Published in the “Official Gazette of BiH”, no. 1/10.

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 20 to 27 November 2007 the Commission adopted a

D E C I S I O N

I

The industrial heritage of the production of salt in Tuzla is hereby designated as a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the National Monument).

The National Monument consists of three groups:

1. the old Kreka salt works with chimney, workshops and rare materials warehouse, the Salt Museum with movable heritage,

2. the complex of brine wells and pumping station,

3. a brine well dating from the Ottoman period.

Group 1, the old Kreka salt factory with chimney, workshops and rare materials warehouse, is located on a site consisting of the following cadastral plots:

-       c.p. 3182/3, cadastral municipality Tuzla I (new survey)(1) corresponding to c.p. 2081/2, c.m. Tuzla (old survey),

-       c.p. 3182/9, c.m. Tuzla I (new survey)(2) corresponding to c.p. 2082/6, c.m. Tuzla (old survey),

-       c.p. 3191/2, c.m. Tuzla I (new survey)(3) corresponding to c.p. 2087/3 (old survey),

-       c.p. 3182/17, c.m. Tuzla I (new survey)(4) corresponding to c.p. 2072/5 (old survey),

-       c.p. 3182/18, c.m. Tuzla I (new survey)(5) corresponding to c.p. 2072/4 (old survey).

Group 2, the complex of brine wells and pumping station, is located on a site consisting of the following cadastral plots:

-       c.p. 2634, c.m. Tuzla II (new survey)(6) corresponding to c.p. 6/599, c.m. Tuzla (old survey),

-       c.p. 2623, c.m. Tuzla II (new survey)(7) corresponding to c.p. 6/295, 6/296 (old survey),

-       c.p. 2862, c.m. Tuzla II (new survey)(8) corresponding to c.p. 6/790 (part), 6/287 (part), 6/562 (part), 6/285 (part), 6/776, 6/773, 6/774, 6/776 c.m. Tuzla (old survey),

-       c.p. 2620, c.m. Tuzla II (new survey)(9) corresponding to c.p. 6/293 (part0 (old survey),

-       c.p. 2619, c.m. Tuzla II (new survey)(10) corresponding to c.p. 6/539 (old survey),

-       c.p. 2611, c.m. Tuzla II (new survey)(11), 2612, 2613, c.m. Tuzla II (new survey)(12)  corresponding to c.p. 6/815? (old survey),

-       c.p 2859, 2861 c.m. Tuzla II (new survey)(13) corresponding to 6/285 (part), 6/562 (part), 6/164 (part), 6/166 (part), 6/768 (part), 6/287 (part), 6/780 (part), 6/192 (part), c.m. Tuzla (old survey),

-       c.p. 2598, 2597 c.m. Tuzla II (new survey)(14) corresponding to c.p. 6/287, 6/286, 6/766 (part), 6/562 (part), 6/285 (part), 6/193 (part), 6/633 (part), 6/211 (part), 6/765, 6/764, 6/763, 6/762, 6/761, 6/524, 6/525 c.m. Tuzla (old survey),

-       c.p. 2557, c.m. Tuzla II (new survey)(15) corresponding to c.p. 6/281 (part) (old survey),

-       c.p. 2568, c.m. Tuzla II (new survey)(16) corresponding to c.p. 6/688 (part) (old survey),

-       c.p. 2566, c.m. Tuzla II (new survey)(17) corresponding to c.p. 6/960 (old survey),

-       c.p. 2567, c.m. Tuzla II (new survey)(18), 2556, c.m. Tuzla II (new survey)(19) corresponding to c.p. 6/959 (old survey),

-       c.p. 2555, c.m. Tuzla II (new survey)(20) corresponding to c.p. 6/786 (part) (old survey),

-       c.p. 2554, c.m. Tuzla II (new survey)(21) corresponding to c.p. 6/787 (part), 6/788 (old survey),

-       c.p. br. 2546, c.m. Tuzla II (new survey)(22), corresponding to c.p. 6/969, 6/970, 6/971, 6/973, 6/974, 6/975, 6/976, c.m. Tuzla (old survey),

-       c.p. 2549/1, c.m. Tuzla II (new survey)(23), 2547/2, c.m. Tuzla II (new survey)(24), 2547/1, c.m. Tuzla II (new survey)(25), corresponding to c.p. 6/357, 6/916, 6/446 (old survey).

Group 3, the brine well dating from the Ottoman period, is located on a site consisting of the following cadastral plots:

-       c.p. 288/1, c.m. Tuzla II (new survey)(26) corresponding to c.p. 5/181, 5/183, 5/184, 5/196, 5/197, 5/199, 5/220, 5/221, 5/222, 5/230 (old survey) and c.p. 288/2, c.m. Tuzla II (new survey)(27)  corresponding to c.p. 5/400, 5/399 (old survey)

The provisions relating to protection measures set forth by the Law on the Implementation of the Decisions of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, established pursuant to Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of the Federation of BiH nos. 2/02, 27/02 and 6/04) shall apply to the National Monument.

II

The Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the Government of the Federation) shall be responsible for providing the legal, scientific, technical, administrative and financial measures necessary for the protection, conservation, restoration, and presentation of 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 basic details the monument and the Decision to proclaim the property a National Monument.

III

To ensure the on-going protection of the National Monument, the following protection measures are hereby prescribed:

-       a programme shall be drawn up to produce planning projects for the groups for which area planning documentation has not been drawn up, to ensure that the integrity and legibility of the National Monument are preserved, determine the potential for the development of salt production using modern methods in a manner that will not endanger the National Monument, and identify ways in which the groups might be linked in order to present the production of salt.

In regard to the separate groups constituting the National Monument, the programme for the production of planning projects should include:

-       for group 1, create a dedicated access to the old Kreka salt works with chimney and workshops and rare materials warehouse and the Salt Museum, from XVIII hrvatske brigade street on the northern boundary of the site. This shall be kept separate from the other facilities within the factory precincts of Solana d.d. Tuzla, so as to ensure controlled and unimpeded access for visitors

-       for group 2, erect a barrier around the protected site specified in Clause 1 para. 4 of this Decision; set the boundaries of the protected site to coincide with the boundaries of the industrial heritage defined on the map Kompleks kulturni krajolik Panonskog jezera Tuzla (Complex of the cultural landscape of the Pannonian lake, Tuzla) scale 1:1000, which forms an integral part of this Decision

-       for group 3, prohibit within a radius of 10 m from the boundaries of the protected site of group 3 the erection of buildings or facilities the appearance or operation of which could be detrimental to the National Monument.

Repair, remedial, conservation, restoration and revitalization works, and works designed to present salt production and the historic significance of the monument shall be permitted on the individual properties within the groups constituting the National Monument.

Conservation and restoration projects for the individual properties within the groups should cover:

For the buildings in group 1:

Old Kreka salt works with chimney and workshops:

-       damage to the walls, pillars, interstorey structure, floors, surrounding wall/fence, steps, roof structure and damaged roof cladding shall be made good, and the inside walls shall be plastered and painted

-       conservation and restoration works shall be carried out on the façades of the property, based on original documentation and prior investigative works

-       the interior of the workshops may be reconstructed, fitted and restored to their original condition and function.

Rare materials warehouse to the east of the old Kreka salt works:

-       conservation and restoration works on the façades of the property

-       the interpolation of new complementary components inside the property is permitted provided that they are not detrimental to the original appearance of the property.

Salt Museum building:

-       repair and conversion works designed to integrate it functionally with the old Kreka salt works and rare materials warehouse.

For the buildings in group 2: the complex of brine wells and pumping station:

-       the damaged roof structure and roof cladding shall be repaired, after first conducting investigative works to determine the cause of the appearance of cracks on the south-west corner of the building

-       structural repairs to the south-west corner

-       routine maintenance works on the well towers shall be carried out.

For the Ottoman-period brine well

-       the installation of a climate control system to ensure optimal moisture content (50-60%) and air temperature (16° do 22° C)

Suitable physical and technical conditions for the safe-keeping of the production technology in the old Kreka salt works and the movable heritage in the Salt Museum, and in particular:

-       conservation and restoration works shall be carried out on all the production plant and metal items to prevent further corrosion and to protect them from further deterioration

-       suitable museum conditions shall be provided for housing metal items to prevent their further deterioration, by installing a climate control system to ensure optimal moisture content (50-60%) and air temperature (16° do 22° C) in the production shed of the old Kreka salt works and the exhibition premises of the Salt Museum.

The display and other forms of presentation of the movable heritage in Bosnia and Herzegovina shall be effected under the terms and conditions stipulated by the ministry of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina responsible for culture.

A maintenance programme shall be drawn up for the various buildings and groups, to include their presentation to the general public.

-       the use of multimedia technical solutions is permitted for the purpose of presenting the old technology used in the production process in the old Kreka salt works

-       all interventions on the National Monument must have the prior approval of the federal ministry responsible for regional planning and be carried out under the expert supervision of the heritage protection authority of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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 forming part of the National Monument (hereinafter: the movable heritage) from Bosnia and Herzegovina is prohibited.

By way of exception to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, 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 from Bosnia and Herzegovina of the movable heritage, the Commission shall stipulate all the conditions under which the removal may take place, the date by which the property 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.

VI

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.

VII

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.

VIII

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

IX

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.

X

This Decision shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Gazette of BiH.

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

No: 06.1-2-118/06-8

21 November 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.

On 31 May 2006 and 13 November 2007 Tuzla Municipality submitted a proposal to the Commission to designate as a national monument:

-       the old Kreka salt works and Salt Museum

-       the cultural landscape of the Pannonian lake in Tuzla which includes a proposal to designate the brine wells and pumping station and the Ottoman-period brine well.

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 – PRELIMINARY PROCEDURE

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

-       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.

-       The current condition of the property.

-       Copies of cadastral plans.

-       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 Tuzla basin, with which the salt deposits in Tuzla are associated spatially, lies between Mt. Majevica to the north and the serpentine zone to the south, in the area of the old deep rift in the lithosphere which now reveals itself in the area between Teslić, Doboj, Gračanica, Živinice and Zvornik. The area is bounded by the expanse of neogenic formations from Ugljevik to Đurđevik to the south-east and Gračanica to Sočkovac to the north-west(28) (documentation of the Tušanj salt mine).

The town of Tuzla is in north-east Bosnia, on the flanks of Mt. Majevica.

The old Kreka salt works in Tuzla lies within the grounds of the Soli Tuzla salt works at no 3 Soli (Salt) street, in the centre of town. The Solana Tuzla salt works is in the western quarter of the town, between the river Jala to the south, Salt street to the west, XVIII Croatian Brigade street to the north, and Mijo Kerošević street to the east.

The Salt Museum is located within the grounds of the Soli Tuzla salt works at no 3 Salt street, in a building designed to store salt packaging. This building and that of the old Kreka salt mine are interconnected.

The pumping station and salt mines are located on Borić hill, to the north of Trnovac street and east of Borić street.

The Ottoman-period brine well is in the centre of the town of Tuzla, in Solni (Salt) square.

Historical information

Salt has been produced in Tuzla ever since the Neolithic period. Archaeological material, shards from pottery vessels, found in the town of Tuzla around the present-day Šarena mosque and square attest to the present of a Neolithic settlement. These fragments consisted of the rim and parts of the belly of a pot of which the rim curved inwards(29). Later, at the end of the 1st century BCE, what is now Bosnia and Herzegovina was conquered by the Romans. There is no material evidence of brine having been extracted from this part of the country, but the Romans called the town where Tuzla now stands “To Salines”, meaning salt. The earliest written reference to the name of the town is associated with a note by Constantine Porphyrogenitus in his De administrando imperio, where he refers to Tuzla as an “inhabited town” by the name of Salanes(30), commenting that it lies within the state of prince Časlav (Buljugić, 1990, 12). However, it is only during mediaeval times that the first evidence of salt production in Tuzla appears(31). At that time Tuzla belonged to the old Bosnian county of Soli, which covered the river Jala valley and the upper course of the river Spreče(32). The earliest written evidence of salt in this part of the world dates from 1189 and was signed by Ban (governor) Kulin and Dubrovnik (Basler, 1975, 12). In 1225, King András II formally bestowed the county of Soli on Archbishop Ugrin of Kalocsa. Somewhat later, in 1253, there is reference to the first trade in salt in this part of the world. A trade agreement was entered into by Dubrovnik and Bulgaria's Tsar Mihajl Asen. In 1254 King Béla IV divided Bosnia into three banates, one of which was the banate of Soli. He followed this in 1263 by uniting Usora and Soli with Mačva into a separate vojvodina (duchy). During the reign of László (Ladislaus, Ladislav) IV Kumanac (1272-1290), this region was ruled by Ban Henrik, a foreign feudal lord probably appointed by the king of Hungary. The Hungarian rulers granted the administration of the area to Serbia’s King Dragutin from 1284 to 1316 (Ćirković, 1964). The political situation in Soli became more secure only with the reign of Ban Stjepan II Kotromanić (1322-1353), who styled himself lord of “Soli and other districts,” as recognized by Dubrovnik in 1324. About thirty years later, in 1356, Tvrtko I styled himself ban of “all Bosnia and the whole of Usora and Soli.” After Bosnia was proclaimed as a kingdom, in 1377, Soli became part of the title of the ruler, which was: “King of Serbia, Bosnia, Primorje [the coastal region], Hum Land, the Western Marches, Donji Kraj, Usora, Soli, Podrinje [the Drina valley] and [lands] theretowards” (Basler, 1975, 12). There were two settlements at that time - Gradovrh(33) in the Solina valley and Grad(34) in Gornja Tuzla. Economic development stagnated in this part of the world as a result of Bosnia's previously giving up salt production on its own account here in favour of the Dubrovnik monopoly; this in turn weakened the position of the county of Soli as a whole. Nothing is known about salt production or the extraction of brine during this period.

The county of Soli first came under Ottoman rule in 1460, at the same time as did Srebrenica and Zvornik. However, the Hungarians launched a counter-offensive in 1464, and the town of Sol again came under Hungarian rule. The Ottomans finally conquered it in 1474. The first census, conducted that year, refers to it as Agac Tuzla(35), district of Zvornik, and records it as a timar [type of feudal] holding. Three years later, however, Tuzla became an imperial has or holding [Ar. khas], evidence that some salt production had begun. In 1478 the kadi of Zvornik began court proceedings to offer a three-year lease on the production of salt in Donja Sol (Tuzla),and the following year the brine springs in Gornja Sol (Tuzla) were also leased out (mukata [from the Arabic muqataa']) for three years. Ottoman document record the first leaseholders of the salt works, reis Mursela and reis Bahadir of Zvornik, with Musa, captain of Zvornik, as their guarantor (Handžić, 1975, 19). Another form of exploitation of the brine springs, in addition to short leases, was malikana [derived from Arabic mulk, tenure or possession] or perpetual leasehold. The difference between mukata and malikana is that malikana leaseholders could bequeath real or movable property to other persons as heirs, whereas mukata was a fixed-term lease in the name of a specific person. In 1548 the Ottoman authorities issued a kanun-nama (legal document) for the two Tuzla nahijas of Gornja and Donja Tuzla, setting out the provisions governing the production of salt(36). That year the annual state revenues from salt amounted to 70224 akčas in Donja Tuzla and 59632 akčas in Gornja Tuzla. The next item of information on Tuzla's brine springs is to be found in the monograph Rumelia and Bosnia by the Ottoman geographer and historian Hajji Kalfa, dating from the first half of the 17th century. Hajji Kalfa says of Tuzla: “Memlahatsin (Soli, Tuzli), 24 days from Istanbul, between Bosnia, Belgrade, Zvornik, Gračanica and Srebrenica. There are two brine springs in the market square there, hence its name, which means two springs in Arabic” (Ilić, Kulenović, 1978, 43).

Evidence that there were brine wells in the Ottoman period can be seen in the brine well in Salt Square in Tuzla.

The earliest details of the processing of brine into salt dates from the 17th century, when Atanasije Georgice described three ways of processing brine(37):

1. The brine is extracted from the ground, heated to boiling point and left to boil in large iron pans until the salt separates out in the bottom. Pure, fine salt is obtained by this process.

2. Deep holes as big as “two persons in number” are filled with wood which is then burned... “when the wood is red hot, earth soaked in brine [?] is added to the pit. The hot smoke from the pit and the burning branches rapidly evaporate the water and the dry salt is extracted from it. Care should be taken that the flame and embers are not extinguished, but can always burst into flame again. By pouring brine in this way until the fire is out, large lumps of dry salt accumulate at the bottom of the pit.” (Ilić, Kulenović, 1978, 42). (Salt obtained in this way is darker in colour and with an admixture of ash; it is used as salt licks for livestock.)

3. Brine is dripped through a wickerwork sieve. Since only a little water is poured onto the wickerwork, the water rapidly evaporates, leaving crystalline salt in situ(38). (Ilić, Kulenović, 1978, 42).

In his monograph on Bosnia, printed in Paris in 1816, Amedée Chaumette des Fosses published the notes from his travels through this part of the world in 1807 and 1808. Des Fosses observes that Bosnia imports considerable quantities of salt, but that “nature has not left it without salt. The brine wells in Tuzla are evidence of this. At the bottom of the valley where Donja Tuzla lies are seventy or eighty wells with a usual diameter of six feet. The water is usually at a depth of four to five feet. When the water is evaporated off in large salt-kettles, salt of the finest quality remains as a deposit. However, only wealthy people can afford this salt, because little is produced and its price is much higher than that of ordinary salt. The valley where Gornja Tuzla is located, two hours beyond Donja Tuzla, also has forty to fifty brine wells exploited in the same way.” (Ilić, Kulenović, 1978, 43)(39). In his Zemljopis i poviestnica Bosne (Geography and History of Bosnia), published in Zagreb in 1851, Ivan Jukić notes that there are three wells in Donja Tuzla from which brine is extracted and salt is later evaporated off. This salt, he says, is known by the locals as “šapulja.” He too says that there is a town two hours from Donja Sol with more brine wells (Jukić, 1953, 330).

In a monograph entitled The Mineral Industry in Bosnia and Herzegovina, published in Vienna in 1900, Franz Poech refers to the use of brine and the production of salt. His book includes a drawing of a complete salt works, and an explanation of how it operates: “The brine from a small spring in the ground is heated over fire in a large salt-kettle, 1.5 m in diameter, below which a wood fire is laid. From time to time, brine is poured into the bottom of the salt-kettle.” (Ilić, Kulenović, 1978, 45).

Generally speaking, salt works in the Ottoman period were simple one-room wooden structures measuring about 4.5 x 4.5 m, large enough for two furnaces at the most with pans, accoutrements and tools. Simple tools were used to process the brine: a pan, a trivet, something to stir the water with, a wooden bucket and a barrel. The tools were made of poplar, maple, willow or walnut wood, since wood is resistant to corrosion. According to information gathered from various Ottoman documents, at the end of Ottoman rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina, about 467,000 oka [1 oka = 3 lbs) of salt were produced in Tuzla annually.

Later, between the two world wars, engineer Branko Jokanović wrote about the exploitation of brine and the production of salt just before the Austro-Hungarian occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. “The water was drawn using a scoop called a vadača, of which there were six each of 50 litres at the well in Donja Tuzla. There were two workers for each scoop. The water was boiled off by traders in primitive salt-kettles, of which there were 80 in forty wooden sheds. The brine was given to them by a Turkish official who opened a well at 4 in the morning and handed out the water to the traders, closing it again at 4 in the afternoon, when he collected the salt-kettle tax, which was 10 groschen per salt-kettle per day. It was forbidden to work other than between these times. The water was boiled until it had completely evaporated, which took 12 hours. A single cauldron would produce 20 to 30 loads of salt (250-350 kg) in a week, which means that the daily yield of salt in Donja Tuzla was about 2,500 kg. In Gornja Tuzla there were 10 salt-kettles with an approximate daily yield of 300 kg.... These wells in Gornja and Donja Tuzla were to cease working with the occupation of Bosnia. The price of salt in the Turkish period was about a groschen an oka, but when wood rose in price it could be as much as 12 krajcars” (Jokanović, 1930, 15). In this same work, Jokanović says that judging the density of the saline solution and removing harmful ingredients were carried out as follows: “The water was graded using an egg, with the concentration of salt in the water judged according to the depth to which the egg sank. Harmful admixtures in the brine were removed by allowing the water in the salt-kettle to come to the boil, and then beating the white of an egg in cold water in a bowl and pouring it into the salt-kettle of boiling brine. The green scum that rose to the surface was immediately skimmed off, leaving the water to continue boiling until it had completely evaporated away” (Jokanović, 1930, 16).

The salt so obtained was packed in bags, sacks and crates lined with fabric, and transported by kiridžijas (drovers) on pack horses.

With the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Tuzla retained its name as the official name of the town. Along with their mining investigations in central Bosnia, the new authorities began making preparations for the exploitation of salt and coal in the Tuzla district. In 1879, the existing salt works were bought from Tuzla's tuzdžijas (salt workers). In addition, a range of measures and legislative provisions were introduced, including a monopoly over the production of salt (1880). Heavy fines were introduced for smuggling salt, ranging from 50 to 400 crowns. That year, too, on the basis of encouraging geological studies of the resources of coal and salt in the Tuzla region, the Austro-Hungarian authorities decided to embark on detailed investigations of coal and salt by deep drilling. These works were carried out between 1880 and 1885. After the discovery of rich deposits of salt in 1884, extensive preparations began to build the first industrial salt works in Simin Han(40). That same year a cast-iron brine pipe with a diameter of 7 cm was laid over a distance of 3.5 km, linking the salt works in Simin Han with two brine wells in Gornja Tuzla. The salt works began production on 25 March 1885. The first year's production was about 1,858 tonnes of salt. It was produced in two salt-kettles where the brine was boiled off. By 1890, this salt works had six salt-kettles in production with an overall heating area of 696 m2, in which about 70 tonnes of salt were produced each year. Once this salt works was in operation, the import of salt into Bosnia and Herzegovina dwindled to almost nothing.

The technical procedure for obtaining salt was as follows: the brine was pumped from the brine wells and piped to pans to a level of 45 cm. The water was heated in the pans by coal-fired furnaces beneath the pans. The water was brought to the boil, and the process itself was called boiling. As the boiling proceeded, the salt gradually crystallized and the water steamed off. A saline mush remained at the bottom of the pan, which was then removed using a tool known as a čaklja(41), and turned into wooden chests. The salt was turned gently every hour and more vigorously every two hours. The salt was shovelled out of the chests into a strainer. After straining, the salt was transferred in wooden trolleys, and later in overhead wagons, to the drying room where it was heated to a temperature of 700°C. After drying the salt was turned and shovelled to the edge of the drying room, and then scooped into small wooden tubs, from which it was tipped through a funnel into linen (later jute) sacks. The packaged salt was then ready for the market. Until 1920, coarse salt only was produced, but after that fine salt was also produced. This technology was retained until 1937.

The new authorities intended dramatically to reduce the import of salt as well as to provide cheaper raw materials for the local chemicals industry in Lukavac and Jajce. To this end, trial drillings began in 1885 on Trnovac hill, where high concentrations of brine and rich deposits of rock salt were found. Given the good results of studies of the quality and quantity of salt deposits in Trnovac and lignite in Kreka, the Austro-Hungarian authorities decided to make preparations to build another industrial zone. Kreka was chosen as the new site because of the proximity of a colliery and the brine wells. Work then began on sinking brine wells in Trnovac to extract brine for the salt works in Simin Han and Kreka. An industrial rail track was laid to bring coal to the site of the new salt works in Kreka(42). Once the Doboj-Simin Han railway line was opened in 1886, it became easier to transport coal from the Kreka colliery(43) to the salt works in Simin Han.

In order to compile more accurate project and technical documentation to build and launch the salt works in Kreka, an industrial salt works was built on Trnovac hill in 1886, with one salt-kettle of an experimental nature. The idea was to monitor the salt production process in one salt-kettle so as to determine standard consumption of brine, coal and electricity and technological indicators in the process of producing salt by evaporation. This experimental salt works included one well, pipelines and a pump to convey the brine to a holding tank, a small (1 megawatt) power station, a salt-kettle, a warehouse for the salt, a coal depot, a maintenance workshop, and an office building with a flat for the brine well foreman, the steiger (Buljugić, 1990, 39). This experimental salt works kept working until the end of World War I.

The results of the experimental industrial production in the single-salt-kettle salt works in Trnovac were used when designing the salt works in Kreka. The Kreka works, with two production salt-kettles, began production in 1891. It was more modern than the Simin Han salt works and produced significantly more salt per salt-kettle. The annual salt production capacity was about 2,000 tonnes. The blocking plant, producing block salt(44) for human and animal consumption, was also enlarged. In 1896 two new salt-kettles were added to the Kreka salt works, together with four driers with an area of 334 m2. The Kreka salt works had two holding tanks for the brine from Trnovac, with a total capacity of 194 m2. In 1905, in order to increase the salt production capacity in the Kreka salt works, the management of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Saltworks commissioned a project to build two new salt-kettles, with a heating area of 160 m2 each, and two driers with a total area of 126 m2 (2 x 63 m2). This project included the design of a new brine pipeline to convey brine from Trnovac to the Kreka salt works. The salt-kettles built to this design began operating in 1908. In 1913 another three began operating. The fire that swept through the salt works in 1931 completely destroyed the plant, the 1891 salt-kettles and the blocking plant. As a result, a new blocking plant was built in 1933(45). The following year, production of iodized salt began in the salt works(46). In 1931 the salt-kettles were modernized in the last plants to be built.

On the eve of World War II, the Tuzla salt works with its plants in Simin Han and Kreka had a total of 13 salt-kettles in production, with plans to enlarge and increase production capacity. However, the machinery that had already been ordered was destroyed during transportation to Tuzla after the war had broken out. The salt works in Simin Han worked throughout World War II, but the Kreka salt works and all its salt-kettles were destroyed in 1943 when the Partisan troops withdrew from Tuzla in November.

Four salt-kettles were restored in the Kreka salt works between 1944 and 1946. After World War II ended, the Tuzla salt works continued operating, trying to restore its destroyed production capacity. In the early 1950s, work began on building new salt-kettles to evaporate brine. In 1952 three new salt-kettles were built and began production.

Between 1952 and 1970 the salt works in Simin Han and Kreka had 16 salt-kettles in production. Expert analyses conducted in the mid 1960s showed that there was no economic justification for further investment in the modernization and mechanization of the obsolete salt-production technology in the salt works, and that the existing level of production technology was lagging behind world production. As a result, work began on building a new state-of-the-art salt works. At the same time, the old salt-kettles still in production were gradually decommissioned. The decommissioning took until 1975. Between 1891 and 1952, 12 salt-kettles had been built and begun production in the Kreka salt works, along with seven tall industrial chimneys. Following the decision to decommission the old salt-kettles once the new plant began production, all the chimneys and production facilities, including the salt-kettles, were demolished, with the exception of three salt-kettles and one chimney built in 1952, which were left as part of the Salt Museum of the Tuzla salt works, and which are the subject of protection under the terms of this Decision.

2. Description of the property

OLD KREKA SALT WORKS AND RARE MATERIALS WAREHOUSE

The old Kreka salt works and its plant were built in the 1950s.

The building with salt-kettles 10, 11 and 12 (marked on the site plan of the salt works as no. 14) measures 33.50 x 54.60 m, as does the rare materials warehouse (marked on the site plan of the salt works as no. 6), and both are of the same height with identical façades.

The building with salt-kettles 10, 11 and 12 has a single wooden roof consisting, in fact, of three interlinked gabled roofs with their ridges running crosswise to the building (north-south), forming two gullies also running north-south where their roof panes meet. Given the wide span of approx. 18 m, the roof trusses of each of these three gabled roofs, which joined to form a single roof over the entire production shed, consist of a combination of double sloped studs, fixed on both sides by 2 x 12/16 cm ties level with the topmost 18 x 18 cm purlins and 2 x 16/20 cm ties on both sides level with the middle 18 x 18 cm purlins, while each roof truss is reinforced by three steel tie beams. The rafters are 12 x 15 cm in section and the struts are stouter, at 22 x 25 cm. The roof cladding is asbestos tiles. The roof ridge is at a height of 14.10 m above ground level.

The roof trusses of the production shed rest on the bearing perimeter walls of the building and a system of transverse (north-south) reinforced concrete beams and bearers. The structural system of the building consists of a combination of massive perimeter walls and reinforced concrete pillars and transverse bearers with a horizontal reinforced concrete slab to add rigidity to the entire structure. There are two rows of transverse pillars, set 18 metres apart, between the outer bearing walls of building no. 14, which are approx. 51 cm thick and built of solid brick. The ground-floor pillars measure approx. 40 x 60 cm in section, while those on the first floor are circular in section, with a diameter of approx. 30 cm; the pillars themselves are approx. 4.00 m apart on the first floor and 4 and 8 metres apart on the ground floor. The load-bearing interstorey structure is a reinforced concrete slab approx. 20 cm thick at a height of 4.00 m about floor level.

The three salt-kettles, each with a footprint of approx. 8.75 x 20.60 m, are set approx. 9.20 m apart. To reduce heat loss and achieve the highest possible temperatures when heating the brine in the salt-kettles, a separate gabled roof was erected above each salt-kettle. This consists of 10 x 12 cm wooden rafters set on 14 x 16 cm purlins, with one-inch boards nailed to the rafters, with a slight pitch of 10 degrees and the ridge about 1.35 m above the top of the salt-kettle. The sides were closed off by wooden shutters made of one-inch boards. A grid of wooden girders set on posts set about 4 m apart (structurally speaking, a wooden frame) was mounted above each kettle, to which the roof structure was attached by wire cables. The posts holding up the grid bearers stood on a concrete slab, and were joined by wooden beams running north-south, parallel to the longer side of the salt-kettle over which the structure was mounted, to add rigidity to the frame as well as providing anchorage for the wire cables.

Fireproof bricks were used to make three furnaces under each of the salt-kettles. The walls were massive, at 85 cm thick, and the firebox had very deep foundations, at 3.40 m below ground floor level. A system of pipes and ducts of various rectangular cross-sections served to circulate the hot air that heated the salt-kettles; the hot air evacuation system consisted of separate vertical ducts joined to the roofs of the salt-kettles (each of which had one vertical duct with an average cross-section of approx. 2.50 x 2.50 m, with the top of the outlet duct at a height of 16.10 m). The salt-kettles and the masonry structures of the fireboxes and furnaces were free-standing structures, with their own separate foundations. To accommodate the centrifuge, conveyor belt and rotary dryer, an area of approx. 8.15 x 44.15 m by the north wall was left clear, without the interstorey reinforced concrete slab, thus providing the two-storey height required. Two staircases around this air well led from the ground to the first floor. On the outside, a platform with a pent roof was built by the south wall, used to load salt into the wagons, which was transported along a separate branch of the railway line that ran into the salt works complex.

The technical process of salt production at this time was as follows: brine from the springs (Borić, Hukalo, Trnovac) was fed by pipeline into the salt works precinct. The raw, unpurified brine was fed into wooden tanks and then piped into the salt-kettles to a height of 45 cm. Here the coal-fired furnaces heated the brine until the salt crystallized out. This caused the salt to form a mushy deposit at the bottom of the furnace. This saline mush was extracted by čaklja into a trough or grabuljar(47) and thence to be strained. This removed much of the water, and the strained salt was then transported by trolley and overhead wagons to the centrifuge where the water was mechanically removed from the salt. This reduced the moisture content in the salt from 7% to 2%. The centrifuged salt was then conveyed further in a rubber bucket elevator to the rotary drier(48). This operated on the principle of injecting air and salt into the chamber to further dry the salt, which was then packed.

The plant in the old Kreka salt works was decommissioned in 1975. All the plant has been retained in the 1952 production shed and is open to the public. In the 1980s the Tuzla salt works designated this as a Salt Museum.

The following can be seen in the surviving production shed:

-       on the first floor:

-         the pipes that fed brine into the salt-kettles

-         salt-kettle no. 10 with trough for the removal of saline mush

-         salt-kettle no. 11 with trough for the removal of saline mush

-         salt-kettle no. 12 with trough for the removal of saline mush

-         čakljas, chests for soaking the čakljas, trolleys, overhead wagons, device for flattening the sheet metal on which the salt-kettles were mounted

-         strainer plant

-       on the ground floor:

-         furnace and firebox for salt-kettle no. 10

-         furnace and firebox for salt-kettle no. 11

-         furnace and firebox for salt-kettle no. 12

-         centrifuge where mechanical action reduced the moisture content of the salt from 7% to 2%

-         conveyor belt

-         rotary drier

The salt-kettles in which the brine was heated were constructed on the first floor of the production shed, and measure approx. 8.75 x 20.60 m. Below each of these is a coal-fired furnace. Access to the fireboxes is not currently possible on account of the destroyed driers on the ground floor. The base of the salt-kettles, to a height of 50 cm, is brick-built, with the inside in which the brine is heated lined with metal plates riveted together(49). Above the masonry section of the salt-kettles is a wooden structure with a maximum height of 180 cm. The salt-kettles are covered by a low-pitched gabled roof. The salt-kettles are entered through a door in the masonry section. Above the salt-kettles are the pipes used to convey the brine, which run through the roof into the base of the salt-kettles. To one side of each salt-kettle is a grabuljar – a narrow wooden trough with a slight fall, running the full length of the bottom of the salt-kettle. The saline mush was transferred to this trough and then taken to be mechanically strained on a square platform in the middle of the first floor of the production shed. All the tools used while heating the water and transporting the saline mush to the drier on the ground floor were made of wood; metal would have corroded in contact with the brine. After use these wooden tools were placed in a trough of sweet water to be cleaned. A metal funnel ran from the platform on which the saline mush was mechanically strained down to the ground floor for further drying.

The first step in drying the saline mush was to convey it to the centrifuge, where the moisture was mechanically removed from the salt, so reducing the moisture content from 7% to 2”. A certain quantity of saline mush would be tipped into the centrifuge, which was powered by electricity; the rotation of the drum containing the mush separated the moisture from the salt.

The centrifuge and the rotary drier were linked by a conveyor belt – a rubber bucket elevator. The salt was tipped into the rotary drier on one side, and air entered it from the other through a fan. The salt dried out in the long cylindrical rotary drier, the moisture was removed through a ventilation duct, and at the end of the process the salt was ready to be hand-packed.

CHIMNEY

One chimney survives, between the building housing the Salt Museum and the rare materials warehouse. The chimney is built of solid brick, and is approx. 39 m high from ground level to the outlet pipe; it is about 2.80 m in exterior diameter at the top and the chimneypot is 75 cm high. The footings of the chimney are 5.70 m below ground level, and the footings of the square base are approx. 11 m long. The foundations widen stepwise from bottom to top by 1.30 m, 1.90 m, 1.30 m and 1.30 m.

WORKSHOPS

The two single-storey buildings with a footprint of about 9.30 x 33 m to the east of the rare materials warehouse are marked on the Solana site plan as nos. 18 and 19. Building no. 18 housed the joiners’ and blacksmiths’ workshops, and building no. 19 the carpenters’ and bricklayers’ workshops. The buildings are of solid brick, with a construction system consisting of longitudinal bearing walls and transverse reinforcing walls. The buildings have gabled roofs with a pitch of about 30 degrees, with wooden roof trusses; building no. 18 is clad with grooved tiles and no. 19 with asbestos board. The outside walls have single-light windows with overlights, measuring approx. 100 x 100 + 50 cm, over which are wooden beams as lintels.

Inside building no. 19, the carpenters’ workshop has retained its original flooring of wooden blocks approx. 10 x 10 x 10 cm; the other workshops have rammed concrete floors. The workshops are plastered on the inside; the outside walls were not rendered, but simply given a lime milk finish.

The workshops were built in the 1950s.

SALT MUSEUM

In 1975 the design studio Razvoj-projekt of Tešanj, Tuzla studio, drew up a project to convert the two-storey building, measuring approx. 13.10 x 76.95 m + 13.30/11.25 x 17.95 m (a warehouse, T-shaped in plan, marked on the site plan of the salt works as no. 5), which until 1975 contained a warehouse for finished salt and packaging, into a Salt Museum with the necessary ancillary facilities. The building consisted of a combination of massive longitudinal bearing walls and a system of reinforced concrete pillars set 450 x 420 cm apart (lengthwise/crosswise), reinforced concrete girders 30 x 30 cm in section, and a reinforced concrete slab approx. 20 cm thick. The entrance to the building is in the middle of the ground floor of the former warehouse, and leads via a staircase in the south wing to the first floor. This wing also contains the toilet block and a number of offices. The western part of the first floor contains the Salt Museum's exhibition gallery, with an area of approx. 473 m2, and the eastern part contains a small lecture hall (area approx. 80 m2) and a larger lecture hall (area approx. 130m2) with ancillary premises. In the museum premises, the ceilings are of perforated gypsum board tiles, the floors consist of PVC flooring over a screed base, the walls and reinforced concrete pillars are faced with 9 mm thick gypsum tiles and 18 mm veneered woodchip board set into moulded oak frames, and new window frames with matt glass have been added to all the windows in the museum premises, level with the inside face of the surrounding walls. The former warehouse, now the museum, is connected to the building with salt-kettles 10, 11 and 12 (marked no. 14 on the site plan of the salt works) and with the building with the rare materials warehouse (marked 6 on the site plan of the salt works).

In 1985, on the occasion of the centenary of the opening of the modern salt works in Tuzla, the Museum of Eastern Bosnia, in association with the Solana salt works in Tuzla created a permanent exhibition for the Salt Museum, on display in one of the Solana buildings in Tuzla and physically connected with the surviving 1952 production shed. The display is entitled Salt Production in Tuzla from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day, and is designed to present the methods of salt production used from Neolithic times to the opening of the exhibition. The display thus contains:

-       a replica of pottery vessels presumed to be used in Neolithic times for evaporating salt

-       iron pans used in mediaeval and Ottoman times for evaporating salt

-       a reconstruction of a salt workshop of the Ottoman period, based on the drawing by Franz Poech published in the monograph Minerals Industry in Bosnia and Herzegovina published in Vienna in 1900

-       documentation and photographs relating to the establishment of the salt works at Simin Han and Kreka during the Austro-Hungarian period in Bosnia and Herzegovina

-       photographs of wells, salt works and workers during the Austro-Hungarian period in Bosnia and Herzegovina,

-       various tools used in salt production – mainly for repairing water and brine pipelines and salt-kettles and for removing deposits from the metal plates lining the salt-kettles, fire-fighting tools etc.

-       articles relating to the work carried out by workers in the salt works – clothing and footwear, office furnishings (desk and chair, cabinet, telephone and fax)

-       articles relating to the technical processes (models of the production plants in the salt works and models evoking modern salt production)

-       photographs recording the activities of workers outside working hours between 1945 and 1985

-       various certificates and cups in recognition of worker and production performance in the salt works.

The full inventory of the articles on display in the Salt Museum, with 311 inventory items, is an integral part of this Decision.

PUMPING STATION AT BORIĆ

The pumping station was built about 170 m to the north of the Džindija mosque, right beside Borić street. It measures approx 9.70 x 22.40 m in plan, and was designed to house two saline tanks, for which the layout is ideal – the structure of the building is merely a protective jacket consisting of surrounding walls approx. 40 cm thick, built of solid brick, and a gabled roof. The main entrance (carpentry dimensions 173 x265 cm) is in the middle of the south wall, while a side door in the west wall leads to an outbuilding housing the electricity control panel to the west of the pumping station building. There are two windows (1.95 x 1.30 with the sill at a height of 1.35 m) in the south wall on each side of the door, fitted with 5 x 3 cm slats set 4-5 cm apart to allow for a constant air flow within the pumping station.

Each of the tanks is set on three concrete foundation strip-beams running longitudinally. Each of these strips is approx.100 cm wide and 9.25 m long, and are about 65 cm above ground level.

The tanks themselves, with a capacity of approx. 2 x 91m3, and measuring 2 x 5.30 m wide, 9.55 m long and 4.75 m high, are composed of oak beams of an average 25 x 25 cm section, laid horizontally one above the other on the long sides of the tanks and vertically next to each other on the short sides. There is no doubt some kind of carpentry joint between these beams (probably some kind of wooden dowel). The brine in the tanks has no doubt had some kind of conservation effect on the walls, which are impregnated with salts.

The tanks are surrounded by oak beam rings set vertically: each has 9 rings set about 85 cm apart, each of which consists of four beams with an average cross-section of 25 x 25 cm. The uprights are joined by insertion into horizontal beams, and to compensate for the strong lateral forces (the hydrostatic pressure of the water in the tanks on the wooden walls), the joins between the vertical and the horizontal beams are further reinforced by wooden wedges.

The tanks rest on their foundations via a grill of oak beams with an average cross-section of approx. 25 x 25 cm; two oak beams of the same section, about 9.25 m long, are set longitudinally along the edges of the concrete foundations, about 50 cm apart.

The join between the longitudinal beams of the foundation grill and the horizontal beams of the rings of the tanks is effected by means of an overlap and notch – where the beams intersect, they are cut into to a depth of approx. 5 cm.

In terms of layout, the tanks are set in a row longitudinally, about 100 cm apart and about 2.53 m from the south wall, 1.07 m from the north wall, 1.15 m from the east wall and 2.10 m from the west wall. A number of polyethylene pipes enter the building from the east (the feed from the wells), to the south a number of pipes lead to the pumping machinery, and to the west are the outlet pipes that convey brine from the reservoir and are joined to the underground brine pipeline. North of the reservoir on the west side of the building is a single-flight wooden staircase about 6.35 m long with 19 steps and a landing about 60 cm long) leading to the tank, which has an inspection porthole at the top of the tank wall through which the inside of the tank can be reached. South of the tank on the east side of the building is another single-flight staircase about 4.15 m long with 15 steps, leading to the tank.

The wooden roof trusses consist of triple posts set approx. 3.20 m apart. The uprights of the posts are reinforced on both sides by horizontal tie beams. The wooden rafters are set approx. 80 cm apart at an angle of approx. 16 deg. The roof cladding is asbestos tiles.

BRINE WELLS IN BORIĆ

The trial drillings carried out on Trnovac hill in 1885 identified a high concentration of brine of about 300 gr. NaCL/1l,3 as well as rich deposits of rock salt. As a result, over a period of about 100 years a total of 176 brine wells were sunk between Hukalo and Trnovac. Brine well no. 6, which marked the beginning of the extraction of brine at Trnovac, remained in use for 30 years, and about 840m3 of brine was extracted from a depth of about 366 m, from which about 252,000 tonnes of salt was produced by evaporation in the salt works in Simin Han and Kreka.

The closure of the brine wells in May 2007 in the Hukalo – Bukovčić area, from which brine was being extracted, eliminated the cause of subsidence in the town of Tuzla. To date, about 90 million cubic metres of brine have been extracted from this stretch, producing 27 million tonnes of salt. The unchecked leaching of brine has caused subsidence over an area of about 500 hectares, with the subsidence averaging 10 metres, though some areas subsided to a depth of as much as three times this.

Sinking wells was carried out as follows: a borehole is first drilled, followed by lining the borehole, reworking it as necessary to clear and widen it, installing a pump (initially, underwater piston pumps with oscillator were used, followed by piston pumps with flywheel; from 1965 on, vertical centrifugal high-speed underwater pumps with a capacity of 300 l/min and a lift height of up to 225 m were used, following which work began on erecting towers above the wells).

At first the above-ground towers of the brine wells were made of wood. These towers, with gabled roofs, had a wooden grid structure and were shaped like a rounded four-sided pyramid, with a footprint of approx. 5.10 to 6.50 x 5.10 to 6.50 m, and measuring 2 x 2 m at the top. The grid structure had six horizontal tiers linked by diagonals. Structurally, the tiers and diagonals acted as the struts of the grid structure. The wooden beams of the grid varied in size depending on the height of the tower; for instance, for a tower with sides of 6.50 m at the base, the beams used for the lower grill would be 32 x 32 cm, the horizontal beams would be 20 x 32 cm, the diagonal struts would be 12 x 20 cm, and so on. A replica has been made of one of the wooden towers, and is now within the Pannonian lake complex in Tuzla.

A pulley wheel with a diameter of 560 mm mounted on two 20 x 20 beams set about 20 cm apart would be fixed to the top of the tower, for lowering wire cables to service and maintain the borehole and operate the derricks. The frame of the wooden towers was faced with one-inch boards forming a jacket.

Later, the timber grid structure was replaced by steel. The towers were again shaped like a rounded pyramid, square in plan, with the sides measuring approx. 4640 mm at the base and 650 mm at the top, from axis to axis of the steel tubes. A girder frame (14 in all, measuring 800 x 800 m) was mounted at the top of the Ø73 mm steel tubes. Two parallel NPI 14 girders were laid on this frame to act as the primary supports for the pulley. The steel tubes forming the frame of the tower were 13200 mm long, and the height of the tower, measured vertically from the base, was 12896 mm. This was composed of six sections with horizontal and diagonal struts, except for the topmost section, which had none. The struts were of L-profile 60 x 60 x 6 mm steel, and were joined at the nodes to steel plates 15 mm thick. The basic axes through the centre of gravity of the struts do not intersect at the same point.

When lining the underground sections of the boreholes forming the brine wells, different tubular profiles were used. In the case of borehole no. Tr-160, which is still in use, a protective column of 530 mm profile was used from 0.00 to 20.00 depth; from 0.00 to 209.15 m depth an upper extraction column of 12 ¾ Zolla profile was used; from 0.43 to 256.10 m, an extraction column of 9 and 5/8 Zolla was used; from 220.30 to 260.24 m a lower extraction column of 7 and 5/8 Zolla profile was used; and from a depth of 260.24 to 371.88 m, a lower extraction column of 5 ½ Zolla was used.

The brine wells to be protected under the terms of this Decision were built in the late 19th and 20th centuries.

OTTOMAN PERIOD BRINE WELL

On arrival in 1474, the Ottomans built the first brine wells used for the extraction of brine. The surviving brine well of that period is in Salt Square, which was named after the salt production there.

The well is about 60 metres deep and was used to extract brine which was then heated in iron pans over fire. The entire process of obtaining salt from brine is described in the text of this Decision in the section headed Historical Information.

The brine was kept in low, wide barrels with a capacity of 50-60 l. The brine was extracted from the well under the oversight of an imperial official, using a scoop known as a čabra which had two apertures in its staves through which a pole would be inserted to make it easier for two workers to carry. The people of Tuzla also called this scoop a vadača. Each brine well usually had six of these, each with a capacity of 50 l. Buckets were used to pour the brine into the pan, and a salt scoop was used to add brine during heating. After the water had evaporated off, the salt was poured into a sack using a small spoon, and a scraper was used to scrape the salt off the pan.

This method of obtaining salt was used until the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina by the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. After opening the salt works at Simin Han and Kreka and the brine wells at Trnovac and Hukalo, the Austro-Hungarians filled in the old Ottoman well.

The well was dug out again in 2003 when Salt Square was built.

The well has been partly conserved and restored, and a wooden facing and glazed roof have been installed.

The well is now an integral part of Salt Square, where visitors can learn about the traditional method of extracting and obtaining salt from Neolithic times to the Ottoman period.

While this square was being laid out, a modern exhibition space was built – a stylized lake dwelling with a museum display showing the methods of producing salt in the Neolithic and Ottoman period.

Also forming part of this ensemble is a fountain, donated by the town of Ravenna, the work of Felice Nittoli. It is composed of mosaic, and evokes the flags of the two towns, Tuzla and Ravenna, with a dove as the symbol of peace. The mosaic is also decorated by a replica of a Neolithic vessel at the base of the fountain.

Alongside the Ottoman-period brine well, exhibition space and fountain, there is also a flagpole with the flag of the town of Soli in Salt Square.

3. Legal status to date

The old Kreka salt works in Tuzla has not been subject to protection by the Institute for the Protection of the Cultural, Historical and Natural Heritage.

The Regional Plan for Tuzla Municipality for 1986/2000/2006 does not provide for either the old Kreka salt works or the Museum in the Tuzla salt works to enjoy protected status.

4. Research and conservation and restoration works

There is no information available on conservation and restoration works on the facilities of the old Kreka salt works, chimney, workshops or rare materials warehouse, or on the Salt Museum building.

Nor is any information available on conservation and restoration works on the pumping station and brine wells on Borič hill.

The Ottoman-period brine well was excavated in 2003. The archaeological works were conducted under the supervision of the Museum of Eastern Bosnia in Tuzla by archaeologist Adnan Muftarević, a member of staff of the Museum of Sarajevo.

5. Current condition of the property

The roof cladding of the facilities of the old Kreka salt works (building no. 14) and the pumping station is damaged as a result of lack of maintenance and war damage.

A structural crack can be seen at the south-west corner of the pumping station. The crack is about 2-3 cm wide and runs from the corner of the horizontal ring beam below the roof cornice to the foundations.

The brine wells are in good condition.

The Ottoman-period brine well is in good condition

MOVABLE HERITAGE

The old Kreka salt works – production shed.

All the surviving plant is in very poor condition. The salt-kettles in which the brine was boiled off are damaged by lack of maintenance (parts of the planks forming a canopy over the salt-kettles are missing, the sheet metal covering the base of the salt-kettles is missing, and there is damage in places to the masonry section of the base of the salt-kettles). The centrifuge is inoperable and damaged by corrosion. The rubber bucket elevator between the centrifuge and the rotary drier is broken and unusable. The rotary drier is also inoperable because of rust. The pipes feeding air to the machine are broken and have become detached.

The walls of the furnaces have collapsed in places.

The electric wiring has been destroyed and there is no power in the production shed.

Salt Museum – exhibition premises

The items on display in the permanent exhibition of Salt Mining in Tuzla from Prehistoric Times to the Present are in good condition.

6. Specific risks

Subsidence caused by the uncontrolled exploitation of brine could result in widening of the cracks on the pumping station on Borić hill.

III – CONCLUSION

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

The Decision was based on the following criteria:

A.         Time frame

B.         Historical value

C.         Artistic and aesthetic value

C.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.i.       material evidence of a lesser known historical era

D.ii.      evidence of historical change

D.iv.     evidence of a particular type, style or regional manner

D.v.      evidence of a typical way of life at a specific period

E.         Symbolic value

E.iii.      traditional value

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.i.       form and design

G.ii.      material and content

G.iii.     use and function

G.iv.     traditions and techniques

G.v.      location and setting

G.vii.    other internal and external factors

H.         Rarity and representativity

H.i.       unique or rare example of a certain type or style

I.          Completeness

I.i.         physical coherence

I.ii.        homogeneity

I.iii.       completeness

I.iv.       undamaged condition

The following documents form an integral part of this Decision:

-       Copy of cadastral plan

-       Copy of land register entry and proof of title

-       Photodocumentation

-       Drawings

Bibliography

During the procedure to designate the industrial heritage of salt production in Tuzla, Municipality Tuzla, as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina the following works were consulted:

1930.    Jokanović, Branko. “Nalazišta soli u okolici Donje i Gornje Tuzle” (Salt Deposits in the Environs of Donja and Gornja Tuzla), Rudarsko-topionički vijesnik (Mining and Foundry News), yr. II, no. 1. Belgrade: 1930, 14-19

1975.    Basler, Đuro. Župa i grad Soli u Srednjem vijeku. Devedeset godina industrijske proizvodnje soli u Tuzli (The County and Town of Soli in Mediaeval Times. Ninety years of industrial salt production in Tuzla). Tuzla: 1975, 9-17

1975.    Handžić, A. Tuzlanske solane od XV do XVII stoljeća. Devedeset godina industrijske proizvodnje soli u Tuzli. (The Tuzla salt factories from the 15th to the 17th century. Ninety years of industrial salt production in Tuzla). Tuzla: 1975, 17-19

1978.    Ilić, Žarko, Salih Kulenović. “Tradicionalni načini i sprave za proizvodnju soli u Tuzli” (Traditional methods and equipment for the production of salt in Tuzla), special offprint Članci i građa za kulturnu istoriju istočne Bosne (Articles and Material for the Cultural History of Eastern Bosnia) XII. Tuzla: Museum of Eastern Bosnia, 1978.

1985.    Milić, Veljko, Salih Kulenović, Nikola Panjević et.al. Solarstvo u Tuzli od praistorije do danas (Salt production in Tuzla from prehistoric times to the present day). Tuzla: 1985.

1990.    Buljugić, Suad. Tuzlanske solane i solari (Tuzla's salt factories and salt workers). Tuzla: 1990.

2002.    Hidanović Solanjanin, Fahrudin. Župa soli Gradovrh (The County of soli Gradovrh). Tuzla: 2002.

            Documentation from the archives of the Solane d.d. Tuzla salt works

Documentation from the archives of the Tušanj salt mine