Stolac Fort (BH_02)
Country or territory: Bosnia and Herzegovina
Name of organisation compiling the information: Commission to Preserve National Monuments
Contact name: Mirela Mulaluć Handan
Email address: mirela.m.handan@kons.gov.ba
Name and address of building(s) or site: Historic Site of the Old Stolac Fort
Inventory reference number(s): 06-6-32/03-4
Building type(s): Military - Fort
Main date(s): Date range from Antiquity (first to fourth centuries CE) to 1888.
Current use(s): Historic site
Significance
The site of present-day Stolac was where the municipium of Diluntum stood in antique times; finds dating from the first to fourth centuries CE have been excavated along with late Antique fortifications.
In the middle ages the area of Stolac town belonged to the župa of Vidoši. The first reference to Vidovški town is in a charter dated 19 February 1444, followed by a further series of charters up to 1454, as a possession of Stjepan Vukčić Kosača.
In Dubrovnik, sources dating from 1463, the town of Vidovški, meaning the Stolac fort and the settlement below it, is referred to under the name of Stolac. Stolac become part of the Ottoman sultanate after it was taken on 13 June 1456, but there is no reliable evidence of a garrison having been maintained here until the early eighteenth century. In about 1706 the kapetanija of Stolac was founded. Austrian rule was established in August 1878. The old fortifications were repaired out of the military coffers in 1883, and in 1888 a modern fort was built above the site of the fortress dating from the time of Ottoman rule.
The old fortified town of Stolac stands on an elevation overlooking the centre of present-day Stolac, and is one of the largest of its kind in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The complex system of stone walls and towers suggests that it evolved in several stages, but these are hard to differentiate. In the seventeenth century the fort had thirteen towers and keeps, and was the most highly fortified town in Herzegovina.
The basic and principal structure, part of the present-day ramparts lying on the slope above Stolac, consist of walls built using the technique of stratified opus incertum, typical of the fourth century in this region. All that has been determined with certainty is that tower II, dating from the Ottoman period, was built on a late antique substructure. The ground plan of the late antique fortifications has specific features of Greek building in the Hellenist tradition (Đ. Basler 1972, 51-52). At that time the fort was one of a chain of forts (castrum) together with Koštura near Dabrica and Blagaj on the Buna.
In the seventeenth century the fort had thirteen towers and keeps, and was the most highly fortified town in Herzegovina. Part of the structure on the plateau of the hill belongs to a later stage. This part of the fortifications was razed to the ground in the late nineteenth century when a fort was build for the Austro-Hungarian garrison.
The Old Fort covers an area of 20,503 sq.m. Its defences consist of a series of stone towers and ramparts, the latter 2 metres thick and made from cut limestone blocks – “sivac” from the local quarry. As well as the towers, the fort has ten water cisterns, a storeroom for flour, residential quarters and a mosque. The mosque fell into ruin in 1906 and was never rebuilt, but its remains are still visible.
The fortress as a whole consists of three clearly differentiated ensembles:
1. Lower fort – on the north-west (the area beneath the Austro-Hungarian part of the fort, located north-west of this part of the fort) with a surface area of 8,481 sq.m.
2. Middle fort - (the part built during Austro-Hungarian rule and the plateau of the hill) covering 7,005 sq.m.
3. Upper fort - (the part above the middle fort, located to the east of it) covering 8,579 sq.m.
General information
1. The Lower fort is surrounded on three sides – to the north-east, north and south-west – with towers and ramparts. The main town gate is in the north-east wall, which is 44.95 metres long. The gate is arched, and has a stone-floored guardroom above the arch. The mosque, with a surface area of 113.24 sq.m., is located above the entrance to the fort, and observations to date suggest that it has a water tank under the floor. It is impossible to determine the depth of the tank beneath the mosque floor given that it has been filled with broken stone, probably belonging to the mosque itself, and soil. The only name by which the mosque in the fortress is known is the Veli-dedina mosque and tradition links its date of origin with the cave in the rock beneath it which was used as a place of prayer in the pre-Ottoman era in Bosnia.
On the south wall of the ruined mosque remains of a stone minaret and mihrab can be seen. The remains of the mihrab suggest the workmanship typical of the oldest mosques in Bosnia and Herzegovina: precisely cut complex stalactite decorations in seven horizontal rows with polychrome pigment directly applied to the miljevina (a type of local limestone). Traces of red pigment and black lines indicate a date of the early sixteenth century as the time when the mihrab was painted. Small pieces of saw-cut miljevina are held together with small wrought-iron cramps. Since this part of the fort has never been properly studied, the assumption may be made that the space beneath the level of the mosque floor or an extension of it into the hill slope served as a deep cistern. This assumption is reinforced by the surviving name of the mosque, which is associated with a Sufi leader in relation to whom there is a tradition, so far uncorroborated, that he was an old man when Sandalj was alive.
The walls of the mosque were about 1 metre thick, and the stone-built minaret was octagonal in shape. Austro-Hungarian troops used the mosque as a storeroom for ten years, and pulled it down in 1888.
The northern area consists of four tall towers linked by ramparts with two rows of loopholes. Tower I, at the angle of the south ramparts, has a surface area of 96.72 sq.m. and is semi-ruinous. Between this tower and the entrance gate is a large cistern with two doors, now walled up with stone. Tower II is much better preserved, and covers an area of 108.29 sq.m. Tower III has an area of 107.20 sq.m.
Tower IV stands on the north-west angle and occupies an area of 107.20 sq.m. The walls of this tower survive to a height of 12 metres. The wall between the first and second towers is 22.25 metres long, between the second and the third 25.50 metres, and between the third and fourth 22.25 metres. Access to the walls linking these four towers is difficult, the walls are high, and are equipped with two rows of loopholes, with two stages of construction discernible. The wall between towers II and III is in a ruinous state and sags outwards by some 50 cm. The walls of tower III are cracked by the effects of an earthquake, and were repaired with concrete in 1939. The ramparts between towers IV and V are 29.62 metres long. Tower V has an area of 116.46 sq.m. On this tower, which is almost ruined, the original beams can still be seen. The ramparts linking tower V and tower VI are 41.60 metres long. Tower VI, which is the best preserved, covers an area of 97.52 sq.m. The entire tufa vault has survived. Between towers V and VI there is a water tank, now reduced to rubble. Between towers III and IV is a passage leading down to the town, which was used in times of danger. The ramparts linking tower VI and tower VII is 22.75 metres long and forms the connection with tower VII, which has an area of 105.30 sq.m. The length of the wall from this tower to the furthest corner is 36.62 metres. Here there stands tower VIII, with a surface area of about 65.11 sq.m. Above this tower is a natural passage similar to the one at tower IV. The ramparts and towers of this north-western part are in varying states of preservation, since in some parts there were two stages and in others three stages of construction. The oak beams and loopholes set in two rows one above the other probably date from the Turkish period.
There can be no doubt of the existence of mediaeval elements in the fortifications, in the foundations and lowest structural levels, which should be clarified in forthcoming investigations.
2. The Middle fort, with an area of 2,005 sq.m., occupies the central area of the complex. This part was built of white cut limestone from Brač. A number of facilities were built for the garrison. Parts of the old walls were used to built new buildings. This complex had three water tanks, fortified ramparts and a munitions depot. Its walls are fairly badly damaged, and the entrance gate has been rebuilt.
3. The Upper fort is located almost at the same height as the middle fort and to the east of it. At the time it was built, part of the fort, ramparts and towers was destroyed and the area was levelled, as can be assumed from the remains of the walls and foundations. This part occupies an area of 87.79 sq.m. and has five towers. Tower IX has an area of 93.39 sq.m. The length of the ramparts between tower VIII and tower IX, visible in the Austro-Hungarian fort, is 113.62 metres. From this tower to the next at the north-eastern corner where tower X stands, the ramparts are 48.40 metres long; the tower has an area of 104.53 sq.m.. From that corner to the central east tower, tower XI, is a wall 33.88 metres long; the area of the tower is 231.70 sq.m.. From here to the south-east tower, tower XII, are ramparts 42.42 metres long; the area of the tower is 86.72 sq.m. The wall from the last tower, tower XIII on the south, is 40.00 metres in length. This tower, which served as an ammunition and explosives depot, was twice destroyed by being struck by lightning. The area of the tower is 69.16 sq.m., and the length of the wall from this tower to the south-eastern corner is 94.50 metres.
In the area of the surviving ensemble by the road toward the gates and directly beneath the ramparts of the lower fort are colonies of naturalised cyclamen [species unspecified], which are preserved by this decision as an integral part of the ensemble.
Research and Conservation and Restoration Works
Small-scale archaeological research and topographical studies were conducted by P. Anđelić and I. Rizvanbegović in the presence of architect Prof. Džemal Čelić and architect Aleksandra Ninkovića in 1975-77 under the aegis of the project "The history of the architecture and art of the mediaeval Vidovška fort in Stolac".
Categories of significance
- Of outstanding national importance.
- Of international importance – the Fort is a part of the historic and natural area of Stolac on the UNESCO Tentative list.
Categories of ownership or interest
- Of national interest.
Documentation and bibliographic references
Documentation
The following documentation is in possession of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments
- Documentation on the location and current owner and user of the property (copy of cadastral plan and copy of land registry entry).
- Data on the previous and current condition and use of the property, including a description and photographs, data of war damage if any, data on restoration or other works on the property if any, etc.
- Historical, architectural and other documentary material on the property, as set out in the bibliography.
Bibliography
1. Documentation of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments
2. Basler, Đ. Arhitektura kasnoantičkog doba u Bosni i Hercegovini (Architecture of the Late Middle Ages in Bosnia and Herzegovina). Sarajevo: 1972.
3. Ćurić, H. “Stolački stari grad” (Stolac Old Fort) Slovo Gorčina. Stolac: 1977.
4. Dinić, M. “Zemlje hercega sv. Save” (Lands of Herzeg St. Sava), Journal of the Serbian Royal Academy CLXXXII, 2nd grade, 92. Belgrade: 1940, 149-256.
5. Kreševljaković, H., and Kapidžić, H. “Stari hercegovački gradovi” (Old Forts of Herzegovina), Naše starine II. Sarajevo: 1954, 9-21.
6. Rizvanbegović, I. “The results of Former Archaeological Researches at the Medieval Fortress of Vidoška Tvrđava at Stolac”, Balcanoslovica 8. Belgrade: 1979, 77-92.
7. Sergejevski, D. “Iz rimske arheologije (Municipium Diluntum)” (From Roman Archaeology [Municipium Diluntum]), Journal of the National Museum XLVII. Sarajevo: 1935, 17-22
8. Truhelka, Ćiro. “Rimske razvaline kod Stoca i okolici” (Roman remains near Stolac and environs), Slovo Gorčina. Stolac: 1979.
9. Vego, M. Naselja bosanske srednjovjekovne države (Settlements of the Bosnian medieval state). Sarajevo: 1957.
Condition
1. Very bad
- Cracks are clearly visible in the ramparts and walls of the fortress; these are both deep and long, and there is a danger of the towers collapsing.
- Fourteen wooden crosses have been erected within the protected site and a stone cross more than 4 metres high on the plateau of the middle fort with parts of the lower stone wall around the cross; both the stone cross and parts of the walls around it have been constructed from stone taken from the ramparts of the fortress.
- The protected site is endangered by new and inappropriate construction in the immediate protected area.
- Quantities of building materials (sand, cement, wire-mesh reinforcements, etc.) possibly indicating further intended construction.
- The access route, which is an integral part of the protected site, is used for motor vehicle traffic, which thus is at risk of destruction, as is the vegetation forming an integral part of the protected site.
Amount of war or associated damage:
3. Large amount of damage, but none that dangers stability or that cannot be repaired.
Risk
- The site is at risk of rapid deterioration as a result of lack of maintenance and failure to implement even minimal protection measures; large quantities of fallen material are visible in the gates, along the walls and in the passages of the underground parts of the old fort.
- The site is at risk from the impact of social unrest – conflict of values. Stone removed from the walls of the fort has been used to erect a cross within the fort, and the fort is being used for religious events. The emblems of a single “ethnic group” are being imposed on the monument for political reasons, contrary to its nature as a public building.
Condition risk
B. Immediate risk of further rapid detorioration or loss of fabric, solution agreed but not begun.
Technical assessment and costing
The following works are to be carried out on the national monument:
- Only research works and works of conservation, structural repairs, restoration, including works for the purpose of display of the monument, in compliance with technical documentation drawn up to the terms and conditions stipulated by the relevant heritage protection authority of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina shall be permitted on the national monument.
- No construction of any building or facilities or installation of temporary or permanent structures not for the sole purpose of preserving and displaying the national monument shall be permitted.
- The site of the national monument shall be open and accessible to the public, and may be used for educational purposes, for holding exhibitions, theatrical performances, etc.
- For the purpose of carrying out direct protection measures the following works shall be carried out in three stages:
Stage I: urgent works
1. the removal of illegally erected symbols (stone and wooden crosses, stone and concrete boards and other elements erected in the protected area since 1992) – the stones from the fort that were used in the erection of these shall be preserved as far as possible, conserved and reintegrated into the walls of the fortress;
2. the clearing of the ramparts, the walls of the towers, gates and urban area from self-sown weeds damaging the wall structure, covering the paths within the fort or representing a danger to the structure of the monument;
3. the clearing of the access road of vegetation and the removal of erected placed symbols (crosses) along the path to the old fort.
Stage II: urgent structural repairs:
1. structural repairs to the towers and walls in the lower fort where cracks have appeared and there is a risk of collapse;
2. the selection, systematic repair and surveying of the fallen sections of the walls, towers and gates;
3. the conservation of the remains of the Veli-dedina mosque; the repair and restoration of communications within the fort;
4. the repair and restoration of the lower and upper gate;
5. the clearing of underground premises in the lower and upper fort;
6. the clearing, repair and covering of wells;
7. the installation of basic information boards, signposts, etc.
Stage III: restoration and display
1. drafting and implementation of a project for the full restoration of the site;
2. drafting and implementation of a project for the full display of the site;
3. drafting and implementation of a programme of additional research works in the protected area; presentation of the results of the research and possible finds.
In the area of the national monument, which consists of the lower fort, upper fort, central plateau with buildings dating from the Austro-Hungarian period, an access road along Veli Dedino hill with a total distance of 1200 metres from the lower gate to the upper gate, and the part of the hill below the ramparts, no construction work, earth moving or landscaping, installation of temporary facilities, signposts, billboards and advertisements, felling trees, or carrying out infrastructural or agricultural work shall be permitted.
In the area that surrounds the area of the national monument with a width of 100 metres the restoration, reconstruction and conversion of buildings that existed prior to 1992 is permitted, as is the interpolation of buildings of no more than two storeys (ground floor and one upper floor, with a maximum height of 6.5 metres to the roof cornice), with maximum horizontal dimensions of 12 x 12 metres and pitched roofs with a maximum pitch of 30 degrees, covered with stone slabs or light grey tiles only, built of stone or with a stuccoed and whitewashed finish, unpainted wooden window frames and wooden doors, and stone courtyard walls. Detailed regional planning and town planning technical conditions for the construction of new buildings must include the approval of the relevant protection authority. In this area no demolition of buildings dating from prior to 1945 is permitted, and the construction of industrial facilities, infrastructure and potential polluters as defined by legislation is prohibited.
Costing proposals for projects and above listed works have not been done.
Summary of stages proposed in the Preliminary technical assessment and costing, is as follows:
Stage I: urgent works €40 000
Stage II: urgent structural repairs €55 000
Stage III: restoration and display €45 000
TOTAL €140 000
The Old Stolac Fort was an ARCHEOSITE Pilot project for Bosnia and Herzegovina: Capacity building in protection, presentation and management methodologies, within the EU – CADSES Interreg 3 B programme (2004-2006).
Activities on the site, including clearing the Fort and erecting a noticeboard with data on the monument was completed in 2007 within the Programme for the preservation, protection and integration of heritage in the Herzegovina Region of Bosnia and Herzegovina financed by the European Commission EU RED programme and implemented by the Commission to Preserve National Monuments.
In 2008 funds (€ 67.000) for the restoration of the property were allocated from the budget of the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The allocated funds have not been realized.
The Commission to Preserve National Monuments financed the 3D laser survey.
Ownership
- Public property.
Occupation
- Fully occupied in occasional use.
Management
The provisions relating to protection and rehabilitation 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 and 27/02) apply to the National Monument.
The Commission to Preserve National Monuments is a state-level institution of Bosnia and Herzegovina established pursuant to Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina and by Decision of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is responsible for adopting decisions designating movable and immovable properties as national monuments, applying the criteria for the designation of national monuments (Official Gazette of Bosnia and Herzegovina no. 33/02). The Commission’s decisions prescribe the basic provisions and protection measures pertaining to each national monument.
The Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is responsible for ensuring and providing the legal, scientific, technical, administrative and financial measures necessary to protect, conserve, display and rehabilitate the national monument.
The Federal Government is responsible for providing the financial and technical resources for drawing up a plan and implementing a Programme for the permanent protection of the national monument.
The Ministry of Regional Planning of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is responsible for the implementation of legally-prescribed protection measures. It is responsible for issuing planning approvals and permits for all works, archaeological excavations and construction in the protected area on the basis of planning and technical documentation approved by an authorised professional institution.
The Institute for the Protection of Monuments within the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sport is also involved in these activities by verifying whether the conditions set out in the technical documentation have been met. The Institute is responsible for expert supervision, as prescribed by the Decision of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, and for the implementation of projects or parts thereof financed by the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Decisions designating national monuments are forwarded to the authorities responsible for town planning and cadastral affairs in order to implement the measures prescribed by these decisions, and to the competent municipal court for entry in the Land Register.
Stolac Municipality is responsible, through its various departments and the buildings and planning inspectorate of the Federal Inspectorate Authority, for overseeing and controlling on-site activities.
The municipality is required to append all its plans and documents pertaining to the protected area of the national monuments to the decisions issued by the Commission to Preserve National Monuments. The municipality is required to refrain from all activities detrimental to the national monuments, and to co-operate with the Commission to Preserve National Monuments and the Entity institutions in the process of implementing the Commission’s decisions.
Pursuant to the Decision of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Commission to Preserve National Monuments is authorised to perform activities of international co-operation in the field of heritage. The Commission is responsible for the implementation of the project in accordance with the Rules for the implementation of donor funds earmarked for the renovation or protection of the endangered cultural and historical heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Archaeological excavations of the site could be carried out by museums (the National Museum in Sarajevo, the Museum of Herzegovina).
Non-governmental organizations are also active in Stolac; the Stolac Youth Forum, the Citizens’ Association for the Restoration of Civic Trust, and the International Forum Bosnia are working to raise awareness of the importance of the cultural heritage in establishing democracy. The activites include holding summer youth camps, holding seminars on the heritage and on human rights, organizing exhibitions, and clearing the sites of cultural and natural assets.
Summary
The historic site of the Old Fort in Stolac stands on an elevation above the present-day centre of Stolac, and is a defensive structure, one of the largest forts in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The complex system of stone walls and towers suggests that it was built in several stages, which are difficult to differentiate. In the prehistoric period the north-western part of the fortress, towards the settlement outside the walls, was probably the area that was inhabited. On the site of present-day Stolac lay the antique-era municipium of Dilentum, with finds dating from the 1st to 2nd centuries CE, and fortifications dating from the late antique era. The earliest reference to Vidoški fort is in a charter dated 1444, followed by a series of charters up to 1454, as the possession of Stjepan Vukčić Kosača. Stolac became part of the Ottoman sultanate following the Ottoman conquest in 1465. After the 1699 Treaty of Karlowitz the fort was repaired and extended, with a garrison commanded by a dizdar. The Stolac captaincy was established in about 1706. In 1878 Austro-Hungarian rule was established. The military authorities carried out thorough repairs to the old fort in 1883, and built a modern fortress in 1888, above the one that had been in existence during the Ottoman period. The site is at risk from lack of maintenance and the erection of a stone cross about 4 m high on the central plateau of the fort, with some of the stones of the lower stone wall around the stone cross faced with stones taken from the ramparts of the fortress.
Stolac and environs represent an area with a rich cultural, historical and natural heritage. Before the 1992-95 war, Stolac was one of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s most attractive tourist destinations. The economic circumstances and sensitive political situation in Stolac municipality are obstacles to normal progress in achieving conditions in which the cultural and historical heritage, including Stolac Old Fort, could be treated as it should be. On the other hand, it cannot be denied that the management of Stolac Old Fort is a complex matter and that it must take the form of co-ordinated action by all interested parties. The Stolac Old Fort, as a major tourist attraction and economic potential, merits effective management.
The priority level of intervention is HIGH.
NOTE:
Condition
1. Very poor
Risk status
B. Immediate risk of further rapid detorioration or loss of fabric, solution agreed but not begun.
Sign. and date
Silvana Ćobanov, archaeologist
Mirela Mulalić Handan, architect
2010
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