Published
in the “Official Gazette of BiH”, no.40/10.
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 of the Church of the Holy Trinity in Tavna (the Tavna
monastery church), Municipality Bijeljina, is hereby designated as
a National Monument
of Bosnia and Herzegovina
(hereinafter: the National Monument).
The
National Monument is located on a site designated as cadastral plot no. 601/1,
title deed no. 145/0, Land Register entry no. 31, cadastral municipality
Banjica, Municipality Bijeljina, Republika
Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The
protection measures prescribed by this Decision do not apply to the konak (monastery
residence) to the north and west of the National Monument or to the gatehouse
to the east of the National Monument.
The
provisions relating to protection measures set forth by the Law on the
Implementation of the Decisions of the Commission to Preserve National
Monuments, established pursuant to Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement
for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of Republika Srpska no.
9/02, 70/06 and 64/08) shall apply to the National Monument.
II
The
Government of Republika Srpska shall be responsible for providing the legal,
scientific, technical, administrative and financial measures necessary for the
protection, conservation and presentation of the National Monument.
The
Commission to Preserve National Monuments (hereinafter: the Commission) shall
determine the technical requirements and secure the funds for preparing and
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, the following protection
measures are hereby stipulated:
-
on the site consisting of
part of c.p. 601/1, cadastral municipality Banjica, on which the monastery
church stands, all works are prohibited other than research, conservation and
restoration works, works designed to ensure the sustainable use of the
property, and works designed to display the property, with the approval of the
Ministry responsible for regional planning in Republika Srpska and under the
expert supervision of the heritage protection authority of Republika Srpska;
-
works that could be
detrimental to the National Monument or have the effect of altering the
landscape are prohibited;
-
during interventions on
the properties, materials and building methods forming part of the recognizable
landscape must be used.
IV
All
executive and area development planning acts are hereby revoked to the extent
that they are not in accordance with the provisions of this Decision.
V
Everyone,
and in particular the competent authorities of Republika Srpska, and urban and
municipal authorities, shall refrain from any action that might damage the
National Monument or jeopardize the preservation and rehabilitation thereof.
VI
The
Government of Republika Srpska, the Ministry responsible for regional planning
in Republika Srpska and the heritage protection authority of Republika Srpska,
and the Municipal Authorities in charge of urban planning and land registry
affairs, shall be notified of this Decision in order to carry out the measures
stipulated in Articles II – V of this Decision, and the Authorized Municipal
Court shall be notified for the purposes of registration in the Land Register.
VII
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.
VIII
On the
date of adoption of this Decision, the National Monument shall be deleted from
the Provisional List of National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official
Gazette of BiH no. 33/02, Official Gazette of Republika Srpska no. 79/02,
Official Gazette of the Federation of BiH no. 59/02, and Official Gazette of
Brčko District BiH no. 4/03), where it featured under serial no. 70.
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: 06.2-2-40/09-54
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.
The
Commission to Preserve National monuments issued a decision to add the
church and monastery of the Holy Trinity in Tavna, Municipality Bijeljina,
to the Provisional List of National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina under serial no. 70.
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
The
monastery church of the Holy Trinity in Tavna is the spiritual centre for the
Orthodox congregations of the Zvornik and Tuzla
eparchy and the whole of Semberija. The absence of documentary evidence makes
it impossible to date it accurately, but archaeological finds suggest that the
fabric of the church could date from the 14th century. Furthermore, local
tradition has it that the church in Tavna was founded and built in the late
14th century by Vladislav and Uroš, the sons of King Dragutin. The earliest
written reference to the church is in a Turkish census of the Zvornik sanjak
for 1533, probably a reference to the mediaeval parish church. From its style,
the present-day church could date from the latter half of the 16th century,
making it contemporary with Trnoša monastery in Serbia (built in 1559), which
this church closely resembles. The establishment of the Peć patriarchate in
1557 was followed by a period of renovation and reconstruction of Orthodox
churches, which could well have included the present-day church in Tavna. Vestiges
of murals dating from that period reveal its former glory and importance.
II – PROCEDURE PRIOR TO DECISION
In the
procedure preceding the adoption of a final decision to proclaim the property a
national monument, the following documentation was inspected:
-
Documentation on the
location and current owner and user of the property (transcript of the title
deed from Bijeljina
Municipality with copy of
cadastral plan).
-
Details of legal
protection to date.
-
Data on the current
condition and use of the property, including a description and photographs,
data of war damage, data on restoration or other works on the property, etc.
-
Historical, architectural
and other documentary material on the property, as set out in the bibliography
forming part of this Decision.
-
Pursuant to Article 12 of
the Law on the Implementation of Decisions of the Commission to Preserve
National Monuments Established Pursuant to Annex 8 of the General Framework
Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina,
the following procedures were carried out for the purpose of designating the
property as a national monument
of Bosnia and Herzegovina:
-
A letter ref.
06.2-35-127/08-1 of 6 May 2008 requesting documentation and views on the
designation of the church and monastery of the Holy Trinity in Tavna was sent
to Bijeljina Municipality, the local authority organ responsible for urbanism
and cadastral affairs, the Serbian Orthodox Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Zvornik and Tuzla Eparchy, the Ministry of Regional Planning, Civil Engineering
and the Environment of Republika Srpska and the Institute for the Protection of
the Cultural and Natural Heritage of Republika Srpska
-
A letter ref.
21-12/952-51/08 of 12 May 2008 and another ref. 02/2-118/08 of 2 June 2008 from
Bijeljina Municipality supplied the Commission to
Preserve National Monuments with the following documents for Holy Trinity
church in Tavna:
1. Transcript
of title deed
2. Copy
of cadastral plan
3. Amendments
to the spatial plan for Bijeljina
Municipality, 2003
(textual section)
4. Excerpt
from the amendments to part of the spatial plan for Bijeljina Municipality
of 30 May 2008
-
A letter ref. EYOBR.110 of
9 June 2008 was received from the Serbian Orthodox Eparchy of Zvornik and Tuzla supplying the
Commission with a copy of the Land Register entry and a copy of a Certificate
from the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of BiH of 20
September 1977
-
A letter ref.
06.2-35.8-4/09-206 of 12 November 2006 was sent by the Commission to Preserve
National Monuments to the Ministry of Regional Planning, Civil Engineering and
the Environment of Republika Srpska to enquire whether approval had been
granted for the building works being carried out on the plot where the Holy
Trinity church in Tavna stands
-
A letter ref.
26.090/362-3216-2/09 of 16 February 2010 from the Republic Inspectorate of
Banja Luka notified the Commission that an open-air altar had been built on the
site, in the same place and of the same size as formerly, and that in its
ruling it had ordered that approval be obtained for rehabilitation works.
The
findings based on the review of the above documentation and the condition of
the property are as follows:
1. Details of the property
Location
The
church of the Holy Trinity, together with the complex of the konak and
outbuildings and the gatehouse under construction, are in the village of Tavna,
in the foothills of Mt Majevica, 25 km south-west of Bijeljina. The approach to
the monastery complex is from the local road to the south-east. Almost the
entire site is surrounded by a high stone boundary wall of recent date.
The
National Monument is located on a site designated as cadastral plot no. 601/1,
title deed no. 145/0, Land Register entry no. 31, cadastral municipality
Banjica, Municipality Bijeljina, Republika
Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Historical information
The
majority of Orthodox churches and monasteries of northern and north-eastern Bosnia
date from the mid 16th century. The first reliable written sources and material
evidence of monastery churches in north and north-east Bosnia date from the years
immediately following the restoration of the Peć patriarchate in 1557. Local
tradition has it that many of these monasteries date from the 13th or 14th
century, and for some there is archaeological or written evidence that
corroborates this. Churches built in the latter half of the 16th century rarely
have a founder’s inscription that could shed light on their date of origin, and
the mediaeval tradition of building persisted in their architecture, usually as
a revival of the 13th century Rascian style.
The
monastery church of the Holy Trinity in Tavna is the spiritual centre for the
Orthodox congregations of the Zvornik and Tuzla
eparchy and the whole of Semberija. It is believed to have been built in the
late 16th or early 17th century, but has yet to be accurately dated. Written
historical sources provide little accurate information on the origins of the
church. A legend recorded in the Peć and Tronoša chronicle has it that the
church in Tavna was founded and built by Vladislav and Urošić, the sons of King
Dragutin, which would mean that the church dates from the late 14th century. Another
legend is that it was of rather later date than the Papraća church, and was
built as an endowment of hajduk [outlaw, brigand] Grujo Novaković.
The
earliest written reference to the church is in a Turkish census of the Zvornik
sanjak for 1533. In the 1548 census, it is referred to as a monastery. A note
in a copy of the Gospels in the Cetinje monastery dating from 1627 records that
Gavrilo, bishop of Zvornik, died that year in the Tavna monastery.
Over the
past hundred years, five scholars have studied the history of this church, followed
by a sixth, the archaeologist Mirko Babić of the Semberija Museum
in Bijeljina. The first to write about it was Vasilije Đuković, in 1898, with
the publication of an article in the Sarajevo periodical Istočnik,
followed in 1927 by Petar Jovanović, who published a piece in Glasnik,
the gazette of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The most comprehensive article
about the monastery church of the Holy Trinity in Tavna was published in 1948
by Milenko Filipović and Đoko Mazalić in Spomenik, the journal of the Serbian Academy of Sciences. In his Zidno
slikarstvo u Bosni i Hercegovini, published in 1971, Zdravko Kajmaković
gave an account of the history and the remains of the murals in the Tavna
monastery church, and in 1976 the church historian Dušan Kašić published a
tourist guidebook on the church (Babić, 1995, 153-159).
Filipović
and Mazalić are of the view that the church could date from the latter half of
the 16th century, which would make it contemporary with the Tronoša monastery
in Serbia.
The church in Tavna is just 8 km from the river Drina, and closely resembles
the Tronoša church in Serbia,
on the other side of the river, which was built in 1559 and bears a remarkable
resemblance architecturally to the Tavna church.
In 1995
archaeologist Mirko Babić published an article in the Bijeljina periodical Srpska
vila on the
results of the excavations conducted in the monastery church in Tavna. These
were the first excavations to be carried out there, and revealed two transverse
foundations, from which Babić deduces that the church was built in three
stages, the first in the 14th century, the second in the 16th and the final
stage in 1884, when the bell tower was built. In Babić’s view, the church
initially had an apse, and the entrance front would have been in the middle of
the present-day church. The existing narthex was built in the second stage, and
the bell tower in the third (Babić, 1995, 153-159).
There are
also some later documentary references to the church in Tavna. In 1697, just
after the Austro-Turkish war, Metropolitan Jevtimije of Buda stayed in Tavna,
which indicates that the church was not damaged or destroyed during the war. The
Jesuit priest Rudolf Bzenski, who stayed in Zvornik from 1688 to 1699, when the
town was under Austrian rule, also refers to Tavna, noting that the Orthodox
had a very fine church decorated with frescoes (Ševo, 2002, 111).
Very
little is known of the complex of buildings forming the konak (monastery
residence). The only record of its date is that given by Marica Šuput, who says
that it was built after the bell tower was erected in 1848. According to
prioress Marta, the buildings constituting the konak were destroyed by fire in
1943, during World War II, and were rebuilt after the war, being completed in
1954. In 2005 major building works were carried out on the konak complex.
Between
1984 and 1997, minor building works were carried out from time to time on the
church of the Holy Trinity in Tavna.
2. Description of the property
The
Orthodox churches and monasteries of northern and north-eastern Bosnia
built in the 16th century or earlier are all architecturally similar, usually
showing the influence of the Rascian school (in which Moštanica and Papraća are
the exception). In stylistic features, the church in Tavna belongs to the type
of single-aisled church with dome, rectangular choirs by the north and south
walls of the domed space, and reinforcing arches abutting against the side
walls, making them appear cruciform in plan on the outside and seemingly
triple-aisled on the inside. The churches in Ozren, Vozuća and Lomnica also
belong to this type.
The
architectural and stylistic features that distinguish the church in Tavna from
this group are that it is relatively low-built and has a low, wide dome. The
church in Tavna has archaic stylistic elements that suggest it was built rather
earlier than the others. Further evidence for an earlier date for the Tavna
church than others in north-eastern Bosnia, with the exception of
Papraća, lies in the ashlar stone blocks on the façades, which are also to be
found inside the church (Kajmaković, 1973, 149-156).
The
church of the Holy Trinity belongs to the type of single-nave church with a
longitudinal barrel vault, a dome over the central bay of the nave, and choirs
to the sides. An elongated rectangle in plan, it lies east-west, with the main
entrance at the west end and an apse at the east end. It consists of a parvis,
nave and sanctuary, and measures approx. 18.95 x 6.15 m on the outside.
The sanctuary
and altar are in the east bay, in which shallow semicircular niches to
the left and right of the apse indicate the positions of the diaconicon and
proscomodion. The apse is five-sided on the outside and semicircular on
the inside, with a radius of approx. 1.53 m. The ceiling of the apse is in the
form of a semi-calotte.
The nave
consists of two bays, of which the west bay measures approx. 4.64 x 2.04 and
the central bay – the domed space that gives the impression, on the outside, of
transepts – approx. 6.36 x 3.16 m. The barrel vault of the nave is approx. 5.45
m in height from floor level to apex. The central bay is covered by a dome
resting on pendentives, with an octagonal drum. To the north and south of the
domed crossing are choirs, which are rectangular in plan with sides of approx.
3.15 x 1.55 m, and barrel-vaulted. To the side the dome rests on the barrel
vaults of the choirs, and to the east and west it rests on arches set on
pilasters. The dome is 12.75 m in height from the floor of the church to the
apex of the calotte. The east walls of the choirs are pierced with passages
into the sanctuary.
The parvis
is structurally similar to the east bay. Round arches by the side walls support
the longitudinal barrel vault. The parvis was originally separated from the
nave by a wall, in the middle of which was the main entrance door. The wall was
later demolished, except for the end sections to the same depth as the
pilasters under the dome, on which an arch was erected. The parvis measures
approx. 4.64 x 4.00 m.
The bell
tower at the west end of the church was built in the late 19th century. It
is square in plan, with sides of 1.54 m, and is approx. 21.32 m in height. The
lower stages have no openings, but the topmost stage has a single arched window
on each side, above which is a small circular aperture fitted with a clock
face. The walls of the bell tower are plastered and painted white on the
outside. The façade walls of the bell tower above and below the windows are
decorated with stone string courses and cornices, pilasters, and friezes of
shallow arcades [like Lombard bands – trans.].
The roof of the bell tower is pyramidal, surmounted by an onion dome, and is
clad with sheet copper.
The walls
of the church are of solid stone and lime mortar. The perimeter walls are 5.45
m in height and 76-77 cm thick, and consist of a combination of local limestone
and sandstone. The interior is decorated with murals of recent date. During the
most recent renovations of the church, the render was stripped off the outside
walls, exposing the large ashlar blocks laid in even courses. The façade walls
and dome terminate in stone cornices.
The
floors of the parvis, nave and sanctuary are all paved with flagstones.
The
building has a gabled timber roof clad with sheet copper. It is not certain
what the original cladding was.
The
church has fifteen windows, all rectangular and round-headed, and all
set back by 10 cm from the wall face. Three of these windows face north, two
south, one west, and one east in the apse; the other eight are in the drum of
the dome. The main entrance to the church is at the west end. The stone frame
surrounding the double-valved wooden door projects out from the wall face by 16
cm, is approx. 68 cm wide, and terminates in the same way as the west gable
wall. The door measures approx. 133 x 206 cm. On the south side of the parvis
is another double-valved door, this one of metal.
Movable heritage(1)
Descriptions
of the church and monastery complex of the Holy Trinity in Tavna rarely refer
to the church furnishings and murals. Since the monastery has been badly
damaged on a number of occasions, including in 1943, only fragments of the
murals have survived, in the form of two cherubim in the pendentives(2).
In the
1970s, Zdravko Kajmaković made a comprehensive study of mural painting in Bosnia and Herzegovina,
and classified the Tavna monastery among those of which the wall paintings had
not survived.
In 1984,
detailed restoration works began on the interior of the church, which included
the church furnishings (the iconostasis, the thrones and icon stands). The
murals were painted in 1995. To the right of the entrance door in the narthex
is an inscription recording the painting of the murals, the date, the artists
who worked on the murals, and details of the sisterhood of the church:
БЛАГОСЛОВОМ,
А ЗА ВРЕМЕ АР-
/ХИЈЕРЕЈСТВА
ДИЈАЦЕЗАЛНЕ ЗВ-
/ОРНИЧКО-ТУЗЛАНСКЕ
ЕПАР-/ХИЈЕ Г. ВАСИЛИЈА КАЧАВЕНДЕ А ТРУД-
/ОМ
БЛАГОЧАСТИВЕ ИГУМАНИЈЕ ЈУСТИНЕ
/КЕРЕКЕЗОВИЋ,
ТЕ ЊЕНЕ НАСЛЕДНИЦЕ
/ИГУМАНИЈЕ
СУФИМИЈЕ КРАСАВЧИЋ И
/ЊЕНОГ
СЕСТРИНСТВА: ПРОТСИНЂ. ЛАЗАР,
ЕКАТАРИНА,
ФЕВРОНИЈА, МАКРИНА, ХЕРУВИ-
/МА,
КСЕНИЈА, АГРИПИНА, ЈЕЛЕНА, ЗИНАИДА,
АНА,
МАРТА, НЕДЕЉА EФРОСИНИЈА, МАРИ-
/НА,
МИХАИЛА, НАДЕЖДА, МАГДАЛИНА,
ИСКУШЕНИЦЕ
ДРАГАНЕ, ОСЛИКА СЕ ОВАЈ СВ.
ХРАМ
1995. Г. ЖИВОПИС ОТПОЧЕ ЂАКОН
МАРКО
ИЛИЋ И ДОВРШИШЕ ДРАГАН МАРУНИЋ И НИКОЛА ЛУБАРДИЋ. НЕКА
ГОСПОД
БЛАГОСЛОВИ ОВА НАША ДЈЕЛА
И ПУТЕВЕ
АМИН.
With the
blessing of and during the archbishopric of Zvornik Tuzla eparchy Vasilije
Kačavenda and thanks to the endeavours of the blessed prioress Justina
Kerekezović and her successor prioress Sufimija Krasavičić and her sisters,
archdeaconess Lazar, Ekatarina, Fevronija, Makrina, Zinaida, Ana, Marta,
Nedelja Sfrosinija, Marina, Mihaila, Nadežda, Magdalina, this church was
painted in 1995, begun by Deacon Marko Ilić and completed by Dragan Marunić and
Nikola Lubardić, may the Lord bless this our work and all our ways, Amen.
The
existing iconographic programme was painted on every free wall surface over
three registers (from floor to ceiling), ensuring that the murals conform in
every way with the type of church (with its low dome over the central bay). The
dome, the highest point of the church, which also symbolizes the Church in
Heaven, was painted with the grave figure of Christ Pantocrator, Lord of the
Worlds. Below him are the eight Old Testament prophets who foretold the Word of
God: Elijah, Moses, Aaron, Elisha, David, Samuel, Zacharias and Daniel.
In domed
churches the pendentives usually feature the four evangelists, “for just as
these four structural supports bear the dome, so too the evangelists are the
fundamental spiritual supports of the faith and the Christian heaven.”(3) The immediate model for the four
evangelists in the church in Tavna are to be found in miniature paintings – the
evangelists are shown in frontal position, framed in architecture, holding a
book on their lap in which they are writing lines from their Gospel, and with
writing accoutrements on the table at which they are seated.
In both
the architectural and the iconographic sense, the next most prominent position
is the dome of the apse in which, following the Byzantine model, is the figure
of the Virgin, as the link between the Church in Heaven and the Church on
earth. In the monastery church in Tavna, the figure of the Theotokos has the
iconographic features of the Virgin of the Sign, with a medallion on her bosom
bearing the figure of Christ Emmanuel, and of the Virgin Vaster than the
Heavens, with her maphorion spread wide. In orans pose, she shelters beneath
her outspread cloak six hierarchs: St Cyril of Alexandria,
St James of Jerusalem,
brother of the Lord, and St John Chrysostom to the left, and St Gregory the
Theologian, St Basil the Great and St Athanasius the Great to the right, in a
scene of the Hierarchs praying to Christ the Lamb of God.
The presence
of the Old Testament scenes of the sacrifice of Abraham and the Ark of the
Covenant in the murals of the altar conch signifies the prophecy of the coming
of Christ, with whom the Covenant will be renewed. To the north-east, below the
scene of the sacrifice of Abraham, are the figures of St Stephen the First
Martyr and St Abacum the Serbian Martyr. The south-east wall of the altar conch
is decorated with the Ark of the Covenant and, below it, the Deesis.(4)
The
Annunciation occupies a prominent place in church murals, usually painted in a
triumphal arch. The distance between the figures, with the Archangel Gabriel to
the left and the Virgin to the right of the arch, is explained by the fact that
the archangel has just descended and that the Virgin is awaiting him, and also
refers to their different origins: the archangel belongs to the supernatural
world, but until the moment of his arrival the Virgin was an ordinary woman
“among women.”(5) In the
monastery church in Tavna, this scene features at the top of the east wall of
the nave.
Opposite
the walls with the scene of the Annunciation are, to the right, the martyred St
Sophia, St Vera, St Ljuba and St Nadežda and, to the left, the Prophet
Zachariah, St Elizabeth and St John.
Below these scenes, on the upper register of the north and south walls, are the
Nativity of Christ and the Holy Trinity. The lower register of the north wall
is painted with the figures of St Sava the Second, St Basil of Ostrog the
Miracle-Worker, St Arsenius of Srem and St Petar of Cetinje; the south wall
bears the figures of Serb patriarchs, St Jevstatije and St Jefrem, St Irinej of
Srem and the Serbian Archbishop Maksim (Branković). On the lowest register are
four figures of saints, two to the north and two to the south. Unlike the
patriarchs and saints, who are portrayed frontally in half length, these four
figures of saints are portrayed full length. The figures on the south wall are
those of St John
the Baptist and St Antony, and on the north wall St Simon the Myrrh-gusher and
St Sava. The arrangement of the saints is further evidence that the artists
knew their iconography, by painting the lower registers with actual historical
figures associated with the emergence and spread of the Christian faith.
The
scenes in the nave are from the life of Christ and the Virgin: the Nativity of
the Virgin, the Visitation of the Virgin, the Transfiguration of Christ and the
Presentation of Christ (in the upper register), and the Descent into Hades
(Harrowing of Hell), Palm Sunday (the Entry to Jerusalem), the Baptism and the Crucifixion
in the lower registers. These events are witnessed by martyrs who were charged
with spreading the heavenly faith on earth: St Eumenia, St Justine, St Focca,
St Euphemia the Great Martyr, the Blessed Makrina, St Catherine the Great
Martyr, St Petka, St Xenia, St Pheuronia and St Agrippina the Great Martyr.
The
murals have been designed to have a powerful impact on the viewer, symbolically
linking scenes from the lives of the Virgin and Christ and thereby highlighting
the theological background to these events (salvation, redemption). In this
regard, the west wall, opposite the apse, is of particular significance; it is
here that the Koimesis (Dormition, Assumption) of the Virgin is painted. This
scene, the final point in the murals, also marks the end of life on this earth.
In the monastery church in Tavna, the Dormition of the Virgin is depicted
according to the Byzantine formula, in which Jesus is taking the Virgin’s soul
in the form of an infant in swaddling clothes.
Below
this scene are the Archangels Michael and Gabriel – he who announced the coming
of the Son of God, and he who will be the commander of the Heavenly Hosts on
the Day of Judgment.
In the
arch, St Martha and St Mary Magdalene are portrayed next to the Archangel
Michael, and the martyred SS Irene and Marina next to the Archangel Gabriel.
The north
wall of the narthex is painted with the figures of St Abram, St John of
Kroivstadt, the Apostle Peter, the Blessed Xenia of Petograd, the Emperor
Constantine and Empress Helena; and the south wall with St Paul of Tiveri, the
Apostle Paul, the saintly Efrosenija, the martyred St Sinaida and King Dragutin.
Above the
entrance in the narthex is the Hand of God, with the souls of the righteous
represented as infants in swaddling clothes, “a direct allusion to the
eschatological idea of the rewards they have received from God for their lives
on earth, and from whose hand none can snatch them.”(6)
The
monumental iconostasis, which measures 500 x 580 cm overall, was made in
the wood-carving studio of Milić Urošević in Belgrade in 1984. It consists of 19 icons in
all, which were painted by Marko Ilić, deacon of the Serbian Patriarch German,
as the signature in the bottom right corner of the icon of the Last Supper
reveals.
-
Marko Ilić, Archangel Gabriel (part of the Royal Doors), 1984,
tempera on panel, gilded, 78 x 24.5 cm. Tavna Monastery, Church of the Holy
Trinity
-
Marko Ilić, the Virgin
Mary (part of the Royal Doors), 1984, tempera on panel, gilded, 78 x 24.5 cm.
Tavna Monastery, Church of the Holy Trinity
To the right of the Royal Doors
are:
-
Marko Ilić, Jesus Christ,
1984, tempera on panel, gilded, 105.5 x 36.5 cm. Tavna Monastery, Church of the
Holy Trinity
-
Marko Ilić, St John the
Baptist, 1984, tempera on panel, gilded, 105.5 x 36.5 cm. Tavna Monastery,
Church of the Holy Trinity
-
Marko Ilić, St Stephen the
Archdeacon, 1984, tempera on panel, gilded, 80 x 36 cm. Tavna Monastery, Church
of the Holy Trinity
To the left of the Royal Doors
are:
-
Marko Ilić, Madonna and
Child, 1984, tempera on panel, gilded, 105.5 x 36.5 cm. Tavna Monastery, Church
of the Holy Trinity
-
Marko Ilić, St. Sava,
1984, tempera on panel, gilded, 105.5 x 36.5 cm. Tavna Monastery, Church of the
Holy Trinity
-
Marko Ilić, Archangel
Michael, tempera on panel, gilded, 80 x 36 cm. Tavna Monastery, Church of the
Holy Trinity
-
Marko Ilić, Last Supper,
1984, tempera on panel, gilded, 72 x 72 cm. Tavna Monastery, Church of the Holy
Trinity
Top tier of the iconostasis,
right:
-
Marko Ilić, the
Resurrection, 1984, tempera on panel, gilded, 72 x 36 cm. Tavna Monastery,
Church of the Holy Trinity
-
Marko llić, the Baptism of
Christ, 1984, tempera on panel, gilded, 72 x 36 cm. Tavna Monastery, Church of
the Holy Trinity
-
Marko Ilić, the Nativity
of the Virgin, 1984, tempera on panel, gilded, 72 x 36 cm. Tavna Monastery,
Church of the Holy Trinity
Top tier of the iconostasis, left:
-
Marko Ilić, the Nativity,
1984, tempera on panel, gilded, 72 x 36 cm. Tavna Monastery, Church of the Holy
Trinity
-
Marko Ilić, the
Transfiguration, 1984, tempera on panel, gilded, 72 x 36 cm. Tavna Monastery,
Church of the Holy Trinity
-
Marko Ilić, the Dormition
of the Virgin, 1984, tempera on panel, gilded, 72 x 36 cm. Tavna Monastery,
Church of the Holy Trinity
The
third tier, crowning the iconostasis, consists of an arched icon with the Holy
Trinity and separate medallions with the figures of the Virgin and St John the Baptist. The
highest point of the iconostasis is a wooden crucifix.
3. Legal status to date
Certification
no. 03-457-9/07 of 20 September 1977 from the Institute for the Protection of
Cultural Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina confirms that the Tavna monastery
was a protected cultural monument pursuant to Ruling no. 02-718-3/64 of the
Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of BiH and registered under
serial no. 158 in the Register of Immovable Cultural Monuments.
The
Regional Plan for Bosnia and
Herzegovina to 2002 lists the Tavna
monastery as a category I monument.
The
property is on the Provisional List of National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina
under the heading church and monastery of the Holy Trinity in Tavna,
Municipality Bijeljina, under serial no. 70.
4. Research and
conservation-restoration works
The
church in Tavna has retained its original appearance, except at the west end,
where the bell tower was added in the 19th century.
Remedial
works have been carried out on several occasions on the church to try to cure
rising damp, with the installation of a drainage system both inside and outside
the church.
-
The first time was in 1990
when, as recorded by Mirko Babić, the foundations were dug out to a width of 2
m and filled with gravel, while on the outside a drainage channel 50 cm deep
was dug and concreted. Around the altar, concrete was used instead of gravel. The
17 old graves that were discovered during these works were destroyed. Following
this the plaster was laid for the new wall paintings, thereby destroying the
old ones.
-
The second occasion was in
1994, when the foundations were again dug out after the first works
failed to cure the damp in the church. The first archaeological investigations
were carried out at the same time, headed by archaeologist Mirko Babić. These
revealed two transverse foundations in the church, from which Babić deduced
that the church was built in three stages, the first in the 14th century,
the second in the 16th and the final stage in 1884, when the bell
tower was built. In Babić’s view, the church initially had an apse, and the
entrance front would have been in the middle of the present-day church. The
existing narthex was built in the second stage, and the bell tower in the
third.
-
Successive remedial and
routine maintenance works were carried out on the church between 1984 and
1997.
The
complex of buildings forming the konak was originally built after the bell
tower was erected in 1848. According to prioress Marta, the monastery
was destroyed by fire in 1943, during World War II, and was rebuilt in 1954.
It is not known whether the buildings were reconstructed on the same site and
to the same dimensions as the earlier konak. The present complex consists of
three large wings with a total footprint of about 858 m2. Each wing consists of
a ground floor, first floor and loft. In 2005 major building works were
carried out on the konak complex, which was completely restored. The roof and
roof cladding were replaced, new woodwork was installed, the walls were painted,
and the façades renewed. The complex stands on the same plot as the church (new
survey c.p. 601/1). The copy of the cadastral plan provided by Bijeljina Municipality shows that the complex
consists of three interconnected buildings with the following measurements:
north wing, approx. 25 x 6.4 m; south wing, approx. 54 x 8 m; west wing,
between the north and south wings, approx. 33 x 8 m.
The new
gatehouse, which is under construction, is on the east side of the plot, in the
entrance area. It has a portico and dome which is almost identical to the dome
of the church of the Holy trinity.
5. Current condition of the
property
The
findings of an on-site inspection conducted in July 2009 are as follows:
-
the church of the Holy
Trinity in Tavna is in good structural condition;
-
there is no visible
physical damage to the building on the outside;
-
the konak and newly-built
gatehouse have seriously undermined the townscape value of the church;
-
building works on the new
gatehouse are under way;
-
work is under way to built
a stone boundary wall around the entire plot;
-
work is under way to pave
the entire plot with flagstones.
6. Specific risks
-
presence of rising damp
throughout;
-
the extension to the konak
complex by the addition of a new gatehouse, the erection of boundary walls and
the paving of the entire plot have seriously undermined the townscape value of
the church of the Holy Trinity in Tavna.
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.iv. composition
C.v. value of details
D. Clarity
(documentary, scientific and educational value)
D.ii. evidence of historical change
D.iv. evidence of a particular type, style or
regional manner
D.v. evidence of a typical way of life at a
specific period
E. Symbolic value
E.i. ontological value
E.ii. religious value
E.iii. traditional value
E.iv. relation to rituals or ceremonies
E.v. significance for the identity of a group of
people
F. Townscape/landscape value
F.iii. the building or group of buildings is part
of a group or site
G. Authenticity
G.iv. traditions and techniques
G.v. location and setting
G.vi. spirit and feeling
H. Rarity and representativity
H.ii. outstanding work of art or architecture
The
following documents form an integral part of this Decision:
-
Copy of cadastral plan,
scale 1:5000, plan no. 3, c.p. no. 601/1, c.m. Banjica, Municipality Bijeljina,
Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina, issued by the Banja Luka Department
of Geodetics and Proprietary Rights, Bijeljina branch, on 21 May 2008
-
Title deed, transcript,
no. 145/0, issued by the Banja Luka Department of Geodetics and Proprietary
Rights, Bijeljina branch, on 21 May 2008
-
Land Register entry, no.
31, c.m. Banjica, Municipality Bijeljina, issued by the Land Registry office on
3 June 2008
-
Photodocumentation:
-
photographs of the church
of the Holy Trinity in Tavna taken in July 2009 by Commission staff members
Alisa Marjanović, architect, and Arijana Pašić, architect
-
photographs of the movable
heritage taken by Aleksandra Bunčić, art historian
-
Technical documentation:
-
Technical drawings of the
church of the Holy Trinity in Tavna by architect Arijana Pašić, trainee with
the Commission
Bibliography
During
the procedure to designate the church of the Holy Trinity in Tavna as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina the following
works were consulted:
1938 Mazalić, Đoko. “Kratak izvještaj o ispitivanju starina manastira
Ozrena, Tamne, Papraće i Lomnice” (sa 4 plana i nacrtom u tekstu) (Brief Report
on the Examination of the Antiquities of the Ozren, Tamna, Papraća and Lomnica
Monasteries [ with 4 plans and a drawing in the text], Jnl of the National
Museum of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Sarajevo,
Yr. L, 1938.
1971 Kajmaković, Zdravko. Zidno slikarstvo u Bosni i Hercegovini
(Murals in BiH). Sarajevo:
Veselin Masleša, 1971.
1972 Kajmaković, Zdravko. “Oko datacije pravoslavnih manastira u
sjeveroistočnoj Bosni sa posebnim osvrtom na Papraću” (On the Dating of
Orthodox Monasteries in Northeastern Bosnia,
with Particular Reference to Papraća), Naše Starine XIII. Sarajevo: 1972.
1984 Šuput, Marica. Srpska arhitektura u doba turske vlasti:
1459-1690 (Serbian Architecture during Turkish rule: 1459-1690). Belgrade: Serbian
Academy of Science and the Arts,
Faculty of the Humanities in Belgrade,
Institute for the History of Art
1991 Šuput, Marica. Spomenici srpskog crkvenog graditeljstva XVI -
XVII vek (Monuments of Serbian Church Architecture 16-17th century). Belgrade: Faculty of Philosophy, Institute
of Art History: Republic Institute for
the Protection of Cultural Monuments, Novi
Sad : Matica srpska, Priština : Institute for the
Study of the Culture of Serbs, Montenegrins, Croats and Muslims, 1991.
1995 Babić, Mirko. “O iskopavanjima u manastiru Tavni kod Bijeljine”
(The Excavations at Tavna Monastery near Bijeljina), Srpska Vila 1.
Bijeljina: 1995.
2002 Ševo, Ljiljana. Pravoslavne crkve i manastiri u Bosni i
Hercegovini do 1878. godine (Orthodox churches and monasteries in BiH to
1878). Banja Luka:
2002.
2005 Jovanović, M. Zoran. Azbučnik pravoslavne ikonografije i
graditeljstva (ABC of Orthodox Iconography and Architecture). Belgrade: Museum of the
Serbian Orthodox Church, Dina, 2005.
2006 Badurina, Anđelko. Leksikon ikonografije, liturgike i
simbolike zapadnog kršćanstva (Lexicon of the Iconography, Liturgy and Symbols
of Western Christianity). Zagreb:
Kršćanska sadašnost, 2006.
(1) The protection
measures prescribed by this Decision do not relate to the movable heritage.
(2) The report on
the investigative works inside the church, published in the summer of 1969 by
Zdravko Kajmaković, states that the remains of frescoes were found only in the
semi-calotte of the dome and in the dome around the windows.
(3) Anđelko
Badurina (ed.), Leksikon ikonografije, liturgike i simbolike zapadnog
kršćanstva, Zagreb:
Kršćanska sadašnost, 2006, 42.
(4) The Azbučnik
pravoslavne ikonografije i graditeljstva defines Deesis (from the Greek
meaning entreaty) in Orthodox art as a motif meaning prayers to Christ the
Judge and Saviour for mercy on the Day of Judgment, the iconographic
centrepiece of which is Christ with whom the Virgin and St John the Baptist are
interceding on behalf of the human race. Since this concept of the Deesis
constitutes the nucleus of representations of the Last Judgment, it is regarded
as a possible substitute as an independent motif for the more fully developed
composition of the Second Coming of Christ and the Last Judgment as its more
concise variant. The Deesis in fact has the same significance as scenes of the
Last Judgment, since it is the central motif of ever scene of the Judgment.
Zoran M. Jovanović, Azbučnik pravoslavne ikonografije i graditeljstva, Belgrade: Museum of the
Serbian Orthodox Church, Dina, 2005, 155.
(5) Anđelko
Badurina (ed.), Leksikon ikonografije, liturgike i simbolike zapadnog
kršćanstva, Zagreb:
Kršćanska sadašnost, 2006, 51.
(6) Zoran M.
Jovanović, Azbučnik pravoslavne ikonografije i graditeljstva, Belgrade: Museum of the
Serbian Orthodox Church, Dina, 2005, 374.