Status of monument -> National monument

Published in the “Official Gazette of BiH”, no. 3/10.

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 10 to 16 March 2009 the Commission adopted a

D E C I S I O N

I

The historic site of the necropolis with stećak tombstones and the remains of a mediaeval church at Crkvina in Razići, Municipality Konjic, is hereby designated as a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the National Monument).

The National Monument consists of the archaeological site of the remains of a church and a necropolis with 104 stećak tombstones.

The National Monument is located on a site designated as cadastral plot no. 1442, Land Register entry no. 248, cadastral municipality Ribari, Municipality Konjic, 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, 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 notice boards 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 those designed to display the monument, with the approval of the Federal Ministry responsible for regional planning (hereinafter: the relevant ministry) and under the expert supervision of the heritage protection authority of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the heritage protection authority),

-       the site of the monument shall be open and accessible to the public, and may be used for educational and cultural purposes,

-       works on the infrastructure are prohibited except with the approval of the relevant ministry and subject to the expert opinion of the heritage protection authority,

-       the zone is a potential archaeological site, and in consequence all works that could in any way have the effect of altering the site or endangering the monument are prohibited unless conducted under the supervision of the relevant authorities and in the presence of an archaeologist,

-       the dumping of waste is prohibited.

The Government of the Federation shall be responsible in particular for ensuring that the following measures are implemented:

-       a geodetic survey of the current condition of the site,

-       drawing up a project for the repair, restoration and conservation of the necropolis and the remains of the church.

The repair, restoration and conservation project shall cover:

-       archaeological investigations,

-       clearing lichen and moss from the stećak tombstones and making good any damage,

-       tidying the site and clearing it of self-sown vegetation,

-       laying out a footpath to ensure a safe approach to the monuments,

-       making good the river Neretva bed where the necropolis is located,

-       ensuring access for the purpose of making the site a potential tourist destination,

-       drawing up and implementing a programme for the presentation of the National Monument.

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 VI 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: 02-2-40/09-12

11 March 2009

Sarajevo

Chair of the Commission

Dubravko Lovrenović

E l u c i d a t i o n

I – INTRODUCTION

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

On 22 November 2007 the Department of Administrative and Social Affairs and Inspection of Konjic Municipality submitted to the Commission a petition/proposal to designate the necropolis of stećak tombstones in the village of Razići as a National Monument.

Pursuant to the provisions of the law, the Commission proceeded to carry out the procedure for reaching a final decision to designate the Property as a National Monument, pursuant to Article V 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 the current owner and user of the property (copy of cadastral plan and Land Register entry),

-       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.,

-       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:

Statement of Significance

The National Monument consists of 104 stećak tombstones and the remains of a mediaeval church in a necropolis on the right bank of the river Neretva. The mediaeval tombstones known as stećci (pl. of stećak) are unique to Bosnia and Herzegovina and its neighbours. They provide impressive evidence of the growing economic power of Bosnian feudal society in the 14th century, the opening of mines, increasing urbanization, and the wish of individuals to display their status and power through the appearance of their tombstones, and are of outstanding historical and considerable cultural significance. The three basic shapes of stećak tombstone are represented at Crkvina in Razići – slabs, chests and gabled tombstones – of which only three are decorated, with a crescent moon, cross and the figural motif of a human head.

Archaeological excavations conducted on the site by the National Museum in 1956 revealed the foundations of a church built in the rustic Romanesque style of the latter half of the 12th or first half of the 13th century. The niches with reliquaries, the benches in the apse with a double cross on the top surface, and the history of the župa (county) of Kom are evidence that the services performed in the church were of the Orthodox Christian rite. The pieces of the portal indicate that the church was stone-built to roof height. The door lintel and jambs bear 15th century Renaissance features, and are a later addition. The pieces of a pilaster, pluteus and transenna suggest that the presbytery contained a stone partition (septum) of rustic design. The appearance of the stećak tombstones and the manner in which the deceased were buried here suggest that the necropolis is older than the other necropolises near Razići, and in particular than the necropolis in Biskup near Glavatičevo. The cockerel’s head in the right-hand niche and the etymology of the place-name Razići are also evidence of the age of the church and the site.

The Renaissance elements of the portal and the fact that there were no tombs in the church, together with other features, provide evidence that the church was not destroyed before the fall of the mediaeval Bosnian kingdom in the latter half of the 15th century.

1. Details of the property

Location

The necropolis, with 104 stećci (103 slabs/chests and one gabled) and the remains of a mediaeval church, is in the village of Razići, which is about 20 km as the crow flies to the south-east of the town of Konjic, close to the right bank of the river Neretva at a place known as Crkvina.

The National Monument is located on a site designated as cadastral plot no. 1442, Land Register entry no. 248, cadastral municipality Ribari, Municipality Konjic, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The extract from the cadastral records indicate that the plot is in the sole ownership of Smajić (Alija) Arif.

Historical information

The area around the upper Neretva straddles two regions. Since prehistoric times, the roads linking central Bosnia with the Adriatic coast ran along the Neretva valley and its outer margins. With some alterations and adaptations to the route, major roads ran here in antiquity, mediaeval times and the Ottoman period, until the road was laid through the Neretva gorge from Jablanaca to the south in the 1880s. The central Bosnian ore-rich mining area, the fertile soils of the Neretva valley, and the rich mountain pastures, all led to the formation of many settlements throughout history, in line with the conditions and demands of their respective times, on the great bend in the Neretva between the mountain massifs of Bitovnja, Bjelašnica and Visočica to the north, and Prenj and Čvrsnica to the south(1).

Roads have always been an indicator of the way of life in a given area. For Konjic, the natural route linking Hum land, its coastal regions and Dubrovnik with central and northern Bosnia and part of Pannonia – a route where a road was laid in Roman times – was an important feature. Certain documentation concerning major routes in mediaeval times preserves the name ''Vlaški put'' (Vlach road), relating for instances to part of the old road from Zaborani to Glavatičevo. These Vlach roads, so called, in Herzegovina are known to have been the routes taken by semi-nomadic herders, most of them of Vlach origin(2).

The mediaeval tombstones of Bosnia and Hum known as stećci became the subject of scholarly interest in not entirely favourable circumstances, hundreds of years after they had become a relic of a historic age. At the turn of the 18th-19th century, the western world began to hear of the unusual art to be found on tombstones in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Dalmatia, initially from the accounts of travellers that were not well documented enough to give rise to any significant interest in the west, particularly since western scholarship was then occupied with the analysis of entirely different works of art; as a result, the realistic, and indeed clumsy scenes on the stećci neither appealed to scholars nor aroused their interest. In Ottoman Bosnia itself, there were no forces capable independently of studying and presenting these treasures of mediaeval art(3). In these circumstances, by the mid 19th century – when the process of modern national coalescence was in full swing and the question of whom Bosnia belonged to increasingly took on political and even apocalyptic significance – scholars were inclined to see the art of the stećci as having arisen from Bogomil teachings(4). Nor was there any lack of efforts to give the stećci a purely Serbian or Croatian national stamp(5). From the mid 20th century, the prevailing scholarly opinion was that the stećci could not be explained by either “bogomilization” or any exclusively national theory, but rather than they should be situated in their own authentic world, the world in which they came into being, evolved and then died out in the late 15th century, after the mediaeval Bosnian state had itself come to an end(6).

The erection and demolition of the church in Razići can be dated to the 12th or, at the latest, the early 13th century on the basis of its typological features, the type of masonry, the type and workmanship of the decorations on the surviving fragments, the appearance of the graves that were excavated and the nature of the burials. There is no doubt that it antedates the church in the village of Biskup, of which the stonework of cut stone is of finer quality. The church in Razići may have been one of the area’s more important churches. Comparing the appearance and workmanship of the stećci (pl. of stećak) in the necropolises near Razići (Čičevo, Kašići, Ribari, Račica, Biskup and Ladjevica, all in Kom county) with those in Razići itself strongly suggests that the necropolises in the surrounding villages are of later date.

The demise of the church in Biskup would not have left Kom county without a church. The fact that there were no later burials in the church or stećci (with the exception of a single grave), suggests that the church and necropolis were both abandoned in the early years of Ottoman rule (latter half of the 15th century).

The churches in Razići and Biskup give the lie to the outdated opinion that there were no churches, frescoes or sculpture in Bosnia from the early 13th to the late 15th century, the very period during which splendid ecclesiastical art was flourishing in neighbouring Dalmatia and Serbia(7).

2. Description of the property

According to Š. Bešlagić’s statistics, Konjic municipality – with 3,018 recorded stećci – is one of those with the greatest number of stećci in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In terms of shape, chest-shaped stećci are the most numerous, with gabled and slab-shaped tombstones represented in almost equal numbers. The way in which the stećci are grouped makes it possible to trace and to document on the ground important historical features, processes and relations. The siting of large necropolises is a reliable indication of the centres of former religious and political communities. That of medium-sized necropolises enables one to follow the process of development of clan-based villages, while smaller groups reflect intensive feudalization and social differentiation, when individual clans no longer bury their dead alongside their neighbours, but form their own family necropolises. The stećci in the Konjic region can provide an important contribution to resolving the question of the origin of stećci, both in terms of ethnicity and as regards the origins of their basic form. The Sanković necropolis in Biskup is a striking example of the way in which, throughout the 14th century, stećci were used as tombstones by the most powerful landowning clan in the whole of Hum land, while the Bogopanci – Draživojevići – Sankovići are indubitably of Slav origin and culture, not Vlach. It should be borne in mind that by the 14th century the Vlachs already belonged to lower-class social structures and were certainly not in a position to impose their customs, and in particular the way in which graves were marked, on their overlords. The theory of the Vlach origin of stećci cannot be justified, even though there are several necropolises in the Konjic area, and perhaps the finest at that, which could be attributed to Vlachs.

Decorations began to be added to stećci in the mid 14th century, continued throughout the 15th, and came to an end in the 16th century. Circumstances such as the geological composition of the rock from which stone was taken to make stećci no doubt influenced the finer shaping of the tombstones. The considerable difference in the quality of workmanship of the stećci in the Neretvica valley, where there was no suitable stone, and that of the karst regions around Glavatičevo and Bjelimići, is striking. It would seem, however, that this was not the only reason for the differences, for the Jablanica area has good material, and yet does not have any particularly evolved forms and decorations. Among the influences from neighbouring districts that of southern Herzegovina (old Hum) is particularly noticeable, as can be seen throughout the area to the east of Konjic. In Bradina are low gabled stećci clearly modelled on those of neighbouring regions of central Bosnia. The epitaphs on the stećci are of particular value. They are written in Bosnian Cyrillic script, and date from the end of the 14th and the beginning or second half of the 15th century(8).

The necropolis, with 104 stećci (103 slabs/chests and one gabled) and the remains of a mediaeval church, is in the village of Razići, which is about 20 km as the crow flies to the south-east of the town of Konjic, close to the right bank of the river Neretva at a place known as Crkvina, on a plot designated as c.p. no. 1442(9).

The stećci are of poor workmanship, and most are damaged and partly or wholly buried(10). They lie north-west/south-east and north-east/south-west. Three are decorated (three chests, nos. 34, 83 and 84). The decorative motifs are a head in the form of a mask or the face of an unidentified saint, a cross, and a decoration that P. Anđelić, Š. Bešlagić and M.Vego recorded as a crescent moon. The decorations are all in relief. The remains of the church, now completely buried, lie within the necropolis.

During archaeological excavations in 1956, Marko Vego found the worn threshold stone of the church over a grave to the west of the church door. The grave was excavated and found not to have been stone-lined. It contained no grave goods, but only a skeleton. A slab over a grave, again containing only a skeleton, was also found by the south side of the church(11).

The mediaeval church was a single-aisled church with a semicircular apse(12). Excluding the apse, the church was 11.07 m in length on the outside and 9.65 m on the inside; at the west end, it was 4.13 m wide on the inside and 5.93 m on the outside. It lay west-east, and consisted of three sections: A, the narthex; B, the naos (nave); C, the presbytery (sanctuary) (T.I; IV, 1). The entrance to the church was at the west end, but much of the wall at that point was destroyed by later burials. The threshold had survived, but was later used as a tombstone. It was a limestone slab that had been quite carefully dressed, and was 166 cm long, 73 cm wide and 22 cm high. Like the door jambs and lintel, the threshold stone had a hole in the middle of the top surface. Since the other walls had survived to quite some height, it could be seen that there was no other entrance to the church.

One stone doorjamb and one stone lintel lay outside the church door, the one longer and the other shorter. The lintel was 200 cm long, 50 cm wide and 24 cm thick. It had four moulded grooves on the outer surface: I, 2 cm wide, II, 5.50 cm, III, 9 cm, IV, 10 cm. The first was 1 cm deep, the second 2 cm, the third 2 cm and the fourth 3 cm.

The lintel(13) had two holes on the right-hand side, 1.50 to 3 cm in depth, which had been used to hang the door. On the other side were three holes 1 to 7 cm in depth, two of which were square and one round. These too were used to fix the lintel to the wall by means of iron joints (T.II, 1; Illus. 1).

The door jamb was 194 cm long, 50 cm wide and 22 cm thick. The distance between the end of the door lintel and the first groove was 22 cm. The first groove from the top was 2 cm wide, the second 5.50 cm, the third 8.50 cm and the fourth 8.50 cm. The first was 0.50 cm deep, the others 2 cm. On the left-hand side of the doorjamb, the side next to the door, were two holes, 3 to 5 cm [in depth], which had been used to fix the door to ensure its stability (T.II, 3).

The door jamb and lintel were integral components of the church, even though they were later additions, like the threshold. The threshold matched the jamb and lintel in depth, and suggests that the door was double-valved; if it were not, the central hole on the threshold would be pointless, and the threshold would not be worn in the way it was. There could not have been an entrance in the part of the north wall that was in ruins, on account of the awkward relationship to the partition.

A. Narthex(14)  

The narthex, A, was 510 cm wide and 243 cm deep (long). The west wall, where we have good reason to assume the entrance had been, had been badly damaged by later burials; the mid-section was destroyed, and there was a stećak at that point (“a” on the plan). The north-west corner had survived to a height of 80 cm, and there the plaster on the inside of the wall had also survived. A short distance to the south of the corner, only the lower parts of the walls had survived, where the entrance to the church had been. Beside the entrance was a slab of which only part had survived (“b” on the plan). The floor of the narthex was filled in with laid plaster. During excavation, a few roughly-hewn pieces of tufa lying loose on the floor were found along the north wall. To the east, the narthex A is divided from the nave B by a wide band of small-grade rubblestone, rather carelessly laid across the floor from the south to the north wall. This partition was 90 cm wide. A squarish slab of stone (“c” on the plan) lay on this rubble close to the north wall. This slab, which was 56 cm long and 48 cm wide, had served as a footing for the partition wall, but was in a poor state of preservation. At point “d” on the plan was a piece of mudstone (miljevina)(15) that could have come from the door jamb of the door in the wooden partition or, more likely, was part of a septum (pilaster) (T. V, 1)(16).

B. Naos (nave)

In a Byzantine church, the nave is where the congregation assembles during religious worship. Here the nave is almost square, with a length of 405 cm to the south and 418 cm to the north. There was a stone step along both the north and the south wall, doubtless used as a bench by the congregation, given that it has no other purpose. At the east end, the wall gradually becomes thicker and the step correspondingly narrower until it vanishes into the wall. The floor of the nave was paved with unevenly shaped flagstones.

In the south-western part of the nave, a stone transenna protrudes from the flooring (marked on the plan)(17). At point K a fragment of a similar piece of a square pilaster with a carved palmette-like ornament(18) was found (T.IV, 1 and T.V, 1). The floor of the nave B is about 10 cm higher than that of the narthex A.

C. Presbytery (sanctuary)(19)  

The presbytery C is 413 cm wide and 227 cm long (deep), not counting the length of the apse. The floor is about 20 cm higher than that of the nave B, but only the southern part of the floor has survived. The foundations of the altar partition were not found, but the discovery of an ornamented pilaster, two pieces of transenna and one piece of a pluteus(20) suggest that the partition was of stone (T. V, 5). At the northern end of what was probably the partition (“c” on the plan) is a stone slab, perhaps the remains of an ambon(21), 27 cm in height, with a small squarish stone in front of it. The presbytery had a 163 cm wide apse with a laid floor. The inner stone part of the bench (“f” on the plan) bore a double carved cross on the upper surface. All that has survived of the bench is the northern part; the southern part was destroyed by the later use of that part of the apse as a grave, after the church had fallen into ruin. The plaster on the apse wall suggests that the bench was a later addition (T.III, 1).

A niche was cut on each side of the east wall of the apse, at floor level (at “g” and “h” on the plan), of similar shape and almost identical in size.

Niche “g”, of which the front of the vault was damaged, seems to have been slightly lower than niche “h” to the south (T.III, 2). Niche “h” was close to the south wall. Both niches were of tamped plaster, except for the floor, which was cobbled. The plaster was about 10 cm thick. In front of the niches was a stepped entrance made of stone slabs. A few small human bones were found in niche “g”, mixed with flakes of wax, and the same was true of niche “h”, which also contained a cockerel’s head.

Everything was left in situ, apart from the cockerel’s head, which is in the National Museum. Preparator Ljubo Ćorić identified it as a cockerel’s head. The niches were made while the church was being built, and were laid with tufa slabs and faced with plaster at the same time (T.IV, 2).

Description of the finds inside the church

Moulded stone fragments were found in various parts of the church, including a fragment of a pilaster 37 cm long, 25 cm wide and 17 cm thick. On one side the corners bore a carved ornament resembling a palmette, partly damaged on both the right and the left hand side. The ornament was set in a moulded panel 13 cm long and 6 cm wide. The palmette had seven tiers of leaves. Grooves to left and right, 13 cm in length, were observed on the opposite, wide side. Though the stone used was miljevina, the artisan had not carved it with precision (T.V, 1, 2, 3).

Another pilaster fragment was 20 cm long, 22 cm wide and 18 cm thick. It had a 14 cm long groove on one side. A hole about 3 cm deep was observed at the top of the pilaster. Like the other pilaster fragment, the stone was rather crudely worked (T. V, 4).

The third and fourth fragments (transennas) were designed to fit into the pilaster. They were 11 cm long, about 10 cm wide, and 5 cm thick. On both, the grooves were 3 cm deep. The stone used was the same as the other fragments. The transennas fit perfectly into the pilasters (T. V, 6).

The fifth fragment, from a pluteus, had five moulded beams with 0.50 cm grooves. The fragment is 13 cm long, 10 cm wide and 5 cm thick (T. V, 5).

All this suggests that the fragments of stone were parts of an altar partition that was probably entirely of stone, and ornamented. It is unlikely that they were from the partition between the narthex and the nave. The ornaments are of rustic workmanship, and echo those of the Roman period which were, naturally, of more perfect shape and finish. A few square-headed nails, 5 cm and 10 cm in length, were found in the rubble inside the church.

With the exception of the threshold, which was left in situ, these fragments were taken to the National Museum. The drawings were by Anton Smodić and the photographs by Ante Kućan and Marija Sever(22).

Masonry

The walls were built mainly of cut pebbles, with rubblestone here and there (on the floor). Limestone blocks were used for the threshold, door jambs and lintels. Mudstone (miljevina) was used where regular shapes were needed, as for example the ambon, pluteus, pilasters and other ornamented components. Roughly hewn tufa blocks were also found. Three amorphous pieces of brick, the origins of which it is hard to determine, were found on the south side of the building. They could have been borne along to the ruins of the church along with the deposits of soil that covered the ruins to a considerable depth, particularly the apse and presbytery.

The walls were fairly well built, but the surviving sections were not all of the same dimensions. There were no separate footings; instead, the walls both above and below ground were of the same thickness throughout except for the presbytery walls. Large quantities of mortar must have been used, judging from the remains. The walls were plastered on the inside, as seen on the plan.

The small quantities of tufa that were found do not suggest that the presbytery had a vaulted ceiling, though the thickness of the walls at the east end of the church could suggest a stone or tufa semi-dome over the apse. This is not impossible, given that pieces of an altar partition were found two of which had ornamental corners carved in the form of palmettes, of rustic workmanship. This is a common ornament in early mediaeval architecture.

Though no sooty remains were found, the roof was wooden, but the walls were of stone up to the roof – if not, the imposing stone door jambs and lintels would not make sense. The area around the outside of the walls was cobbled on all four sides. All the moulded fragments except the portal, like the ornamented fragments, bear the features of rustic Romanesque.

Style of the church – the church in Razići was rectangular in plan, and was probably built by local craftsmen. To judge only from the door jamb and lintel that were found, it could date from the 15th century, which means that the portal was a later addition. The shape of the niches suggest that the church was built after the emergence of the Romanesque in Dalmatia (12th century), and that it had the features of rustic Romanesque, though it is hard to be certain about the entire building and the finds in it.

Niches(23) – the niches contained human bones which, in line with ecclesiastical principles, would suggest that they belonged to one or two saints or martyrs. The cockerel’s head and fruit pips suggest an old Slav custom. From the 13th to the early 15th century the overlords of the Župa of Kom, where the village of Razići is located, were from the land-owning Sanković family, whose saint’s days were those of St George and St Michael the Archangel. It is not impossible that they maintained the old tradition of the principal church of the Župa of Kom and that the church in Razići was dedicated to SS George and the Archangel Michael.

The cockerel’s head and fruit pips lead one to reconsider the age of the church and the weak influence of Christianity in this part of the world. Even today there are many Slav place-names associated with cockerels, hens, chickens and other birds. One such example is in Grude in western Herzegovina, where there is a place called Pivčevo Groblje(24); another is Pjevčeva Glavica(25) in Gornja Bujela near Konjic, where a triple-apsed mediaeval church standing amid 200-300 stećci was discovered in 1957. A Bosnian charter of 1400 refers to the village of Kokošjeglavci(26) near Livno.

The name of the village of Razići itself derives from the old Slav verb raziti (modern Slav razati) meaning to slaughter, to sacrifice. It is not impossible that the place-name Razići is associated with a place of sacrifice, which would certainly include the ceremony of slaughtering a cockerel. The same is true of the name of the village of Trijebanj near Stolac in Herzegovina.

All this would explain why a cockerel’s head was found in a niche in the church in Razići along with other articles. Razići is in a mountainous region where Christianity had less influence than in the coastal regions, and hence the old Slav customs persisted in the Župa of Kom well beyond the 10th century, as in the Sanković graves in the village of Biskup, which are attributed to the latter half of the 13th to the early 15th century. It certainly suggests that the church in Razići is older than the church in Biskup.

The rite of the services performed in the church in Razići – these facts suggest that the church in Razići was probably an Eastern (Orthodox) church, given that at this time (12th-13th century), the Western (Catholic) Church neither used niches such as those in Razići nor kept reliquaries apart from the altar. The orientation of the apse in Razići provides no relevant evidence, since in mediaeval times it was the same in both Catholic and Orthodox churches. The only evidence so far is thus the niches to suggest which rite the church in Razići belonged to, supported by the history of the Župa of Kom, which belonged in the 12th century to Podgorje, ruled mainly by Serbian overlords, particularly those of the Nemanjić family, until they abandoned Hum land after 1322.

The sculpture of a human head on a stećak – one slab, used as a tombstone, bore a carved human head, which in itself suggests that it could date from the 12th century or later. The tomb beneath the slab with the human head was made in the old manner, with no sarcophagus or stone surround.

There can be no doubt that the deceased was from the wealthier class, buried to the highest standards of the time. Sanković graves, however, differ from this, suggesting that the slab with the carving of the human head could have been placed there much earlier, before the latter half of the 13th century(27).

Condition of the stećci

Stećak no. 3. – chest without decoration, partly buried, covered with moss and overgrown with grass, lying north-east/south-west; the stećak measures 185x109x25 cm.

Stećak no. 4. – chest without decoration, damaged, partly buried, covered with lichens and moss and overgrown with grass and low-growing plants, lying north-east/south-west; the stećak measures 216x105x30 cm.

Stećak no. 6. – slab without decoration, partly buried, damaged, covered with moss and overgrown with grass, lying north-east/south-west; the stećak measures 177x103x13 cm.

Stećak no. 7. – chest without decoration, damaged, partly buried, covered with lichens and moss and overgrown with grass and low-growing plants, lying north-east/south-west; the stećak measures 179x82x51 cm.

Stećak no. 11. – slab without decoration, partly buried, covered with lichens and moss and overgrown with grass, lying west-east; the stećak measures 168x73x10 cm.

Stećak no. 15. – chest without decoration, damaged, of crude workmanship, covered with lichens and moss and overgrown with grass, lying north-east/south-west; the stećak measures 157x90x28 cm.

Stećak no. 26. – slab without decoration, partly buried, of crude workmanship and damaged, covered with lichens and moss and overgrown with grass, lying north-east/south-west; the stećak measures 166x77x20 cm.

Stećak no. 29. – slab without decoration, partly buried, of crude workmanship and damaged, covered with lichens and moss and overgrown with grass, lying north-east/south-west; the stećak measures 175x75x20 cm.

Stećak no. 30. – slab without decoration, partly buried, of crude workmanship and damaged, covered with lichens and moss and overgrown with grass, lying north-east/south-west; the stećak measures 152x60x12 cm.

Stećak no. 34. – chest with decoration, covered with lichens and moss and overgrown with grass and low-growing plants, partly buried to the south-east, lying north-west/south-east; the stećak measures 184x124x40 cm.

Stećak no. 36. – chest without decoration, covered with lichens and moss and overgrown with grass and low-growing plants, lying north-west/south-east; the stećak measures 154x62x25 cm.

Stećak no. 37. – chest without decoration, covered with lichens and moss and overgrown with grass and low-growing plants, lying north-west/south-east; the stećak measures 180x110x20 cm.

Stećak no. 70. – chest without decoration, partly buried, covered with lichens and moss and overgrown with grass, lying north-west/south-east; the stećak measures 147x88x25 cm.

Stećak no. 78. – chest without decoration, partly buried, covered with lichens and moss and overgrown with grass and low-growing plants, lying north-west/south-east; the stećak measures 176x84x54 cm.

Stećak no. 79. – slab without decoration, partly buried, covered with lichens and moss and overgrown with grass, lying north-west/south-east; the stećak measures 168x90x20 cm.

Stećak no. 83. – slab with decoration, partly buried, covered with lichens and moss and overgrown with grass and low-growing plants, lying north-west/south-east; the stećak measures 152x90x30 cm.

The top of the tombstone bears a human head representing a mask or an unidentified saint, executed in relief, and measuring 22 x 12 x 4 cm.

Stećak no. 84. – slab with decoration, partly buried, of crude workmanship, covered with lichens and moss and overgrown with grass, lying north-west/south-east; the stećak measures 160x77x22 cm.

The top of the tombstone bears a cross motif which, like the stećak itself, is of crude workmanship. The decoration is executed in relief.

Stećak no. 91. – slab without decoration, partly buried, covered with lichens and moss and overgrown with grass, lying north-west/south-east; the stećak measures 190x88x12 cm.

Stećak no. 102. – gabled, without decoration, with soil piled up against the north-east side, covered with lichens and moss and overgrown with grass, lying north-west/south-east; the stećak measures 146x46x104 cm.

Stećak no. 104. – slab without decoration, partly buried, covered with lichens and moss and overgrown with grass, lying north-west/south-east; the stećak measures 170x80x5 cm.

3. Legal status to date

The Regional Plan for BiH to 2000 lists 69 sites of necropolises with stećci (3,018 tombstones) in Konjic Municipality, without precise identification(28).

In a letter from the Institute for the Protection of Monuments of the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sport dated 26 November 2008, the property is listed as “Necropolis with stećci Razići I, in the hamlet of Crkvina, Konjic Municipality, mediaeval necropolis (about 93 stećci)” but was not on the Register of cultural monuments of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

4. Research and conservation and restoration works

Investigative works were carried out at Crkvina in Razići near Konjic by Marko Vego in association with a specialist, Dimitrije Sergejevski, curator Pavao Anđelić, and preparator Ante Kućan between 5 and 10 August 1956. In his report on the site of Crkvina in Razići near Konjic, published in the Journal of the National Museum, Archaeology, n.s. vol. XIII, Sarajevo, 1958, Marko Vego reported that part of the material was housed in the National Museum and part in situ(29).

Research works, in the form of recording and gathering information on the stećci, were carried out by Pavao Anđelić and published in 1975.

No conservation or restoration works have been carried out.

5. Current condition of the property

The findings of an on-site inspection conducted on 24 September 2008 are as follows:

-       the stećci are at risk of rapid deterioration from lack of maintenance,

-       the plot where the necropolis is located has been turned into a plum orchard, and most of the stećci are overgrown with low-growing and woody plants,

-       all the stećci are chipped, damaged, overturned or partly or wholly buried,

-       the site where the stećci are located is on a plot that is not fenced off, which enables the local residents to use the plot to as grazing for their livestock,

-       there is a small quantity of bulky waste among the shrubs in the necropolis,

-       lichens and moss are present on the stećci to a greater or lesser extent,

-       for the most part the tops of the stećci (chests and slabs) are damaged to a greater or lesser extent (cracks, splits),

-       all that can be seen of the remains of the church is the outlines of the walls, which are completely covered with soil.

6. Specific risks

-       deterioration of the necropolis as a result of long-term neglect,

-       the effects of the elements have resulted in a widening of the river bed, with the risk that some of the stećci could slide into the river Neretva,

-       adverse weather conditions,

-       self-sown vegetation,

-       use of the area for agricultural purposes.

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.v.      value of details

D.         Clarity

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

E.         Symbolic value

E.ii.      religious value

E.iv.     relation to rituals or ceremonies

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.ii.      material and content

G.iii.     use and function

G.iv.     traditions and techniques

G.vi.     spirit and feeling

The following documents form an integral part of this Decision:

-       Proprietary/ownership documentation

-         Copy of cadastral plan, c.p. 1442, c.m. Ribari; scale 1:2500; issued on 27. 11. 2008 by the Department of Geodetic and Proprietary Affairs and Real Property Cadastre, Konjic Municipality, and forwarded to the Commission by the Department of General Administration, Social Affairs and Inspection, Konjic Municipality (document ref. 09-42-3-2452/08 of 27. 11. 2008).

-         Title deed no. 248; issued on 27. 11. 2008 by the Department of Geodetic and Proprietary Affairs and Real Property Cadastre, Konjic Municipality, and forwarded to the Commission by the Department of General Administration, Social Affairs and Inspection, Konjic Municipality (document ref. 09-42-3-2452/08 of 27. 11. 2008).

-         The Land Register office issued Land Register entry no. 248, c.m. Ribari, Municipality Konjic, order ref. 4601/08 of 27.11.2008, forwarded to the Commission by the Department of General Administration, Social Affairs and Inspection, Konjic Municipality (document ref. 09-42-3-2452/08 of 27. 11. 2008).

-       Documentation on previous protection of the property

-         Letter from the Institute for the Protection of Monuments of the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sport of 26 November 2008.

-         Letter from the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina of 15 October 2009.

-       Photographic documentation

-         Photographs of the property taken on 24. 09. 2008 by historian Zijad Halilović (using CANON Power Shot digital camera: 4.0 megapixel).

-       Technical documentation

-         Technical surveys of the property (the stećci) measured and surveyed on 24.09.2008 by Zijad Halilović, historian, and Nermina Katkić, architect.

-         Plan of the church with movable finds, from Marko Vego, “Crkva u Razićima kod Konjica,” Jnl of the National Museum, 1958.

Bibliography

During the procedure to designate the property as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina the following works were consulted:

1924.    Glušac, Vaso. “Srednjovekovna ‘bosanska crkva’”, in: Prilozi za književnost, jezik, istoriju i folklor, IV (The Mediaeval “Bosnian Church”, in Contributions to Literature, Language, History and Folklore, IV). Belgrade: 1924.

1957.    Vego, Marko. ”Crkva u Razićima kod Konjica,“ (The Church in Razići near Konjic), Jnl of the National Museum, Archaeology, n.s., vol. XIII. Sarajevo: 1957.

1963.    Benac, Alojz. Stećci. Belgrade: Prosveta, 1963.

1971.    Bešlagić, Šefik. Stećci, kataloško-topografski pregled (Stećci, a catalogue and topographical survey). Sarajevo: 1971.

1975.    Anđelić, Pavao. Historijski spomenici Konjica i okoline (Historic Monuments of Konjic and its Environs), I. Konjic: 1975.

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, 1980, 51.

1990.    Südland, L. V. (Ivo Pilar). Južnoslavensko pitanje. Prikaz cjelokupnog pitanja, Varaždin (The Yugoslav Question. Full account of the issue, Varaždin). Title of original: L. v. SÜDLAND, Die Südslawische Frage und der Weltkrieg. Übersichtliche Darstellung des Gesamt-Problems. Wien: 1990.

Text from the Decision designating the archaeological monuments in the Park at Varda below the Community Centre in Konjic as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina, no. 05.2-02-1026/03-4 of 15 March 2006

(1) The historical information section has been taken from the Decision designating the Archaeological Monuments in the Park at Varda below the Community Centre in Konjic as a National Monument

(2) For more on the historical background see the Decision by the Commission designating the historic site of the necropolis with stećci in Glavatičevo, at Gajina, Municipality Konjic, as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina, no. 02-02-264/08-5 of 5 November 2008. For more on the background of Glavatičevo and its environs see Jnl. of the National Museum, 1955, archaeology, 157-166; ibid, 1957, archaeology, 127, 139, 272; M. Vego, Naselja bosanske srednjevjekovne države, Sarajevo, 1957, 149, 1964; M. J. Dinić, Glas, 182, 210, 213; F. Šišić, Ljetopis Popa Dukljanina, 1928, 327.

(3) Benac, Alojz, Stećci, Belgrade: Prosveta, 1963. xvii, xxix

(4) Benac, Alojz, op.cit., 1963. xxix

(5) Glušac, Vaso, “Srednjovekovna ‘bosanska crkva’”, in Prilozi za književnost, jezik, istoriju i folklor, IV, Belgrade: 1924, 31.-35., 36.-37., 50; Südland, L. V. (Ivo Pilar), Južnoslavensko pitanje. Prikaz cjelokupnog pitanja, Varaždin. Original title: L. v. SÜDLAND, Die Südslawische Frage und der Weltkrieg. Übersichtliche Darstellung des Gesamt-Problems, Wien 1990, 95, 96

(6) For more on stećci, see decision of the Commission designating the historic site of the Mramorje necropolis with stećci and old nišan tombstones in Lavšići, Municipality Olovo, as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina, no: 02-02-228/07-9 of 5 November 2008, and the Commission's web site: www.aneks8komisija.com.ba

(7) Vego, Marko, “Crkva u Razićima kod Konjica,” Sarajevo, Jnl of the National Museum, Archaeology, n.s. vol. XIII, 1958, 165

(8) Anđelić, Dr. Pavao, Historijski spomenici Konjica i okoline, I, Municipal Council, Konjic: 1975

(9) P. Anđelić and Š. Bešlagić found 93 stećci on the site (91 chests and two gabled). P. Anđelić, 1975, 217; Š. Bešlagić, 1971, 331; but M. Vego found “about 100 stećci, mostly slab-shaped.” (Vego, Marko, op.cit., 1958, 159).

(10) A complete survey of the necropolis, including locating the stećci, cataloguing each one individually and recording the remains of the church, was not carried out, since both the stećci and the ruins of the church are completely buried. Only the twenty stećci that are not buried were recorded in detail.

(11) Vego, Marko, op.cit., 1958, 159

(12) Apse (Lat. apsis, absis,Gr. apsis, a wheel, arch or vault; Fr. abside; Ger. Apsis, Halbrund, Ital. abside), a semicircular recess which may be polygonal on the outside, usually roofed by a half-dome. The origin of the apse is in ancient Roman religious and secular architecture, where it formed an extension to the main building. In early Christian architecture the apse forms the end of the church to the east of the main nave.  The roof or vault of the apse is invariably lower than that of the main nave. (Ajzinberg Aleksandar, Stilovi – arhitektura, enterijer, namještaj – terminološki rečnik, Belgrade: Prosveta, 2007, 18 – slightly adapted following the OED – trans.)

(13) Lintel – a horizontal beam or arch over a door [or window]. Ajzinberg Aleksandar, op.cit., 2007, 175.

(14) Narthex (Gr. Narthēx), giant fennel, schoolmaster's cane, later the forecourt of an early Christian or Byzantine church, corresponding to the pronaos (parvis) in ancient Greek architecture, where catechumens and penitents congregated. Usually rectangular in plan, it lies at right-angles to the nave and is very rarely wider than it. In height it either matches the main nave or is differentiated by a slightly lower roof. In later church architecture the narthex became differentiated into an outer exonarthex and an inner endonarthex. (Ajzinberg Aleksandar, op.cit., 2007, 175)

(15) Translator’s note: miljevina is a massive limestone of oolitic origin but with no visible grains, a “mudstone” in a sense.

(16) Pilaster (Fr. pilastre, saillie de pilier, Ger. Pilaster, Pfeilervorlage, Eng. also pilaster strip, Ital, pilastro, lesena), a shallow vertical projection against a wall, square or rectangular in section, almost invariably with a base and capital. Originally structural in nature, in the Renaissance pilasters became a decorative feature, used both in architecture and furniture. They are usually adorned with one of the classical orders. They should be distinguished from half-columns, which are semicircular projections.  Pilasters with a human figure are anthropomorphic pilasters with a normal torso tapering at the base. These were particularly widely used from the 16th century, in Baroque architecture (Ajzenberg Aleksandar, op.cit., 2007, 201-202). [A flat, low-relief decorative strip on a wall, a wall portion projecting from either or both wall faces, corresponding to a column in its parts, since, it has a base, a shaft, and capital, originally serving as a vertical column and/or beam. A “pilaster with a human figure” is a pilaster decorated with a figure known as a 'term' – the upper half is human and the legs take the form of a tapering pilaster. Cf. “herm,” which consists of a head, usually of the god Hermes, on a quadrangular pillar with the proportions of a human body. Trans.]

(17) Transenna (Lat. and Ital, transenna), a net or grid. An openwork stone (or occasionally wooden) screen. The openings vary in shape from simple forms to highly complex ornamental forms, geometric, foliate or, rarely, zoomorphic. In early Christian churches, several interconnected transennas served as a partition separating the sanctuary from the nave of the church. In mediaeval times they were also used to screen windows (Ajzinberg Aleksandar, op.cit., 2007, 279).

(18) Palmette (Gr. palamē, palm of the hand, palm; Fr. palmette, a palm frond), a fan-shaped ornament consisting of narrow radiating divisions resembling a stylized palm frond. The divisions are always odd in number, and are arrayed symmetrically on either side of the larger central division. Palmettes, painted or modelled, are used individually (as a terracotta antifex or acroterium, for example) or as part of a continuous design (“running ornament”). The palmette originated in Egypt, and was widely used in Cretan Mycenaean and ancient Greek architecture, on Renaissance furniture, and later in 18th and early 19th century classicism. (Ajzinberg Aleksandar, op.cit., 2007, 194).

(19) Presbytery (from Gr. presbyteros, an elder; Lat. presbyterium). 1. In a Catholic church, the part of the church reserved for the clergy, behind the high altar, at the east end of the chancel, often partitioned off from the rest of the chancel and at a slightly higher level; 2. A separate building with living quarters for the clergy (Ajzinberg Aleksandar, op.cit, 2007, 212).

(20) Pluteus (Lat.) a movable frame of wood or wickerwork used to protect soldiers in siege warfare, low wall, barrier, screen [from OED – trans.], in ancient Rome the term for a low wall or parapet filling the lower intercolumnar spaces of a colonnade [OED: a screen, light wall, or podium between columns] (Ajzinberg Aleksandar, op.cit., 2007, 204).

(21) Ambo (Gr. ambon, the protuberance on a shield [OED: a rising, the raised edge or rim of a dish, a raised stage or pulpit], Fr. ambon, Ger. Ambo, Ital. ambone, Eng. ambon [OED] or ambo), in early Christian and mediaeval churches, “a small raised platform or elaborate podium at the left (north) side of the soleas and in the front of the iconostasis. Decorated with representations of the four Evangelists, it is the place on which the deacon or priest reads the Gospel and delivers his sermon” [OED]. The chancel is usually associated with the choir stalls, which became the chancel in late mediaeval times (Ajzinberg Aleksandar, op.cit, 2007, 13).

(22) Vego, Marko, op.cit., 1958, 163

(23) Niche (Fr. niche, Ger. Nische, Ital, nicchia). 1. A semicircular or polygonal recess in a wall, surmounted by a semi-calotte, usually intended to contain a piece of sculpture or furniture. 2. In fortifications, a recess in breastworks or curtain walls, used as protection from shrapnel and to house small quantities of ammunition (Ajzinberg Aleksandar, op.cit., 2007, 178).

(24) Cockerel’s burial ground

(25) Cockerel's head

(26) Chicken’s head

(27) Vego, Marko, op.cit., 1958, 159-165

(28) Various authors, Prostorni plan Bosne i Hercegovine, faza b – valorizacija, prirodne i kulturno-historijske vrijednosti, Sarajevo: Institute of Architecture, Town Planning and Spatial Planning of the Faculty of Architecture in Sarajevo and Planning Institute of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo, 1980, 51.

(29) During a telephone conversation on 20 November 2009 with Adnan Busuladžić, director of the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Commission was told that the Museum has no archaeological finds from this site.