Status of monument -> National monument

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

Pursuant to Article V para. 4 Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Article 39 para. 1 of the Rules of Procedure of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, at a session held from 8 to 14 September 2009 the Commission adopted a

D E C I S I O N

I

The historic monument consisting of a grave and stećak in the village of Bistro, Municipality Novi Travnik, is hereby designated as a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the National Monument).

The National Monument consists of a grave with a stećak of gabled form.

The National Monument is located on a site designated as cadastral plot no. 1646 (new survey), title deed no. 59, corresponding to c.p. 207/1 (old survey), Land Register entry no, 11 cadastral municipality Bistro, Municipality Novi Travnik, 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 and an area with a radius of 10 m from the National Monument, the following protection measures are hereby stipulated:

-          all works are prohibited other than research and conservation and restoration works, including those designed to display the monument, with 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;

-          the removal of the tombstone from the grave to any other location is prohibited.

The Government of the Federation shall be responsible in particular for carrying out:

-          a geodetic survey and survey of the condition of the site;

-          drawing up a project for the repair and restoration and conservation of the National Monument.

The repair, restoration and conservation project shall cover:

-          archaeological investigations;

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

-          tidying around the grave and clearing it of self-sown vegetation.

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. 05.1-2-40/09-50

9 September 2009        

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.

On 16 July 2008 the Novi Travnik branch of Preporod, the Bosniac Cultural Society, submitted a proposal to designate the historic site of the isolated stećak tombstone in the village of Bistro, Municipality Novi Travnik, as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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.

Statement of Significance

Gabled tombstones, resembling a house with a gabled roof, are one of the most common forms of tombstone in the Travnik area. They differ in the shape of the roof, which may be steeply pitched or more nearly horizontal. The ridge is much less commonly only barely indicated, as is the case with the isolated grave with its gabled stećak, decorated in relief with a crescent moon and cross, in the village of Bistro. The tombstone is lying north-south.

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:

1. Details of the property

Location

The isolated grave and stećak in the village of Bistro, below Kosa, is at an altitude of 758 m, latitude 44° 08.133' and longitude 17° 39.694'.

The National Monument is located on a site designated as cadastral plot no. 1646 (new survey), title deed no. 59, corresponding to c.p. 207/1 (old survey), Land Register entry no, 11 cadastral municipality Bistro, Municipality Novi Travnik, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Historical information(1)  

By the mid 10th century, when the “land of Bosnia” first features in a historical source, it already consisted of seven župas [counties]: Vrhbosna, Vidogošća (Vogošća), Lepenica, Bosna (a separately constituted area around Visoko), Trstivnica, Brod (around Zenica) and Lašva.(2) The mediaeval župa of Lašva covered the area of present-day Busovača, Vitez, Novi Travnik and Travnik municipalities, and was ruled by the bans of Bosnia, followed after 1377 by the kings of Bosnia. Lašva was one of the largest and most fertile counties of inner Bosnia, and was probably quite densely populated; most of its inhabitants were farmers. More than fifty necropolises of stećci (pl. of stećak) dating from the 14th and 15th centuries have been recorded in the area(3), as have the mediaeval towns of Toričan, Travnik, Bosnić or Škat and Vrbenac grad.(4)

Despite its size and significance, there are not many historical documents relating to the county of Lašva in mediaeval times. The earliest reference to the county is in a charter issued by King Bela IV in 1244, the authenticity of which is not proven, referring to a place “near three churches” as belonging to the Bosnian bishopric.(5)

2. Description of the property

The necropolises with stećci of central Bosnia are the most numerous and striking monuments to the culture of mediaeval Bosnia, and are to be found everywhere, but especially around Ilijaš, Visoko, Kiseljak, Travnik and Gornji Vakuf.

This isolated stećak, of gabled form with a plinth, measures 145 x 60 x 90 cm on a plinth measuring 180 x 100 cm, and is lying north-south. The west side is decorated with a damaged crescent moon and cross in high relief.

3. Legal status to date

The Regional Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina to 2000 lists five sites of necropolises with stećci (188 stećci in all) in the Novi Travnik area as Category III monuments, without precise identification.

4. Research and conservation and restoration works

The National Museum in Sarajevo began a systematic study of the necropolises with stećci in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1950s. The first study of necropolises in the Travnik area was limited to the Lašva valley from Lašva to Karaula, the river Bila valley to Brajkovići and Gučja Gora, the valley of the Komarska Lašva to Goleši, and the Grovnica valley, and was conducted by P. Korošec, who recorded 52 necropolises (P. Korošec, 1952, 378-407).

5. Current condition of the property

The findings of an on-site inspection conducted on 21 May 2009 are as follows:

-          the stećak is leaning off true and is partly buried, which made it impossible to measure the plinth in full. The “roof” is partly covered with lichens and moss that are breaking down the structure of the stećak. A tree is growing by the north-east edge of the stećak, with its roots under the stećak, which is also overgrown with low-growing and tall vegetation.

6. Specific risks

-          self-sown vegetation.

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.iv.     composition

C.v.      value of details

G.         Authenticity

G.ii.      material and content

G.v.      location and setting

The following documents form an integral part of this Decision:

-          Copy of cadastral plan

-          Copy of land register entry

-          Photodocumentation, 11 photographs taken on site

Bibliography

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

1931     Petrović, Jozo. S arheologom kroz Travnik (Through Travnik with an archaeologist). Zagreb: 1931

1952     Korošec, Paola. “Srednjevjekovne nekropole okoline Travnika” (Mediaeval necropolises in the Travnik Area), Jnl of the National Museum, n.s., vol. VII. Sarajevo: 1952, 375-407

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

1982     Bešlagić, Šefik. Stećci – kultura i umjetnost (Stećci – Culture and Art). Sarajevo: 1982

1984     Anđelić, Pavao. “Doba srednjovjekovne bosanske države” (The Age of the mediaeval Bosnian state), in Kulturna istorija Bosne i Hercegovine od najstarijih vremena do pada ovih zemalja pod osmansku vlast (Cultural history of Bosnia and Herzegovina from ancient times to the fall of these lands to Ottoman rule). Sarajevo: Veselin Masleša, 1984

1987     Kreševljaković, Muhamed. Naselja opštine Pucarevo (Settlements of Pucarevo Municipality). Pucarevo: 1987, 146-151

1994     Klaić, Nada. Srednjovjekovna Bosna, politički položaj bosanskih vladara do Tvrtkove krunidbe (1377. g.) (Mediaeval Bosnia, the political position of Bosnia’s rulers up to Tvrtko’s coronation [1377]). Zagreb: 1994

(1) For more on the historical background, see decision of the Commission designating the historic site of the Maculje necropolis with stećci, Municipality Novi Travnik, as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the Commission's web site: www.aneks8komisija.com.ba

(2) Pavao Anđelić, “Doba srednjovjekovne bosanske države,” in Kulturna istorija Bosne i Hercegovine od najstarijih vremena do pada ovih zemalja pod osmansku vlast, Sarajevo: Veselin Masleša, 1984, 9,10, 113

(3) Šefik Bešlagić, Stećci, kataloško-topografski pregled, Sarajevo: 1971,141, 145,154

(4) Jozo,Petrović, S arheologom kroz Travnik, Zagreb: 1931

(5) Marko Vego, Naselja bosanske srednjovjekovne države, Sarajevo: 1957, 150 and Nada Klaić, Srednjovjekovna Bosna, politički položaj bosanskih vladara do Tvrtkove krunidbe (1377. g.), 1994,112, 115.