Status of monument -> National monument

Published in the „Official Gazette of BiH“ no. 20/08.

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 11 to 17 September 2007 the Commission adopted a

D E C I S I O N

I

The site and remains of the architectural ensemble of the Džumanuša (Sinan Čauš or Džemanuša) mosque with harem in Livno are hereby designated as a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the National Monument).

The National Monument consists of the site and remains of the mosque and mekteb and the burial ground within the harem wall.

The National Monument stands on a site designated as cadastral plot nos. 6/81, 6/82 and 6/83, Land Register entry no. 713, property of the Majlis of the Islamic Community of Livno, cadastral municipality Livno, Livno Municipality, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The provisions relating to protection and rehabilitation measures set forth by the Law on the Implementation of the Decisions of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, established pursuant to Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of the Federation of BiH nos. 2/02, 27/02, 6/04 znd 51/07) 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 property, the following measures are hereby stipulated, applicable to the area defined in Clause 1 para. 2 of this Decision.

The Džumanuša mosque:

-          All works are prohibited other than research and conservation and restoration works, routine maintenance works, and works designed to display the monument, with the approval of the Federal Ministry responsible for regional planning (hereinafter: the relevant ministry) and under the expert supervision of the heritage protection authority of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the heritage protection authority),

-          The property may be restored to its original use in a new form, in line with ethical heritage protection principles, subject to the conservation and presentation of the remains of the original building,

-          All original fragments found and assembled on the site shall be registered, catalogued and reintegrated into the reconstructed building where possible. Until such time as they are reused they shall be properly protected;

-          Fragments that are too badly damaged to be reused shall be suitable conserved and presented within the architectural ensemble.

Site of the harem of the Džumanuša mosque:

-          All works on the nišan tombstones within the architectural ensemble are prohibited other than conservation and restoration works, including those designed to display them, with the approval of the relevant ministry and under the expert supervision of the heritage protection authority,

-          All works on the site and remains of the mekteb within the architectural ensemble are prohibited other than conservation and restoration works, including those designed to display them, with the approval of the Federal Ministry responsible for regional planning (hereinafter: the relevant ministry) and under the expert supervision of the heritage protection authority.

To prevent further deterioration of the National Monument, the following emergency protection measures are hereby prescribed:

-          Clear the mosque of self-sown vegetation,

-          Cover the remains of the mosque and ensure that they are protected from further deterioration,

-          Conduct an architectural survey of the remains of the mosque and the harem area,

-          Carry out structural repairs to the remains of the mosque,

-          Draw up a project for the conservation and restoration of the nišan tombstones.

-          Carry out the conservation and restoration of the nišan tombstones.

IV

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

V

Everyone, and in particular the competent authorities of 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 conservation thereof.

VI

The Government of the Federation, the relevant ministry, the heritage protection authority, and the Municipal Authorities in charge of urban planning and land registry affairs, shall be notified of this Decision in order to carry out the measures stipulated in Articles II to V of this Decision, and the Authorized Municipal Court shall be notified for the purposes of registration in the Land Register.

VII

The elucidation and accompanying documentation form an integral part of this Decision, which may be viewed by interested parties on the premises or by accessing the website of the Commission (http://www.aneks8komisija.com.ba) 

VIII

Pursuant to Art. V para 4 Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, decisions of the Commission are final.

IX

This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption and shall be published in the Official Gazette of BiH.

This Decision has been adopted by the following members of the Commission: Zeynep Ahunbay, Amra Hadžimuhamedović, Dubravko Lovrenović,  Ljiljana Ševo and Tina Wik.

No:  09-2-93/07-4                                                                           

12 September 2007

Sarajevo                                                                                        

Chair of the Commission  

Dubravko Lovrenović

E l u c i d a t i o n

I – INTRODUCTION

Pursuant to Article 2, paragraph 1 of the Law on the Implementation of the Decisions of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, established pursuant to Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a “National Monument” is an item of public property proclaimed by the Commission to Preserve National Monuments to be a National Monument pursuant to Articles V and VI of Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina  and property entered on the Provisional List of National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of  BiH no. 33/02) until the Commission reaches a final decision on its status, as to which there is no time limit and regardless of whether a petition for the property in question has been submitted or not.

On 10 May 2007 the Centre for Islamic Architecture submitted a petition for the designation of the Džumanuša – Sinan Čauš mosque in Livno as a national monument.

Pursuant to the provisions of the law the Commission proceeded to carry out the procedure for reaching a final decision to designate the Property as a National Monument, pursuant to Article V of Annex 8 and Article 35 of the Rules of Procedure of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments.

II – PROCEDURE PRIOR TO DECISION

In the procedure preceding the adoption of a final decision to proclaim the property a national monument, the following documentation was inspected:

• Documentation on the location and current owner and user of the property (copy of cadastral plan and copy of proof of title)
• Data on the current condition and use of the property, including a description and photographs, data of war damage, data on restoration or other works on the property, etc.
• Historical, architectural and other documentary material on the property, as set out in the bibliography forming part of this Decision.

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

1. Details of the property

Location

The site and remains of the architectural ensemble of the Džumanuša mosque with harem in Livno are located on a site designated as cadastral plot nos. 6/81, 6/82 and 6/83, Land Register entry no. 713, property of the Majlis of the Islamic Community of Livno, cadastral municipality Livno, Livno Municipality, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The main axis of the Džumanuša mosque lies north-west/south-east. The entrance is to the north-west, and the mihrab wall faces south-east.

The nišan tombstones in the mosque harem are distributed throughout the harem.

The remains of the mekteb are to the south-west of the mosque.

Historical information

The Džumanuša or Sinan Čauš or Džemanuša mosque in Livno is the oldest mosque in the town(1). It was built at a time of expansion in Livno in the first half of the 16th century, specifically in 1529, and was the third domed mosque to be built in Bosnia and Herzegovina(2). It was built at the same time as the Hamza Ljubunčić mosque that stood on the site of the present-day Balaguša mosque. The municipal defter (tax register) of the Bosnian sandžak for 1528-1530 records three mahalas in Livno, including the mahala of the Sinan Čauš mosque. The same document lists the Sinan Čauš mosque as the centre of the eponymous mahala(3).

According to Fehim Spaho, Sinan Čauš may be regarded as the founder of the kasaba (small town) of Livno and the initiator of its development in the Ottoman period(4).

Local tradition has it that the mosque was built to the orders of Gazi Husrev-beg by his haznadar (treasurer) Sinan Čauš. 

Local tradition also has it that the name of the mosque and the mahala (the Sinan Čauš mosque and mahala) were changed by the people to the Džumanuša mosque and mahala, a word deriving from the fact that juma (Friday prayers) were held in Livno in this mosque(5).

There is no surviving tarih (chronogram) on the erection of the mosque.

Ahmed Aličić gives a transcript of the tarih on the renovation of the mosque. The tarih is in Turkish, with ten distiches. It is damaged in several places, and only partly legible. The tarih recounts that the mosque was originally built by Sinan Čauš but "since it was totally dilapidated it was completely restored ('to life', as the tarih says) by emir Jusifbeg Firdus. These repairs were carried out in 1785, according to Kreševljaković, though the final verse of the tarih gives the year 1051 AH, equivalent to 1641."(6) There is no other reliable information on the erection of the mosque, apart from this tarih, since the vakufnama (deed of pious endowment) of the mosque has not survived.

During the 1878 occupation, the Džumanuša mosque played a similar part for Livno as the Gazi Husrev-beg mosque did for Sarajevo – it was used as the venue for council meetings at which a people's government was elected and the decision was taken to resist the Austrian army, with Mahmut-beg Bušatlija as leader of the resistance(7).

The mosque fell into disuse in the early 1930s(8). With the passage of time, it deteriorated and became increasingly derelict. It appears from a photograph that after World War II all that was left of the mosque was the south corner and the minaret up to the šerefe (balcony).

The minaret of the mosque was demolished in 1966, when it was dismantled and transferred to Vidimlje near Glamoč(9).

A mekteb was also built to the west of the mosque, known as the Džumanuški. It is not known when it was built. It was demolished just before World War I(10).

It is known that the Glavica, Balaguša and Džumanuša mosques had fountains for taking abdest (ritual ablutions) before a modern water main was laid. There is still a stone trough to the north of the Džumanuša mosque(11).

There is a burial ground beside the mosque. Although the Džumanuša is the oldest mosque in Livno, there are very few old nišan tombstones in its burial ground. Most of the tombstones mark the graves of combatants killed during the occupation in skirmishes with General Chihòs's troops in Suhača on 15 August 1878 and during the siege of Livno on 26 and 27 September that year. The only nišan with an epitaph belongs to one Hasan Dizdar, son of Mahmud.

The oldest dated tomb in the shape of a sarcophagus, dating from 1716, belonged to the Bosnian vali Jusuf pasha, or Uzun Hajji Jusuf pasha, who came to Bosnia in early 1715(12).

As time passed, the area around the mosque and the harem were neglected and became completely overgrown with self-sown vegetation.

In early 2007 the Majlis of the Islamic Community in Livno cleared the site of the mosque harem of litter and weeds.

2. Description of the property(13)   

The site and remains of the architectural ensemble of the Džumanuša mosque are within the Bistrik fort, on a plateau that slopes gently down towards the old  Čaršija. The ensemble is surrounded by a solid stone wall about 1.50 m high.

The entrance to the ensemble is from the north-west.

In terms of layout, the Džumanuša mosque belonged to the type of single-space domed mosque with open sofas and a stone minaret.

The mosque was square in plan, with sides about 9.0 m long on the inside. The building was 10.30 m in height to the apex of the dome.

The mosque has solid stone walls about 85 cm thick.

The interior is surrounded by four walls taking the load of the dome, which rests on a drum.  According to Aličić, the dome was supported by four walls with part of the load transferred via four strong hewn stone arches built through the walls and meeting at the corners of the building.

The mosque portico was open only on the entrance side, and had a pent roof resting on extensions of the side walls of the mosque and on pillars at the front(14).

The minaret, which stood by the south-west wall, was probably built as hexagonal in plan. According to Aličić, it was relatively short and stocky.

The minaret was decorated with carved stone. The point where the diameter of the minaret changed was accentuated by a simple string course. The area below the šerefe was decorated with stalactites.

There were two rows of windows in the facades of the building. The first row consisted of two rectangular windows on each side, surrounded on the outside by simple frames composed of stone blocks.

The second row of windows were located on the north-east and south-west side walls of the building, one placed centrally in each wall. These windows were arched, and surrounded on the outside by simple frames composed of stone blocks.

The mihrab was of stone, terminating in three rows of stalactites and topped by a wing.

According to Aličić, the mosque had at one time been clad with shingles.

In the early 1940s, as a result of the leaky roof, the layers of plaster on the inside fell away.   Aličić writes that the loss of the surface coat of plaster revealed earlier coats with painted decoration(15).

Burial ground by the Džumanuša mosque

During his stay in Livno in 1939-1942, Ahmed Aličić wrote that there were nišan tombstones beside the mosque marking the graves of combatants killed during the occupation in skirmishes with General Chihòs's troops in Suhača on 15 August 1878 and during the siege of Livno on 26 and 27 September that year. Only two of the nišan tombstones in the harem of the mosque have epitaphs, according to Aličić. One nišan with an epitaph belongs to one Hasan Dizdar, son of Mahmud.  According to Mehmed Mujezinović, the epitaph on this tombstone is in nine rows, in naskh script.

The oldest dated tomb in the burial ground is in the shape of a sarcophagus, dating from 1716, and belonged to the Bosnian vali Jusuf pasha, or Uzun Hajji Jusuf pasha, who came to Bosnia in early 1715.

The nišan tombstones are too badly damaged for it to have been possible to identify them when adopting a final decision on the property.

3. Legal status to date

There is no information concerning legal protection of the property to date.

4. Research and conservation and restoration works

According to the inscription over the entrance door to the mosque, the mosque was restored in 1785 (according to Kreševljaković) or 1641 (according to Aličić). The extent of the restoration works at that time is not known.

There is no information concerning works on the property since this restoration.

5. Current condition of the property

The Džumanuša in Livno mosque fell into disuse in the early 1930s. Neglected and without maintenance during the next 30 years, it became increasingly derelict and finally collapsed. As time passed the site of the mosque became overgrown with vegetation and cluttered with litter.

With the intention of restoring the importance of the mosque, and possibly restoring the building itself, the Majlis of the Islamic Community in Livno launched an action to clear the remains of the mosque and burial ground. Between March and May 2007 the harem of the mosque was cleared of the vegetation and rubbish and the remains of the walls of the mosque were uncovered. The area of the mosque has not yet been fully cleared, since representatives of the Majlis do not have the funds required for urgent repair works and to provide the mosque with interim protection.

At the same time as the clearance, the harem wall was rebuilt and a footpath was laid between the Džumanuša and Glavica (Dukatar) mosques.

The preliminary identification of the nišan tombstones in the harem, and reuniting their remains, were also carried out.

III – CONCLUSION

Applying the Criteria for the adoption of a decision on proclaiming an item of property a national monument (Official Gazette of BiH nos. 33/02 and 15/03), the Commission has enacted the Decision cited above.

The Decision was based on the following criteria:

A. Time frame

B. Historical value

E. Symbolic value

E.ii. religious value

E.iii. traditional value

E.v. significance for the identity of a group of people

F. Townscape/ Landscape value

F.ii. meaning in the townscape

The following documents form an integral part of this Decision:

-          Copy of cadastral plan no. 230 CXVI 910

-          Copy of land register entry no. 713

-          Photodocumentation (photograph of the property prior to destruction and photographs taken in March and May 2007 during preparations to adopt a final decision on the property)

Bibliography     

During the procedure to designate the architectural ensemble of the Džumanuša (Sinan Čauš or Džemanuša) mosque with harem in Livno as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina the following works were consulted:

1941.    Ahmed Aličić, Livanjska džamije – prilog povijesti Livna (Livno's Mosques – Contribution to the History of Livno), National Press in Sarajevo, 1941,

1998.    Mujezinović, Mehmed, Islamska epigrafika Bosne i Hercegovine (Islamic Epigraphics of BiH), bk. III, 3rd ed., Cultural Heritage Series, Sarajevo Publishing, 1998.

1999.    Rapko Orman, Blago pod kupolom – Livanjske potkupolne džamije (Domed Treasures – Livno's Domed Mosques), Planjax, 1999.

2007.    Ahmet Burek, Kameno Hlivno (Stony Livno), Planjax, 2007.

Documentation received from the Centre for Islamic Architecture and the Majlis of the Islamic Community in Livno

(1) In his Kameno Hlivno Ahmet Burek also give the name Đemanuša, claiming that the name Džemanuša was introduced by Ahmed Aličić in his Livanjske džamije – prilog povijesti Livna, and later adopted by other authors. In this Decision the name of the mosque is given as Džumanuša, the name under which the petition was submitted.

(2) In his Islamska epigrafika BiH Mehmed  Mujezinović records that the Sinan Čauš or Džumanuša mosque in Livno was the fourth domed mosque to be built in BiH. As well as the mosque of Mustafa pasha Skenderpašić (Skenderija) (1517) and the mosque of Čekrekčija Muslihudin (1523), both in Sarajevo, the Balaga or Balaguša mosque in Livno (1514) was also built before the Džumanuša mosque Islamska epigrafika BiH Bk. III, p. 95

(3) Ahmet Burek, Kameno Hlivno, p. 29.

(4) Rapko Orman, Blago pod kupolom, p. 19.

(5) According to Aličić, in the old days juma or Friday midday prayers were not held in every mosque but only in a few of them, or even in one only, in order to have as large a congregation as possible in one place. In his book Ahmed Burek says that the claim that juma prayers were held only in the Džumanuša mosque is unfounded and unacceptable (Kameno Hlivno, p. 30). In his Blago pod kupolom (p. 19) Rapko Orman says that once it entered into use the mosque became the central mosque in Livno and for this reason was used for Friday prayers, later giving rise to the name Džumanuša. He also says that the local people often call the mosque Džemanuša, which is how it appears in the Land Register for 1893. Mujezinović, on the other hand, regards the derivation of the name Džumanuša from juma prayers as untenable, since even before the Sinan Čauš mosque waqs built in Livno the Old Fort and Balaguša mosques were already in existence (Islamska epigrafika BiH, p. 99).

(6) Ahmed Aličić, Livanjske džamije – prilog povijesti Livna, p. 5.

(7) Ahmed Aličić, Livanjske džamije – prilog povijesti Livna, p. 8.

(8) Ahmed Aličić, Livanjske džamije – prilog povijesti Livna, p. 8.

(9) Rapko Orman, Blago pod kupolom, p. 18.

(10) Ahmet Burek, Kameno Hlivno, p. 31.

(11) Ahmet Burek, Kameno Hlivno, p. 122,

(12) Ahmed Aličić, Livanjske džamije – prilog povijesti Livna, p. 8. The author also gives the names of the people buried in the harem of the mosque, stating that the absence of epitaphs on the nišan tombstones makes it impossible to identify which grave belongs to whom.

(13) The description of the property is given on the basis of the description of the mosque by Ahmed Aličić and a photograph of the building taken in 1930.

(14) Aličić says that the roof of the portico had already been demolished when he visited the mosque in 1939-1942.

(15) Ahmed Aličić, Livanjske džamije – prilog povijesti Livna, p. 5.