DESTRUCTION OF CULTURAL MONUMENTS

Marko Omcikus
Republic Institute for protection of Cultural Monuments

From the very beginning of bombarding until now more than once have bombs fallen in the mere vicinity of the monastery Gracanica. As a consequence there is a damaged facade on the church, cracked dormitories and destroyed objects of agricultural economy. Two of the missiles have fallen very close to the Pec patriarchy.

Permanent bombarding of Kursumlija damaged and statically jeopardized three churches: Sv.Nikola, Sv.Bogorodica (12. century), Sv.Marko - their environs are rather demolished as well. From the beginning the monastery Rakovica near Belgrade has been a target several times as well. As the consequence windows and roofs are broken, the static firmness of the church and dormitories are seriously damaged, as well as the buttress, while its fall would provoke sliding of soil towards the church entrance and all objects inside. Due to the close explosion near the monastery Novo Hopovo in Fruska Gora, flying buttress in the church is being destabilized. Also a bomb fell near the monastery Vrdnik in Fruska Gora. Drastic is an example of cracked and statically destabilized cryptic church Sv.Petka in Vranje.

Towns Pristina, Prizren, Djakovica and many others in Kosovo and Metohija are being systematically bombarded and their city cores are being destroyed with all its ambient, cultural, historic values. Cities in Serbia are the permanent target of NATO bombs, and buildings of extinguished architectural values are being selected, some of these having the status of cultural monuments. An example is the Royal Airforce Command building in Zemun, in the very core of the city, an authorial work of Dragisa Brasovan. Another work of the same author, building of Banovina in Novi Sad was also directly struck. The building of MUP in Belgrade, is an authorial work of Iva Antic.

The demolition of bridges in Novi Sad is the barbarity of its kind. The bridge which directly connected the center of Novi Sad with Petrovaradin fortress, or just Petrovaradin, didn't have any strategic value, because its construction could bear only pedestrians and easy vehicles. On the other hand, it had vast cultural value, thanks to it Novi Sad with Petrovaradin represented a unique cultural area and undivided cultural structure: museums, museum belongings, galleries, art workshops, institutions for protecting monuments and others, which were situated on both sides of Danube; this means that the only strategy concerning this bridge was exclusively of cultural value. Not even the certain elements of this cultural structure in Novi sad were spared: Museum of Vojvodina and Archive of Vojvodina were damaged, and the building of Banovina was directly hit, as mentioned earlier.

Bombs are striking village areas with their dwellings and economic objects built in the spirit of national tradition. One missile fell in an immediate nearness of ethno-museum in Sirogojno (luckily it didn't explode). According to the latest information bombs are falling all over Novi Pazar. Let me remind you the whole area is proclaimed the world's cultural and natural heritage by UNESCO. Permanently bombing occurs, and among the targets of cultural heritage, there are some belonging to ambient cultural entity. The precision of missiles showed by the technology of killing, proves that even the "imprecise" impacts are part of this precision. The case with Aleksinac, the train in Grdelicka gorge, the group of Albanian refugees, and striking the centers of Pristina, Prizren and Djakovica, are obvious examples that targets are not only military goals and economy objects, but civilians as well, civilian objects and cultural inheritance. When it comes to monasteries and medieval churches, a conclusion that they are not damaged or with some insignificant ravages, would be wrong. Actually, afterwards consequences are to be seen. The vicinity from 200 m t 2 km causes concussions that endanger static of an object; especially when we talk about missiles with cumulative power. Not only are these objects endangered, but the future of frescoes is in question too. Sonic vibrations divide fresco material from the main wall, so that it can cause the whole fresco or its parts fall apart even after several years. Also the chemical processes during the explosions may seriously jeopardize pigments of frescoes.

We are most susceptible when it comes to medieval heritage, but beside monasteries there are masterpieces of urban and natural architecture, which represent most of the monumental fond built up in the latest two centuries. Some examples were previously mentioned: Brasanov's buildings in Zemun and Novi Sad, buildings in Nemanja's street and Street of Knez Milos in Belgrade. But some masterpieces were demolished in the center of Nis, and some other cities, but we still don't have the precise information.

When we talk about the cultural heritage, definitely we can say that it is on the target list of NATO aggressors, just as the National library was in 1941. by Hitler's Germany. The difference is that this time the tactics are not the same, because at the turn of this century that wouldn't be popular with the worldwide public opinion, because other libraries, universities and monasteries in Europe shared the same destiny; but with "diluted" demolition and "missed" hits the same goals are being achieved, and the whole damage so far isn't any smaller comparing to the National library.

With this report we cannot say that this sad balance is completed, because so far we don't have at our disposal all the information from the terrain. Also it is very hard to ascertain what and how hard damage is done when it comes to the future static stability of medieval monasteries and churches, especially the frescoes in them. The permanent bombing with no evident end, with all effects on cultural heritage, more and more stabilizes our belief that it is definitely aimed at our culture, history and remembrance of our people, with the final goal of ceasing and forgetting the cultural map of Europe and the world.