They Kill Monasteries As Well

If we exclude associations with regards to Kosovo which the war in that region awakens, two others remain which are at the same time consciously perceived as symbols of that province: the Kosovo battle and the monasteries. It is a well known fact why the Kosovo battle, and monasteries, because there are a number of extremely important and beautiful ones. Experts would say that wherever you put your foot down, there you come upon something important and beautiful. There are over one thousand and four hundred monuments in Kosovo. Sixty two are of the utmost importance. The assessment that they are endangered because people are shooting there would be pathetic if it wasn’t true.

Of all those under government protection, the ones that most often come to mind are in Decani, on account of Stefan Decanski, due to the fresco paintings which offer the greatest source of data on Byzantine iconography, due to the treasury which is the richest in Serbia, and in Gracanica, due to Simonida and because there isn’t a more beautiful monastery of that period. Both of them were constructed in the first decades of the 14th century.

Just these two make the listing of all the others from the list of the most important ones superfluous, however: Pecka Patrijarsija (spiritual center point and mausoleum of the Serbian archbishops and patriarchs, the Temple of St. Apostles from the third decade of the 13th century, the Temple of St. Dimitrije built one century later, the Churches of the Virgin Mary Odigitrije and St. Nikola (with a monumental narthex as an open portico), the Monastery Banjska (an imposing complex, 1312/16, King Milutin’s memorial church), the Zvecan Fortress (mentioned from the 11th century onwards), Novo Brdo (14th century), the Monasteries Sokolica, Virgin Mary Hvostanska, Goric, Devic, Ubozac, Dobra Voda, Monastery and Cloister St. Petar Koriski (probably from the beginning of the 13th century), the Church of Virgin Mary’s Confirmation in Lipljani, Virgin Mary’s Church in Vaganes, the Transfiguration of Jesus in Budisavcima, St. Jovan in Crkolez, the Church of the Virgin Mary in Vaganes, the Transfiguration of Jesus in Budisavcima, St. Jovan in Crkolez, the Church of the Virgin Mary and the Church of St. Djordje in Sredska, St. Nikola and St. Jovan in Velika Hoca, St. Nikola in Curakovcu, the fortified Castle and Vojinovica Bridge in Vucitrn, the Bungalow Danilovica in Locani, Bajrakli Mosque in Pec, Hadum Mosque and the Terazijski Bridge in Cakovici, the Czar’s Mosque in Pristina, Sinan Pasa’s Mosque, Hamam and Fortress Kaljaja, Church of St. Nikola, St. Spas, the ruins of the Monastery of St. Archangels in Prizren, Roman and early Byzantine relics in Ulpijane, the Memorial Complex in Gazimestan, Muratov’s Mausoleum, Barjaktar’s Mausoleum, and so on and so on.

Experts from Kosovo and keepers of that national treasure expect aid from Serbia if not from the entire country. Up to now, as of last month, their colleagues from Belgrade have started helping out, i.e. the Initial Board for the Protection of Cultural and Natural Goods in Kosovo and Metohije, composed of art historians, conservationists, archeologists, librarians, natural scientists and others from some fifteen or so non-governmental organizations relevant for this problem.

Gordana Markovic, a member of this Initial Board, says that the “first step was establishing contact with colleagues from Kosovo in order to become acquainted with the situation in the cultural institutions and in certain protected monuments. Shortly after that we informed various government institutions about it, we sent them an Appeal for the protection of cultural and natural goods in Kosovo and Metohije.” The Appeal opens with a warning that the “experience from the previous wars, and especially from the war from the nineties on the territory of the former Yugoslavia, has shown that monuments of historical and cultural significance of all nations, as well as natural heritage, were targets of unscrupulous destruction of the confronted armies. On that occasion, not only a lack of consciousness of the importance of these monuments for history was demonstrated, but the intention that the other side was to suffer irrecoverable damage caused by destroying objects which presented their highest spiritual values. In the circumstances of armed conflicts in which Serbia has found itself today in Kosovo and Metohije, we need to, without further delay, and in an efficient manner, protect the goods which make up the identity of the Serbian culture, as well as the goods of the other peoples of this region. Aware of the circumstances in which Kosovo and Metohije finds itself today, we are deeply troubled about the safety of the citizens, and in keeping with our professions, we implore that all natural and cultural valuables which are listed in the files of Yugoslavia as well as in the international institutions be protected...”

The cabinet of the President of the Republic of Serbia has been informed, the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Federal Ministry of Science and Culture along with others of similar rank and importance for the solution of the problem of Kosovo’s, i.e. Yugoslavia’s and Serbia’s monuments. The reaction of the government has thus far, say members of the Initial Board, been satisfactory. Or, to be more precise: they have not hindered the  intention of the experts, they have not pounced on it, on the contrary, certain state media have even informed the public of the activities of the Initial Board.

What should the government undertake? Only what it has agreed to having signed the international convention on the Protection of National Heritage in  Armed Conflict Situations (The Hague, 1954), on the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage (Paris 1972), on the Ban of Importing, Exporting and Transferring its Cultural Goods (Paris 1970)... Which means that with certain boards and other similar signs, as prescribed by international regulations, it must be designated that such and such a monastery or other such monuments are under government protection, and to directly protect it by covering it with  sacks of sand. In both cases, Dubrovnik’s example is highly educational.

Until the protection of the official institutions begins, the Initial Board has, in a large circulation and in five languages (Serbian, Albanian, Turkish, Gypsy, English) distributed a flyer appealing to the citizens that all together must “preserve for our children what our ancestors have left us as the greatest treasure” and a plea to the representatives of local and international non-governmental organizations to protect “the mutual heritage of the Balkans and of Europe and to stay within the bounds of international conventions by which these valuables are preserved”. They are prepared to, whenever the government should demand such a thing from them, put their expert help at the disposal of protection. Until then, until a concrete action is undertaken, the only thing left for them to do is to continue educating the public as to what exists and what is the value of such monuments in Kosovo and to keep reminding, as stated at the end of the Appeal “all government institutions, the army, the police, cultural institutions, as well as the entire population, regardless of their national, political and religious beliefs, that they are obliged to enforce these conventions, i.e. to obey international agreements and standards of behavior, adopted in the field of protection”.