-eastern Bosnia, and from which a number of new parishes were to emerge.

According to a census by Bishop Fr. Marijan Bogdanović (1768), the parish of Bijela still covered a large area (Bijela, Babunovići, Bubalov Bok, Domaljevac, Dubrave, Garevac, Grebnice, Hrgovi, Oštra Luka, Prud, Seona, Skakava – Donja and Gornja [Lower and Upper], Slatina, Škar, Špionica, Tolisa, Tramošnica, Trgovište, Turić, Vidovice and Vukšić) – 22 villages with 472 families, 2,114 adults and 1,307 children. (6)   

The parish of Bijela etended from Majevica to the rivers Sava and Bosna. It was hard to cover such a large area from Bijela (the roads were poor, there were frequent floods, and it was not safe to travel), so in 1784, by agreement with the bishop, the management of the Province founded independent chaplaincies in Tolisa and Tramošnica. The villages of  Tolisa, Donja Mahala, Kostrč, Matići, Ugljara, Vidovice, Bok, Oštra Luka, Domaljevac, Grebnice, Škarić and Prud belonged to the Tolisa chaplaincy. (7)   

In 1766, prior to the formation of new parishes, there were guest houses in Tolisa, Garevac and Tramošnica, where priests would stay for a time while on their pastoral campaigns. In 1784, Tolisa was detached from Bijela to become an independent chaplaincy, and in 1802 it was designated as a parish.(8) A parish house of modest size was then built, which also contained a chapel.(9)   

In 1788, meanwhile, Tolisa’s Catholics had to leave this border area on the orders of the Turkish authorities because of the tensions of war, and move to the area of present-day Dubrava parish (between the villages of Blaževac and Porebrici), only to return to their homes in 1792.(10)   

In the early 1820s a more spacious and comfortable house was built(11), along with a wooden chapel, which was later extended somewhat(12), and a statue of Our Lady was commissioned for it.(13)   

In the first half of the 19th century, Tolisa, as an ecclesiastical and cultural centre, grew in importance. In 1823 Fr. Ilija Starčević founded a primary school there, following it in 1825 with another in Donja Mahala, in the Tolisa parish. By 1878, 54 Croatian primary schools (including two “realka” schools, roughly equivalent to secondary modern schools) had been founded in Bosnia and Herzegovina.(14)   

In the mid 19th century the Franciscans decided to build a monastery in that part of Bosnia. They initially intended to build it in Zovik, but finally opted for Tolisa: “Under Abdul Aziz(15)  the old monastery in Fojnica was demolished and replaced by a new one, thanks to the efforts of Fr. Augustin Dembić. At that time Bosnia’s monasteries were joined by two new ones: one in Tolisa, built along with a large church by a humble Franciscan, and the other in Plehan, through the efforts of Fr. Lovro Tomić-Pekez.”(16)   

The first parish house was built prior to 1768 on the banks of the river Sava, close to the present-day Spomen-Bunar(17). In 1864 the foundations of a new monastery were laid next to the parish house built in 1855-56 in Raščica(18).

In 1854 Fr. Martin Nedić and the parishioners had begun collecting the materials needed to build the new parish house: wooden piles for the foundations, stone, brick (“120,000 from across the Sava, and 40,000 unbaked bricks for the internal walls made by the parishioners themselves”), and lime.(19)   

In 1855 the foundations of the parish house were laid; the builder was Đuro Eichhorn of Osijek. Fr. Martin Nedić describes the parish house(20); the cost of building, not counting the voluntary labour provided by parishioners, the transport of building materials and food for the craftsmen, came to “the sum of 3,857.60 florins, whereas the income was 3,336.40 florins; the excess cost of 512,40 florins was met by 80 florins patriotically donated by father Martin Nedić, and the remainder taken from wedding fees…” (21) 

The parish house was formally opened on 18 July 1856, and the collection of building materials for the church began immediately. While the monastery was being built, Fr. Martin Nedić kept on writing requests for a firman to be issued for the building of the church. Permission was received by the Franciscanson 24 March 1864, and on Assumption Day, 11 July 1864, Fr. Martin began building, in the presence of large numbers of people and the priesthood. On 17 July 1864 he blessed the laying of the foundation stone.(22) 

The building works were carried out by Đuro Eichhorn of Osijek. The church was modelled on the old Jesuit church in Osijek. The plan for the tower on the north side of the church was drawn by architect Dausch, and that for the tower on the north side by Pietro Rimoldi. (23)   

There are several receipts, official letters and similar documents dating from that time in the monastery archives: a receipt for 5 florins paid to the architect, Dausch, for the blueprints for the north church tower; a letter from mayor Benaković of Županja noting that the Tolisa guardian had told Dausch that a guarantee of five to six hundred florins would be deposited in the safe in Županja as soon as Dausch’s workmen began working; a letter of 22 November 1877 from S. Müller of Osijek to the guardian Fr. Mate Oršolić requesting that the funds be paid by Tuesday ”threatening, or else – among other things – that the matter would be brought to the attention of Bishop Strossmayer. . . the engineer to whom the guardian passed on the responsibility for paying for the material has nothing to do with it;” a receipt from Dausch noting that he had received 750 Austrian florins from guardian Oršolić on 18 October 1877 towards the cost of building the tower; another receipt from Dausch noting that he had received 309 Austrian florins from guardian Oršolić on 2 November 1877 towards the cost of building the tower; and a receipt from Dausch noting that he had received the su, of 500 Austrian florins on 0 October 1877 from guardian Oršolić for works on the monastery. (24)   

A total of 930,909 baked bricks were used on the church, together with 86,000 tiles for the roof cladding, and 17,500 datos(25)  for the floor of the church, excluding the sacristy.

The Turkish authorities in Sarajevo granted Fr. Martin Nedić permission to fell timber in the nearest state-owned forest, on Mt. Ozren, as needed to build the church, but this opportunity was passed up because of the distance and the difficulty of transporting the material to Tolisa. At Fr. Martin’s request, backed by Bishop Strrossmayer, the government in Vienna gave permission to fell timber free of charge in the state forest “from the Krajina forests”.  Fr. Martin selected oaks from the nearest parish grove, felled them and brought them to Tolisa. (26)   

The church was equipped for use by 1873, but was not fully completed until 1881.

Fr. Bono Nedić describes the church as follows: “The Tolisa church, as I have said, remains the largest in our homeland. It is 30 fathoms long and 12 wide. Its design was taken from the former Jesuit church in Osijek, so that it was built in the Romanesque style. The church has two tall towers at the front. It has three aisles, supported by ten massive piers. These piers are connected to the pilasters of the church wall by arches over the side aisles, and are also connected by arcades to the next in line and by arches over the central aisle to the opposite pier.    The central aisle has four oval arches and a fifth at the centre with a perfectly round dome, which is rather higher than the other arches. In the same aisle, above the presbytery, is a smaller slanting arch, and at the very top of the large altar is a flat ceilings, with a choir at the top. The side aisles have flat ceilings, intersected at the piers by arches. The choir is supported by two pillars, joined to the church walls by arches. At the middle, the front of the choir is supported by the angled arches for the organ. In the central aisle there is a large altar at the top of the church, a metre away from the wall, with another five in the side aisles. On both sides there are first two plaster of Paris altars, a gift from His Eminence Mr. Strossmayer from his old cathedral. The front of the church has three large oak doors into the three aisles. There is a fourth smaller door to the south from the passageway that joins the monastery and the sacristy, and a fifth in the presbytery from the sacristy. The main altar and one of the side altars, the choir, all the doors and windows, the balustrade outside the presbytery, and the confessionals were all made by Ivan Tordinac of Đakovo, who later showed his skill in the famous Đakovo church.” (27)   

Referring to the church’s shortcomings, Fr. Bono Nedić writes: “a) It should have been a metre taller, which would have been wholly appropriate to its size. This is noticeable when observing the church from the courtyard, but once one is inside, it is not noticeable. The reason for the church remaining a metre lower is my uncle’s limited finances, for if the church had been built a metre taller it would have needed at least 30,000 bricks, quite apart from the other costs.  b) another shortcoming is the pillars in the church, which are too thick, so that they do not look well at the four corners; if they had been 6 or 8 thinner, they would have looked much better. The blame for their having turned out like this falls on the builder himself, Eichhorn, who was an artisan of primitive system. c) A third failing of our church is its frontispiece. The finest adornment of every church is its frontispiece; it is the first thing to strike the eye, but the frontispiece of our church is right below the towers, and is completely plain, which makes it look very wretched. The frontispiece could have been decorated with pillars, pilasters, arcadees, floral ledges and so on, which would immediately have given the church a more handsome appearance. If it came to that, it could have been done later. Then again, our church windows are too wide, which is far from modern taste, and the windows have absolutely no decoration around them.” (28) 

Not long after taking up his post in Tolisa in 1861, Fr. Martin Nedić decided to embark on the construction of the monastery building.(29) The monastery management in Kraljeva Sutjeska, to which he applied for help and funding, was not in favour of his idea. As a result, he began the work by himself, completing the north side of the Tolisa monastery, and on 12 January 1876 he received a Decree from Rome officially designating the residence as a monastery (Tolisa had been designated as a residence in 1869).(30)    

The church was rebuilt in 1911 to a design by architect Josip Vancaš(31). He demolished the entire church apart from the outside walls. The piers were removed and replaced by slenderer pillars. The nave and aisles were given barrel vaults, and five new altars and a pulpit were installed in the church.(32)   

In 1896 an organ with 13 registers was procured from the church of SS Peter and Paul in Osijek. The organ was the work of Caspar Fischer in Apatin, c. 1800. The Way of the Cross is the work of an unidentified artist dating from 1764, procured for Tolisa in 1827.

During the 1992-1995 war, the entire congregation was forced to leave the Derventa deaconry (which prior to 1992 had consisted of 15 parishes with 48,481 Catholics), and all the churches in the deaconry were destroyed, while only about 800 Catholics remained in the Doboj deaconry (which prior to 1992 had had 14 parishes with 42,465 Catholics), in the villages close to Gradačac and in Gradačac itself; all the others were forced to leave, and all the churches in that deaconry too were destroyed. In the other two deaconries of the Bosnian Sava valley – Bosanski Šamac (which prior to 1992 had 8 parishes with 40,556 Catholics) and Brčko (which prior to 1992 had 9 parishes with 28,495 Catholics) – the majority of the Catholic population was forced to leave, and the churches were destroyed, with the exception of the peripheral areas of these two deaconries.

During the 1992-1995 war the monastery and church in Tolisa were damaged by shell shrapnel.

Tank shells fired on 22 June 1992 scored a direct hit to the church wall above the sacristy, causing extensive damage: the glass was broken, the façade was damaged and the roof over the sacristy, to the south of the church, was destroyed.

In terms of size of congregation, in the Vrhbosnian archbishopric (where there was a total of 213,590 Catholics in 2005), Tolisa is the largest of the Bosnian Sava valley parishes, with a congregation of 12,112, while in another 9 parishes of the same archbishopric there are more than 4,000.(33)   

On the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, more than 5,000 worshippers from many surrounding villages and a number of parishes gather in the church and the monastery courtyard. The Tolisa church is attended by many inhabitants of the parish, which now consists of the towns and villages of Tolisa, Donja Mahala, Kostrč, Orašje, Dusini, Ugljara and Matići.(34)   

2. Description of the property

Architecturally speaking, the architectural ensemble consists of the church, measuring approx. 25.60 m wide x 56 m long, the old monastery building, measuring approx. 43 x 8.20 m, and the new monastery building, measuring 13.80 x 35.50 m. The church and the old and new monastery buildings are connected by a covered passageway. There are outbuildings to the south-west of the new monastery building.

The entire complex stands on level ground, and has two approach roads from the north-west, from the Bok-Tolisa asphalt road.

Church

            The church stands to the north of the old monastery building, with which it is connected at the ground and first floor levels of the monastery building.

The longitudinal axis of the church lies west-east, with a deviation of approx. 14 degrees to the north.(35) The church is of the triple-aisled basilica type.

The three oak, round-arched double entrance doors (outer opening approx. 190 cm wide) at ground floor level at the west end of the church lead into a vestibule (daylight opening approx. 4.82 x 17.22 m) and thence to the central aisle, measuring 9.22 m wide x 37.96 m long, divided into five bays each with a footprint of 7.82 x 6.60 m.

The choir gallery is located above the vestibule, its floor at a level of +4,34 m(36); it measures approx. 3.20 x 14.12 m, and contains the organ. The gallery is supported by two pillars (the original massive piers of the church dating from 1864 to 1873, which were retained unchanged in size) measuring approx. 1.35 x 1.35 m and reinforced by pilasters, while the remainder of the structure is supported by eight pillars measuring 90 x 90 cm, reinforced by 15 x 90 cm pilasters on each side of the pillars.

To the left and right of the main nave are side aisles approx. 3.10 m in width.

The central passageway between the wooden pews in the main nave leads to the presbytery or sanctuary, which has a rounded apse measuring 9.22 m wide x 12.31 m deep). To the south is the entrance to the sacristy, which measures 5.26 m wide x 8.10 m deep and has an oratory above.

The overall length of the church, measured on the inside along the long axis, is approx. 55.04 m, and the overall width of the aisles, measured on the inside along the transverse axis, is 17.22 m.

The ceiling of the church consists of a reinforced concrete shell structure with a depth of 8 cm, the underside(37) of which is executed in the form of barrel vaults. The heights of the vaults on the inside, measured from floor level to apex, are: central nave approx. +14.13 m, apse approx. +12.84 m, and side aisles approx. +10.97 m.

Light enters the church through round-arched windows, the openings measuring approx. 1.85 x 3.66 m on the outside, in the walls of the side aisles, four in the apse wall to the east, and three in the west wall above the choir gallery.

The walls are brick-built. The outer walls are approx. 150 cm thick, the apse walls approx. 130 cm thick, the walls of the sacristy and oratory approx. 92 cm thick, and the extreme south wall approx. 83 cm thick.

The roof structure is timber, consisting above the aisles of queen post trusses each with two pairs of ties. The trusses are set approx. 4 m apart. The roof is clad with sheet copper.

The church has two bell towers with an overall height of 56 m, brick built and square in ground plan (approx. 5.25 x 5.25 m). The walls of the towers at first-floor level, the level of the church gallery, are approx. 1580 cm thick.

The church has three bells, one procured in 1923 (550 kg) and the other two in 1937 (250 and 1,050 kg).

The entrance façade of the church is articulated by moulded string courses at the base of the gallery windows, the roof cornices of the side aisles of the church, and the top of the west end wall where it meets the bell towers. The wall faces of the west façade are articulated vertically by shallow pilasters. The central section of the west end of the church, corresponding to the main nave, ends in a tympanum.

The roofs of the bell towers are baroque-style onion domes, and the walls of the towers are accentuated by corner pilasters; the crowns of the walls have moulded tympanums. The bell towers each have four round-arched windows, each accentuated by shallow pilasters and archivolts.

The old monastery building, dating from 1923, has a ground floor and two upper storeys. It is connected via its west façade with the west end of the church. According to the 1923 blueprints(38), the building is approx. 36 m long and approx. 7.86 m wide. The central part of the building has a projection on the east side measuring approx. 0.60 x 8.40 m, and another on the west side measuring approx. 4.20 x 8.40 m, with a triple-flight staircase in the middle and toilet blocks to the north and south of the staircase. The building was designed and built in monolithic style, of brick, with the load-bearing walls running lengthwise; structurally, it consists of one and a half wings: the main wing, with the load-bearing walls approx. 60 cm thick and approx. 4.70 m apart, to the east of the building, and the half wing, with load-bearing walls approx. 1.67 m apart, to the west, containing the corridors. The upper storeys are approx. 3.15 in height. The 1923 design intended the east wing to contain the following:

• on the ground floor – a sickroom with bathroom, the parish office, the refectory, the kitchen and larder, and two staffrooms;
• on the first floor – rooms and offices;
• on the second floor – rooms, archives and library.

The monastery was connected to the church by a covered way at ground floor and first floor level. This passageway, which was approx. 6.60 m long, was treated as an extension of the monastery corridor.

Comparing the appearance of the monastery on a photograph of the complex taken prior to 1935(39) with the blueprints, it is clear that the old monastery building was erected according to the 1923 design, together with the intended covered passageway between the church and the monastery.  Between 1935 and the 1970s(40),  the part of the monastery where the passageway was located was extended by widening the east wing to the north over a length of approx. 6.60 m, with an identical extension  to the south of the old monastery building.

After the new monastery building was erected in the 1980s, it became necessary to altar the old monastery building and the use to which its rooms were put.

In September 2006, during a field visit as part of the preparations for drafting the decision to designate the property as a national monument, the building works on the alterations to the old monastery building were inspected. These works are still in hand, in line with the “Vrata Bosne” project. The initial programmatic project was drawn up in 1999, and the design was developed in 2004 and 2005 in line with blueprints by architect Džankić Nada and a structural estimate by Željko Curić of Zagreb.

This design provides for a small area of the old monastery building to be adapted for residential purposes, with the majority altered to provide exhibition space for the museum collections of the Tolisa monastery.

In order to turn the ground floor and upper storey premises into a more open-plan layout, some of the brick partition walls were demolished. So as to interconnect some of the rooms (particularly those of the future museum on the first and second floors), the project design provided for openings to be pierced in the walls of the rooms. In order to alter the layout, some of the doors leading from the corridor into the rooms in the east wing were walled up and new ones introduced in places. The girders above the new doors are of rolled steel UNP(41) profile. The first-floor walls where larger openings have been pierced (one measuring 4.70 x 2.50 m and the other 3.10 x 2.50 m) are partition walls, 30 cm thick on the ground floor narrowing to 15 cm thick on the upper storeys.

Functionally, this design divided the property into the museum section and storerooms, the residential quarters, the parish office, and the service quarters.

• The design provided for the ground floor to contain a lecture hall to seat 95, which could also be used for temporary exhibitions, the parish office, visitors’ toilets and service quarters. The main entrance leads via a single-flight staircase to the lecture and exhibition hall. The part of the building next to the new monastery was designed to house the service quarters, and the area to the left of the entrance staircase is intended for office and the parish office. A ground-floor corridor connects the church and the new part of the monastery.
• On the first floor the landing leads into the museum – four interconnecting rooms with sliding doors. The museum leads in turn into the library, the room above the sacristy and the choir of the church. The library can also be reached from the ground floor of the church via a side staircase. The residential quarters or suites are located in the right-hand part of this storey.
• The attic area is to be converted into a single attic space for the purposes of the museum, with an area of 210 m2. This is reached via the main staircase.

The flooring in the building is of the following types:

• marble: hall containing staircase and landings on all three floors, ground floor corridors, parish office and office on ground floor, and lecture hall;
• decking: second floor offices, exhibition halls on the first and second floor, corridors on the first and second floors, library and suites;
• ceramic tiles: toilet blocks, service quarters and storerooms. 

New monastery building: work began on this in 1986 and lasted for the next few years.  The building has a ground floor, two upper storeys and a basement extending below the entire building. It was built as an extension to the south of the old monastery building, with which it is connected by a covered way at ground and first floor levels. The long axis lies north-west/south-east. The main entrance and access to the building are from the north-east. The building consists of the following units, by function:

• ground floor: entrance area with wind screen, hall with reception area and staircase leading to the upper storeys.  At ground floor level a covered way leads from the entrance hall to the old monastery building. The basic components of the ground floor area are a common room, terrace and refectory for the friars, and four separate rooms in the right wing of the building. The ground floor also houses the kitchen, with facilities to make quite large numbers of meals, and the usual offices of cold store, goods storage, staff dining room and service entrance;
• basement: most of the basement area houses the coal-fired boiler plant with two boilers and coal store to hold 3 months’ supply of coal. The boiler house also includes a workshop for the boilermen, with toilet block, and an area for the removal and quenching of ashes and clinker. This area also includes a single-flight staircase leading to the outside. The basement also houses a number of storerooms for the service part of the household and a laundry room;
• first floor: corridors to the left and right of the central landing lead into the rooms and suites. This landing also leads direct into the guardian’s quarters and to a small shared chapel;
• second floor: this part of the building is solely for residential purposes, with rooms and suites. In the right wing of the building, where a double-flight staircase is located, there is also a shaft leading to the attic area beneath the gabled roof. 

The basic structure consists of a skeleton reinforced concrete system combined with 16 cm thick concrete floor slabs between the storeys.

All the floors in the basement are tiled, apart from the coal store (ribbed concrete). The floors of the staircase area are stone paved, as are the entrance and the entrance hall, and the internal corridors. The rooms are carpeted.

The floors of the first and second storey rooms are carpeted, and those of the toilet blocks are tiled; the halls and chapel have stone floors, as has the covered walkway at first-floor level.

Most of the windows are wooden composite windows, glazed with thermopane glass, while the windows on the façade (gables) consist of a fixed section of luxfer glass prism tiles and window panes. Some of the window fittings in the entrance area of the building are of anodized aluminium with thermopane glass.

The façade walls consist of a composite sandwich wall: siporex blocks+heat insulation+a ventilation layer+a final facing of silicate façade bricks.

The gabled roof is clad with rebated tiles, and the guttering and downpipes are of galvanized iron.

Outbuildings: Post-1935 three outbuildings were added (stables and barns for grain and corn), measuring approx. 6 x 30 m, 7 x 20 m and 7 x 32 m respectively. They are arranged in a U-shape, to the south-west of the new monastery building.

The buildings are of solid brick, and consist of a ground floor and first floor, with timber roof structure and gabled roofs clad with plain tiles. The walls of the upper floors are a combination of half-timbering and wooden trellis partition walls.(42)   

Garages were built between the east and west outbuildings and the one to the south.  These are single-storey buildings of brick blocks with pent roofs.

The southern outbuilding was burned down in a fire that broke out in 2006.

Movable heritage

After completion of building works on the church, work began on its interior fittings and furnishings. In the nave, “the high altar was installed a metre away from the wall, and the other five altars were arranged in the side aisles” (Oršolić, 2002, 210). Two altars made of plaster of Paris were a gift from Bishop Strosmayer. Prior to this they had been in the old cathedral in Đakovo. The high altar and one side altar were the work of Ivan Tordinac of Đakovo. (Oršolić, 2002, 210).

In 1882 Bishop Strossmayer also donated Rendić's(43) Crucifixion to the Tolisa church, and in 1895 the church acquired the organ which is still in use today.

During refurbishment of the church in 1911 and 1912, it was painted. The murals were the work of Antun Huber. The nave of the church, which is divided by arches into five barrel vaults, was painted with 20 large medallions containing the figures of various saints (Oršolić, 2002, 212).

            At this time, too, five altars were installed in the church: the high altar, dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, two side altars dedicated to St. Anthony and St. Francis, and side altars dedicated to St. Joseph and the Heart of Jesus. The church was also fitted with a pulpit, four confessionals, and pews.  The organ was repainted (Oršolić, 2002, 212).

            In 1917 a fire broke out, darkening the colours on all the murals and altars. The high altar was burned down by the fire. Five years later, Josip Pallerini of Vinkovci cleaned and restored the paintings and repainted the altars. The organ was repaired in 1930. The same artist painted a new Way of the Cross, which was blessed in 1931.That same year a new altar was installed in the church, the work of a lay Franciscan brother from Zagreb, fr. Elekto Maruzzi.(44) (Oršolić, 2002, 212).

            During refurbishments in 1980 the church acquired four new confessionals and the murals were restored. The side altars dedicated to St. Anthony and St. Francis were also restored, as was the exterior of the organ (Oršolić, 2002, 226, archives of the Tolisa monastery)

            The following saints are now to be seen on the murals in the church:

            In the altar area, the vault is painted with the Holy Trinity and the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, along with St. Peter, St. Paul and the Annunciation below the figure of St. Paul.

            The figures on the south wall, from west to east, are:

1.         St. Elizabeth

2.         the immaculate Heart of Mary

3.         St. Louis

4.         St. Anne

5.         St. John of Capistrano

6.         St.  Anthony of Padua

7.         St.  Agnes the virgin

8.         St. James of the Marches

9.         St.  Catherine the martyr

10.       St. Mark the Evangelist

11.       St. Martin the bishop

12.       St. John the Evangelist

13.       St. Gregory the Great

14.       St. John the Baptist

15.       St. Mary Magdalene the penitent

16.       St. Roch the tertiary

17.       St. Catherine Queen of Bosnia

18.       St.  Blaise the bishop

19.       St.  Šimun Filipović

20.       St.  Lawrence the martyr

21.       St. Cecilia

            The figures on the north wall, from west to east, are:

1.         the Sacred Heart of Jesus

2.         St. Clare

3.         St. Joseph

4.         St. Michael the Archangel

5.         St. Francis of Assisi

6.         St. Didacus

7.         St. Bono the teacher

8.         St. Margaret the penitent

9.         St. Matthew the Evangelist

10.       St. Rose Viler

11.       St. Luke the Evangelist

12.       St. Louis the bishop

13.       St. Elijah the prophet

14.       St. Anthony the hermit

15.       St. George the martyr

16.       St. Lucia the martyr

17.       St. Nicholas the bishop

18.       St. Helena of the Cross

19.       St. Stephen the martyr

20.       St. Pascal Baylon

21.       King David

There is an inscription on the arch in front of the altar, in large capital letters:

This is the House of God and gateway to heaven.

On the arch above the choir are the words:

Sing to the Lord our God, sing: sing to our king, sing!

            The monastery began collecting art works and cultural heritage items with the founding of the chaplaincy in 1874, or of the parish in 1802. The priesthood collected books, ecclesiastical vestments, cottage industry articles, paintings and other important articles, which were then housed as a single holding. With the passage of time this grew in size, and can now be subdivided into the following collections:

1.         collection of paintings,

2.         archaeological collection,

3.         ethnographic collection,

4.         natural history collection,

5.         numismatic collection,

6.         collection of ecclesiastical vestments

7.         library (Miličić, 2002, 240)

However, the collections are not organized museum-style, and the monastery has no inventory of the items in each collection, nor does it have proper premises in which the articles could be displayed and presented to the public.

The books in the library are on shelves, and are listed in the inventory records, but are kept in unsuitable premises.

The archaeological material is housed in the same premises as the books, with no inventory numbers or record of the place and date when the items were discovered. These premises also contain showcases containing coins from the numismatic collection and numismatic albums. However, the coins are not catalogued, nor is there any information on where they were found and when they were brought to the monastery.

            The collection of paintings is not on display either. It is housed in two premises: the guardian’s offices, and the side room which also contains the collection of ecclesiastical vestments.  It consists of older works and of a collection of more recent works which are not the subject of this Decision, but which originate from the founding of an artists’s colony in the monastery in 2001.

Collection of paintings

1. PORTRAIT OF FR. AUGUSTIN MILETIĆ

Artist: unidentified

Technique: oil on canvas

Size: 69,5x54,5 cm

Date: early 19th century

Signatura: none

Description: «Depicts the bust of a middle-aged man in a dark brown Franciscan habit, against a dark background.  He has a twin-peaked infula on his head, a ring on his finger, and a cross on his breast – the symbols of episcopal authority. He is portrayed with his left hand on a closed book on a table. At the bottom of the canvas is a lengthwise white panel with a three-line inscription, now badly damaged. The painting is a work of quality by an as yet unidentified artist. Archival information indicates that two portraits of Bosnian bishops are among the five paintings which Bishop Strossmayer gave to Fr. Martin Nedić in December 1874.» (Tihić, 1984, 101).

2. SAINT JEROME

Artist: unidentified

Technique: oil on canvas

Size: 69x54,5 cm

Date: early 19th century

Signatura: none

Description: The half-length figure of an old man with no clothes is depicted against a greenish-brown background. The saint is seated, holding a human skull. A characteristic of the technique used here is the strong highlights on parts of the body, the shoulders, forehead, and beard, while other areas – the hands and part of the chest – are of markedly warm skin tones with the ample use of red and brown pigment. Tihić notes that the size of this painting is identical to the portrait of Bishop Miletić (above), and suggests that both were commissioned by the same person from the same studio at the same time, the early 19th century. Like the previous painting, this too came to the monastery at the same time from the same donor (Tihić, 1984, 101-102).

3. ST. FRANCIS RECEIVING THE STIGMATA

Artist: unidentified

Technique: oil on canvas

Size: 68,5x55,5 cm

Date: early 19th century

Signatura: none

Description: Portrayal of a tonsured middle-aged man in a Franciscan habit against a dark background. He is looking at a miniature crucifixion on a light, yellow-infused segment of sky which also forms the background to the saint’s head, in front of a massive, dark pillar forming the right-hand edge of the painting, and pointing to the wounds on his hands.

The technique bears considerable similarity to that of the painting of St. Jerome.  Furthermore, this painting is almost identical in size to the two previous paintings, suggesting that they all originate from the same date and place, except that the stigmata appear more recent.

However, the painting is not among those donated by Strossmayer to Fr. Martin Nedić in December 1874. On the other hand, the Records of Altar Alms – revenue state that “in October 1852 Fr. Ilija Oršolić purchased an altar and painting of St. Francis for 210 florins. However, it is not possible to determine whether it was this painting or another.” (Tihić, 1984, 102).

4. MADONNA WITH CHRIST I

Artist: unidentified Italian master

Technique: oil on canvas

Size: 106x79,5 cm

Date: second half of the 18th century

Signatura: none

Description: The Madonna is seated indoors in front of dark drapes, wearing a light red ress with long sleeves and a blue-grey cloak. On her right arm she is cradling the naked infant Christ wearing a grey-blue loincloth. The portrayal of the Virgin suggests a woman of aristocratic origin, pale of complexion, with just the odd touch of rosy colour in her cheeks and above her eyelids. Her gaze is cast downwards. She has a halo.

The painting is a work of quality by an unidentified artist, probably from Italy (Venice) in the second half of the 18th century (Tihić, 1984, 102).

5. MADONNA WITH CHRIST II

Artist: unidentified Italian master

Technique: oil on canvas

Size: 66x53 cm

Date: second half of the 17th or first half of the 18th century

Signatura: none

Description: The half-length figure of the Virgin with the naked Christ in her arms is portrayed against a grey-violet background. She is wearing a long-sleeved red dress and a widespread blue cloak (Tihić, 1984, 102).

6. MADONNA WITH CHRIST III

Artist: unidentified Italian master

Technique: oil on canvas

Size: 50x40 cm

Date: second half of the 18th century

Signatura: bottom: S. MARIA DEI BUON CONSIG. GENAZ.

Description: Portrays the bust of a young woman holding the infant Christ on her left arm.  She is wearing a crimson dress with a round, white-lace-edged decolleté. Over her head and shoulders is a dark blue cloak edged with a yellow ribbon. Christ is wearing a faded red robe, also decorated with white lace around the collar. Their heads are together, joined by a pale yellow unbroken line into a single entity with semicircular haloes. Unlike the Virgin, who has black hair, Christ has curly brown locks. Both have marble-white skin tones on the face and neck and slightly rosy cheeks.

The inscription quoted in the signatura is at the bottom of the painting (Tihić, 1984, 102-103).

7. SAINT BARBARA

Artist: unidentified Italian master

Technique: oil on canvas

Size: 92,5x72,5 cm

Date: second half of the 18th century

Signatura: none

Description:  The background of the painting is greenish, shading to light brown at the edges. The figure of a young woman is depicted in the foreground, seated on or floating above clouds. She is wearing a blue robe with the sleeves set with gold threads, and bordered with white lace on the bosom. Below the lace, in the middle of the lower part of the dress, is an elaborate piece of gold jewellery set with rubies and other precious stones. She has a bracelet with three rows of pearls on her right forearm. Gold set with precious stones also adorns her brown hair, which falls in two narrow locks over her shoulders. On her left knee the saint is holding a chalice topped by a white orb on which the symbols of Christ’s passion, the hilt of a sword and a palm frond are drawn. Behind her is a domed tower (Tihić, 1984, 103).

8. SS. MARY, JOHN AND ELIZABETH

Artist: unidentified Italian master

Technique: oil on canvas

Size: 130x84 cm

Date: second half of the 18th or first half of the 19th century

Signatura: none

Description: A middle-aged woman in a long-sleeved blue-grey blouse and reddish skirt is seated in a wooded landscape, in front of a tree with a wide crown in the centre of the picture. Over her head, shoulders and both sides of her bosom is a grey-violet cloth.  Opposite her, making a lively movement though sagging somewhat, is a young woman in a reddish dress, with a yellowish-brown shawl over her head and back. Between them is a naked child on a blue-grey cloth – St. John the Baptist. The women both have haloes (Tihić, 1984, 103-104).

9. SAINT JOSEPH WITH CHRIST

Artist: unidentified Italian master

Technique: oil on canvas

Size: 130x84 cm

Date: second half of the 18th or first half of the 19th century

Signatura: none

Description: A middle-aged man seated, indoors, holding the infant Christ on his lap. Christ is wearing a long-sleeved white robe and holding a lily. The saint is wearing a long blue robe and yellowish-brown cloak. Beside dark drapes is an angel holding a crown in his right hand. Two angels’ heads feature in the grey-brown skies, in the top left corner of the painting.

The painting resembles the previous one, suggesting the same date, studio and artist (Tihić, 1984, 104).

10. THE BAPTISM OF CHRIST

Artist: unidentified Italian master

Technique: oil on canvas

Size: 108x68 cm

Date: second half of the 18th or first half of the 19th century

Signatura: none

Description: The baptism of Christ is depicted in a landscape full of greenery and densely leafy trees. St. John the Baptist is standing over the naked, kneeling figure of Christ, wearing a grey loincloth. An angel with wings half-lowered is pouring water from a vessel over Christ’s head. The scene is being observed from above by a dove, representing the Holy Spirit (Tihić, 1984, 104).

11. WAY OF THE CROSS (cycle of fourteen paintings)

Artist: unidentified Italian master

Technique: oil on canvas

Size: 48,5x63,5 cm

Date: probably 19th century

Signatura: none

Description: The scenes follow one after another and are interpreted in narrative style.  The only painting featuring several figures is the first, after which the composition becomes clearer, with fewer figures each treated individually in a specific position or movement.

This cycle was purchased for the Tolisa monastery by Fr. Ilija Starčević in 1827 (Tihić, 1984, 104).

12. SAINT ANTHONY (45) 

Artist: unidentified

Technique: oil on canvas

Size: 42x64 cm

Date: probably 19th century

Signatura: none

Description: The figure of St. Anthony in a Franciscan habit with a girdle, and a bouquet of lilies level with his right shoulder, is depicted against a neutral background. His head is tonsured (Tihić, 1984, 105).

13. PORTRAIT OF AN UNIDENTIFIED SAINT I

Artist: unidentified German artist

Technique: oil on canvas

Size: 39x32cm

Date: 1816

Signatura: none

Description: A man wrapped in a long greyish-yellow mantle with reddish-brown tassels  and a wide ribbon decorated with four Greek crosses around the neck and down the middle of the front is seated on a high-backed armchair in a room. In front of him is a round table with an inkwell and a closed book; behind the table, on a raised bookstand, is an open book with the words: den 12 Febr. 1816.

The saint (who is perhaps St. Bonaventura) is holding a quill pen in his raised right hand and a thick open book in his left, on his lap.  Another large book is lying on the floor. The saint is portrayed with grey hair, bear and moustache, facing slightly to the left.

Tihić presumes, from the note on the book, that the painting originated in a German-speaking region and datesfrom 1816 (Tihić, 1984, 105).

14. PORTRAIT OF AN UNIDENTIFIED SAINT II

Artist: unidentified German artist

Technique: oil on canvas

Size: 39x32cm

Date: 1816

Signatura: none

Description: The portrait is the counterpart to the previous canvas, with the saint portrayed in the opposite position, facing slightly to the right. The saint (who may be the 7th century Pope Gregory I) is wearing a long yellowish-grey robe, a blue-green cloak and a scarf. He is wearing a tall red-brown tiara topped by a cross, has an open book with musical notation on his lap, and is holding a pen in his raised hand. To the left is a table with an inkwell and pen, and on the back of the chair is a massive papal cross with three cross-arms of unequal length. Below the cross is an open volume with musical staves (Tihić, 1984, 105).

15. PORTRAIT OF AN UNIDENTIFIED SAINT

Artist: unidentified German artist

Technique: oil on canvas

Size: 47x37cm

Date: 19th century

Signatura: bottom right Schedhauer N. (or: Schadhawer N)

Description: A large reddish-toned oval is inscribed with a broad dark outline on a neutral background. Within this is the bust of a young saint with a long, thin face, looking heavenwards. She is wearing a green dress with a blue-green long-sleeved cloak over it, and a grey shawl (Tihić, 1984, 105).

16. PORTRAIT OF FR. ILIJA STARČEVIĆ

Artist: unidentified

Technique: oil on canvas

Size: 67x46cm

Date: c. 1830

Signatura: none

Description: The bust of a middle-aged man wearing a violet blouse and dark homespun garment in the opening of which a broad red belt can be seen is depicted against a blue-grey background. He is wearing a red cap with short locks of hair appearing below it on his forehead. He has a long dark moustache.

In Tihić's view, the painting dates from before 1830. (Tihić, 1984, 105).

17. SAINT ELIJAH

Artist: unidentified Italian master

Technique: oil on canvas

Size: 169x109cm

Date: 18th century

Signatura: none

Description: The saint, a large figure, is standing in a landscape, wearing a yellow-green cloak with a pale violet lining. Hand above his head and eyes turned heavenwards, the saint is saying: clamate voce maiori. Below are scenes from the saint’s life, depicted in the landscape. On a hill to the left is a plinth on which is the horned figure of the devil with a long trident in his left hand (Tihić, 1984, 106).

18. THE CORONATION OF MARY

Artist: unidentified Italian master

Technique: oil on wood

Size: 82x122cm

Date: second half of the 19th century

Signatura: bottom right P.B. Roma

Description: The scene of the Coronation of Mary is depicted on the solar hemisphere iagainst an azure blue sky sparsely spangled with gold stars. A narrower outer semicircle bears nine winged angels’ heads, while above is the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove with wings spread. Below this are two angels bringing a crown with a cross down upon Mary’s head. The Virgin is portrayed standing with her hands in prayer pose, looking up at the crown. She has a halo. The scene is being observed from a cloud by God the Father and Christ.

The painting was donated to the monastery by Bishop Strossmayer (Tihić, 1984, 106).

19. DEATH OF ST. CATHERINE

Artist: unidentified

Technique: oil on wood

Size: 85x172cm

Date: 19th century

Signatura: none

Description: Part of a building with a simple doorway and part of the entrance lobby with a massive plinth and sculpture can be made out in the top left-hand corner of the picture. Three women are walking by the doorway. In the lower foreground is a group of men, depicted large-size. Two are wearing the armour of Romann soldiers. In front of them and to the right is a Roman in a long-sleeved red robe and blue-green cloak, wearing a crown, seated on a marble throne, with grey-green drapes above. In the middle of the scene is the saint on the wheel, wearing a long blue-grey dress, her hands clasped in prayer.  Above her is an illuminated angel in flight, shedding light on the martyr. The right-hand part of the picture shows a group of people apparently fleeing from the light, headed by two Roman soldiers.

The painting was donated to the monastery in 1874 by Bishop Strossmayer (Tihić, 1984, 106).

20. CHRIST BESIDE THE CROSS

Artist: unidentified

Technique: oil on wood

Size: 85x172cm

Date: second half of the 19th century

Signatura: none

Description: The naked Christ, wearing a whitish loincloth, is standing beside a tall cross stuck into the ground, with his left arm, draped in a brown cloak, around the cross. Mary Magdalena is lying in front of the cross, to the right. Behind her, by the right-hand edge of the painting, is the bust of a young man. To the left of Christ are two figures, one bending down, the other standing. In the top left-hand corner of the picture are two angels with laurel wreaths (Tihić, 1984, 107).

21. CRUCIFIXION OF CHRIST

Artist: Ivan Rendić (1849-932)

Date: between 1877 and 1880

Description: Christ, portrayed larger than lifesize, is nailed to the wooden cross with massive iron nails, and wearing the crown of thorns. Blood is flowing from his pierced hands, and his legs are side by side. He also has a large bleeding wound in his right side.  Blood is flowing from both knees. He has a loincloth “fastened” with a strong rope (Tihić, 1984, 107).

Archaeological collection

The archaeological collection includes several finds of bones and teeth from the Bosnian Posavina (Sava valley) region, and valuable archaeological material dating from the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, the La Tène period, antiquity and the mediaeval period, as well as finds that have not been identified with certainty. In 1985 Fr. Kruno Peičić inventoried and listed them in the inventory book. The selection was made on the basis of the site of the finds, as follows:

1. Donja mahala, site Kućišta, with inventory numbers from 1 to 11 and 310 to 350.

2. Donja Mahala, site Živkovića brdo, with inventory numbers from 12 to 27 i 209 to 265.

3. Matići, Neolithic site, with inventory numbers from 28 to 61, 111 to 208 and 475 to 530.

4. Vidovice, with inventory numbers from 397 to 430.

5. Grebnice, antique site, with inventory numbers from 62 to 84 and 532 to 655.

6. Boko, old cemetery, with inventory numbers from 384 to 396.

7. Tišina, with inventory numbers from 656 to 682.

8. Hrgovi Gornji,  with inventory numbers from 431 to 442.

9. Babunovići, with inventory numbers from 451 to 474.

10. Batkuša, site Vreoci, with inventory numbers from 443 to 450.

11. Garište, with inventory numbers from 85 to 98 and 266 to 309.

12. Repovac, with inventory numbers from 99 to 110 and 351 to 383. (Babić, 2002, 6).

Numismatic collection

The numismatic collection was founded by Fr. Grgo Došen in 1882. However, the first collectors of old coins predated him, probably during the time of Fr. Augustin  Miletić (1763-1831).   As well as Fr. Grgo, Fr. Ilija Oršolić also helped to supplement the collection.

As already noted, the collection has not been sorted, but according to an old inventory record the collection numbers 974 coins. It is housed in four showcases with room for tables holding 13 x 25 coins. This would suggest that the collection consists of 1200 coins, but much of it has been removed from the showcases and mounted in albums.

The collection includes coins minted by all the rulers who lived in the Sava valley area. It thus consists of Greek and Roman, Hungarian, Serbian, Dubrovnik, Bosnian, Ottoman, Venetian and other coins (Miličić, 2002, 245).

Collection of ecclesiastical vestments

The monastery collection houses numerous chasubles, dalmatics and pluvials. The oldest examples of church textiles date from the 17th century.

The basic designs differ depending on their date of origin. Up to the mid 17th century, silk chasubles were mainly adorned with random designs of flower sprays. Later, palmettes became a commom motif as the central feature, with gold brocade decoration. These were followed by floral motifs and red damask with spiral or curlicue designs giving a sense of movement. Some chasubles bear inscriptions, usually along the back edge, giving the name of the donor and the year they were made.

The following are among the most valuable vestments in the collection:

1. PAULINE CHASUBLE

One-dimensional embroidery in multicoloured silk on a woollen ground. Size 107x71 cm. Made in Croatia in the mid 17th century. Bold, stylized flowers are executed in pastel-coloured silk. The central panel is embroidered with the figure of St. Catherine (Ivoš, 1988, 104).

2. CHASUBLE

Embroidery in multicoloured wool on ecclesiastical cloth. Size 107x73 cm. Probably made in Croatia in the first half of the 18th century. Three bold central tendrils (on both sides of the chasuble), naturalistically designed, in contrasting colours. The chasuble is embroidered in wood and gives an impression of crudity in colour and workmanship (Ivoš, 1988, 105).

3. CHASUBLE

Embroidery in gilded thread on a crimson satin ground. Size 102x68 cm. Made in Travnik in 1820. The embroidery design is purely orientally inspired, with the additional applied ground glass pieces in various colours. The front of the lining bears the inscription: 1820.  PAID FOR BY THE ORŠOLIĆ BROTHERS LOVRO AND IVAN, GRANDFATHERS OF FR. IVO AND FR. ŠIMO ORŠOLIĆ OF TOLISA. BOSNIAN HANDWORK FROM TRAVNIK (Ivoš, 1988, 105).

4. CHASUBLE I VELUM

Relief gold embroidery and multicoloured embroidery on a white ground. The chasuble measures 115 x 70 cm, and the velum 57 x 49 cm. It was made in Zagreb in 1856. Thick gilded tendrils with leafy branchlets and large flowers in quite bright colours run along the border of the chasuble. The central back panel has a motif of scattered sequins below which is a gold-embroidered inscription: EX VOTO P. BART. KR. IN HON. B. M.V. IMM. C. The chasuble was embroidered in the convent of the Sisters of Mercy in Zagreb (Ivoš, 1988, 105).

5. CHASUBLE

Gold ribbons border the white silk chasuble, with longitudinal and transverse bands of subtle silk thread in various colours (blue, green, white, violet, pink and red) and relief foliar and floral decorations (buds and open flowers, fruits). The chasuble is adorned with small silver balls joined by wire or sewn on individually, forming designs of bunches of grapes, branchlets and other floral motifs. The lining bears the inscription: GIFTED BY FATHER BARTO TO HIS MOTHER MARIJA, FROM THE BEGINNING IN HOPE TO AT THE HOUR OF DEATH IN REDEMPTION.

«In the month of September 1868 through the endeavours of M.P.O. Fr. Martin Nedić of Tolisa it belongs to the Tolisa church. Repaired 1952.» (Tihić, 1984, 108).

6. CHASUBLE

A gold band runs along the hems of red ecclesiastical homespun cloth. The chasuble is embroidered with flowers, leaves and branchlets in mullticoloured silk and woollen thread.  The lining bears the following inscription: OLD PARAMENT LEFT IN THE INVENTORY  BY FR. ILIJA STARČEVIĆ, RENOWED TOLISA PARISH PRIEST. (Tihić, 1984, 108).

7. CHASUBLE

Plant designs in thick and fine gold thread on a white silk ground. The surface is decorated with silver balls sewn on to form bunches of grapes. The chasuble came from Prague or Budapest (Tihić, 1984, 108)

Library

The establishment of the library is associated with that of the parish, when the Franciscans purchased books for their own further education, as a result of which most of the titles are theological in nature. The library gradually increased its holdings through purchases, gifts and legacies from deceased Franciscans.

The library has two catalogues. One of them is entitled “Record of the monastery library in Tolisa” and was drawn up between 1938 and 1939.  It consists of two volumes with the inventory records of 6147 books. The other catalogue is entitled “Franciscan library in Tolisa”, and consists of two sections, subdivided into three volumes. The first section consists of works of “pious content” and the other of works of “academic cum entertainment content.” This catalogue dates from 1940.

An inventory conducted in 1989 demonstrated that the monastery library owns 11270 books, or 10850 titles. There are 87 titles of periodicals, and 735 volumes.

The books are mostly on shelves or in cupboards.

The content of the works varies, but mainly consists of works on the scriptures, theological works, liturgical works, works of canon law, works on the history of the Order, Church and people, prayer books, hymn books and moral handbooks, sermons and hagiographical works, dictionaries, grammars and works of orthography, works on various subjects, lexicons etc.

            Among the most valuable books are:

1.       Arabic-Persian-Turkish-Italian dictionary, vols. I-IV, Meninski 1780.

2.       Titus Livius, Historia Romae ab Urbe Condita, Libri XXX, 1555.

3.       Fra Ambrozije Matić, Račun za pervu i drugu godinu shulsku iz latinskog u bosanski jezik (Arithmetic for first and second grade school from Latin to Bosnian), Ossik 1827.

4.       Sansovinus Francesco, Pietro crescentis Venetia 1564.

5.       Beati Angeli de Clavasio, Ordinis Minorum SUMMA, I-II, Imprera Venetiis An 1925.

6.       Tre prediche, Asti 1592, - Calepinus Ambr, Dictionarium, 1576.

7.       Mikabia Jak, Blago jezika alavinskoga (Treasures of the Alavin language), Veni 1649.

8.       Meninski, Francisci Mesgnien: Thesaurus linguarum orientalium preaesertim, arabicae, persicae cum interpr. Lat. Germ. Viennae, 1680.

The monastery library also houses an original firman dating from 1863, measuring 76 x 54 cm. The firman was issued by the Emperor Sultan Abdul Aziz in 1280 AH, month of Rabi’ al Akhir (the fourth month). At that time the Vizier was Osman Pasha, and the kajmakan of Zvornik was Muhi-Advin pasha. The firman was procured by O.M.P. Martin Nedić Tolišanin, and was issued to grant approval for the construction of a new church.(46)   

Organ (47) 

The organ was brought to the monastery in 1895 from Osijeka, from the church dedicated to SS Peter and Paul in Gornji Grad, and was made by the best organ-builder of the day in the Balkans, Caspar Fischer (1772-1829 ) of Apatino. (48)   

Layout of the organ:

• Manual I:
  • Principal 8
  • Quint 2 2/3
  • Octav 2
  • Quint
  • Mixture 4x
  • Flauto 8
  • Copel 4
• Manual II:
  • Principal 4
  • Copel 8
  • Flöte 4
• Pedal:
  • Subbass 16
  • Octavbass 8
  • Flöte 4

The manual has a range of C/E – c3, or 45 keys, with the deepest octave abbreviated.  The keys have their original facings, with the lower keys black and the upper white. They were made by hand in Fischer’s workshop.

The pedal has 18 keys with the deepst octave abbreviated. The range is C/E – a, but with only twelve chromatic pipes, while several notes are repeated.

The manubria of the register stops have their original brass caps.(49) 

The corpus positiva (manual II), behind which are built-in pipes with a roll-top cover, was formerly built in to the choir railing and was exposed, for which reason the cabinetwork is decorated with carved designs. Almost all the original metal organ pipes have disappeared. The metal pipes in the cabinetwork of the organ were made after World War II. The original pipes can be seen in the case of the aliquot registers (with a few new replacements). Also original, though affected in places by woodworm, are all the wooden pipes, with only a few of more recent date. (Details from a document in the archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa).

3. Legal status to date

            A communication dated 25 April 1984(50) from the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments and Natural Rarities of Bosnia and Herzegovina no. UP-I-01-22-1/84 to the Tolisa monastery confirms that pursuant to a Ruling by the Institute, no. 528/55, the monastery is protected as a cultural monument on account of its architectural, cultural and historical importance and the value of the movable artifacts housed in the monastery.

The 1980 Regional Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina lists the property as the Tolisa Church in Gradačac as a category I cultural and historic property. (51)   

The Provisional List of National Monuments of the Commission lists the architectural ensemble of the parish church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa, together with its movable property, under serial no. 452 with the title Franciscan monastery with church in Tolisa, municipality Orašje.

4. Research and conservation and restoration works

            The monastery archives contain a quantity of bills of costs for the alterations to the Tolisa church, providing valuable information both on the materials used to build the original church and on the materials and techniques used during the rebuilding of the church.

A bill of costs dated 29 April 1910(52) and accompanying letter by the joint stock construction company of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo, also dated 29 April 1910(53), reveal that the most expensive item in the alteration works on the church was the rebuilding of the ceiling vaults. The treatment used by the designer, Josip Vancaš, was similar to that of the Gorica Franciscan monastery near Livno, with reinforced concrete vaults. It would be impossible to use brick for the ceiling vaults, the letter states, because the walls were not thick enough(54), while wooden ceiling vaults (with a plaster and whitewash finish) ”would not be solid.”

            According to the bill of quantities and estimate of costs, the rebuilding works on the church would have cost a total of 47,500 crowns:

• Demolition of existing wooden ceilings                                          400,00
• Re-whitewash old walls on inside                                               3.900,00
• New concrete vaults                                                                20.600,00
• New terrazzo of cement tiles on concrete                                   7. 370,00
• Repair existing roof cladding                                                     1.670,00
• New iron windows, glazede                                                       4.000,00
• Painting the church                                                                  3.860,00
• Purchase scaffolding 2500, resale value after use 1. 000             1.500,00
• Doors, wooden floors etc.                                                         3.200,00

The bill of costs also reveals that:

• the walls of the old church were plastered, and that during rebuilding works the plaster was stripped off and scraped out of the joints,
• the vaults of the nave were plastered, and that the vault structure of the old church was of timber,
• the old church had a brick terrazzo floor, which was lifted and a layer of soil approx 15 cm thick was removed,
• the sacristy of the old church had wooden floors which were also lifted during alteration works on the church,
• a new reinforced concrete structure was used for the vaults of the church in the central nave and side aisles, above the choir and the presbytery, a Monier (reinforced concrete shell approx. 8 cm thick, concrete of a 1:5 mix, inlaid with an iron grid), and the vaults were plastered with lime cement plaster,
• a new coat of lime plaster was laid on the double reed underfacing of the ceiling in the sacristy,
• the underlay for the new floors on the ground floor of the church, laid in a layer 15 cm thick, was of light concrete in a mix of 1:10, with an aggregate consisting of reed and pulversized brick from the old terrazzo floor; new floor slabs in black, grey and red were laid in cement mortar on the new underlay,
• in the sacristy the wooden floor was replaced with a new one of planed tongue-and-grooved juniper boards, laid on 10 x 12 cm underflooring “soaked in carbolineum” and laid on roofing felt,
• the roof was overlaid with 2,440 m2 of the existing tiles, all the arrises and ridges were relaid with “mortar of lime and hair,”
• repairs to the galvanized iron roof cladding on both church towers and all the roof flashings were carried out,
• three new oak doors measuring 190 x 335 cm were mounted on the entrance façade, made according to the blueprint: doors with brass frames, “coat with oil, varnish (scumble) and matt lacquer, then mount,”
• a 100 x 235 cm oak door was mounted at the way out into the corridor, as well as a door into the sacristy, daylight opening of 100 x 200 cm, made according to the blueprint: doors with brass frames, “coat with oil, varnish (scumble) and matt lacquer, then mount,”
• the church was given 12 windows, made according to the blueprint, “with round arches of shaped iron with šprljcima,” measuring 190 x 360 cm; 2 simple window bars for the sacristy windows, made of square and flat wrought iron, measuring 100 x 140 cm,
• three granite entrance steps 210 cm long x 25 cm wide x 15 cm high were laid at the entrance to the church,
• the walls and ceilings of the church were whitewashed once, and then painted once with glue paint,
• the church was glazed “with white, opaque and ornamental glass,” and the sacristy was glazed with ordinary glass.

A letter dated 10 June 1910 from Josip Vancaš, as the designer, to the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa, on behalf of the joint stock construction company of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo, reveals that Ludwig Jungwirth, who was visiting the Tolisa monastery to agree the execution of the works, told Vancaš that the superintency of the monastery felt a degree of dissatisfaction with Vancaš’ design of 23 March 1910. (55)    

Later bills of costs(56) include additional items associated with requests for alterations to Vancaš’s original design (e.g. the item for the construction of new pillars in the church: a total of 46 m3 of compacted Portland cement in a 1:3:6 mix, with river pebbles and sand as aggregate, estimated cost 920 crowns). In the bill of costs dated 6 August 1910, the summary of the costs of building works on the reconstruction of the church provides the following details:

1. Ground and masonry works    Crowns    49.951,90
2. Iron and concrete works                        15.208,50
3. Sculpture                                                  250,00
4. Carpentry                                                8.325,20
5. Roofing works                                          6.456.40
6. Sheet metal works                                   3.251,00
7. Craftsmen's works                                    8.990,00
8. Painting works                                         8.148,00
9. Cleaning                                                     200,00
10. Total                                     Crowns    100.781,00

According to the Contract dated October 1910(57), the rebuilding works on the church should have cost 100,781 crowns, begun in March 1911, and be completed by September 1911. The works contractor was to have been Ludwig Jungwirth of Sarajevo.

However, another Contract of later date (14 March 1911)(58) shows that the rebuilding works were carried out by building contractor Johann Pimperl of Zavidovići, who had quoted a lower price. The reconstruction works on the church were quoted at 86,547.82 crowns. The works on the interior of the church were to begin on 20 March 1911 and be completed by 31 December 1911. In the event of bad weather, the Contract stipulated that works on the exterior of the church were to be continued on 20 March 1912 and completed by 1 August 1912. A bill of costs dated 3 March 1911(59) formed an integral part of this contract. The summary of costs for the building works provides the following information:

1. Ground and masonry works     Crowns   42.923,33
2. Iron and concrete works                          9.233,00
3. Sculpture                                                  400,00
4. Carpentry                                               6.930,65
5. Roofing works                                         6.797.00
6. Sheet metal works                                  3.060,80
7. Craftsmen's works                                   8.242,04
8. Painting works                                        3.880,00
9. Cleaning                                                 1.100,00
10. Additional works                                      4.008,00
11. Total                                        Crowns   86.547,82

The estimate of costs(60) with a description of the works, drawn up in Županja on 8 May 1933 by certified civil engineer Jovan Bazler, provides information on the type of intervention and the materials and techniques used during repairs to the church roof:

• 1707 m2 of old eternit sheet was carefully dismantled and removed in order to be re-used, and the old, bent wind-nails were repaired for re-use;
• the roof was clad with roofing felt no. 250, laid horizontally with a 50 cm overlap and nailed to the underlay every 15 cm;
• 50 x 50 cm eternit sheet was relaid with a 9-10 cm overlap;
• the sheet metal flashings on the roof gable and the flashings on the bell tower were repaired;
• 40 new iron handles (“on a base of galvanized iron no. 18”) were attached to the roof to be used to attach scaffolding in the event of later repairs to the roof.

It appears from an invoice dated August 1933(61) that the church roof was repaired, and that the following sums were spent on the purchase of new materials and the services of craftsmen:

• Standard eternit sheet, 1,200       dinars                                                  4.500,00
• Copper wind-nails, 7,000                                                                        1.050,00
• Ridge tiles, 30                                                                                          105,00
• Galvanized shutters,30                                                                              750,00
• Galvanized nails, 30.000                                                                            900,00
• 60 asbestos bonds and copper nails                                                           730,00
• For the work of cladding the church, area 1.179,50 m2 / 6 din per m2/         7.077,00
• For 70 boards  / 5.50 dinars each                                                                385,00
• For galvanized iron, wire, tin and nails                                                          585,00
• For sheet metal works on the church                                                           850,00
• Total                                          dinars                                                  16.189,50 

A Contract(62) between the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa and Viktor Herbstsoner, a tinsmith from Orašje, signed on 14 May 1934 in Tolisa, reveals that in that year guttering was mounted on the church roof (“hanging guttering was installed and guards were attached, through which iron bars were driven with precision”). The works were due to begin on 15 May 1934, and the item concerning the technical approval of and quality checks on the works is of interest: “The works shall be approved following inspection by an expert after heavy rain. During that time a deposit of 100 dinars shall be retained.” According to a receipt  dated 29 May 1934(63), the tinsmith’s works on the church roof in Orašje cost 315 dinars.

An estimate(64) with a description of the building works, drawn up in Županja on 9 May 1933 by certified civil engineer Jovan Bazler, and an Invoice dated 5 October 1933, provide evidence that in 1933 a new building was erected within the monastery complex, at a cost of 24,226 dinars:

• Workmen....................................................... 4,884 D.
• 5,000 kg cement, 70 para with base..............    3,500 D.
• 6.500 kg lime, 25 para..................................   1.625 D.
• Gravel 45 m3, 20 din.......................................   900 D.
• Sand 34 m3, 15 din........................................    510 D.
• For transport of sharp sand over the Sava 12 m3... 180 D.
• 5 rolls of insulating sheet, 85 din......................     425 D.
• 3 rolls of reed, 35 din......................................     105 D.
• 3 kg stocks of nails, 8 din.................................    24 D.
• 17 kg nails, 5 din..............................................    85 D.
• 100 kg cement, nails and fasteners..................... 142 D.
• Wire and nails from M.Živković............................ 103 D.
• 350 kg cement, 72 para .................................     252 D.
• 6,150 bricks, transported to site....................... 1,537 D.
• To Mr.Buđen for iron, various, in Brčko.............. 1.135 D.
• To Vuković the blacksmith for ironwork and bars... 147 D.
• To carpenter A.Kezdorf in Brčko for all doors and
• windows,studding, installation and transport
• to site............................................................ 4.600 D.
• To civil engineer for plan and oversight of works.. 600 D.
• For boards of various sizes, to I. Živkević........ 1,853 D.
• For paint, varnish, dryer and brushes................ 425 D.
• Whitewash brushes......................................... 45 D.
• For painting doors, windows and bars............... 450 D.
• Tinsmiths' work on house................................. 40 D.
• For stove, furnace and installation.................... 660 D,__

Total                                                           24.227 D. (65) 

An invoice dated October 1935(66) reveals that the former barn and distillery, which was 20 metres long, was extended by 10 metres, and that yet another new outbuilding 30 metres in length was erected, on which the total expenditure was 7,742.50 dinars for the purchase of new material and the services of a craftsman named Mazić.

An invoice dated August 1937(67), reveals that certain interventions were carried out on the bell tower:

Repairs to the bell tower:          

3  beams each of 7 metres          145

iron, 4 hanging rails                     160

1 round rail                                   32

½ kg nuts                                    10

new bell leather                            35

Making cramps and bolts              98

To fitter, 2 days' wages               300

New rope for small bell               150

4 labourers, 10 din each               40

Total                                      1.345 dinars

According to an invoice dated August 1937(68),  the basement floor in the monastery was cemented and a terrace was made at the north-west entrance area of the monastery:

I N V O I C E

Cementing the basement and terrace in front of the monastery in Tolissa.

Materials:

1.       cement used, 25 m, 80 dinars                                       2000 din.

2.       gravel used, 20 cu.m., 38 dinars                                     760 din.

3.       Cerasite (insulating material) used, 35 kg, 14 d,               490 din,

Labour:

4.       Paid to craftsman Ivo Domić of  Županja                           694 din.

5.       Labourers 26, 20 dinars each                                          520 din,

6.       For iron and blacksmith's work, to Ivo Đojić of D. Mahala   116 din.

Total                                                                                        4580 din

Tolisa,12 August 1937.

Strojne tovarne in livarne(69) d.d. of Ljubljana sent an invoice to the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa with the following items:

• C bell, weight approx. 250 kg, diameter at base 73 cm, with image of St. Anthony of Padua with the infant Jesus in his arms and the inscription “Purchased by the Franciscans of Tolisa monastery 1937,” invoiced 8,85760 dinars
• Completion of equipment sent new clapper, bindings, connecting rods, counterweight and base plate, 38 letters, invoiced 10,152.60 dinars,
• Together with costs of tax and insurance on railway used to transport the bell, and administrative costs, the total sum payable amounted to 10,744.50 dinars.

The invoice bears the following note: “We shall despatch the bell together with the big bell.” (70)   

In 1972, the Franciscan monastery applied to the Municipal Secretariat for the Economy and Finances of Orašje Municipal Assembly for a permit to build a two-storey building for the library, ethnographic museum and classroom with lecture hall, and duly received a building permit from that body. (71)   

The intention was to erect the building by the church, south of the sacristy, with its east wall running parallel with the east wall of the church. The project documentation  was drawn up by Projektbiro of Slavonski Brod. Building work began, but was never completed. On 16 September 2006, when an on site inspection of the monastery complex was carried out, it was noted that the foundations only of the planned building (measuring 9.85 x 32.93 metres) had been laid south-west of the church, beside the sacristy. The width of the extension, at 9.85 m, is the same as the length of the south-west wall of the sacristy.

On 28 October 1972 the superintendency of the Tolisa monastery, headed by the guardian Fr. Ante Nedić, held consultations with the sculptrress Lojzika Ulman concerning the liturgical refurbishment of the Tolisa church.(72) The consultations were summarized in a brief study of the artistic and historical values of the interior of the church, their condition, and recommendations for restoration and conservations: four baroque sculptures with confessionals, the carved retable, the altars of St. Francis and St. Anthony, the side altars of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and St. Joseph, the pulpit, the sedes, the font, the crucifix, etc. (73)     

On 18 November 1972 the sculptress Lojzika Ulman also made some recommendations in Tolisa concerning the damp problem and making good the damp-affected areas of the lower reaches of the church walls. “WALLS. It was found on inspection that it will be impossible to begin painting the lower reaches of the walls until the damp problem is solved. It is therefore recommended that the damp, dilapidated plaster be stripped off to a height of 2 m on the inside and outside of the walls, even removing the mortar from between the bricks, and leaving them exposed for at least 2 years.  After that they should be rendered with completely cement-free plaster, to avoid the damp lifting the whitewash. Panelling is definitely not the solution…” (74) 

In 1977, the electric wiring and sound system in the church were renewed. When the works were completed(75), they had cost a total of 191,794.40 dinars. They were carried out in line with the project drawn up by Projektbiro of Slavonski Brod; as per the Contract(76), the works were carried out by Pejić Ivan, a certified electrician from Županja, and the technical approval of the works(77) was carried out on 11 June 1977 by a committee from OOUR of Elektrodistribucija-Brčko of Brčko.

During a visit to the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa in 1980, experts from the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments and Natural Rarities of Bosnia and Herzegovina gave the guardian, Fr. Pero Martinović, their backing in his campaign to carry out protective measures on the church and monastery, suggested that a committee of experts from the Institute visit in order to conduct a thorough examination of the condition of the physical strructure of the monastery and draw up a proposal for essential protection measures, and also highlighted the problem of establishing an inventory and the necessary lists of valuable collections – the numismatic, archaeological and ethnological collections, and a list of the library holdings. (78)   

A Contract(79) between the Association of Catholic Religious Officials of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments and Natural Rarities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo(80), signed on 27 January 1981, and a Contract(81) signed in October 1981 between the investor, the Roman Catholic parish office in Tolisa/Franciscan monastery in Tolisa and the works contractor Mijo Petrović, a tinsmith from Sarajevo, reveal that the works cost 1,900,000 dinars. According to the estimate (which formed an integral part of the contracts), the following works were carried out:

• Make and install hanging semicircular guttering of 0.55 mm copper sheet, with a full width of 60 cm;
• Make and install downpipes of 0.55 mm copper sheet, with a full width of 60 cm;
• Dismantle existing hanging guttering;
• Dismantle existing downpipes;
• Make and install window sills of 0.6 mm copper sheet;
• Dismantle existing window sills;
• Clad roof with 0.6 mm copper sheet with joints at 50cm, laid widthwise. Pitch of roof 45 degrees at a height of 18.50 m;
• Dismantle old roof cladding of eternit and sheet metal;
• Replace dilapidated facing on entire building;
• Make and install flashing of cornice on façades of 0.6 m copper sheet, with a full width of up to 50 cm;
• Make lightning conductors connected to existing lightning conductors around the building, all using Zm 35.4 mm strip. On the roof the lightning conductor is fixed to the domes and guttering;
• Make and install snow barriers of iron sheet, 35 x 5 mm. All painted copper colour;
• Make and install water butts on guttering, of 0.6 mm copper sheet;
• Remove and lay roofing felt on pre-prepared board base;
• Replace dilapidated rafters and parts of roof structure;
• Make and install windows with louvres on bell tower;
• Make and install roof skylight 80 x 70 cm;
• Replace dilapidated timber on bell towers;
• Paint existing crosses on towers with gold paint and fix them to the tower;
• Clad the towers with investor’s material of 0.6 mm copper sheet. 

The Report with technical treatment for building and artisanal works on the restoration of the Franciscan church in Tolisa with approximate bill of costs dated 1982(82) states that the entire complex of buildings with the monastery and church was built 100 years ago on a site that had often been flooded when the Sava overflowed. According to eye witnesses, during flooding the water reached a level of approx. + 20 cm above the floor of the church.

When the church was being built, the walls were not provided with horizontal damp proofing. In addition, all the structural walls of the church are of old-format bricks, which are very solid, and about 150-165 cm thick, so that the hydroscopic nature of this building material readily transfers damp upward in the walls to as much as 2.00 m above floor level.

In the drawing of detail “B”(83), the current state of damp of the structural walls of the church at greatest risk is indicated, and flaws are identified: facing the outer socle of the walls with stone; laying the pavement around the church at a higher level than the church floor; damage to the downpipes with signs of water overflowing onto the façade surfaces.

The outer structural wall of the church (north wall), marked “I”, in which the presence of damp is at its most evident by comparison with the other structural wall (the south side of the building), marked as “II”, which became an internal wall of the church once the gallery (corridor and library) was built, and where there are only minor signs of damp, clearly indicates the fact that the principal cause of the high levels of damp is not only the absence of a horizontal damp course.

Detail “C” shows the proposed treatment to make good the walls:

1. Removal of the existing stone facing from the outside of the church walls and of the rotten plaster, right down to the surface of the bricks;
2. Removal of the dilapidated plaster inside the building to the height to which the damp has risen, and cleaning the wall surfaces and joints;
3. Remove the existing pavement around the building and digging out down to a lower level in order to lay a new pavement at least 15 cm below the level of the church floor,
4. Install a drainage ring parallel to and around the church walls alongside the pavement, with drainage pipes at a minimum depth of 1.00 m;
5. Connect all the vertical rain-affected surfaces to the drainage ring via a sand trap, and connect the drainage ring to an absorption shaft which should be located in the most suitable place right by the building. In addition to leading rainwater away from the vertical surfaces into the drainage ring, the drainage is designed to absorb all precipitation waters running over the slabs and a wide strip around the church, and to lead them by the shortest route and as quickly as possible into the absorption shaft.

In order to provide the walls with complete protection from rising damp, the technical treatment provided for the lower reaches of the walls to be drilled and injected with a Stonosal compound.(84) The Stonosal liquid is injected through the two rows of drill holes into the socle (because of the excessive thickness of the walls, approx. 150 cm), drilled at an angle of approx. 30 degrees (slanting downwards) on both the outer and inner sides of the walls. The rows of drill holes are approx. 15 cm apart, and the holes themselves are approx. 30 cm apart in the rows. It was proposed that waterproof plaster be used to render the walls inside and out.

To prevent condensation forming on the ceilings of the church, the technical solution provided for additional thermal insulation by installing a 3 cm thick layer of glass wool insulation, laying plastic sheeting over the glass wool, and laying a 4 cm thick layer of blindite or techtolite.(85)   

The description in the bill of quantities and estimate for painting and decorating works for the restoration of the church lists “Painting walls and ceilings using semi-emulsion paint, with preparatory works, restoration of the patronage rosette centrepiece, chaperone, drawing lines,” and painting the locksmiths’ work and woodwork.

The estimated costs of these works, as listed in the summary estimate, were:

I Damp proofing works                                       567,002.00 Din.

II Thermal insulation in the attic area                   383,950.00 Din.

III Painting and decorating works on

    the restoration of the church complete

    with all scaffolding                                      2,189,174.85 Din.

Grand total                                                    3,140,126.85 Din.

In 1981 the old tile cladding the church roof was replaced in its entirety, and a new cladding of 0.60 mm copper sheet was laid over a board base, the dilapidated roof rafters of the church and the towers were replaced, and the entire timber structure was given a protective coating. In 1982, the west (entrance) façade of the church was restored as were the façades of the bell towers (the plaster was partly removed, the string cornices were repaired and the façade was treated with “Facadex”). These works cost 6,246,000 dinars.

In 1983, the church was damp proofed by introducing ventilation ducts to the west, north and east of the church; these works cost 1,402,000 dinars.

In 1984, the old lime and cement plaster was stripped away inside the church and new plaster was applied, and the electric wiring and sound system was partly reconstructed, at a cost of 5,047,000 dinars.

That same year, 50% of the agreed work of laying a stone socle inside the church was carried out, at a cost of 1,950,000 dinars.

In 1984 and 1985, following the adoption of the initial design, it was agreed that technical project documentation(86) should be drawn up for the new monastery building(87), at a cost of approx. 700,000 dinars.

Under the terms of a Contract dating from 1986(88), “the building works to below the roof with a chimney on the residential quarters of Stage I in the monastery grounds in Tolisa” were carried out by the Burim company of Orašje, at an agreed price of 61,921,784 dinars.

Funds from the 2003 State Budget of the Republic of Croatia, Allocation 025, Finance Ministry, Heading 06, Finance Ministry – other state outgoings, Activity 539061 – incentives for education, culture, science and health in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 3611, current aid to foreign governments in the total amount of 25,000,000.00 kuna and funds from the 2003 State Budget of the Republic of Croatia, Allocation 025, Finance Ministry, Heading 06, Finance Ministry – current reserves, Activity A 539019, item 3851, in the sum of 10,000,000.00 kuna to support Croat minorities in neighbouring and other countries. (89)    

The programmes and projects for Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina provided for:

1. Programmes in the field of science        5,884,560.00 Kuna
2. Health care programmes                       8,794,000.00 Kuna
3. Programmes in the field of culture          9,135.000.00 Kuna
4. Education programmes                         5,757,022.41 Kuna 

The sum of 300,000.00 kuna was allocated from the sum of 9,135,000.00 kuna intended for programmes in the field of culture to be used to restore the library and museum of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa.

“Pursuant to Articles 33 and 36 of the Law on the Execution of the Budget of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina for 2005 (Official Gazette of the Federation of BiH no. 78/04), the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina has issued a Decision to adopt the Expenditure of Funds Programme with the criteria for the allocation of funds by current transfers determined by the Budget of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina for 2005 to the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sport. The Expenditure of Funds Programme is adopted with the criteria for the allocation of funds by current transfers by the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sport as prescribed by section 52 of the Budget of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina for 2005 (Official Gazette of the Federation of BiH no. 78/04). In the context of Clause 3, Transfer for the Renovation of the Cultural and Architectural Heritage, subclause 4 (design of projects and execution of works to protect Catholic religious buildings of the cultural heritage):

• Catholic church in Blagaj
• Franciscan monastery in Visoko
• Bishop’s palace in Vukodol,
• Franciscan monastery Humac
• Church of the Holy Spirit and monastery in Fojnica
• Guča Gora monastery
• Tolisa monastery, Odžak,
• Cathedral parish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Sarajevo,
• Kraljeva Sutjeska monastery 

Funds in the amount of 350,000.00 Convertible Marks were designated for the Institute for the Protection of Monuments of this ministry, institutions for the protection of the cultural heritage, the owners of properties and works stakeholders, on the basis of open competition.” (90)   

“Pursuant to Articles 33 and 36 of the Law on the Execution of the Budget of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina for 2006 (Official Gazette of the Federation of BiH no. 12/06), the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina has issued a Decision to adopt the Expenditure of Funds Programme with the criteria for the allocation of funds by current transfers by the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sport as prescribed by section 52 of the Budget of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina for 2006.

In the context of Clause 3, Transfer for the Renovation of the Cultural and Architectural Heritage, subclause 4 (design of projects and execution of works to protect Catholic religious buildings of the cultural heritage):

• St Mary’s church in Jajce,
• the chapel in Lipnica near Tuzla,
• the Ottoman period monastery of Rama-Šćit
• the church in Bosanska Krupa,
• the Franciscan library in Mostar,
• the Tolisa monastery in Odžak,
• the monastery in Kraljevo Sutjeska,
• the Gorica Livno monastery 

Funds in the amount of 260,000.00 Convertible Marks were designated for the Institute for the Protection of Monuments of this ministry, institutions for the protection of the cultural heritage, the owners of properties and works stakeholders, on the basis of open competition.” (91) 

Conservation and restoration works (movable heritage)

• The organ was painted between 1911 and 1912
• In 1922 Josip Pallerini of Vinkovci cleaned the murals following the 1917 fire, and repainted the altars
• The organ was repaired in 1930
• In 1980 the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments and Natural Rarities carried out restoration works on the murals and the side altars dedicated to St Anthony and St Francis, and cleaned the outside of the organ
• In 1984 the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments and Natural Rarities carried out conservation and restoration works and cleaning on the following items: the collection of paintings (St. Jerome, St. Francis receiving the stigmata, Madonna with Christ, Portrait of Fr. Augustin Miletić, Portrait of Ilija Starčević, Portrait of Bishop Strossmayer) and the collection of ecclesiastical vestment (4 chasubles and velum). These interventions were carried out for the purposes of the exhibition entitled Riches of the Franciscan Monasteries, held in Sarajevo in 1984.

5. Currrent condition of the property

            The ground floor areas of the facade of the church have been stripped of plaster to a height of about 2 metres to allow the facade to dry out. Inside the church, a facing of stone slabs has been laid on the lower part of the walls to a height of about 100 cm; this facing is ventilated.(92) Because of these slabs it is not possible to tell visually whether a technological process has been used to dry out the walls, remove the damp and prevent further rising damp.

            Alterations are currently being carried out on the old monastery building. (93)   

The movable heritage forming the collections of the Tolisa monastery has not been inventoried, or more exactly there are inventories dating back some twenty or more years which were not conducted in line with modern museum standards, with the items merely named, without going into detail. Again, the items are not properly housed, and are thus at risk of rapid deterioration or destruction.

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:

Pertaining to the church:

A.  Time frame

B.  Historical value

C.  Artistic and aesthetic value

C. i. quality of workmanship

C.ii. quality of materials

C.iii. proportions

C.iv. composition

C. v. value of details

C.vi. value of construction

D. Clarity (documentary, scientific and educational value)

D.iii. work of a major artist or builder

E. Symbolic value

E.i. ontological 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

F. Townscape/ Landscape value

F.i.  relation to other elements of the site

F.ii. meaning in the townscape

F.iii.  the building or group of buildings is part of a group or site

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

G.vii. other internal and external factors

H. Rarity and representativity

H.iii. work of a prominent artist, architect or craftsman

Pertaining to the old Franciscan monastery in Tolisa:

A.  Time frame

B.  Historical value

E. Symbolic value

E.i. ontological 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

F. Townscape/ Landscape value

F.i.  relation to other elements of the site

F.ii. meaning in the townscape

F.iii.  the building or group of buildings is part of a group or site

G. Authenticity

G.v. location and setting

G.vi. spirit and feeling

G.vii. other internal and external factors

            The following documents form an integral part of this Decision:

• Copy of cadastral plan, plan nos. 19, 20, 21, 22;  scale 1:2500, cadastral plots nos.: 5109, 5110, 5112, 5113, 5114, 5115, c.m. Tolisa. Copy of cadastral plan issued on 31.10.2006 by the Department of Regional Planning and Property Affairs of Orašje Municipality, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
• Copy of Land Register entry and proof of title.
• Photodocumentation:

o         Photographs of current condition of the architectural ensemble of the parish churchof the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Franciscan monastery in Tolisa, together with movable property, taken on 16 September and 9 October 2006 by ethnologist Slobodanka Nikolić and architect Emir Softić using digital cameras Canon PowerShot G3 and Canon PowerShot A520 )

o         Old photographs (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

o         Photograph of the area around the monastery prior to 1935 (before extension of the outbuilding carried out in 1935)

o         Two photographs of the interior of the church taken before 1980

o         Photograph of the church bell tower

• Drawings (photographed using digital cameras Canon PowerShot G3 and Canon PowerShot A520):
• Blueprints of the church (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa):
• Revised blueprint of monastery and parish church in Tolisa, Sarajevo, 23 March 1910, Josip Vancaš
  • Ground plan of ground floor, Scale 1:100
  • Ground plan at window level, Scale 1:100
  • Ground plan at vault level, Scale 1:100
  • Longitudinal section, Scale 1:100
  • Cross section and view towards choir; cross section of presbytery and sacristy; Scale 1:100
  • 2nd revised blueprint of monastery and parish church in Tolisa, Sarajevo, 21 July 1910, Josip Vancaš
  • Ground plan of foundations, Scale 1:100
  • Restored interior, perspective
  • Ground plan of ground floor, Scale 1:100
  • Ground plan at window level, Scale 1:100
  • Longitudinal section, Scale 1:100
  • Cross section and view towards choir; cross section of presbytery and sacristy; cross section and view towards presbytery, Scale 1:100
• Blueprints of the old monastery, the newly built monastery and the parish office in Tolisa, Tuzla, 31 March 1923, Florian Strauss, building co. Tuzla (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa):
  • Ground plan of ground floor, first and second floors
  • Site plan, Scale 1:1000
  • Side view, frontal view, Scale 1:100
• Blueprints of the new monastery. Main project for the construction/extension of residential building. Investor: Franciscan monastery Tolisa, construction design co. Skenderija of Sarajevo, Sarajevo, February 1985 (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa):
  • Technical description
  • Site plan 1:500
  • Basement 1:50
  • Ground floor 1:50
  • First floor  1:50
  • Second floor  1:50
  • Roof frame 1:50
  • Roof 1:50
  • Cross-section a-a  1:50
  • Facade north-east 1:50
  • Facade south-west 1:50
  • Facade north-west 1:50
  • Facade south-east 1:50

Bibliography

During the procedure to designate the architectural ensemble of the parish church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa, together with movable heritage as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina the following works and documents were consulted:

1884.    Fr. Nedić, Martin: Stanje redodržave Bosne Srebrene, poslije pada kraljevstva bosanskoga pak do okupacije (The State of the Province of Bosnia Argentina from the fall of the Bosnian Kingdom to the Occupation), Đakovo, Imprint of the Episcopal Press, Authors' Publishing House, 1884, 93-94)

1887     Fr. Bono Nedić: Kratka povjest župe crkve i samostana toliškog (Brief history of the parish church and monastery of Tolisa), Pećuh, 1887

1910     Bill of costs for the alterations to the church of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa, joint stock construction company of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo, 29 April 1910, signed by  Josip Vancaš (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

1910     Letter accompanying the Bill of costs for the alterations to the church of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa, joint stock construction company of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo, 29 April 1910, signed by  Josip Vancaš (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

1910     Letter from the joint stock construction company of Bosnia and Herzegovina of Sarajevo, dated 10 June 1910, to the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa, (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

1910     Bill of costs for the alterations to the church of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa, joint stock construction company of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo, 8 August 1910, signed by  Josip Vancaš (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

1910     Contract signed in October 1910 between the superintendency of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa and the building contractor Ludwig Jungwirth of Sarajevo (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

1911     Bill of costs for the restoration of the church of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa, 3 March 1911, Johann Pimperl, Bauunternehmung, Zavidovići  (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

1911     Contract for the construction and procurement of materials for the monastery church in Tolisa in Bosna, signed 14 March 1911 in Zavidovići, between the superintendency of the monastery of the Franciscan friars in Tolisa near Orašje and the Johann Pimperl construction company of Zavidovići (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

1933     Estimate for repairs to the roof of the church of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa, Županja, 8 May 1933, certified civil engineer Jovan Bazler (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

1933     Invoice for materials and labour on recladding the church roof, Tolisa, 30 August 1933; invoice approved by the stamp of the Conventus fratrum minorum Tolisa, signed by Fr. Valerije Filipović, guardian

1933     Estimate with description of works for the construction of a new building within the Franciscan monastery complex in Tolisa, Županja, 9 May 1933, certified civil engineer Jovan Bazler, (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

1933     Invoice for the construction of the monastery service quaters, 5 October 1933, invoice approved by stamp of the Conventus fratrum minorum Tolisa, signed by Fr. Valerije Filipović, guardian (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

1934     Contract for tinsmiths' works on the church roof in Tolisa, signed on 14 May 1934 in Tolisa, between the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa and Viktor Herbstsoner, a tinsmith from Orašje (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

1934     Receipt from Viktor Herbstsoner, tinsmith from Orašje, on receipt of payment for tinsmiths' works on the church roof in Tolisa, 29 May 1934, Tolisa (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

1935     Invoice: Expenditure on construction of new barn and shed, Tolisa, 10 October 1935; invoice approved by stamp of the Conventus fratrum minorum Tolisa, signed by Fr. Anto Loprandić, guardian (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

1937     Invoice for repairs to the bell tower, Tolisa, paid 19 August 1937; invoice approved by signatures of Fr. Martin Nedić and Fr. Ambrozije Živković (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

1937     Invoice cementing basement and terrace in front of monastery in Tolisa, Tolisa, paid 19 August 1937; invoice approved by signatures of Fr. Martin Nedić and Fr. Ambrozije Živković (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

1937     Invoice from Strojne tovarne in livarne d.d., Ljubljana, dated 31.7.1937, paid from monastery funds, 19 August 1937; invoice approved by signatures of Fr. Martin Nedić and Fr. Ambrozije Živković (Archives of the Franciscan monastery inTolisa)

1972     Ruling granting a building permit, no. 04-351-4, dated 23 February 1972 by the Municipal Secretariat for the Economy and Finances of Orašje Municipal Assembly (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

1972     Ulman, Lojzika: Liturgijsko uređenje novog svetišta župne crkve u Tolisi (Liturgical appointment of the new sanctuary of the parish church in tolisa), Lojzika Ulman, Prof. Author’s rights retained, Vinkovci, 2 November 1972 (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

1977     Contract between guardian Fr. Marko Prgomet and Pejić Ivan, certified electrician from Županja, Tolisa, 5 March 1977 (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

1977     Final account of works on reconstruction of the electric wiring of the church of the Franciscan monastery Tolisa, 3 June 1977, (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

1977     Record of technical approval carried out on the new electric wiring and sound system, Tolisa, 11 June 1977 (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

1980     Letter from the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments and Natural Rarities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, no.  05-675-1/80, of 1 Septembra 1980, to the Tolisa monastery.

1980     Institute for architecture, town planning and regional planning of the Faculty of Architecture in Sarajevo, Regional Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina; Stage «B» - valorization of natural, cultural and historical monuments, Sarajevo, 1980.

1981     Contract for repairs to the church roof in Tolisa, signed 27 January 1981, between the  Association of Catholic Religious Officials of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments and Natural Rarities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

1981     Contract on roof cladding works and lightning conductor installations on the Tolisa church, 10 October 1981, betwen the investor, the Roman Catholic parish office in Tolisa/Franciscan monastery in Tolisa, and the works contractor, Mijo Petrović, a tinsmith from Sarajevo (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

1982     Report with technical treatment for building and artisanal works on the restoration of the Franciscan church in Tolisa with approximate bill of costs. Contents of the Report: ground plan of the church in Tolisa, Scale 1:50; Cross-section A-A, Scale 1:50; Detail B, Scale 1:20, Detail C, Scale 1:20, a textual section with a description of the technical solutions, a technical description for the building works to make good the damage to the monastery church in Tolisa caused by rising damp in the outside walls and lay thermal insulation in the attic area, and carry out painting and decorating works inside the building, with a bill of quantities for the works (signed by Josip Ćeprnić in the bill of costs), Sarajevo, May 1982, (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

1984     Communication dated 25 April 1984 from the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments and Natural Rarities of Bosnia and Herzegovina no. UP-I-01-22-1/84 to the Tolisa monastery (Document from the archives of the Franciscan monastery Tolisa)

1985     Informacija (Information), document no. 2/85, 12 March 1985, Tolisa, Franciscan monastery Tolisa, signed by Fr. Pero Martinović, guardian

1984.    Smail Tihić, Kolekcija starih slika u franjevačkom samostanu u Tolisi (Collection of old paintings in the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa), Naše starine no. XVI-XVII, Sarajevo 1984, 99-108

1987     Krzović, Ibrahim, Arhitektura Bosne i Hercegovine 1878-1918 (Architecture of BiH 1878-1918), Art Gallery of BiH, 1987.

1988.    Jelena Ivoš, Tekstil. Blago franjevačkih samostana Bosne i Hercegovine (Textiles. Treasures of the Franciscan monasteries of BiH). Sarajevo, 1988, 97 - 105

1990.    Karamatić, Dr. Marko – Nikić, Dr. Andrija, Blago franjevačkih samostana Bosne i Hercegovine (Treasures of the Franciscan monasteries of BiH), Economic News – tourist information, Zagreb, 1990.

1990.    Jelenić, Julijan, Kultura i bosanski franjevci (Culture and the Bosnian Franciscans) I and II, Phototype of the 1912 edition, Svjetlost, Sarajevo, 1990.

1991     Karamatić, Marko: Franjevačka provincija Bosna Srebrena, Šematizam (Franciscan Province of Bosnia Argentina, Schematism), Sarajevo, 1991.

2001     Pala, Nerman: Iz prošlosti naših franjevaca, Franjevci u Bosni (From the past of our Franciscans, Franciscans in Bosnia) Most, Periodical for education, science and culture, no. 142 (53-new series), Mostar, September 2001

2002     Karaula, Marijan: Mjesto jubilarnog oprosta: Župna crkva u Tolisi,  Ljudi i krajevi, Reportaže o nekim župnim zajednicama i značajnim vjerskim slavljima (Site of Jubilary Year Indulgence: the Parish Church in Tolisa – People and Places, Reports on some parishes and major religious festivals), Svjetlo riječi, Sarajevo, 2002, 302-305

2002.    Fra Zvonko Miličić, Kulturno blago samostana (Cultural treasures of the monastery) Tolisa Parish 1802-2002, Tolisa 2002, 239-255

2002.    Marko Babić, Toliška župa u prapovijesnom i antičkom razdoblju (Tolisa parish in prehistory and antiquity) Tolisa Parish 1802-2002, Tolisa 2002, 3-37

(1) From copy of cadastral plan, plan nos. 19, 20, 21, 22;  scale 1:2500, cadastral plots nos.: 5109, 5110, 5112, 5113, 5114, 5115, c.m. Tolisa. Copy of cadastral plan issued on 31.10.2006 by the Department  of Regional Planning and Property Affairs of Orašje Municipality, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

(2) The boundaries of the gifted land of Tolisa are specified: running from the point at which the river Tolisa joins the Sava, the boundary follows the Tolisa river as far as Suha Tolisa (where the river Tolisa disappears underground), along the lowlands of Suha Tolisa and again along the river Tolisa to its source.  The boundary then runs to the source of the Modriča and its channel until it joins the river Bosna, whence it follows the river Bosna to its confluence with the Sava, and thence along the Sava back to the point where the Tolisa flows into it (Alojz Benac, Đuro Basler, Borivoj Čović, Esad Pašalić, Nada Miletić, Pavao Anđelić, Kulturna istorija Bosne i Hercegovina Od najstarijih vremena do pada ovih zemalja pod osmansku vlast [Cultural History of Bosnia and Herzegovina, from ancient times to the fall of these lands to the Ottomans], second revised edition, Sarajevo, 1984; J. Petrović, "Izvještaj o neolitskom naselju u Donjoj Mahali kod Orašja." [Report on a neolithic settlement in Donja Mahala near Orašje], Jnl of the National Museum, Sarajevo, 1925, 137-140).

(3) Bela IV (1206 - 1270) Hungaro-Croatian king, reigned from 1235 to 1270.

(4) Pala, Nerman: Iz prošlosti naših franjevaca, Franjevci u Bosni (From the past of our Franciscans, Franciscans in Bosnia) Most, Periodical for education, science and culture, no. 142 (53-new series), Mostar, September 2001

(5) Karamatić, Marko: Franjevačka provincija Bosna Srebrena, Šematizam (Franciscan Province of Bosnia Argentina, Schematism), Sarajevo, 1991, p. 9; Jelenić, 1990, Vol. II, p. 687

(6) Babić, J: Posavina i župa Poljaci (The Sava Valley and the Parish of Poljaci), Poljaci, 1991, 45-66; Marko Karamatić: Franjevačka provincija Bosna Srebrna (Šematizam) (The Franciscan Province of Bosnia Argentina [Schematism]), Sarajevo, 1991, 45

(7) data from the monastery archives in Tolisa

(8) Karaula, Marijan: Mjesto jubilarnog oprosta: Župna crkva u Tolisi,  Ljudi i krajevi, Reportaže o nekim župnim zajednicama i značajnim vjerskim slavljima (Site of Jubilary Year Indulgence: the Parish Church in Tolisa – People and Places, Reports on some parishes and major religious festivals), Svjetlo riječi, Sarajevo, 2002, 304

(9) Fr Bono Nedić: Kratka povjest župe crkve i samostana toliškog (A Short History of the Tolisa Parish Church and Monastery), Pećuh, 1887, 12

(10) Fra Bono Nedić: 1887, 14

(11) “..this house had six living rooms, but they were too low-ceilinged, cramped and dark,…” (Fra Bono Nedić: 1887, 25)

(12)  “…he built two beside the chapel, one of which was used as a sacristy, and installed three altars in the chapel and a fourth in a side chapel.”( Fra Bono Nedić: 1887, 26)

(13) “when the Turks became more tractable, so too the monks, who built more respectable parish houses in the Christian villages. In 1819, during the time of Captain Gradačević in the district of Gradačac, father Ilija Starčević built not only a better parish house in Tolisa, but also a small wooden church.  Thanks to his efforts, the parish priests of Dubravah and Garevo built similar wooden churches there.” (Fr. Nedić, Martin: Stanje redodržave Bosne Srebrene, poslije pada hraljevstva bosanskoga pak do okupacije (The State of the Province of Bosnia Argentina from the fall of the Bosnian Kingdom to the Occupation), Đakovo, Imprint of the Episcopal Press, Authors' Publishing House, 1884, 93-94)

(14) Marko Karamatić: Franjevačka provincija Bosna Srebrna (Šematizam), Sarajevo, 1991, 14

(15) Abdul Aziz (Istanbul, 8 February 1830 - Istanbul, June 1876). Became Turkish sultan on 25 June 1861. During his reign the Ottoman Empire sank ever further into debt, until finally state bankruptcy was declared in 1875. The unrest that then swept through the state resulted in an uprising in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The widespread discontent caused by the inflation that followed the bankruptcy led to the plot that overthrew the sultan on 30 May 1876.

(16) Fra Nedić, Martin: Stanje redodržave Bosne Srebrene, poslije pada hraljevstva bosanskoga pak do okupacije, Đakovo, Tisak biskupijske tiskare,  Naklada piščeva, 1884, 121-122

(17) Karaula, Marijan: Mjesto jubilarnog oprosta: Župna crkva u Tolisi,  Ljudi i krajevi, Reportaže o nekim župnim zajednicama i značajnim vjerskim slavljima, Svjetlo riječi, Sarajevo, 2002, 304

(18) "In the name of God …. the building of the church dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary began on 11 July 1864.  On the 17th of the same month, on the 9th Sunday, the foundation stone was laid." (Fr. Martin Nedić, Ljetopis (Chronicle), 212)

(19) Fra Bono Nedić: 1887, 29-30

(20) “The house was given the shape of a key, with one side facing north and the other west, with rooms on the exit and south sides, and wide corridors opposite. The house was built of solid materials, with an upper storey. All the rooms and the corridors on the ground floor were built with a vault of baked brick. It was built to modern taste, and has ten fine livingrooms, as well as a spacious refectory, a shack, a large brewery, etc. … That same summer the house was roofed over, and all that remained for the following year was to complete the interior…  According to the former parish priest, Mikić, 154,500 baked bricks and 40,000 unbaked bricks were used on the house, apart from the stone used for the foundations.” ( Fra Bono Nedić: 1887, 30-31)

(21) Fra Bono Nedić: 1887, 30-31

(22) Fra Bono Nedić: 1887, 39-45

(23) Fra Bono Nedić: 1887, 46-47

(24) documents from the monastery archives in Tolisa

(25) A type of floor tile. In the bill of costs for the alterations to the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa, dated 29 April 1919, the joint stock construction company of Bosnia and Herzegovina lists this as ”brick terrazzo for the church” under item 4, Masonry works on the old church flooring” (op. E. Softić).

(26) Fra Bono Nedić: 1887, 54-56

(27) Fra Bono Nedić: 1887, 50-51

(28) Fra Bono Nedić: 1887, 52-53

(29) I.e. “seminary for clerics in Tolisa”, as Fr. Bono Nedić writes (op.cit)

(30) Fra Bono Nedić: 1887, 62-63

(31) Josip pl. VANCAŠ, architect (Šopronj, Hungary, 22 March 1859 – Zagreb, Croatia, 15 December 1932). Graduated from Technical High School, department of architecture in Vienna in 1881, and from 1882 to 1884 studied architecture with Prof. Schmidt at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. Initially worked in the Fellmer and Schmidt studio. Came to Sarajevo for the first time in 1893, and settled there in 1894.  From 1890 on he worked as a civil architect. He was very active in Sarajevo, building in historical styles and later in secessionist style. From 1908 he began his quest for the Bosnian style. During his long career as an architect he designed 70 churches and town halls, ten institutes and schools, six cafés and hotels, ten banks, 102 rental and private houses, six factories and seven altars and interiors, ten extensions and conversions, and a total of some 240 blueprints, most of which were carried out. His works were shown at exhibitions in Paris, Vienna and Budapest, for which he received honours. He lived in Sarajevo until 1922.  Perceiving the value of the country’s architecture as a whole, and backed by a number of architects and civil engineers, in 1911 he put to the Bosnian Assembly a Resolution on the protection, recording, surveying and preservation of cultural monuments and concessions for building in the Bosnian style.

(32) Section 4, Research and conservation and restoration  works with details of interventions, provides greater detail on these interventions

(33) Vrbić, Brane: Upozoravajuće brojke (Cautionary numbers), Commentary of the Day, 14.3.2006, Croatian Catholic Radio, Croatian Bishops’ Conference, Zagreb

(34) Karaula, Marijan: Mjesto jubilarnog oprosta: Župna crkva u Tolisi,  Ljudi i krajevi, Reportaže o nekim župnim zajednicama i značajnim vjerskim slavljima, Svjetlo riječi, Sarajevo, 2002, 302

(35) From copy of cadastral plan, plan nos. 19, 20, 21, 22;  scale 1:2500, cadastral plots nos.: 5109, 5110, 5112, 5113, 5114, 5115, c.m. Tolisa. Copy of cadastral plan issued on 31.10.2006 by the Department  of Regional Planning and Property Affairs of Orašje Municipality, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

(36) The reference level of +/- 0,00 is the floor of the church on the ground floor (op. E. Softić)

(37) Term from descriptive geometry; horizontal projection of ceiling or vault as seen by an observer on the floor below (op. E. Softić).

(38) Blueprints of the old monastery, newly built monastery and parish office in Tolisa, Tuzla, 31 March 1923, Florian Strauss, construction company Tuzla  (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

(39) Photograph of the area around the monastery prior to 1935 (before extension of the outbuilding carried out in 1935) (note E. Softić)

(40) The monastery archives contain blueprints for the conversion of the old monastery building: ground plan 1 and second floor. These blueprints do not bear the sampt of a company or the signature of the designer, nor are they dated.  However, given that no repair works on the old monastery building were ever carried out in line with this project (the project provided for the rooms on the first and second floors of the east monastery wing to be converted into suites for the monks, in other words the first and second floors of the old monastery building would retain their residential function), and that building works on the new monastery building began in the early 1980s, this design can be dated to the 1970s. The blueprints show that the extension to the monastery to the north had already been carried out (op. E. Softić).

(41) For ease of execution, two rolled steel UNP profile (C0361) set 1.10 m and 0.90 m apart respectively were used to form the girders above the new openings, joined by steel plates 8 mm thick and 80 mm wide.

(42) The lattice makes it possible for the corn to dry naturally as it was stored on the upper floors (op. E. Softić)

(43) Sculptor Ivan Rendić (1849-1932). The Crucifixion dates from the sculptor's time in Zagreb, 1877 to 1880, when he composed a number of works for the cathedral in Đakovo, including a relief of the Passion of Christ, and probably this Crucifixion too (Oršolić, 2002, 228)

(44) M. Oršolić says of the altar: «It was made by the Franciscan lay brother Elekto Maruzzi of Zagreb during the guardianship of Fr. Anto Lapadinić. It features ornamentation in the Roman style, with symmetrical whorls. The Madonna is lifted to heaven amid gold, flowers, tendrils, and gold lace, as if on a cloud of gold. The Tabernacle is a small-sized version of the portal of ancient Croatian churches in Dalmatia.» (Oršolić, 2002, 228)

(45) The records of «Expenditure of the altar alms» includes a note to the effect that 12 groschen were paid in December 1874 for the painting of St. Anthony of Padua, to be carried on «St Anthony's day in Kostrač instead of the statue that has been carried until now». Since the monastery has no other painting of St. Anthony, the note probably pertains to this one. However, on the back of the painting is a note that it was donated to the Tolisa church in March 1978 by Amalija Marković of Brčko. Tihić assumes that the painting somehow came to the Marković family who returned it to the church in 1978 (Tihić, 1984, 105)

(46) The translation used is that in the original document.

(47) The information on the organ is from a report by Prof. Ladislav Šaban of Zagreb, compiled on 16.11.1981.

(48) The original contract entered into between Caspar Fischer and the principal of the church in Valpovo dating from 1804 reveals that Fischer indeed built the organ; the contract states that Fischer will built an organ identical to the one he built for the church of SS Peter and Paul in Osijek. This is corroborated by the identical layout and constructioin of this organ and the one in the church in Valpovo (Document from the archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

(49) copper-zinc alloy.

(50) Communication dated 25 April 1984 from the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments and Natural Rarities of Bosnia and Herzegovina no. UP-I-01-22-1/84 to the Tolisa monastery (Document from the archives of the Franciscan monastrery in Tolisa)

(51) 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, p. 62

(52) Bill of costs for the alterations to the church of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa, joint stock construction company of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo, 29 April 1910, signed by  Josip Vancaš (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

(53) Letter accompanying the Bill of costs for the alterations to the church of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa, joint stock construction company of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo, 29 April 1910, signed by  Josip Vancaš (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

(54) The existing thickness of the church walls would be insufficient to take the horizontal lateral pressure of solid brick vaults (op. E. Softić).

(55) „According to Mr. Jungwirth’s instructions, the massive piers in the church should be replaced by slenderer pillars, which would entail removing the entire roof structure, replacing it and cladding it with eternit, renewing part of the façade, repairing the domes of the bell towers, and gilding the crosses. We shall try to build the church from brick instead of the more expensive concrete; it will not be possible to open the windows in the aisle facing the monastery because the low monastery corridor (library) runs that way.  We have noted all your other less important comments and will incorporate them into the new design which we are working on these days. In anticipation of your response, we remain your most respectful servants, joint stock construction company of Bosnia and Herzegovina.” (Letter from the joint stock construction company of Bosnia and Herzegovina of Sarajevo, dated 10 June 1910, to the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa, Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

(56) Bill of costs for the alterations to the church of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa, joint stock construction company of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo, 29 April 1910, signed by  Josip Vancaš (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

(57) Contract signed in October 1910 between the superintendency of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa and the building contractor Ludwig Jungwirth of Sarajevo (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

(58) Contract for the construction and procurement of materials for the monastery church in Tolisa in Bosna, signed 14 March 1911 in Zavidovići, between the superintendency of the monastery of the Franciscan friars in Tolisa near Orašje and the Johann Pimperl construction company of Zavidovići  (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

(59) Bill of costs for the restoration of the church of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa, 3 March 1911, Johann Pimperl, Bauunternehmung, Zavidovići  (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

(60) Estimate for repairs to the roof of the church of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa, Županja, 8 May 1933, certified civil engineer Jovan Bazler (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

(61) Invoice for materials and labour on recladding the church roof, Tolisa, 30 August 1933; invoice approved by the stamp of the Conventus fratrum minorum Tolisa, signed by Fr. Valerije Filipović, guardian

(62) A Contract for tinsmiths' works on the church roof in Tolisa, signed on 14 May 1934 in Tolisa, between the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa and Viktor Herbstsoner, a tinsmith from Orašje (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

(63) Receipt from Viktor Herbstsoner, tinsmith from Orašje, on receipt of payment for tinsmiths' works on the church roof in Tolisa, 29 May 1934, Tolisa (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

(64) Estimate with description of works for the construction of a new building within the Franciscan monastery complex in Tolisa, Županja, 9 May 1933, certified civil engineer Jovan Bazler, (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

(65) Invoice for the construction of the monastery service quaters, 5 October 1933, invoice approved by stamp of the Conventus fratrum minorum Tolisa, signed by Fr. Valerije Filipović, guardian (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

(66) Invoice: Expenditure on construction of new barn and shed, Tolisa, 10 October 1935; invoice approved by stamp of the Conventus fratrum minorum Tolisa,  signed by Fr. Anto Loprandić, guardian (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

(67) Invoice for repairs to the bell tower, Tolisa, paid 19 August 1937; invoice approved by signatures of Fr. Martin Nedić and Fr. Ambrozije Živković (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

(68) Invoice cementing basement and terrace in front of monastery in Tolisa, Tolisa, paid 19 August 1937; invoice approved by signatures of Fr. Martin Nedić and Fr. Ambrozije Živković (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

(69) Machine shop and foundry

(70) Invoice Strojne tovarne in livarne d.d, Ljubljana, of 31.7.1937, paid from monastery funds on 19 August 1937; invoice approved by the signatures of Fr. Nedić and Fr. Ambrozije Živković (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

(71) Ruling granting a building permit, no. 04-351-4, dated 23 February 1972 by the Municipal Secretariat for the Economy and Finances of Orašje Municipal Assembly (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

(72) Lojzika Ulman – Croatian academic sculptress from Vinkovci. Author of numerous works: figures from Bethlehem in Subotica, for the churches: the Great Church (cathedral of St. Teresa of Avila), the  Šandor church (Mary Mother of the Church in Aleksandrovo), the Small Church (church of the Ascension), and the Bajmac church (SS Peter and Paul). The figures from the Bajmac Bethlehem were exhibited at an international exhibition in Rome, where she received first prize for idea and execution; a statue of St. Anthony – monaster of St. Anthony of Padua in Pula; interior decoration of the Chapel of St. Maximilian Kolbe in Ljubljana; sculptures in the church of St. Teresa of the Infant Jesus in Podvežics, and others. She died in Split ine 1995.

(73) Ulman, Lojzika: Liturgijsko uređenje novog svetišta župne crkve u Tolisi (Liturgical appointment of the new sanctuary of the parish church in Tolisa), Lojzika Ulman, Prof. Author’s rights retained,, Vinkovci, 2 November 1972 (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

(74) In the author’s handwriting on the study - Ulman, Lojzika: Liturgijsko uređenje novog svetišta župne crkve u Tolisi (Liturgical appointment of the new sanctuary of the parish church in Tolisa), Lojzika Ulman, Prof. Author’s rights retained, Vinkovci, 2 November 1972 (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

(75) Final account of works on reconstruction of the electric wiring of the church of the Franciscan monastery Tolisa, 3 June 1977, (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

(76) Contract between guardian Fr. Marko Prgomet and Pejić Ivan, certified elecrician from Županja, Tolisa, 5 March 1977 (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

(77) Record of technical approval carried out on the new electric wiring and sound system, Tolisa, 11 June 1977 (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

(78) Letter from the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments and Natural Rarities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, no.  05-675-1/80, of 1 Septembra 1980, to the Tolisa monastery.

(79) Contract for repairs to the church roof in Tolisa, signed 27 January 1981, between the  Association of Catholic Religious Officials of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments and Natural Rarities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

(80) According to the provisions of the Contract, the Institute contributed the sum of 50,000 dinars, and the Association of Catholic Religious Officials of Bosnia and Herzegovina undertook to cover the remaining costs.

(81) Contract on roof cladding works and lightning conductor installations on the Tolisa church, 10 October 1981, betwen the investor, the Roman Catholic parish office in Tolisa/Franciscan monastery in Tolisa, and the works contractor, Mijo Petrović, a tinsmith from Sarajevo (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

(82) Report with technical treatment for building and artisanal works on the restoration of the Franciscan church in Tolisa with approximate bill of costs. Contents of the Report: ground plan of the church in Tolisa, Scale 1:50; Cross-section A-A, Scale 1:50; Detail B, Scale 1:20, Detail C, Scale 1:20, a textual section with a description of the technical solutions, a technical description for the building works to make good the damage to the monastery church in Tolisa caused by rising damp in the outside walls and lay thermal insulation in the attic area, and carry out painting and decorating works inside the building, with a bill of quantities for the works (signed by Josip Ćeprnić in the bill of costs), Sarajevo, May 1982, (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

(83) Report with technical treatment for building and artisanal works on the restoration of the Franciscan church in Tolisa with approximate bill of costs. Contents of the Report: ground plan of the church in Tolisa, Scale 1:50; Cross-section A-A, Scale 1:50; Detail B, Scale 1:20, Detail C, Scale 1:20, a textual section with a description of the technical solutions, a technical description for the building works to make good the damage to the monastery church in Tolisa caused by rising damp in the outside walls and lay thermal insulation in the attic area, and carry out painting and decorating works inside the building, with a bill of quantities for the works (signed by Josip Ćeprnić in the bill of costs), Sarajevo, May 1982, (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

(84) At that time, the KGK company of Karlovac used Stonosal when repairing a number of old churches built without damp courses, as well as on the fortifications of the Fortress in Osijek (note. E. Softić).

(85) Lightweight concretes using wood shavings as aggregate (op. E. Softić)

(86) main project: Construction-extension of residential quarters, investor, Franciscan monastery Tolisa, construction design company Skenderija of Sarajevo, Sarajevo, February 1985 (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

(87) Informacija (Information), document no. 2/85, 12 March1985, Tolisa, Franciscan monastery Tolisa, signed by Fr. Pero Martinović, guardian

(88) Contract between the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa, represented by Fr. Pero Martinović, guardian, and Burim company of Orašje, Tolisa, 27 May 1986. (Archives of the Franciscan monastery in Tolisa)

(89) At a session held in 2003 the Government of the Republic of Croatia issued a Decision on the allocation of funds for financing health care, education, cultural and scientific programmes of Croat minorities in neighbouring and other countries and of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina from the funds of the State Budget of the Republic of Croatia for 2003.

(90) Decision of the Government of the Federation of BiH for 2005, V no. 71/05, 17 February 2005, Sarajevo

(91) Decision of the Government of the Federation of BiH for 2006, V no. 85/06, 23 March 2006, Sarajevo

(92) The slabs are set away from the wall surfaces and also from the floor by some 5 cm, with the same gap at the top, so creating a ventilation layer.

(93) A detailed description is provided in Section 2, Description of the property