Status of monument -> National monument
Published in the Official Gazette of BiH, no. 44/09.
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 4 to 10 November 2008 the Commission adopted a
D E C I S I O N
I
The residential architectural ensemble of the Vakuf of Zejna Elezović (Zejna Elezović's residential complex, the Vakuf court) in Stolac is hereby designated as a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the National Monument).
The National Monument consists of the main house, the building in the tradesmen’s courtyard, the main and tradesmen’s courtyards and surrounding walls, and garden.
The National Monument is located on a site designated as cadastral plot no. I/341 and I/342; Land Register entry no. 129; cadastral municipality Stolac, Municipality Stolac, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 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 the Federation of BiH nos. 2/02, 27/02, 6/04 and 51/07) shall apply to the National Monument.
II
The Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the Government of the Federation) shall be responsible for providing the legal, scientific, technical, administrative and financial measures necessary for the protection, rehabilitation, 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 erecting 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 rehabilitation, conservation and restoration works, including those designed to display the monument,
- during rehabilitation, restoration and adaptation, known methods for the active, integrated protection of the built heritage shall be applied and the original form of all strata of the architectural ensemble shall be presented,
- the original use of the properties shall be retained where possible. By way of exception, a change of use may be permitted to catering, educational or cultural use in such a manner that the authenticity of the architectural ensemble is not undermined,
- all works must be carried out subject to the approval of the Federal Ministry responsible for regional planning and under the expert supervision of the heritage protection authority of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
- a programme for the presentation of the National Monument shall be drawn up and implemented,
- on all plots adjoining the protected site (c.p. nos. 340, 339, 343 and 345), the construction of new buildings or changes to the size and height of existing ones are prohibited; the repair and adaptation of existing buildings is permitted subject to the retention of their original footprint and height (all buildings on which such works are carried out must respect the building line of the adjoining buildings at ground and upper storey levels); the properties may not clash in proportions or colour with properties of townscape value; the erection of advertising hoardings, posters and signs detrimental to the overall appearance of the architectural ensemble, the buildings within it and the surroundings is prohibited.
IV
All executive and area development planning acts not in accordance with the provisions of this Decision are hereby revoked.
V
Everyone, and in particular the competent authorities of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Canton, and urban and municipal authorities, shall refrain from any action that might damage the National Monument or jeopardize the preservation thereof.
VI
The Government of the Federation, the Federal Ministry responsible for regional planning, the Federation heritage protection authority, and the Municipal Authorities in charge of urban planning and land registry affairs, shall be notified of this Decision in order to carry out the measures stipulated in Articles II to V of this Decision, and the Authorized Municipal Court shall be notified for the purposes of registration in the Land Register.
VII
The elucidation and accompanying documentation form an integral part of this Decision, which may be viewed by interested parties on the premises or by accessing the website of the Commission (http://www.aneks8komisija.com.ba)
VIII
Pursuant to Art. V para 4 Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, decisions of the Commission are final.
IX
This Decision shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Gazette of BiH.
This Decision has been adopted by the following members of the Commission: Zeynep Ahunbay, Martin Cherry, Amra Hadžimuhamedović, Dubravko Lovrenović, and Ljiljana Ševo.
No: 06.2-02-1051/03-18
5 November 2008
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.
The Commission to Preserve National Monuments issued a decision to add the Ada complex in Stolac, to which the Zejna Elezović Vakuf belongs, to the Provisional List of National Monuments under serial no. 584.
On 27 October 2005 the Commission received a petition from the Majlis of the Islamic Community of Stolac to designate the Vakuf of Zejna Elezović in Stolac.
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:
- Details of 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;
- Documentation on the location;
- Documentation on the current owner and user of the property;
- Historical, architectural and other documentary material on the property, as set out in the bibliography forming part of this Decision.
The findings based on the review of the above documentation and the condition of the site are as follows:
1. Details of the property
Location
The residential architectural ensemble of the Zejna Elezović Vakuf in Stolac belongs to the Ada residential complex in the Podgrad čaršija, which is on the left bank of the river Bregava.
The Zejna Elezović Vakuf house is on the slopes of Veli Dede hill, which is topped by the old Stolac fort. Access to the residential complex is from the west.
The National Monument is located on a site designated as cadastral plot no. I/341 and I/342; Land Register entry no. 129; cadastral municipality Stolac, Municipality Stolac, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Historical information
The names Stolac and Vidoški are both used side by side in historical sources until almost the end of the 19th century. Vidoški fort (or Vidoška, in Ottoman sources) or Vidovski was named after the river Vidovštica, now known as the Bregava
In prehistoric times it was presumably the north-western part of the fort towards Podgrad, on the part of the hill known as Šetnica, that was inhabited. Late antique substructures have been discovered on the north side of the fort (towers I-IV). Where present-day Stolac now stands was the municipium of Diluntum of antiquity, with finds from the 1st to the 4th century CE, and fortifications dating from late antiquity (Sergejevski, 1935, 17).
In mediaeval times, the Stolac fort belonged to the župa (county) of Vidoši. Vidovo polje (plain) features in 1417 in Latin as “Planum Sancti Viti” (M. Dinić, 1938, 182). The first reliable information on mediaeval Stolac dates from the 15th century, in a document marked “Loco dicto Stolac” of 1420 concerning a merchant who had been the victim of a robbery, and again a few years later, in 1436 (M. Dinić, 1938, 182). The earliest reference to Vidoški grad (fort) is in a charter of 19 February 1444, and in a series of charters that followed until 1454, as a holding of Stjepan Vukčić-Kosača (M. Dinić, 1938, 182).
Dubrovnik sources of 1463 also refer to Vidoški grad under the name Stolac, or the Stolac fort and the settlement at its foot. Stolac became part of the Ottoman sultanate after its conquest on 13 June 1465, but until the early 18th century there is no reliable information as to whether a garrison was maintained there. During the Candian and Viennese wars (1645-1669 and 1683-1699), Venetian troops attacked Stolac on a number of occasions (January 1663; 1664; 30 July 1678; 1694 or 1695). Following the 1699 Treaty of Karlowitz the fort was repaired and enlarged, and a fort authority installed there headed by a dizdar (garrison commander). In or around 1706 the Stolac captaincy was founded.
In 1832 the troops of Husein-captain Gradaščević laid siege to Stolac, but to no avail. In August 1878, Austro-Hungarian rule was established.
The Ottoman period in Stolac began with the transformation of the settlement and the creation of new urban structures and edifices: a mosque, hammam, medresa, čaršija, mahalas and fort. The settlement took shape in the river Bregava valley and at the foot of the hills surrounding it. Between the 15th and the 19th century, five mosques were built in Stolac, along with seven mektebs (Qur'an schools), a ruždija (primary school), a medresa (Islamic high school), three hans (caravanserais), a number of konaks (hostels), a clock tower, the tepa (market area), several mills and stamping mills, two hundred shops, about 350 houses, ten burial grounds, ten bridges and several crossings over the Bregava. First to be built was the Čaršija mosque, alongside which the Čaršija, the trade and crafts centre, took shape. Other čaršijas later developed in Podgrad, Ćuprija and Uzinovići. Water is of particular importance in the life of the town. Šadrvan fountains, systems of canals and havuzi (Ar. hauz, a pool or tank) adorned the houses of Stolac, the finest of which were erected alongside the river Bregava. The best-known houses and residential complexes in Stolac are the Šarić house, the Đul-hanuma house, the house of Hadžijunuzaga Mehmedbašić, and the Ada and Begovina complexes. They were built of stone, and reveal both Mediterranean and oriental influences. (Most, Elezović, 2005.)
Visiting Stolac in 1664, the Turkish travel chronicler Evliya Çelebi wrote: “This place is the centre of a kadiluk [area under the jurisdiction of a kadi, a shari'ah judge]. It is surrounded by karst on all four sides. It is a pretty little town, with a congregation mosque and three other mosques, a small public bathhouse (hammam), a hostel (han), twenty shops and up to 280 houses with stone-tiled roofs, which have gardens, vineyards and their own water [supply]. Because of fear of the enemy, the houses are built of solid materials, and some have square towers with iron doors (demir-kapije). Ćeremit [hollow tiles] are a rarity in these parts. All the houses face west. The ten water mills of this town are located at the confluence of the Dola brook and the river Bregava, and are powered by the waters of the Dola. The people wear kalpaks [a kind of cap] and white turbans, and speak Bosnian. They are, however, true warriors, very friendly towards foreigners, and people of their word.”
Vakufs are charitable institutions founded in Bosnia and Herzegovina from the very start of the Ottoman period. They were extremely important for society, since it was through them that funds were allocated to build and maintain certain properties. There were 81 vakufs in Stolac, second in number among the towns of Herzegovina only to Mostar. The largest and wealthiest among them were the vakufs endowed by Silahdar Husein-pasha, hajji-Salih Buro, hajji-Alija Hadžisalihović, Ismail-kapetan Šarić and Ali-pasha Rizvanbegović.
Most of Stolac's vakufs were evladijet-vakufs or family vakufs, among them those of Abasović Husein, Behmen hajji-Hasan, Delibašić hajji-Salih, and Elezović Zejna née Jašarbegović. These twenty vakifs (legators) endowed money, houses, gardens and shops, and appointed a mutavelija to support the imams of the mosques of Stolac each year out of the revenues of their vakufs.
The Ada complex is in the centre of Stolac town, between the Emperor's čaršija and the Small čaršija, and is one of the town's most important historic areas. In addition to its completeness, and the beauties of the river Bregava and Veli Dede hill on which the Stolac fort stands, it is significant on account of the residential ensembles built there between the 17th and the 19th centuries, including the Elezović(1), Mehmedbašić, Ljubović, Jašarbegović, Hrle and Stranjak complexes.
In the 1980s the proprietors transferred ownership of the house in perpetuity to the Islamic community of Stolac and specified the conditions under which it was to be used as public property.
The features of the building, its layout, and certain architectural details (the size and proportions of the windows), as well as the building materials used, suggest that the Zejna Elezović residential complex in Stolac was built in the 19th century. In 1993 the main house, the courtyard walls and every part of the complex were set on fire and badly damaged.
2. Description of the property
The land on which the Zejna Elezović residential complex stands slopes from south to north (from Veli Dede hill towards the street and the river Bregava). The site of the complex is surrounded on three sides by high stone walls (the fourth has none, being at the very foot of the hill).
The complex consists of the main house, the outbuilding in the tradesmen’s courtyard, the main and tradesmen’s courtyards and surrounding walls, and garden.
The main and tradesmen's courtyards are outside the buildings to the north. Here the main house is located, together with an outbuilding. The two courtyards are separated by a high stone wall with a double-valved wooden door. The courtyards are about 90 cm above street level, with a small flight of stone steps to the west of the complex leading up to them. The tradesmen's courtyard is entered through a wooden double-valved door. The main courtyard measures about 13.5 x 4.5 m, and the tradesmen's courtyard about 15.00 x 11.50 m. The courtyards are separated from the road and the next-door properties by high walls built of quarry stone, about 60 cm thick and up to 2.20 m high in places. Both courtyards are paved with large stone slabs, which have survived. Above the property, in the garden – which is at a higher level again than the courtyards – is a stone drainage channel running the full length of the south wall.
The Zejna Elezović residential complex(2) is one of a group of town houses typical of the Stolac region.
The main house, which is on the east side of the Zejna Elezović residential complex, is in ruins. It lies with its long axis east-west, and consisted of a ground and a first floor.
The main house was rectangular in plan, measuring approx. 12.0 x 8.0 m on the outside, and is approx. 7.8 m in height from ground level to the roof ridge. To the north of the building, against the ground and first floor, is an open-fronted, roofed portico running lengthwise, known as the hajat on the ground floor and the krilo (literally, wing) on the first floor. The timber first-floor structure rested on three wooden pillars with stone bases.
The portico occupied the full length of the north side of the house, and was about 2.1 m wide. On both ground and first floor it led into two rooms. On the ground floor was one room used as a kitchen, and one as a living room; both first-floor rooms were used as living rooms. The kitchen was on the east side, and measured approx. 4.7 x 4.3 m. The ground-floor living room measured approx. 5.3 x 4.3 m. The first-floor rooms were the same size as those on the ground floor, and on both storeys the ceilings were about 2.3 m high. The walls of the rooms were plastered and whitewashed. The floors of the portico and kitchen were stone-paved, while the other rooms had wooden floors.
A wooden staircase outside the building, in the portico, led from the ground to the first floor. The staircase was about 80 cm wide. To the east of the ground floor, the stone plinth on which the wooden structure of the staircase rested was found.
The primary construction of the main Zejna Elezović house consisted of both exterior and interior bearing walls of stone. The outside walls were of cut stone and were 60 cm thick; the stone was left exposed on the outside, but plastered and whitewashed on the inside. The partition walls, also 60 cm thick, were of quarry stone which was plastered and whitewashed. Parts of the outside walls have survived, but are in very poor condition following the fire and the long years of exposure to the elements since then.
Timber was used for the floor joists and roof frame, and for the doors, windows, staircase and ceilings. The timber floor joists consisted of beams over which the wooden floor boards of the first-floor rooms were laid. The shallow-pitched hipped roof was composed of beams and battens, and was clad with stone slabs, later replaced by tiles.
The doors and windows were made of good quality softwood. The ground-floor window openings measured approx. 65 x 65 cm and were fitted with iron bars. There were two ground-floor and two first-floor windows on the north and east sides of the building and three on each floor on the west side, but none on the south side, which faces Veli Dede hill. The ground-floor windows on the north side face onto the courtyard, while those of the first floor have a view of the street and the river Bregava. Wooden doors measuring approx. 80 x 190 cm led from the portico into each of the rooms.
The outbuilding in the tradesmen's courtyard is in good structural condition, except for lacking the roof cladding. It is currently being used to store various kinds of goods. It was formerly an outbuilding, used in summer for cooking and storing food, with bedrooms on the first floor. It stands on the west side of the Zejna Elezović residential complex. It is rectangular in plan, with the long axis lying north-south, and consists of a ground and first floor, each with two small rooms with connecting wooden doors. A single-flight stone staircase, about 1.15 m wide, leads from the ground to the first floor. The building measures about 7.85 x 5.80 m on the outside, and is about 6.8 m in height from ground level to the roof ridge. On the ground floor, one room was used as a kitchen and the other as a living room; both the upstairs rooms were used as bedrooms. The ceiling height of both the ground and the first floor rooms was approx. 2.3 m. The walls were plastered and whitewashed. The kitchen floor was paved with flagstones, and the rooms had wooden floors. On the east side of the building was a small rectangular area measuring approx. 3.6 x 2.2 m, formerly used as a pantry.
The primary construction of the outbuilding in the tradesmen's courtyard consisted of exterior and interior stone walls. The outside walls were of cut stone, were about 60 cm thick, and were plastered and painted inside and out. The inside walls were about 20 cm and were probably a later addition.
Timber was used for the floor joists and roof frame, and for the doors, windows, staircase and ceilings. The timber floor joists consisted of beams over which the wooden floor boards of the first-floor rooms were laid. The shallow-pitched gabled roof was composed of rafters and battens, and was originally clad with stone slabs, later replaced by tiles.
The doors and windows were made of good quality softwood. The ground-floor window openings measured approx. 75 x 61 cm. There were two ground-floor and two first-floor windows on the north side of the building but none on the west side (where another building was erected) or on the south side, which faces Veli Dede hill. The single-valved wooden door leading into the ground floor is on the east side of the building, where there is also a small window measuring approx. 50 x 60 cm on the first floor. A staircase leads from the stone landing to the first floor, where there is another single-valved wooden door measuring approx 200 x 80 cm.
3. Legal status to date
The Zejna Elezović residential architectural complex in Stolac has not been under state protection.
4. Research and conservation and restoration work
It is not known whether any investigative, conservation or restoration works have been carried out on the Zejna Elezović residential complex in Stolac.
The Islamic community funded the compilation of project documentation for the rehabilitation of the main house of the Zejna Elezović vakuf, entitled Working Project for the Rehabilitation of the Vakuf Court residential property in Stolac – architecture – construction, compiled by the KUBUS d.o.o. design studio of Sarajevo, BiH, June 2005. During the compilation of the project documentation, soundings were taken of the foundations and tests were made of the structural stability of the walls, leading to the conclusion that the remains of the walls and foundations were structurally unacceptable. In addition to detailed documentation on the current and projected condition, the project provided a description of the type and extent of the works to be carried out to rehabilitate the property:
- Interpolation of the foundation structure using modern materials in order to meet current regulations dealing with foundations;
- Recomposition of certain parts of the existing wall structure to retain authenticity (the wall and stone paving of the hajat);
- Reconstruction using traditional building methods and materials. This applies to the greater part of the property. These techniques entail the integration of certain elements where they did not previously exist in order to improve living standards;
- Interpolation of a roof frame and final roof cladding based on the use of traditional building elements in the Stolac region.
5. Current condition of the property
It was ascertained during on-site inspections in August and October 2008 that the Zejna Elezović residential complex had suffered serious damage in 1993, during the war. The main house was set on fire, destroying all the timber structure and woodwork. After the fire, the stone walls were left unprotected, and exposure to the elements led to the erosion of the mortar in the walls, weakening the structure and causing deformation of the walls. The stability of the surviving walls has thus been undermined and there is a risk that they may collapse.
It was found on inspection that the site of the main Zejna Elezović house is in very poor structural condition. The ground floor is completely filled in with fallen stone and rubbish, and that the rank vegetation around the property makes it almost impossible to reach. The south wall of the house is completely overgrown. There are the stone remains of two chimneys, to the east and west of the property. The north courtyard wall is partly in ruins, as is the entrance gateway to the east. The double-valved wooden door to the west, in the wall facing the next-door property, is in relatively good condition. The cobble paving in the main courtyard, from the entrance gateway to the garden, has survived almost intact, with only minor damage, as have the paving in the hajat and the stone bases on which the three wooden pillars supporting the first-floor structure of the portico of the main house once stood.
6. Specific risks
The specific risks to the Zejna Elezović residential complex in Stolac are the adverse effects of the elements on the remains of the walls of the main house, which are already in poor condition and could collapse.
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
D. Clarity
D.iv. evidence of a particular type, style or regional manner
D.v. evidence of a typical way of life at a specific period
F. Townscape/landscape value
F.iii. the building or group of buildings is part of a group or site
G. Authenticity
G.v. location and setting
The following documents form an integral part of this Decision:
- Photodocumentation, photographs taken on site by a member of staff of the Commission in 2006 and 2008;
- Blueprint of the building in the tradesmen's courtyard, produced by a member of staff of the Commission;
- Documentation of the main project entitled Working Project for the Rehabilitation of the Vakuf Court residential property in Stolac – architecture – construction, compiled by the KUBUS d.o.o. design studio of Sarajevo, BiH, June 2005.
Bibliography
During the procedure to designate the residential architectural ensemble of the Zejna Elezović vakuf in Stolac as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina the following works were consulted:
1935. Sergejevski, D. “Iz rimske arheologije (Municipium Diluntum)” (Roman Archaeology [Municipium Diluntum]), Jnl. of the National Museum, XLVII. Sarajevo: 1935, 17-22.
1940. Dinić, M. “Zemlje hercega sv. Save (Lands of Herceg St Sava),” Glas Srpske of the Royal Academy, CLXXXII, grade II, 92. Belgrade: 1940, 149-256.
1954. Kreševljaković, H. and Kapidžić, H. “Stari hercegovački gradovi” (Old Forts of Herzegovina), Naše starine II. Sarajevo: 1954, 9-21.
1972. Basler, Đ. Arhitektura kasnoantičkog doba u Bosni i Hercegovini (Architecture of Late Antiquity in BiH). Sarajevo: 1972.
1979. Truhelka, Ćiro. “Rimske razvaline kod Stoca i okolici” (Roman Ruins in and around Stolac), Slovo Gorčina. Stolac: 1979.
1990. Hasandedić, Hivzija. Muslimanska baština u istočnoj Hercegovini (Muslim heritage in eastern Herzegovina). Sarajevo: El-Kalem, 1990.
1996. Çelebi, Evliya. Putopis (Travelogue). Sarajevo: Sarajevo Publishing, 1996.
2005. Jaliman, Dr. Salih; Mičijević, Senad. Stolac od najstarijih vremena (Stolac Since Ancient Times). Mostar: 2005.
2005. Elezović, Mehmed. “Stolačke stupe” (Fulling Mills of Stolac), Most, Periodical for education, science and culture. Mostar: 2005.
2005. Documentation of the main project entitled Working Project for the Rehabilitation of the Vakuf Court residential property in Stolac – architecture – construction, compiled by the KUBUS d.o.o. design studio of Sarajevo, BiH, June 2005.
(1) The Elezović family in Stolac were millers and cloth millers. There were once eleven stamping mills in Stolac. Cloth milling was the trade of a number of families, among whom the best known are the Buzaljka, Elezović, Turković and Rizvanbegović families. Ibrahim Elezović's mills (with one vat) were at Pogled, on the left bank.
(2) During the drafting of this Decision, no documentation on the original condition of the building was found, and this description is therefore based on accounts given by older inhabitants of Stolac and comparisons with other properties built in Stolac at the same time.
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