Status of monument -> National monument
Published in the Official Gazette of BiH, no. 53/08.
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 28 March to 1 April 2008 the Commission adopted a
D E C I S I O N
I
The historic site of the Kostadinovica church (church of SS Constantine and Helena) with a necropolis with stećak tombstones in Gomiljani, Trebinje, is hereby designated as a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the National Monument).
The National Monument consists of a necropolis with about 50 stećak tombstones and the remains of the church.
The National Monument is located on a site designated as cadastral plot no. 409 (old survey), title deed no. 34, Land Register entry no. 73, cadastral municipality Gomiljani, Municipality Trebinje, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina(1).
The provisions relating to protection measures set forth by the Law on the Implementation of the Decisions of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, established pursuant to Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of Republika Srpska no. 9/02) shall apply to the National Monument.
II
The Government of Republika Srpska shall be responsible for providing the legal, scientific, technical, administrative and financial measures necessary for the protection, conservation 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 of the monument and the Decision to proclaim the property a National Monument.
III
To ensure the on-going protection of the National Monument on the site defined in Clause 1 para. 3 of this Decision, the following protection measures are hereby stipulated:
- all works are prohibited other than conservation and restoration works, including works designed to display the monument, with the approval of the ministry responsible for regional planning in Republika Srpska (hereinafter: the relevant ministry) and under the expert supervision of the heritage protection authority of Republika Srpska (hereinafter: the heritage protection authority),
- works of any kind to the infrastructure are prohibited unless with the approval of the relevant ministry and subject to the expert opinion of the heritage protection authority,
- all building and works of any kind that could have the effect of altering the site or the area are prohibited, as is the erection of temporary or permanent structures not designed solely to protect and present the National Monument,
- burials shall be permitted on the protected site where the Orthodox cemetery is located provided that new graves are at least five metres from the existing graves,
- the removal or relocation of the stećak tombstones is prohibited,
- the dumping of waste is prohibited,
The Government of Republika Srpska shall be responsible for ensuring that a programme of systematic archaeological investigations and the conservation of the remains of the church and the necropolis is drawn up, which should include a geodetic survey of the current condition.
The following urgent measures are hereby stipulated to protect the site:
- clearing the church of self-sown vegetation,
- identifying and making a detailed record of the fragments of the church on the protected site or its immediate environs,
- structural repairs to the church,
- temporary protection for the church from the direct effect of the elements.
IV
All executive and area development planning acts not in accordance with the provisions of this Decision are hereby revoked.
V
Everyone, and in particular the competent authorities of Republika Srpska and urban and municipal authorities, shall refrain from any action that might damage the National Monument or jeopardize the preservation and rehabilitation thereof.
VI
The Government of Republika Srpska, the relevant ministry and the heritage protection authority of Republika Srpska, and the Municipal Authorities in charge of urban planning and land registry affairs, shall be notified of this Decision in order to carry out the measures stipulated in Articles II – V of this Decision, and the Authorized Municipal Court shall be notified for the purposes of registration in the Land Register.
VII
The elucidation and accompanying documentation form an integral part of this Decision, which may be viewed by interested parties on the premises or by accessing the website of the Commission (http://www.aneks8komisija.com.ba)
VIII
Pursuant to Art. V para 4 Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, decisions of the Commission are final.
IX
On the date of adoption of this Decision, the National Monument shall be deleted from the Provisional List of National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of BiH no. 33/02, Official Gazette of Republika Srpska no. 79/02, Official Gazette of the Federation of BiH no. 59/02, and Official Gazette of Brčko District BiH no. 4/03), where it featured under serial no. 689.
X
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: 02-2-37/2008-4
29 March 2008
Sarajevo
Chair of the Commission
Amra Hadžimuhamedović
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.
The Commission to Preserve National Monuments issued a decision to add the church of SS Constantine and Helena (Kostadinovića) in the village of Gomiljani, Municipality Trebinje to the Provisional List of National Monuments under serial no. 689.
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 (copy of cadastral plan and copy of land registry entry);
- Data on the current condition and use of the property, including a description and photographs, data of war damage, data on restoration or other works on the property, etc;
- Historical, architectural and other documentary material on the property, as set out in the bibliography forming part of this Decision.
The findings based on the review of the above documentation and the condition of the site are as follows:
1. Details of the property
Location
The village of Gomiljani is 4 km as the crow flies west of Trebinje. It is believed to have been named after its many mounds (gomila). The necropolis with about 50 stećak tombstones is on the site in Gomiljani known as Kostadinovica, named after the church dedicated to SS Constantine and Helena, at an altitude of 273 m, latitude 42º 41' 44.2” and longitude 18º 17' 4”.
The Orthodox church of Kostadinovica (the church of SS Constantine and Helena) is within the necropolis with stećak tombstones, and lies west-east.
The National Monument is located on a site designated as cadastral plot no. 409 (old survey), title deed no. 34, Land Register entry no. 73, cadastral municipality Gomiljani, Municipality Trebinje, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina(2).
Historical information
The earliest information concerning Trebinje is to be found in De administrando imperio by the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, who uses the name Trebunia for this district. At first it was a small county town, but later, as other and better-known counties coalesced around it (Konavle, Žrnovnic, Risan, Kruševica, Dračevica, Vrsinje (Zupce), Vrm (Korjeniće), Rudine, Ljubomir, Fatnica, Piva, Komarnica and Popovo) it became the centre of a sizeable area, named after it – the Trebinje district or Travunije. As part of this political entity, the county of Trebinje was initially governed by the župan (lord of the county) of Travunija, until near the end of the 10th century, after which it was part of the state of Doclea until the late 12th century, then part of Nemanja's Serbia, until 1377, and finally part of the Bosnian state, until it came under Ottoman rule in 1465 (Đ. Tošić, 1998, 13, 46)(3).
The Orthodox church of Kostadinovica (the church of SS Constantine and Helena)(4) is of the type of single-naved church with a semicircular apse and vaulted roof. This type of building, with all its variations, first appeared in the coastal regions in the early 13th and late 14th century (D. Demonja). Masons from Dubrovnik, who had been working since mediaeval times on both religious and secular buildings in Bosnia and Herzegovina, introduced the architectural forms of the single-naved church into the architecture of old Herzegovina in the latter half of the 15th to the end of the 17th century, a practice that continued during the Ottoman period.
In Herzegovina at this time, single-nave churches of both Orthodox and Catholic provenance were built, for which purpose masons from Dubrovnik were hired. These churches are all of a similar size, with the difference between them featuring in the method of transferring the lateral thrust.
In Popovo polje alone, a relatively small area, there are three old monasteries and 36 old churches, as well as many still older church sites. There is very little historical information on the Kostadinovica church (church of SS Constantine and Helena). Vojislav Korać regards it as one of the oldest churches in the Trebinje region(5).
According to Ljiljana Ševo, the church was built in the 15th century(6). It can be dated by analogy with another of the three Orthodox churches in Gomiljani, the church of the Healing Saints.
Inside the church of the Healing Saints in Gomiljani is an inscription reading V L]TO Z 7000 (i.e. in the summer of 7000 counting from the Creation, or 7000-5508 = 1492 AD), providing evidence for determining a terminus ante quem of 1492 for Vračevica. Since all three of Gomiljani's churches are architecturally similar, this may be used in determining the approximate date of origin of the Kostandinovica church.
The church is dedicated to the first Christian emperor, Constantine, and his mother Helena(7).
2. Description of the property
The necropolis with stećak tombstones is at Kostadinovica, which is probably named after the church in the necropolis dedicated to SS Constantine and Helena. The tombstones are arranged in no particular order, and lie west-east with minor deviations. They are of good workmanship, and some are well-preserved, but most are damaged. Almost all are overgrown with shrubs or have sunk into the ground and are covered with lichen and overgrown with grass. The necropolis consists of about fifty stećak tombstones, most of them chest-shaped but with some slabs. They are scattered throughout the necropolis, some in groups, some isolated. The site was too badly neglected [at the time of the visit] to take their measurements. Despite their having been recorded, not one stećak with decoration was found.
The burial ground has a stone boundary wall, and is overgrown with shrubs, grass and low-growing vegetation. It also contains a number of 19th century graves, and sixteen of more recent date. Of note among these is the tombstone, a tall chest on plinth, where Sava Draguljević lies buried, of which the cross is decorated on both sides and on the west end of the grave. The cross is made of concrete with trefoil ends to the arms. The top upright is incised with a universal cross of small size with the letters И Х Н К inscribed between the arms (И top left, Х top right, Н bottom left, and К bottom right). Below the cross is a not clearly legible epitaph in Cyrillic recording that Sava Draguljević and his wife Manda are buried there. On the other side, the middle of the cross is incised with a universal cross with a floral decoration behind the tips. The decoration on the lower part of the cross depicts a church. Other crosses have similar decorations. The west end of the tall chest has a motif of left and right open-palmed hands in the left and right corners
Inside the church is a slab-shaped tombstone where the altar table would stand, decorated with a wavy line with trefoils. The slab measure 91 x 51 cm with a visible height of 11 cm.
In addition to this stećak tombstone, it is said that there was a grave beside the church with the epitaph “Here lies (Mi)lica Tiovića” (V.J Korać, 1966, 192).
Kostadinovica (church of SS Constantine and Helena)
Lying west-east, with the entrance at the west end, Kostadinovica (the church of SS Constantine and Helena) belongs in terms of layout to the type of single-naved church, rectangular in plan with a semicircular apse(8). A distinctive feature of the church is the rectangular annex by the south wall – a paraclys of the nature of a mausoleum, with a stećak tombstone in the centre.
The church is a simple, modestly-sized structure, measuring about 4.00 x 5.15 m on the outside, not counting the apse and annex. The annex measures 2.35 x 3.60 m.
The church has massive stone walls about 60 cm thick, with two layers of masonry. The relatively evenly cut, roughly finished blocks in mortar binder are laid in regular courses and left exposed on the outside.
The remains on the site suggest that the apse had a semi-domed roof. By analogy with other churches of this period in the Trebinje region, the nave probably had a barrel-vaulted roof. The annex – the mausoleum paraclys – is barrel-vaulted.
There is a single row of openings in the church, in the apse and the east and south walls of the annex. The tall, narrow, rectangular openings are made of rectangular stone blocks – the only place where rectangular blocks feature in this building.
Inside the church, there are small niches in the south wall by the apse and in the south wall of the annex.
The rectangular 80 cm wide portal at the west end of the church is framed by stone block door jambs and lintel. The south jamb is a stone block measuring 37 x 140 cm. The lintel is a block measuring 110 x 15 cm.
Above the portal is a shallow relieving niche with a slightly pointed arch, all of stone blocks. The relieving arch is 30 cm high and 60 cm wide.
In the centre of the paraclys of the nature of a mausoleum is a stećak tombstone, beneath which a local landowner probably lies buried(9).
3. Legal status to date
During the procedure prior to the adoption of a final decision on designation, the records on the protection of the property were inspected and the findings are as follows:
In the Regional Plan for BiH to 2000, 72 sites of necropolises with stećak tombstones (2406 in all) are listed in Trebinje Municipality as Category II monuments, without identifying them more accurately (various authors, 1980, 52).
By Ruling no. 02-UP-I-105-1/70, 02-UP-I-91-/70 of 20 November 1970, the property was listed and added to the Register of cultural monuments of the Institute for the Protection the Cultural and Historical Heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina..
The church of St Constantine (Kostadinovica) in the village of Gomiljani, Trebinje Municipality, is on the Provisional List of National Monuments of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments under serial no. 689.
4. Research and conservation and restoration works
In the spring of 1960, the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of BiH began systematically studying the stećak tombstones in Popovo polje. The field work was completed in 1964, and was followed by sorting and studying the materials.
Šefik Bešlagić states that there is a necropolis with stećak tombstones (50 stećaks: 30 chest-shaped and 20 slabs) in the village of Gomiljani. The necropolis also contains the Orthodox church of SS Constantine and Helena, in which there is a decorated slab (Š. Bešlagić, 1971, 405).
No research or conservation and restoration works have been carried out.
There is no documentation on any works on the property.
5. Current condition of the property
The findings of an on site inspection on 17 January 2008 are as follows:
- the tombstones are arranged in no particular order. They are of good workmanship, and some are well-preserved, but most are damaged;
- there are stones under some of the stećaks, and some are almost completely sunken or tilted to one side;
- throughout the necropolis the stećaks are overgrown with shrubs, low-growing vegetation, weeds and moss;
- no decorations were found on the tombstones with the exception of one inside the church, where the altar table would stand; this is slab-shaped and decorated with a wavy line with trefoils;
- the burial ground has a stone boundary wall, and is overgrown with shrubs, grass and low-growing vegetation;
- a number of 19th century graves were found in the burial ground, along with 16 of more recent date;
- Kostadinovica (the church of SS Constantine and Helena) is in extremely poor condition;
- the building has no roof and is fully exposed to the elements;
- the walls of the church, which are still standing to a height of one to 1.5 metres, are covered with moss and ivy;
- there are a great many fallen fragments of the church inside the walls, covered with weeds;
- only traces of the stone slabs cladding the roof have survived;
- constant exposure to the elements has led to damage to the walls and damp penetration;
- the building is surrounded on three sides by thick self-sown vegetation and is inaccessible from these sides.
6. Specific risks
- deterioration of the necropolis resulting from long years of lack of maintenance of the site;
- adverse weather conditions;
- self-sown vegetation;
- collapse of the church.
III – CONCLUSION
Applying the Criteria for the adoption of a decision on proclaiming an item of property a national monument (Official Gazette of BiH nos. 33/02 and 15/03), the Commission has enacted the Decision cited above.
The Decision was based on the following criteria:
A. Time frame
B. Historical value
C. Artistic and aesthetic value
C.iii. proportions
C.iv. composition
C.v. value of details
C.vi. value of construction
D. Clarity
D.i. material evidence of a lesser known historical era
D.iv. evidence of a particular type, style or regional manner
E. Symbolic value
E.i. ontological value
E.ii. religious value
E.v. significance for the identity of a group of people
F. Townscape/landscape value
F.iii. the building or group of buildings is part of a group or site
G. Authenticity
G.iv. traditions and techniques
G.v. location and setting
H. Rarity and representativity
H.i. unique or rare example of a certain type or style
The following documents form an integral part of this Decision:
- Copy of cadastral plan;
- Copy of land register entry;
- Photodocumentation (photographs taken on site).
Bibliography
During the procedure to designate the monument as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina the following works were consulted:
1966. Korać, J. Vojislav. Trebinje - Istorijski pregled I, period do dolaska Turaka (Trebinje – A Historical Overview I, to the arrival of the Turks). Trebinje: 1966.
1971. Bešlagić, Šefik. Stećci, kataloško-topografski pregled (Stećak tombstones, a catalogue and topographical survey). Sarajevo: Veselin Masleša, 1971.
1980. Various authors. Regional Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina; Stage B - valorization of natural, cultural and historical monuments. Sarajevo: Institute for architecture, town planning and regional planning of the Faculty of Architecture in Sarajevo and Town Planning Institute for BiH, 1980.
1998. Tošić, Đuro. Trebinjska oblast u srednjem vijeku (The Trebinje District in Mediaeval Times). Belgrade: Institute of History, Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, special edition, vol. 30, 1998.
2002. Ševo, Ljiljana. Pravoslavne crkve i manastiri u Bosni i Hercegovini do 1878 godine (Orthodox Churches and Monasteries in BiH to 1878). Banja Luka: 2002.
(1) Transferred from Land Register entry no. 251, c.m. Gomiljani, Municipality Trebinje, on 31 January 2007
(2) Transferred from Land Register entry no. 251, c.m. Gomiljani, Municipality Trebinje, on 31 January 2007
(3) For more historical background on the Popovo area, see the Decision designating the architectural ensemble of the Orthodox church of St Elijah with prehistoric grave mound (tumulus) and necropolis with stećak tombstones in Mesari, Trebinje, as a national monument
(4) For more historical background on single-naved churches in Herzegovina, see the Decision designating the historic building of the Catholic church of St Anne in Gradac near Neum as a national monument.
(5) Vojislav J. Korać, Trebinje, 1966, 192.
(6) Ljiljana Ševo, Pravoslavne crkve i manastiri u Bosni i Hercegovini do 1878. godine, 2002, 196.
(7) Constantine the Great (c. 208-337) was a Roman emperor, and son of Helena. He gained sole power in 312 when he defeated Emperor Maxentius at the battle of the Milvina Bridge on the Tiber. This is traditionally regarded as the turning-point that led to the empire becoming Christian. Constantine is said to have replaced the emblem of the pagan Roman empire (the eagle) with the cross (James Hall, Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art, 2nd ed., 2008, 76). Constantine is also credited with issuing the Edict of Milan in 313, banning the persecution of Christians, and with founding the city of Constantinople on the Bosphorus.
(8) The condition of the church is so poor that it was impossible to determine whether or not it had a bell tower.
(9) Ljiljana Ševo, Pravoslavne crkve i manastiri u Bosni i Hercegovini do 1878. godine, 2002, 197.
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