Status of monument -> National monument
Published in the Official Gazette of BiH no. 38/10.
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 9 to 12 February 2010 the Commission adopted a
D E C I S I O N
I
The historic monument of the church of St George the Great Martyr in Velika Kladuša 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. 1636 (new survey), corresponding to c.p. no. 1135/16 (old survey), Land Register entry no. 1104, cadastral municipality Velika Kladuša, Municipality Velika Kladuša, 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, restoration, conservation and presentation of the National Monument.
The Commission to Preserve National Monuments (hereinafter: the Commission) shall determine the technical requirements and secure the funds for preparing and erecting signboards with basic details of the monument and the Decision to proclaim the property a National Monument.
III
To ensure the on-going protection of the National Monument on the site defined in Clause 1 para. 2 of this Decision, the following protection measures are hereby stipulated:
- all works are prohibited other than conservation and restoration works, including those designed for the presentation of the National Monument, and works designed to ensure the sustainable use of the property, 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.
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 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 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
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. 755.
X
This Decision shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Gazette of BiH.
This Decision has been adopted by the following members of the Commission: Zeynep Ahunbay, Martin Cherry, Amra Hadžimuhamedović, Dubravko Lovrenović and Ljiljana Ševo.
No.06.2-02.3-71/10-6
10 February 2010
Sarajevo
Chair of the Commission
Ljiljana Ševo
E l u c i d a t i o n
I – INTRODUCTION
Pursuant to Article 2, paragraph 1 of the Law on the Implementation of the Decisions of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, established pursuant to Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a “National Monument” is an item of public property proclaimed by the Commission to Preserve National Monuments to be a National Monument pursuant to Articles V and VI of Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina and property entered on the Provisional List of National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of BiH no. 33/02) until the Commission reaches a final decision on its status, as to which there is no time limit and regardless of whether a petition for the property in question has been submitted or not.
The Commission to Preserve National Monuments issued a decision to add the Orthodox Church in Velika Kladuša to the Provisional List of National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina under serial no. 755.
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 church of St George the Great Martyr in Velika Kladuša was built in 1901, and was consecrated and opened in 1913. On 29 July 1941, the Ustasha massacred the town’s Serb residents in the church. The church is an important testimony to the history of the town and of that event, as well as of value as a religious monument. It is one of many new churches built in the late 19th and early 20th century, of which relatively few still survive. With its location in the town centre, it forms an important feature in the townscape. It is not currently in use.
II – PRELIMINARY PROCEDURE
In the procedure preceding the adoption of a final decision to proclaim the property a national monument, the following documentation was inspected:
- Details of the location and current owner and user of the property;
- Details of legal protection of the property to date;
- 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;
- 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. 06.2-35.2-23/09-165 of 28 September 2009 requesting documentation and views on the designation of the Orthodox church in Velika Kladuša, was sent to Velika Kladuša Municipality local authority organ responsible for urbanism and cadastral affairs, the Land Registry office of the Municipal Court in Velika Kladuša, the Serbian Orthodox Church in BiH, Bihać Petrovac Eparchy, the Institute for the Protection of Monuments of the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sport and the Federal Ministry of Regional Planning, and the Institute for the Protection of the Cultural Heritage in Bihać,
- A letter ref. 06.2-36.1-9/2009-146 of 9 October 2009 was received from the Department of Proprietary Rights and Cadastral Affairs of Velika Kladuša Municipality, supplying the Commission to Preserve National Monuments with the following documents:
- Transcript of title deed,
- Copy of cadastral plan,
- A letter ref. 06.2-36.1-9/2009-145 of 6 October 2009 was received from the Municipal Court in Velika Kladuša enclosing a copy of the Land Register entry for the Orthodox church in Velika Kladuša,
- A letter ref. 06.2-35.2-2/2009-50 of 12 October 2009 was received from the Serbian orthodox Church, Bihać Petrovac Eparchy based in Bosanski Petrovac, expressing a negative view of the proposal to designate the Orthodox church in Velika Kladuša as a national monument of BiH,
- A letter ref. 06.2-35.2-23/2009-177 of 12 October 2009 was received from the Institute for the Protection of Monuments of the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sport enclosing drawings (sketches) of the plan and two elevations of the Orthodox church in Velika Kladuša.
The findings based on the review of the above documentation and the condition of the site are as follows:
1. Details of the property
Location
St George’s church in Velika Kladuša is in the centre of the town, on Ibrahim Mržljak Street.
The National Monument is located on a site designated as cadastral plot no. 1636 (new survey), corresponding to c.p. no. 1135/16 (old survey), cadastral municipality. Velika Kladuša, Land Register entry no. 1104, Municipality Velika Kladuša, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Historical information
After the fall of Pećigrad, followed by Podzvizd, on 20 October 1878, the last place in Bosnia to come under Austro-Hungarian rule was Velika Kladuša. The huge influx of people into Velika Kladuša made a building programme essential – shops, artisans’ workshops, residential properties and religious edifices were all needed.
The Orthodox churches in Bosanski Petrovac, Bosansku Krupa and Velika Kladuša are all rectangular in plan with the bell tower at the entrance front, and were all built in the late 19th or early 20th century.
“Two of Velika Kladuša’s most striking edifices, both places of worship, were built during the Austro-Hungarian period. The first to be built, and opened on 27 September 1901, was the mosque. The opening ceremony was the grandest ever seen in the area, and ‘after the formal banquet, horse, foot and bicycle races were held in the afternoon, with beautiful folk dances as the finishing touch to the whole picture. In the evening, old Kladuša and the mosque were ablaze with the vivid colours of Bengal lights and fireworks,’ reported the periodical Nada, several months after the event. This part of the report reveals that bicycle races were already being held in Kladuša in 1901, probably the first such races to be held in the area. The Orthodox church was consecrated, also to the accompaniment of a grand ceremony, in 1913.” (1)
St George’s church in Velika Kladuša was built in 1901, and was consecrated in a grand ceremony in 1913. The church was restored and reconsecrated in 1987, during the time of Bishop Jevrem of Banja Luka.
The church belongs to the Serbian Orthodox Eparchy of Bihać and Petrovac, with its seat in Bosanski Petrovac. The Bihać Eparchy was founded in 1925, and covered the municipalities of Bosanski Petrovac, Livno, Glamoč, Bosansko Grahovo, Drvar, Bihać, Cazin, Velika Kladuša, Bužim, Bosanska Krupa, Sanski Most and Ključ, until 1931, when it was split up between the Banja Luka, Gornji Karlovac and Dalmatia eparchies. The first bishop of the eparchy was Dr. Venijamin Tausanović, who was appointed in 1925. After he was transferred elsewhere, the eparchy was administered by Bishop Nektarija of Zvornik and Tuzla. In 1990 the Bihać Eparchy was restored, under the name of the Eparchy of Bihać and Petrovac, with its seat in Bosanski Petrovac, and Bishop Hrizostom was appointed as its bishop in 1991.
On 29 July 1941, during World War II, Serb residents of the town were massacred by the Ustasha in the church of St George in Velika Kladuša. A memorial plaque is mounted on the west wall of the church, near the entrance door, bearing the following inscription:
IN THE TERRIBLE TIMES OF THE USTASHA MADNESS
IN 1941, SEVERAL HUNDRED SERBS
WERE SAVAGELY SLAUGHTERED IN THIS CHURCH
MOST OF THEM WOMEN, CHILDREN AND THE ELDERLY
THIS MEMORIAL PLAQUE WAS ERECTED
BY THE PEOPLE OF VELIKA KLADUŠA MUNICIPALITY
St George’s church is not currently in use. Though many of the buildings in the Eparchy of Bihać and Petrovac suffered extensive damage, St George’s church in Velika Kladuša did not, but is in poor condition as a result of neglect.
2. Description of the property
St George’s church belongs to the type of single nave church. It is rectangular in plan, measuring about 7.81 x 13.45 m on the outside, including the apse. The main axis of the building lies east-west.
The church has a parvis, nave and sanctuary. The entrance to the church is at the west end, where the parvis is located.
The parvis measures about 5.80 x 1.45 m on the inside. Above it is a gallery measuring about 5.80 x 2.25 m, at a height above the parvis floor of about 3.10 m. The gallery rests on two massive stone piers of about 80 x 80 cm in section, rising to the ceiling, the space between them spanned by three round arches (three below the gallery and three below the vault of the church). A small wooden staircase leads up to the gallery and up again into the bell tower.
The nave measures approx. 5.80 x 6.40 m, with a height from floor to ceiling of about 7.80 m. It has a wooden slatted ceiling and a flagstone floor.
The church has a semicircular apse at the east end, with a radius of about 2.50 m. The apse wall is about 7.00 m in height at the east end, as measured from ground level to the start of the roof frame. The roof of the apse is conical, with its apex about 0.50 m below the ridge of the gabled roof of the church, and is clad with galvanized iron. The sanctuary, with the proscomidion, diaconicon and altar, is in the apse. The proscomidion and diaconicon are in the form of niches in the outside east wall, 70 cm wide and 35 cm deep. The stone altar, which measures approx. 80 x 70 cm, occupies the centre of the sanctuary. The sanctuary is divided from the nave by a wooden iconostasis, and is two steps higher than the nave.
The west front of the church is in three parts.
The first part is the main entrance portal, which is approx. 1.45 m wide and 2.75 m high. The portal is set between two substantial stone jutties projecting out from the wall face by about 28 cm. The areas of stone wall flanking the portal are about 123 cm wide. The double-valved, solid wood door is of simple workmanship, without decoration.
The second part is the area above the portal, with a single oculus about 140 cm in diameter, above which is a round arch composed of moulded stone string courses, with a radius of about 140 cm. The oculus is flanked by two tall, arched windows on each side, measuring approx. 80 x 260 cm. A string course runs above this part of the west front.
The third part is the bell tower, which is about 18.30 m in height to the base of the cross, and about 13.50 m to below the roof; it is square in section, with sides of 3.5 m. It stands above the central part of the parvis, to the north. The bell tower is surmounted by an onion dome with an elongated cuboid extension, surmounted by a cross. The south and north façades of the part of the bell tower above the roof of the church are identical, with oculi below and louvred, round-arched openings above. The west face of the bell tower has two such louvred openings, one above the other, and the east face has one.
The church is stone-built, with walls about 65 cm thick, except in the apse where they are about 45 cm thick. All the walls are plastered and painted white, with slabs about 35 to 55 cm wide at the outer corners and around the portal and windows, as decoration.
The church has a gabled roof with timber trusses and a tile cladding. The south and north façades are about 7.00 m in height from ground level to the base of the gabled roof. Light enters the nave through three arched rectangular windows in the south and three in the north wall. These windows are of different widths, measuring about 1.45 x 2.70 m, 1.66 x 2.80 m and 95.5 x 2.70 m. The north wall also has one double-valved wooden door midway along the wall. The apse has two windows. All the windows are wooden, with eight or nine glazed panes and a fanlight over.
Description of the iconostasis(2)
The church of St George the Great Martyr in Velika Kladuša was damaged in World War II. All that survives of the interior furnishings was the wooden iconostasis, which dates from the 1980s. The iconostasis measures 550 x 407 cm overall, and has 17 icons of various sizes on three tiers.
The centre of the first tier is indicated by the icon of the Annunciation, with to left and right the Virgin, Jesus Christ, the Archangel Gabriel and St Stephen the Archdeacon.
The second tier is uniform iconographically and stylistically. Six icons portray the twelve apostles, with the first Serbian archbishop, St Sava, at the far left end and St George the Great Martyr at the far right.
The Holy Trinity occupies the middle of the third tier, with St John the Baptist and the Virgin to left and right.
A general feature of the icons is the simple treatment of the skin tones. The compositions are on a largely grey ground, with the lower part in olive green. The saints are portrayed standing, leaning slightly towards one another or towards the observer, with the exception of the icons of the Archangel Michael and St Stephen the Archdeacon (portrayed half length) and the Holy Trinity (seated).
The first tier has six icons:
- Anonymous artist, Archangel Gabriel (Royal Doors), 1980s, tempera on panel, 40 x 25 cm. Church of St George the Great Martyr, Velika Kladuša;
- Anonymous artist, Virgin (Royal Doors), 1980s, tempera on panel, 40 x 25 cm. Church of St George the Great Martyr, Velika Kladuša;
- Anonymous artist, Jesus Christ, 1980s, tempera on panel, 114 x 59 cm. Church of St George the Great Martyr, Velika Kladuša;
- Anonymous artist, St Stephen the Archdeacon, 1980s, tempera on panel, 35.5 x 50 cm. Church of St George the Great Martyr, Velika Kladuša;
- Anonymous artist, Virgin and Child, 1980s, tempera on panel, 115 x 59 cm. Church of St George the Great Martyr, Velika Kladuša;
- Anonymous artist, Archangel Michael, 1980s, tempera on panel, 35.5 x 50 cm. Church of St George the Great Martyr, Velika Kladuša.
The second tier has eight icons:
- Anonymous artist, St Sava, 1980s, tempera on panel, 60.5 x 39.5 cm. Church of St George the Great Martyr, Velika Kladuša;
- Anonymous artist, SS Simon and Matthew, 1980s, tempera on panel, 60.5 x 39.5 cm. Church of St George the Great Martyr, Velika Kladuša;
- Anonymous artist, SS John and James son of Zebedee, 1980s, tempera on panel, 60.5 x 39.5 cm. Church of St George the Great Martyr, Velika Kladuša;
- Anonymous artist, SS Thomas and Matthew, 1980s, tempera on panel, 60.5 x 39.5 cm. Church of St George the Great Martyr, Velika Kladuša;
- Anonymous artist, SS Peter and Andrew, 1980s, tempera on panel, 60.5 x 39.5 cm. Church of St George the Great Martyr, Velika Kladuša;
- Anonymous artist, SS Philip and Bartholomew, 1980s, tempera on panel, 60.5 x 39.5 cm. Church of St George the Great Martyr, Velika Kladuša;
- Anonymous artist, SS Thaddeus and James son of Alphaeus, 1980s, tempera on panel, 60.5 x 39.5 cm. Church of St George the Great Martyr, Velika Kladuša;
- Anonymous artist, St George the Great Martyr, 1980s, tempera on panel, 60.5 x 39.5 cm. Church of St George the Great Martyr, Velika Kladuša.
The third tier, below the simple cross, has three icons:
- Anonymous artist, Holy Trinity, 1980s, tempera on panel, 60.5 x 39.5 cm. Church of St George the Great Martyr, Velika Kladuša;
- Anonymous artist, Holy Virgin, 1980s, tempera on panel, 60.5 x 39.5 cm. Church of St George the Great Martyr, Velika Kladuša;
- Anonymous artist, St John the Baptist (?),1980s, tempera on panel, 60.5 x 39.5 cm. Church of St George the Great Martyr, Velika Kladuša.
3. Legal status to date
The Orthodox church in Velika Kladuša is on the Provisional List of National Monuments of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments under serial no. 755.
4. Research and conservation-restoration works
There is no documentary record or other written evidence of any conservation-restoration works on St George’s church.
The church’s reference works note that the church was restored and reconsecrated in 1987, during the time of Bishop Jevrem of Banja Luka.
5. Current condition of the property
The church is in poor condition as a result of neglect. The worst damage is to the façades and the interior.
6. Specific risks
- neglect.
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.iii. proportions
E. Symbolic value
E.i. ontological value
E.ii. religious value
E.iv. relation to rituals or ceremonies
E.v. significance for the identity of a group of people
F. Townscape/landscape value
F.ii. meaning in the townscape
G. Authenticity
G.vi. spirit and feeling
The following documents form an integral part of this Decision:
- Copy of cadastral plan, scale 1:1500, plan no. 19, c.p. no. 1636, c.m. Velika Kladuša, Municipality Velika Kladuša, Una-Sana Canton, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, issued by the Department of Proprietary Rights and Cadastral-Geodetic Affairs, Municipality Velika Kladuša, on 28 September 2009;
- Land Register entry no. 1104 for c.p. 1636, c.m. Velika Kladuša, Land Register records destroyed, issued by the Municipal Court in Velika Kladuša on 1 October 2009;
- Photodocumentation:
- Photographs of St George’s church in Velika Kladuša taken in October 2009 by architect Alisa Marjanović and architect Arijana Pašić,
- Photographs of the movable heritage photographed by art historian Aleksandra Bunčić;
- Technical documentation:
- Technical drawings of St George’s church in Velika Kladuša by architect Arijana Pašić, trainee at the Commission
- Plan and elevation, scale 1:100, obtained from the Institute for the Protection of Monuments of the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sport on 7 October 2009.
Bibliography
During the procedure to designate the historic building of St George’s church in Velika Kladuša as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina the following works were consulted:
1952. Kreševljaković, Hamdija, “Prilozi povijesti bosanskih gradova pod turskom upravom”, Prilozi za orijentalnu filologiju i istoriju jugoslovenskih naroda pod turskom vladavinom (Contributions to the History of Bosnian Towns under Turkish Administration, Contributions for Oriental Philology and the History of the South Slavs under Turkish Governance), II/1951, Institute for Oriental Studies in Sarajevo, Sarajevo, 1952, 119-184.
1953. Kreševljaković, Hamdija, “Stari bosanski gradovi” (Old Bosnian towns), Naše starine I, Sarajevo, 1953, 7-45.
1986-2005. Velika Kladuša, Spatial Plan for the Municipality, 1986-2005, Planning Authority, Banja Luka
1987. Ravlić, Aleksandar Aco, Velika Kladuša kroz stoljeća (Velika Kladuša through the ages), monograph, Assembly of Velika Kladuša Municipality, 1987.
2009. Documentation received from the Institute for the Protection of the Cultural Heritage, Bihać
2009. Local newspaper Prezent, 12 October 2009 – article on visit by Bishop Hrizostom of Bihać and Petrovac to the Mayor of Velika Kladuša, Mulalić Admil, for the purpose of inspecting the condition of Serbian Orthodox religious edifices in Velika Kladuša Municipality and considering the initiative to restore St George’s church, for which substantial funds would be required. It was agreed that renovation works on the church in Velika Kladuša would begin in mid 2010 with financial support from all levels of government.
New Testament, translation by the Holy Archepiscopal Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church, http://www.rastko.org.yu/bogoslovlje/novi_zavet/jevandjelije_po_mateju.html, 31 October 2008
(1) Ravlić, Aleksandar, Monograph, Velika Kladuša kroz stoljeća, 176
(2) The movable heritage is not subject to protection
|
