Status of monument -> National monument
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 6 to 8 November 2012 the Commission
adopted a
D E C I S
I O N
I
The
historic site of the necropolis with stećak tombstones in Lađanica,
Municipality Konjic, is hereby designated as a National Monument of Bosnia
and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the National
Monument).
The
National Monument consists of the necropolis with two stećak tombstones (one
gabled and one chest-shaped).
The
National Monument is located on a site designated as cadastral plot no. 470,
Land Register entry no. 19, cadastral municipality Lađanica, Municipality
Konjic, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The
provisions relating to protection measures set forth by the Law on the
Implementation of the Decisions of the Commission to Preserve National
Monuments, established pursuant to Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement
for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of the Federation of BiH
nos. 2/02, 27/02, 6/04 and 51/07) shall apply to the National Monument(1).
II
The
Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the
Government of the Federation) shall be responsible for providing the legal,
scientific, technical, administrative and financial measures necessary for the
protection, conservation and presentation of the National Monument.
The
Commission to Preserve National Monuments (hereinafter: the Commission) shall
determine the technical requirements and secure the funds for preparing and
erecting notice boards with basic details of the monument and the Decision to
proclaim the property a National Monument.
III
To ensure
the on-going protection of the National Monument on the site defined in Clause
1 para. 3 of this Decision, the following protection measures are hereby
stipulated:
-
all works are prohibited
other than 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
refurbished and damage made good only subject to first drawing up a repair,
restoration and conservation plan, with the approval of the relevant ministry
and under the supervision of the heritage protection authority;
-
the removal of the
tombstones from the graves to any other location is prohibited;
-
the removal of lichen and
moss from the stećaks is prohibited;
-
by way of exception to the
above provision, the stećaks may be cleaned if required to examine the
epigraphic or decorative features of a stećak, subject to first compiling a
report and obtaining the approval of the entity ministry responsible for
regional planning. The report should be based on such biological, chemical,
physical and other analyses as a conservator considers necessary, and should
include appropriate conservation measures and an assessment of the impact of
cleaning methods on the stone;
-
the area is an
archaeological site, and investigative works must therefore 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 ensuring
that the following measures are implemented:
-
a geodetic survey of the
current state of the site;
-
drawing up a plan for the
repair, restoration, conservation and presentation of the National Monument.
The plan
for the repair, restoration, conservation and presentation of the National
monument shall cover:
-
a preliminary survey of
the current state of the property to determine the type and degree of
vulnerability of the site and of the damage to the tombstones;
-
remedial works on the
damaged stećaks;
-
refurbishment of the
necropolis and the removal of self-sown vegetation;
-
making good the access
path and installation of benches and litter bins;
-
a programme for
archaeological investigations of the site of the National Monument;
-
routine maintenance of the
National Monument.
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.
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: 05.1-2.3-73/12-29
6 November 2012
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.
On 16
June 2011 the Department of Administrative and Social Affairs and Inspection of
Konjic Municipality submitted a petition/proposal from the to designate the
necropolis of stećak tombstones at Glavatičevo, hamlet of Lađanica, Konjic
Municipality, 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 mediaeval
tombstones known as stećaks are unique to Bosnia and Herzegovina and its
neighbours. They provide impressive evidence of the growing economic power of
Bosnian feudal society in the 14th century, the opening of mines, increasing
urbanization, and the wish of individuals to display their status and power
through the appearance of their tombstones. They are thus of outstanding
historical and considerable cultural imporance.
According
to Šefik Bešlagić’s statistics, Konjic municipality is one of those with the
greatest number of stećak tombstones in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The way in
which the stećaks are grouped makes it possible to trace and to document on the
ground important historical features, processes and relations. The siting of
large necropolises is a reliable indication of the centres of former religious
and political communities. That of medium-sized necropolises enables one to
follow the process of development of clan-based villages, while smaller groups
reflect intensive feudalization and social differentiation, when individual
clans no longer bury their dead alongside their neighbours, but form their own
family necropolises.
The
necropolis with stećaks in the village
of Lađanica, near
Glavatičevo, on the right bank of the Neretva, contains two stećaks: one
chest-shaped, and one decorated tall gabled (sarcophagus-shaped) with plinth.
The chest is lying north-south with a slight deviation, and the gabled
tombstone with plinth is lying northwest-southeast. The gabled tombstone is
decorated at both ends with matching designs of a double spiral carved in
relief.
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:
-
documentation on the
location and the current owner and occupier 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,
details of war damage, details of 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 V para. 2 of Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in
Bosnia and Herzegovina and Article 37 of the Rules of Procedure of the
Commission, before rendering a final decision designating a property as a
national monument, the Commission is required to provide the owner of the
proposed monument, the person submitting the petition, the institutions
responsible for heritage, professional and academic institutions, experts and
scholars, as well as other interested parties, to express their views.
Accordingly,
the Commission sent the following requests:
-
letter ref. 05.2-35.2-8
/11-121 dated 20 September 2011 to the Department of Administrative and Social
Affairs and Inspection of Konjic Municipality, the Federal Ministry of Regional
Planning and the Institute for the Protection of Monuments under the Federal
Ministry of Culture and Sport requesting documentation and views on the
designation as a national monument;
-
letter ref. 05.1-35.2-19/12-26
of 11 July 2012 to the Department of Administrative and Social Affairs and
Inspection of Konjic Municipality requesting the views of the owner by means of
a public announcement.
In
response the Commission has received the following documentation:
-
letter ref:
03-23-2-1345/11 dated 27 September 2011 from the Federal Ministry of Regional
Planning, notifying the Commission that it has no information or documentation
on the property;
-
letter ref.
07-40-4-4073-1/11 dated 12 October 2011 from the Institute for the Protection
of Monuments under the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sport notifying the
Commission that the property was not protected by the Institute for the
Protection of the Cultural and Natural Heritage of BiH;
-
the views of the owner had
not been received as of the date of adoption 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
necropolis with stećaks is in the village
of Lađanica, near
Glavatičevo, on the right bank of the Neretva. The village is 22 km as the crow
flies south-east of the centre of Konjic.
The
National Monument is located on a site designated as cadastral plot no. 470,
Land Register entry no. 19, cadastral municipality Lađanica, Municipality
Konjic, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Historical background
Since
prehistoric times, the roads linking central Bosnia with the Adriatic coast ran
along the Neretva valley and its outer margins. With some alterations and
adaptations to the route, major roads ran here in antiquity, mediaeval times
and the Ottoman period, until the road was laid through the Neretva gorge from
Jablanica to the south in the 1880s. The central Bosnian ore-rich mining area,
the fertile soils of the Neretva valley, and the rich mountain pastures, all
led to the formation of many settlements throughout history, in line with the
conditions and demands of their respective times, on the great bend in the
Neretva between the mountain massifs of Bitovnja, Bjelašnica and Visočica to
the north, and Prenj and Čvrsnica to the south.
In the
early mediaeval period, the wider Konjic region consisted of the Neretva župa
(county), part of the Zagorja župa (the area around Bjelimići) and part of the
Kom župa (the area around Glavatičevo). By the mid 11th century Neretva county,
which lay between Rama and Kom counties, had presumably been incorporated, by
political agreement, into the Bosnian state. From then on until ban (governor)
Tvrtko came to power in 1353, it enjoyed special status within the Bosnian
state. From then on, heightened economic and political activities on the part
of Bosnia's
rulers can be traced in the Neretva župa. In the early 15th century the borders
were redrawn between the later “Crown lands” and the feudal lands of the Kosača
family. From 1404 to 1463, the Bosnian part of the Neretva župa belonged to the
Crown lands and the Hum Neretva and Kom belonged to the feudal lands of the
Kosača – later Herzegovina.
The border between these two districts was the river Neretva, from the boundary
of the Kom župa to that of the Rama župa. The area along the left bank of the
Neretva belonged to the Kosačas, and that on the right bank to the Crown lands.
In the summer of 1463 an auxiliary Ottoman army commanded by Mahmut pasha
Anđelović conquered both the Neretva districts and Kom. The area known as Hum
Neretva, apart from the Borovac fort, and the western part of the Bosnian
Neretva, were liberated in a counter-action between July and September that
same year by Herceg (Duke) Stjepan. The region was finally conquered in mid
1465 in a campaign by the Bosnian sanjakbey Isa-bey Ishaković in the Herceg's
lands(2).
2. Description of the property
According
to Šefik Bešlagić’s statistics, Konjic municipality is one of those with the
greatest number of stećak tombstones in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The way in
which the stećaks are grouped makes it possible to trace and to document on the
ground important historical features, processes and relations.
The
decoration of stećaks became increasingly common in the late 14th or early 15th
century. The shape of these tombstones was undoubtedly influenced by the
composition of the rocks from which the stone was quarried to carve them. Major
differences can be observed in the quality of workmanship between the stećaks
of the Neretvica valley, where the stone is not ideal, and the karst regions
around Glavatičevo and Bjelimići. However, it seems this is not the only reason
for the differing quality, as there is good stone in the Jablanica area, but
the form and decoration of the stećaks there are not well developed(3).
Description of the stećaks
Two
stećaks have been recorded in the village
of Lađanica, one
chest-shaped, and one decorated tall gabled (sarcophagus-shaped) with plinth.
The chest is lying north-south with a slight deviation, and the gabled
tombstone with plinth is lying northwest-southeast. Both are in the middle of
the plot.
Stećak 1 – chest,
measuring 170x138x30 cm; badly damaged, almost indeterminate in shape, covered
with moss and lichen and overgrown with scrub, lying north-south.
Stećak 2 – tall
gabled tombstone with plinth, measuring 152x57x114 cm; plinth measuring
185x110x32 cm (overall height 136 cm), slightly tilted to the south, decorated
at both ends with matching designs of a double spiral carved in relief. Spirals
are not as common as rosettes, crescent moons and crosses. Most of them have
been recorded in and around Olovo, Zvornik, Kladanj, Vlasenica and Kalinovik;
they are rare in Herzegovina.
In overall numbers, they are roughly half way along the scale of basic motifs. Most
are double, with S spirals the least common. They are usually carved in relief,
but some are incised(4).
3. Legal status to date
The
Regional Plan for BiH to 2000 lists 69 sites of necropolises with stećci (3,018
tombstones) as Category III monuments in Konjic Municipality, without precise
identification (various authors, 1980, 52)(5).
The
necropolis with stećaks in the village
of Lađanica, Konjic Municipality,
is neither listed nor on the Register of cultural monuments of the Institute
for the Protection of Monuments of the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sport.
4. Research and conservation and
restoration works
The
National Museum
in Sarajevo began a systematic study of the
necropolises with stećaks in Bosnia
and Herzegovina in the 1950s.
Š.
Bešlagić states that there are two isolated stećaks, one slab-shaped, the other
gabled, the latter decorated with a zigzag band and spiral; orientation unknown(6).
The Archaeological
Lexicon lists the mediaeval burial ground in Lađanica, Konjic Municipality,
with two stećaks, a slab and a sarcophagus; decoration: border, spiral(7).
5. Current condition of the
property
The
findings of an on-site inspection conducted on 28 June 2012 are as
follows:
-
two stećaks were
catalogued (one chest and one decorated gabled tombstone with plinth)
-
the chest is lying
north-south with a slight deviation, and the gabled tombstone with plinth is
lying northwest-southeast
-
the stećaks are overgrown
with low-growing and shrubby plants and are covered with moss and lichen
-
they are quite badly
damaged: the gabled tombstone has surface cracks, some shallow, others quite
deep, and the chest is of almost indeterminate shape
-
the necropolis is right
beside the local road
-
there are building
materials 3 to 4 m from the stećaks
6. Specific risks
There are no specific risks associated with
the two surviving stećaks in the village
of Lađanica.
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.v. value of details
D. Clarity
D.i. material evidence of a lesser known
historical era
D.iv. evidence of a particular 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
-
copy of cadastral plan for
c.p. no. 470, Land Register entry no. 19, c.m. Lađanica, Konjic Municipality,
plan no. 7, scale 1:2500, issued on 2 June 2011 by the Department of Geodetics,
Proprietary Rights and Cadastre, Konjic Municipality, Herzegovina-Neretva
Canton, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina
-
Land Register entry for
plot no. 470, Land Register entry no. 19, c.m. Lađanica, NAR.and RZ no. 355/09,
issued on 4 September 2009 by the Land Registry office, Konjic,
Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and
Herzegovina
-
Photodocumentation
-
Photographs taken on site
on 27 June 2012
Bibliography
During
the procedure to designate the property as a national monument of Bosnia
and Herzegovina the following works were
consulted:
1961. Radojčić, Svetozar. “Reljefi bosanskih i hercegovačkih stećaka”
(Reliefs on Bosnian and Herzegovinian stećaks), LMS, vol. 387/1. Novi Sad: 1961.
1963. Benac, Alojz. Stećci. Belgrade: Prosveta, 1963.
1963. Vego, Marko. “Patarenstvo u Hercegovini u svjetlu arheoloških
spomenika” (Patarenism in Herzegovina
in the light of archaeological monuments), GZM, NS (A), XVIII. Sarajevo: 1963.
1966. Anđelić, Pavao. “Doba srednjovjekovne bosanske države” (The age
of the mediaeval Bosnian state) in Kulturna istorija Bosne i Hercegovine od
najstarijih vremena do početka turske vladavine (Cultural history of BiH
from ancient times to the start of Ottoman rule). Sarajevo: 1966.
1971. Bešlagić, Šefik. Stećci, kataloško-topografski pregled
(Stećci, a catalogue and topographical survey). Sarajevo: 1971.
1975. Anđelić, Pavao. Historijski spomenici Konjica i okoline
(Historic Monuments of Konjic and its Environs), I. Konjic: 1975.
1980. Redžić, Husref (ed.). Regional Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina;
Stage B - valorization of natural, cultural and historical monuments. Sarajevo: Institute for architecture, town planning and
regional planning of the Faculty of Architecture in Sarajevo, 1980, 51.
1982. Bešlagić, Šefik. Stećci-kultura i umjetnost (Stećaks:
culture and art). Sarajevo:
1982.
1985. Bobaš, Mirko. “Stećak Mihovila Grahovčića” (The stećak of Mihovil
Grahovčić), Jukić, 15. Sarajevo:
1985.
1988. Čović, Borivoj (ed.). Arheološki leksikon BIH (Archaeological
lexicon of BiH), vol. 3. Sarajevo:
1988.
1990. Basler, Đuro. Kršćanska arheologija (Christian
archaeology), 2nd ed. Mostar: Crkva na kamenu, 1990.
1990. Südland, L. V. (Ivo Pilar). Južnoslavensko pitanje. Prikaz
cjelokupnog pitanja. Varaždin (The Yugoslav Question. Full account of the
issue, Varaždin). Title of original: L. v. SÜDLAND, Die Südslawische Frage und der Weltkrieg.
Übersichtliche Darstellung des Gesamt-Problems. Wien: 1990.
1997. Daniell, Christopher. Death and burial in medieval England
1066-1550. London and New York: Routledge, 1997.
2004. Bešlagić, Šefik. Leksikon stećaka (Lexicon of stećaks). Sarajevo: Svjetlost, 2004.
(1) Translator’s
note: I assume that the reference to
Republika Srpska and the relevant issues of its Official Gazette in this paragraph is an error, and have therefore substituted
the standard paragraph relevant to the Federation of BiH.
(2) From the decision
designating the archaeological monuments in the Park at Varda below the Social
Centre in Konjic as a national monument. Further details on the history and
development of stećak are provided in the said decision (see bibliography,
below).
(3) Anđelić,
Pavao, Historijski spomenici Konjica i okoline, I, Konjic: 1975, 223,224,225
(4) Bešlagić,
Šefik, Stećci-kultura i umjetnost, Sarajevo:
1982, 200
(5) Note: during
site visits and cataloguing stećaks in Konjic Municipality,
Commission staff have found that the number of stećaks certainly exceeds 3018
(6) Bešlagić,
Šefik, Stećci, Kataloško-topografski pregled, Sarajevo: 1971, 336.
(7) Čović,
Borivoj (ed..), Arheološki leksikon BIH, vol 3, Sarajevo: 1988, 219.
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