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Church of St Clement with old stone tombstones (cruciform tombstones) at Dražin Do, the architectural ensemble

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Status of monument -> National monument

Published in the Official Gazette of BiH, no. 86/08.

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 27 May to 2 June 2008 the Commission adopted a

 

D E C I S I O N

 

I

 

The architectural ensemble of the Church of St Clement with old stone tombstones (cruciform tombstones) at Dražin Do, Municipality Trebinje, is hereby designated as a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the National Monument). 

The National Monument consists of the church and burial ground with ten cruciform tombstones.

The National Monument is located on a site designated as cadastral plot no. 24 (new survey), corresponding to c.p. no. 782 (old survey), Land Register entry no. 73, cadastral municipality Gomiljani, Municipality Trebinje, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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 the minimum works needed to maintain the churchyard burial ground, with the approval of the ministry responsible for regional planning in Republika Srpska and under the expert supervision of the heritage protection authority of Republika Srpska (hereinafter: the heritage protection authority);

-          the removal or relocation of the old tombstones is prohibited, as are new burials within five metres of the old tombstones.

 

To ensure the on-going protection of the National Monument, a buffer zone is hereby stipulated, with a radius of 50 metres from the boundary of the protected site. In this zone, the erection of buildings the use of which is not detrimental to the National Monument, with a maximum foot print of 10 x 12 m and a maximum height of 6.50 m to the start of the roof frame, i.e. two storeys (ground + 1), is permitted.

 

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 Ministry responsible for regional planning in Republika Srpska and the heritage protection authority of Republika Srpska, and the Municipal Authorities in charge of urban planning and land registry affairs, shall be notified of this Decision in order to carry out the measures stipulated in Articles II – 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. 683.

 

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: 06.2-02-92/08-3

28 May 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 St Clement’s church, Dražin Do, near Trebinje to the Provisional List of National Monuments of BiH under serial no. 683.

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);

-          Details of legal protection of the property to date;

-          Details of 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

St Clement’s Orthodox church with old stone tombstones is in the Popovo polje, in the village of Dražin Do near Trebinje. The National Monument consists of the church and burial ground with ten cruciform tombstones. Access to the churchyard is from the west, from the approach road that forks off from the main Trebinje-Ljubinje road.

The National Monument is located on a site designated as cadastral plot nos. 24 (new survey), corresponding to c.p. no. 782 (old survey), Land Register entry no. 73, cadastral municipality Gomiljani, Municipality Trebinje, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Historical information

In the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, single-nave churches were built in Herzegovina, for which purpose masons from Dubrovnik were sometimes hired. The single-nave type of church appeared fairly early in coastal architecture, during pre-Romanesque times, and its evolution can be traced through the entire mediaeval period. Dubrovnik masons were active in building both religious and secular edifices in Bosnia and Herzegovina over a long period.

Small village churches and monasteries of local repute were being built at that time.  Land-owners and rulers were replaced, as the founders of churches, by local church dignitaries, village headmen and military leaders, or rural fraternities (Korać, Đurić, 1964, 562). Buildings were commissioned by both Catholic and Orthodox Christians and built by Dubrovnik masons, who were a constant presence in eastern Herzegovina apart from a brief period at the end of the 16th century. Details of their activity are to be found in documents in the State Archives in Dubrovnik, which shed light on the building activities of Dubrovnik masons for the Orthodox populace, where there was a fusion between the Orthodox ideas of those commissioning the buildings and the western stylistic approach of the builders, creating a distinct and fascinating group of edifices in eastern Herzegovina (Korać, Đurić, 1964, 562-563).

St Clement’s church is a typical mediaeval Mediterranean church of the late 16th or early 17th century (Ševo, 1995, 196). There are no written records of the church, which was dedicated to St Clement of Rome, a saint who was and remains widely honoured and celebrated in the part of the world where the church was built, with a concomitantly pronounced Romanesque tradition. It represents the transmitted memory of the fourth Pope and martyr of the 1st century Christian church: the cult of St Clement was retained throughout southern Dalmatia – Dubrovnik and Kotor.

 

2. Description of the property

St Clement’s church is in the village of Dražin Do, with an old burial ground with cruciform tombstones on the same site.

In architectural features, St Clement’s church in Dražin Do belongs to the group of Herzegovina churches with rebated arches on the longitudinal walls, the origins of which are in the pre-Romanesque and Romanesque architecture of the Dubrovnik and southern coastal regions.

In terms of layout, St Clement’s church in Dražin Do belongs to the type of single-nave church of rectangular ground plan with a semicircular apse and a bell-cote of the type known as na preslicu.

The church lies east-west with the entrance at the west end and the apse at the east end.

The church measures approx. 8.60 x 4.65 m on the outside, and 7.15 x 3.20 m on the inside.

The church has solid stone walls about 65-72 cm thick, made of large blocks of stone laid in horizontal courses. The walls are plastered on the inside, but the stone is left exposed on the outside. There are three pairs of stone arches on the side walls of the church, resting on the walls at either end and supported by a narrow central pilaster. The apse opening is the same width as the nave, with the proscomidion and diaconicon openings in the side walls. The nave is covered by a longitudinal barrel vault. The interior height of the church from floor level to the apex of the vault is approx. 3.80 m. The church has a gabled roof, entirely clad with stone slabs with the typical overlapping slabs on the ridge.

Light enters the church through two rectangular windows in the south and north walls and a small window in the apse. The windows in the north and south walls are in the central part of the walls, and are set symmetrically in relation to the disposition of the internal structural elements. The windows are approx. 5 cm wide and 37 cm on the outside, and 30 cm wide and 50 cm high on the inside.

The entrance portal, which is at the west end of the church, consists of two stone uprights and a stone lintel forming an architrave, with a small rosette above. The wooden door is 70 cm wide and 1.60 m high. The rosette is at mid point below the bell-cote.

The bell-cote na preslicu, with one opening for a bell, surmounts the west wall of the church and is made of finely worked stone. Judging from the workmanship, it dates from the late 19th or early 20th century. The bell-cote is about 6.00 m high from ground level to the base of the cross.

Burial ground by St Clement’s church, Dražin Do – cruciform tombstones

The burial ground by St Clement’s church at Dražin Do near Trebinje covers an area of approx. 1021 m2. The entrance to the burial ground is from the west. The west and south sides of the burial ground are bounded by a stone wall approx. 1.6 m in height. The burial ground is no longer in active use, and contains ten cruciform stone tombstones dating from the 19th and 20th centuries. The tombstones are to the west and north-east of the church, scattered around the churchyard with the greatest concentration by the entrance to the church. Most of them are of tufa, are cruciform in shape, and are of simple workmanship. Some have decorations consisting of a carved cross, six-pointed star or floral decoration.

Some of the tombstones have a carved epitaph in Cyrillic script. The epitaphs are extremely simple and brief, providing basic information on the deceased, his or her name and surname, and the year of birth and death. In some cases the name of the person who erected the tombstone is also given. There are no details of the stonemasons who made the tombstones.

Tombstone no. 1

Stone cruciform tombstone of simple workmanship, almost completely buried and overgrown with weeds. It stands very close to the entrance to the burial ground, on the south side. The height above ground is approx. 47 cm, and the width 83 cm. It bears a carved Cyrillic epitaph which is illegible.

Tombstone no. 2

The tombstone consists of a cross of simple workmanship and a rectangular sarcophagus measuring 180 cm long x 64 cm wide. The cruciform tombstone with plinth, standing on the sarcophagus, is approx. 157 cm high, 48 cm wide and 15.5 cm thick.  The top arm and the cross arms bear carved semi-orbs. The front of the cross bears an illegible carved Cyrillic epitaph, and the back a carved cross and floral motifs.

The epitaph reads:

IcxIC

HERE LIES ...

1886 ... 18

1913 ERECTED BY

[HIS] SONS

ĐURO

BOZO

1923

Tombstone no. 3

The tombstone consists of a plinth, sarcophagus and cruciform tombstone on the sarcophagus. The tombstone is 277 cm long and 236 cm wide overall, with a 40 cm high plinth. The sarcophagus measures 236 x 90 cm, and is 30 cm high. The cross with plinth is 228 cm high. This tombstone is of recent date.

Tombstone no. 4

The tombstone consists of a sarcophagus and plinth with a cross. The sarcophagus measures 198 x 70 cm. The tombstone is 115 cm in overall height, and is well preserved.  It bears a Cyrillic epitaph, reading:

HERE LIES

THE SERVANT OF GOD

SAVO ŠOŠO

B. 1895 † 194...

TOMBSTONE ERECTED BY

HIS SISTER CAVE

Tombstone no. 5

The tombstone consists of a sarcophagus with a cross standing on it. The sarcophagus is 166.5 cm long, 69 cm wide and 50 cm high. The cross is 8.35 cm high from the sarcophagus to the top. The tombstone is in good condition.

Tombstone no. 6

The tombstone consists of a sarcophagus and cross. The sarcophagus is 243 cm long, 100 cm wide and 39 cm high; the overall height of the tombstone with the cross is 192 cm. The tombstone is in good condition, and is of recent date.

Tombstone no. 7

The tombstone consists of a stone cross on a plinth, and is leaning slightly. It is about 133 cm high, and has no decoration or epitaph.

Tombstone no. 8

The tombstone consists of a sarcophagus and cross. The sarcophagus is 176 cm long, 85.5 cm wide and 41 cm high; the overall height of the tombstone is 178 cm.

Tombstone no. 9

The tombstone is of simple workmanship. It stands to the east of the church, just by the apse wall. The tombstone is 123 cm in height.

Tombstone no. 10

The tombstone is of simple workmanship. It stands to the east of the church, just by the apse and tombstone no. 9. It is 132 cm in height.

 

3. Legal status to date

St Clement’s church, Dražin Do near Trebinje, is on the Provisional List of National Monuments of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, under serial no. 683.

 

4. Research and conservation and restoration works

There are no details of conservation and restoration works or of repair works to the church.

 

5. Current condition of the property

The findings from an on site inspection in April 2008 by a Commission staff member are as follows:

St Clement’s church, Dražin Do, is in good structural condition. Minor damage can be seen in the interior of the church.

 

6. Specific risks

There are no specific risks that might endanger the monument.

 

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.iii.      proportions

C.iv.      composition

C.v.       value of details

D.         Clarity

D.ii.      evidence of historical change

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

E.         Symbolic value

E.i.       ontological value

E.ii.      religious value

E.iii.      traditional value

E.iv.      relation to rituals or ceremonies

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

F.         Townscape/landscape value

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

G.         Authenticity

G.i.       form and design

G.iii.     use and function

G.iv.      traditions and techniques

G.v.      location and setting

G.vi.      spirit and feeling

 

The following documents form an integral part of this Decision:

-          Copy of cadastral plan;

-          Copy of land register entry;

-          Photodocumentation: photographs taken by the Commission in April 2008;

-          Drawings of the church made by freelancers engaged by the Commission to Preserve National Monuments in May 2008.

 

Bibliography

During the procedure to designate St Clement’s church, Dražin Do near Trebinje, 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.

 

1991.    Šuput, Marica. Spomenici srpskog crkvenog graditeljstva XVI-XVII vek (16th and 17th century Monuments of Serbian Church Architecture). Belgrade-Novi Sad- Priština: 1991.

 

1995.    Ševo, Ljiljana. Pravoslavne crkve i manastiri u Bosni i Hercegovini do 1878 godine (Orthodox Churches and Monasteries in BiH to 1878). Banja Luka: 1995.



The architectural ensemble of the St Clements Church Church of St Clement Church of St Clement, northwest view Church of St Clement, southeast view
South facadeEntrance facadeIconostasisTombstones
Inscription on tombstone   


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