Status of monument -> National monument
Published in the Official Gazette of BiH, no. 72/11.
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 on 26 October 2010 the Commission adopted a
D E C I S I O N
I
The historic site of the necropolis with stećak tombstones at Vinac, Municipality Jajce, is hereby designated as a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the National Monument).
The National Monument consists of the necropolis with 38 stećak tombstones.
The National Monument is located on a site designated as cadastral plot nos. 7/37/1, 7/37/3, 7/38/1 and 7/38/2, title deed no. 492, cadastral municipality Vinac, Municipality Jajce, 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 setting up 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 area defined in Clause 1 para. 3 of this Decision, the following protection measures are hereby stipulated:
- all works are prohibited other than investigative and conservation-restoration works, including those designed for the presentation of 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 necropolis may be cleaned up, self-sown vegetation removed and lichen and moss removed from the stećaks only on the basis of a repair, restoration and conservation project approved by the relevant ministry, and under the expert supervision of the heritage protection authority;
- the site is a potential archaeological site, and in consequence investigative works must be carried out in the presence of an archaeologist;
- the dumping of waste is prohibited.
The Government of the Federation shall be responsible in particular for implementing the following measures:
- conducting a geodetic survey of the site;
- drawing up a Plan for the repair, restoration and conservation of the site;
- drawing up a Management Plan for the site.
Phase I of drafting the Management Plan shall include developing a project to clear the necropolis, with emergency protection measures, to include clearing and tidying the necropolis to determine the exact number, size and position of the stećaks and to identify any decoration on them.
IV
All movable artefacts found during the course of the archaeological survey shall be deposited in the nearest museum able to provide the necessary personnel, material and technical conditions or in the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo, processed, and suitably presented.
All movable and immovable archaeological material found during the course of the archaeological investigations shall be professionally processed.
Upon completion of the archaeological works the archaeologist leading the investigations shall submit a report to the Commission and to the institution that conducted the investigations.
The archaeologist leading the investigations must have access to all the movable and immovable archaeological material found during the course of the investigations and until his/her report is completed, for a period not exceeding three years.
All immovable finds shall be conserved in situ as the archaeological investigations proceed, and the movable archaeological material shall be conserved and placed for safe keeping in a suitable storage facility.
Upon receipt of a report on the investigations conducted, the Commission shall identify which movable artefacts shall be subject to protection measures to be determined by the Commission.
The removal of the movable artefacts referred to in para. 1 above from Bosnia and Herzegovina is prohibited.
By way of exception to the provisions of paragraph 7 of this Clause, if the leader of the investigations determines that a given artefact must be processed abroad, and provides evidence to that effect to the Commission, the Commission may permit the temporary removal of the artefact from the country subject to detailed conditions for its export, treatment while out of the country and return to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In granting permission for the temporary removal of the movable heritage, the Commission shall stipulate all the conditions under which the removal from Bosnia and Herzegovina may take place, the date by which the items shall be returned to the country, and the responsibility of individual authorities and institutions for ensuring that these conditions are met, and shall notify the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the relevant security service, the customs authority of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the general public accordingly.
V
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.
VI
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.
VII
The Government of the Federation, the relevant ministry, 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 VI of this Decision, and the Authorized Municipal Court shall be notified for the purposes of registration in the Land Register.
VIII
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.kons.gov.ba)
IX
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.
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. 05.1-02.3-71/10-39
26 October 2010
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 6 September 2010 the Society for the Protection of Cultural and Natural Monuments, Jajce, submitted a proposal/petition to designate the necropolis of stećak tombstones in Vinac, Municipality Jajce, 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
The necropolis with stećak tombstones is located very close to the mediaeval fort of Vinac, the earliest reference to which in historical sources dates from 1453, when envoys from Dubrovnik halted “sotto Vinazac” on their way to King Tomaš in Jajce.
The necropolis, which is on the right of the road from Donji Vakuf to Jajce, contains 38 visible stećak tombstones. The lie of the land suggests that some of the tombstones may have sunk into the ground. No decorations were found on the tombstones.
The shapes and quality of workmanship of the tombstones suggests that the necropolis came into being between the late 14th and late 15th century.
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 of the current owner and user of the property (copy of cadastral plan and Land Register entry).
- 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.
- The Commission was notified by letter ref. 43/10 of 20 September 2010 from the Society for the Protection of Cultural and Natural Monuments, Jajce, that the necropolis had been cleared in August 2010.
- Letter ref. 05.1-35.2-10/10-193 of 6 October 2010 requesting documentation and views on the designation of the necropolis with stećak tombstones at Vinac, Kamenica, Municipality Jajce, as a national monument was sent to Jajce Municipality, the Federal Ministry of Regional Planning and the Institute for the Protection of Monuments of the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sport.
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 town of Vinac is about 13 km south of Jajce. The fort stands on a bluff at an altitude of about 500 m, with a precipitous drop into the valley, on the right bank of the River Vrbas, which forms a loop around the bluff to surround the fort on three sides. There are three small necropolises with stećci (pl. of stećak) in the vicinity of Vinac. One is at Kamenica, at 44°16'34.62" N, 17° 16'57.05"E.
The National Monument is located on a site designated as cadastral plot nos. 7/37/1, 7/37/3, 7/38/1 and 7/38/2, title deed no. 492, cadastral municipality Vinac(1), Municipality Jajce, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Historical background
Little is known of the history of Vinac. The earliest reference to it in historical sources dates from 1453, when envoys from Dubrovnik halted “sotto Vinazac” on their way to King Tomaš in Jajce. It is not known to what extent the town below the fort had taken shape at that time(2).
During the time of the Jajce Banate, 1464 to 1526/7, the Hungarians held Vinac until 1498, when it was taken by the Ottomans. It is referred to in Hungarian documents by the name of Koszorúvár.
The shapes of the towers and half-bastions suggest that the fort was built at a time when people in these parts were aware of the threat from artillery fire.
There are several references to Vinac during the Ottoman period. Treaties between Turkey and Hungary of 1503 and 1519 reveal that Vinac belonged to the Ottomans. Though taken in the late 15th century, the “nahija Vinčac” does not feature in Ottoman records until 1562, when Vinac is given as a fortified town and the centre of the nahija (minor administrative district)(3).
The inventory of Bosnian forts conducted in 1833 reveals that Vinac was empty, i.e. that there were no more arms, ammunition or food stores, indicating that it had been abandoned(4).
2. Description of the property(5)
Thirty-eight visible stećci have been recorded at the site, none of them decorated. The necropolis is located on a slope, and the stećci are slipping downhill. They are of poor workmanship and in a poor state of preservation, and are oriented both north-south and east-west.
Description of the stećci
Stećak no. 1 - chest with plinth, measuring 146 x 82 x 54 cm, plinth measuring 164 x 124 cm with a height of 24 cm, covered with moss in places, leaning off true.
Stećak no. 2 - chest, measuring 170 x ? with a height of 37 cm, badly damaged (broken).
Stećak no. 3 - tall chest with plinth, measuring 114 x 185 and a visible width of 86 cm, damaged, covered with moss in places, leaning off true.
Stećak no. 4 - chest with plinth, measuring 156 x 55 x 39 cm, leaning off true, partly below ground, covered with moss in places.
Stećak no. 5 - small chest with plinth, measuring 80 x 48x 28 cm with the plinth 104 cm in length, leaning off true, sliding downhill, covered with moss in places.
Stećak no. 6 - chest, measuring 57 x 134 x 37 cm, top cracked.
Stećak no. 7 - gabled with plinth, shallow-pitched “roof”, measuring 160 x 90 x 70 cm, leaning off true, covered with moss in places.
Stećak no. 8 - gabled, shallow-pitched “roof”, measuring 155 x 72 c 60 cm, quite badly damaged, covered with moss in places.
Stećak no. 9 - gabled, shallow-pitched “roof”, measuring 24 x 74 x 34 cm, sunken, covered with moss.
Stećak no. 10 – chest (?), measuring 168 x 89 x 55 cm, completely covered with moss.
Stećak no. 11 - measuring 133 x 67 x 23 cm.
Stećak no. 12 - chest with plinth, measuring 150 x 60 x 46 cm, plinth measuring 180 x ? x 17 cm, partly covered with soil and almost completely covered with moss.
Stećak no. 13 - gabled, measuring 140 x 70 x 41 cm, quite badly cracked surfaces, almost completely covered with moss.
Stećak no. 14 - measuring 125 x 68 x 35 cm, quite badly cracked surfaces, almost completely covered with moss.
Stećak no. 15 - measuring 137 x 63 x 34 cm, quite badly cracked surfaces, almost completely covered with moss.
Stećak no. 16 - measuring 145 x 59 x 30 cm, quite badly cracked surfaces, almost completely covered with moss.
Stećak no. 17 - measuring 190 x 135 x 40 cm. One corner broken off.
Stećak no. 18 - measuring 45 x 55 x 27 cm, quite badly damaged, almost completely covered with moss.
Stećak no. 19 - measuring 152 x 76 x 35 cm.
Stećak no. 20 - measuring as to one half 89 x 60 x 39 cm and the other 55 x 60 x 39 cm (is in two pieces), cracked, quite badly damaged.
Stećak no. 21 - chest with plinth, measuring 150 x 60 x 50, plinth measuring 160 x 30 x 16 cm, almost completely covered with moss.
Stećak no. 22 - gabled, measuring 137 x 75 x 68 cm, damaged, almost completely covered with moss.
Stećak no. 23 - gabled, measuring 166 x 120 x 95 cm, damaged, almost completely covered with moss.
Stećak no. 24 - gabled (?), measuring 170 x 70 x 47 cm, damaged, almost completely covered with moss.
Stećak no. 25 - gabled (?) measuring 157 x 80 x 33 cm, damaged, almost completely covered with moss.
Stećak no. 26 - gabled, measuring 150 x 127 x 90 cm, damaged, almost completely covered with moss.
Stećak no. 27 - of indeterminate shape, damaged.
Stećak no. 28 - measuring 210 x 105 x 25 cm, covered with soil.
Stećak no. 29 - measuring 155 x 70 x 35 cm, badly damaged, covered with moss.
Stećak no. 30 - of indeterminate shape, damaged.
Stećak no. 31 - measuring 160 x 95 x 50 cm, damaged, almost completely covered with moss.
Stećak no. 32 - chest with plinth, measuring 140 x 68 x 40 cm, height of plinth 20 cm, damaged top surface, covered with moss in places.
Stećak no. 33 - measuring 108 x 65 x 16 cm, badly damaged, almost completely covered with moss.
Stećak no. 34 - measuring 110 x 48 x 35 cm, south-east corner missing, badly damaged, almost completely covered with moss.
Stećak no. 35 - gabled, measuring 155 x 75 x 55 cm, cracked surfaces, covered with moss in places
Stećak no. 36 - measuring 178 x 70 x 22 cm, largely covered with soil.
Stećak no. 37 - chest with plinth, measuring 110 x 55 x 40 cm, plinth measuring 130 x 75 x 12 cm, damaged, almost completely covered with moss.
Stećak no. 38 - measuring 60 x 85 x 70 cm, top covered with moss.
3. Legal status to date
The Regional Plan for BiH to 2000 lists four sites of necropolises with stećci (119 stećci in all) in the Jajce area as Category III monuments, with identifying them in detail.
4. Research and conservation-restoration works
In the 1950s the National Museum in Sarajevo embarked on a systematic study of the necropolises with stećci in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
No conservation-restoration works have been carried out on the necropolis at Vinac.
Šefik Bešlagić states that there is a necropolis at Kamenica, on the left bank of the Vrbas, with 31 stećak tombstones – 28 slabs and three gabled(6).
5. Current condition of the property
The findings of an on-site inspection conducted on 7 October 2010 are as follows:
- the 38 stećci described in this decision were identified.
- damage to the tombstones made it impossible to determine the shape of all of them.
- most of the stećci are damaged (with shallow or deep cracks, damaged top surfaces, or pieces broken off).
- before August 2010, most of the stećci were covered to a greater or lesser extent with moss.
- the stećci are of poor workmanship and in a poor state of preservation, and are oriented both north-south and east-west.
6. Specific risks
- proximity of the road,
- lie of the land (slope),
- 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
D. Clarity
D.ii. evidence of historical changes
D.iv. evidence of a certain type, style or regional manner
E. Symbolic value
E.i. ontological value
E.ii. religious value
E.v. significance for the identity of a group of people
The following documents form an integral part of this Decision:
- Ownership documentation
- Photodocumentation
- Photographs taken on 7 October 2010 by archaeologist Silvana Čobanov using Canon 1400D digital camera.
- Technical documentation
- Technical drawings of the property (plan of the necropolis and drawings of the stećak tombstones), measured and surveyed on 7 October 2010 by architect Arijana Pašić and archaeologist Silvana Čobanov.
Bibliography
During the procedure to designate the monument as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina the following works were consulted:
1905 Truhelka, Ćiro. Naši gradovi, opis najljepših sredovječnih gradova Bosne i Hercegovine (Our towns and forts, description of the finest mediaeval towns of Bosnia and Herzegovina). Sarajevo: 1904, 64-69
1918 Truhelka, Ćiro. “Pabirci iz jednog jajačkog sidžila” (Gleanings from a Jajce sicil), Jnl of the Provincial Museum in Sarajevo XXX. Sarajevo: 1918
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 and forts under Turkish administration, Contributions for Oriental Philology and the History of the South Slavs under Turkish Governance), II/1951. Sarajevo: Institute for Oriental Studies in Sarajevo, 1952
1953 Kreševljaković, Hamdija. “Stari bosanski gradovi” (Old Bosnian forts), Naše starine I. Sarajevo: 1953
1957 Vego, Marko. Naselja srednjovjekovne bosanske države (Settlements of the mediaeval Bosnian state). Sarajevo: Svjetlost, 1957
1957 Mazalić, Đoko. “Vinac i Doboj” (Vinac and Doboj), Jnl of the National Museum in Sarajevo (Archaeology), n.s. no. XIII. Sarajevo: 1958
1971 Bešlagić, Šefik. Stećci, kataloško-topografski pregled (Stećak tombstones, a catalogue and topographical survey). Sarajevo: Veselin Masleša, 1971
1978 Kovačević-Kojić, Desanka. Gradska naselja srednjovjekovne bosanske države (Urban settlements of the mediaeval Bosnian state). Sarajevo: 1978
1979 Çelebi, Evliya. Putopis (Travelogue). Sarajevo: Cultural Heritage series, Veselin Masleša, 1979
1982 Šabanović, Hazim. Bosanski pašaluk, postanak i upravna podjela (Bosnian pashaluk, origins and administrative division). Sarajevo: Svjetlost, 1982
(1) The cadastral plots from Plan 492, c.m. Vinac are those of the 1953 cadastral survey. The cadastral survey in force in Jajce Municipality is that where the basic cadastral plans are those of 1953, of which those of 38 out of the 39 cadastral municipalities were destroyed. The Land Register is still maintained on the basis of the Austrian survey carried out in the 1980s [sic – surely meaning the 1880s – Trans.].
(2) Kovačević-Kojić, Desanka, Gradska naselja srednjovjekovne bosanske države, Sarajevo: 1978, 12
(3) Šabanović, Hazim, Bosanski pašaluk, postanak i upravna podjela, Sarajevo: Svjetlost, 1982, 178
(4) Kreševljaković, Hamdija, “Prilozi povijesti bosanskih gradova pod turskom upravom”, Prilozi za orijentalnu filologiju i istoriju jugoslovenskih naroda pod turskom vladavinom II/1951, Sarajevo: 1952, 119-184.
(5) Details from before the necropolis was cleaned up in August 2010.
(6) Šefik, Bešlagić, Stećci, kataloško-topografski pregled, Sarajevo: 1971, 126.
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