BOSNIA/HERZEGOVINA: Religious dispute over Bosnian heritage site

The renovation of a church where the last Bosnian king was crowned is causing fears among religious communities in Bosnia that their rights might be undermined. A 13th century complex dominates the medieval setting of the old Jajce fortress on a hill above a spectacular waterfall, the site where Bosnian kings have been crowned and the former socialist republic of Yugoslavia was declared in 1943. However as authorities take steps to revive the old town as part of a UNESCO World Heritage site, one structure has caused dispute between the wary communities of post-war Bosnia. A church-turned-mosque in the Bosnian town of Jajce has stood in ruins for the last two centuries. It is a silent witness to the change of rule from medieval kings to Ottoman invaders and Austrian bureaucrats. The church was turned into a mosque when Ottomans arrived in the region in the 16th century. The St. Mary Church and the tower of St. Lukas was named a mosque by Sulejman the Second. It was used as a mosque until destroyed by fire in 1832, and later put under state protection. Under the government plan, the existing structure of the church and tower would be cleaned and protected by a glass construction. Elements from both the church and mosque would be preserved. "Restoration stops where assumption starts, and we could work here only based on assumption. It means that we don't have the authentic historical source. So, we have to apply the modern approach of restoration. It means to make the new construction in the spirit of present time," said Angela Petrovic, deputy culture minister in the Bosnian Muslim-Croat federation. But the Christian Catholic community opposes the government plan. "We have nothing against that for the sake of the historical truth there be a plaque saying that the church was for a certain period of time used as a mosque with it's name from that period," said Catholic priest Ivica Bozinovic of the nearby Banja Luka diocese. Bozinovic said the church is happy with the nomination of Jajce to the UNESCO list. "But we believe that the Catholic legacy here cannot simply be overlooked in the name of some coexistence, and that truth is denied. We wouldn't want that to happen," he said. The plan to restore the most valuable monument in Jajce was prepared to boost the chances of a nomination of its Old Town to the list of sites protected by the United Nations cultural arm UNESCO last February. It would help Jajce to regain its stature from before the 1992-95 Bosnia war, when it was a tourist destination. "Placing Jajce on UNESCO list would be a huge boost to tourism here. In a year's time we could expect some 100,000 tourists and the opening of 1,000 new jobs," said Enes Malik, a historian from Jajce. Jajce is also known for its ancient Turkish-style houses with characteristic black-peaked roofs, medieval church built completely underground and the third-century sacred temple dedicated to the God of Mitras from Roman times.

ITN Source | August 22, 2007

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