Ferhadija mosque
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Ferhat-Pasha Mosque (Bosnian: Ferhat-pašina džamija) or more widely known as Ferhadija Mosque was a central building of the city of Banja Luka and one of the most successful achievements of the Islamic architecture of the 16th century Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The mosque was built in 1579 in a classical Ottoman style by an unknown architect apprentice of Mimar Sinan. It was commissioned by the Bosnian Sanjak-bey Ferhat-paša Sokolović. The Ferhadija mosque complex also included three small adjacent mausoleums carrying tombs of Ferhat-paša Sokolović, his granddaughter Safi-kaduna and his ensign, a central fountain called Shaderwan, Stone and wrought iron fence with the small fountain on the corner, and an old graveyard in the back. A later addition to the complex was a near-by clock tower Sahat-Kula. Built in a modest scale as it was common for structures of this type in Bosnia and Herzegovina the mosque was 18 meters (59 ft) in width and 14 meters (46 ft) in length while the main dome was 18 meters (59 ft) high. The minaret was 43 m (141 ft) high.
Ferhadija was listed as a cultural heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1950 and was subsequently protected by UNESCO until its destruction in 1993. The site and the remains of the mosque today are listed as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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[edit] Destruction
The mosque was demolished by explosives on May 7, 1993 by the Serb militia that also razed to the ground the minaret that survived the first night explosion. The demolition was organized by the authorities of the Republika Srpska which included the demolition of the entire Ferhadija complex and Arnaudija mosque complex that were just approximately 800 meters distant from each other. Both mosques were destroyed in the same night just within the time frame of 15 minutes.
One of the Serbs leaders from Banjaluka, Radoslav Brdjanin was convicted for his part in organizing the ethnic cleansing of the non-Serbs and destruction of the Muslims properties including mosques. Radoslav Brdanin was sentenced to a single sentence of 32 years of imprisonment.
The remains of the destroyed mosques were taken to the city dump while some stone pieces and ornamental details were crushed by Serbs and used as a landfill. The leveled site was later used as a parking lot. Several weeks after the destruction of Ferhadija a near-by one of the oldest clock towers in Europe – Sahat Kula was also destroyed. It is noted that large amount of explosives and extensive coordination was employed in destruction of Ferhadija and Arnaudija mosques (blown up almost simultaneously) and many believe that this would not have been possible without involvement of city and entity authorities.
The destruction was orchestrated as part of an ethnic cleansing1|2 campaign which was proven by ICTY in the Radoslav Brđanin judgement.
Ferhadija mosque was one of the 16 mosques destroyed in the city of Banja Luka during the Bosnian War in 1992-1995. The destruction of Ferhadija mosque was recently cited by the Bosnian side at the court case before the International Court of Justice, in so called Bosnian genocide case at the ICJ, as an element of ethnic cleansing and genocide employed by the Republika Srpska authorities during the Bosnian War.
[edit] Reconstruction
A building permit was granted in 2001 to the Islamic Community of Banja Luka (Islamska Zajednica Banjaluke) to reconstruct the mosque. However, recent attempts to reconstruct the Ferhadija mosque resulted in mass riots by Serb nationalists on May 7, 2001. Some 4,000 Serb rioters stoned a group of three hundred Bosniaks, participants of the ceremony commemorating the laying of the cornerstone for the reconstruction, at least eight of whom were taken to the Banja Luka hospital for medical treatment. One of the Bosniaks died on May 26, 2001 of head injuries. The ceremony of placing the cornerstone was completed few days later in secrecy and under a heavy security. The reconstruction following the riots was not carried out.
The choice of the date for laying the cornerstone was selected on the 8th anniversary of the mosque's destruction which is also an official "Day of the Mosques" in Bosnia and Herzegovina selected in memory of the destroyed Ferhadija mosque. The selected date for laying the cornerstone has also been criticized by Serb side as it was also a date of Serbian Othodox holiday of Saint George and it was alleged that the date was chosen to incite maximum nationalistic feeling of the local Serbian residence.
Most of the mosques destroyed in Banja Luka in the period of the Bosnian War were reconstructed since 2001, however, the reconstruction process of the Ferhadija mosque is still a very contentious issue. Work was further delayed due to the unresolved complexities of its authentic reconstruction, for which preliminary studies have been prepared by the School of Architecture - Design and Research Center in Sarajevo. The reconstruction cost is estimated to be about 12 million KM (around $8 million). The site and remains of the architectural ensemble of the Ferhadija mosque is today listed as a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In June 2007 repairs to the foundation system that remained at the site after the destruction were completed and the reconstruction of the mosque's masonry is currently underway.
[edit] Notes
1The ICTY Trial Chamber is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt both that the expulsions and forcible removals were systematic throughout the Autonomous Region of Krajina (ARK), in which and from where tens of thousands of Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats were permanently displaced, and that this mass forcible displacement was intended to ensure the ethnic cleansing of the region. These people were left with no option but to escape. Those who were not expelled and did not manage to escape were subjected to intolerable living conditions imposed by the Serb authorities, which made it impossible for them to continue living there and forced them to seek permission to leave. Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats were subjected to movement restrictions, as well as to perilous living conditions; they were required to pledge their loyalty to the Serb authorities and in at least one case, to wear white armbands. They were dismissed from their jobs and stripped of their health insurance. Campaigns of intimidation specifically targeting Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats were undertaken.
2This process of ethnic cleansing was sometimes camouflaged as a process of resettlement of populations. In Banja Luka, the Agency for Population Movement and the Exchange of Material Wealth for the ARK ("Agency"), which was established on 12 June 1992 pursuant to a decision of the ARK Crisis Staff, aided in the implementation of both the exchange of flats and the resettlement of populations. The Agency was popularly known variously as "Perka’s Agency" or as "Brđanin’s Agency". The ICTY Trial Chamber is of the view that although this Agency was set up for the exchange of flats and the resettlement of populations, this was nothing else but an integral part of the ethnic cleansing plan.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- "Principles and Methodological Procedure for Reconsolidation of Ferhat-Pasha Mosque in Banja Luka"- School of Architecture - Design and Research Center, Sarajevo
- Ferhadija case
- HRW report on ethnic cleansing in Banja Luka
- HRW report on riots
- Images from the riot
- Bosnia and Herzegovina Commission to Preserve National Monuments - Ferhadija
- Radoslav Brđanin judgement about ethnic cleansing in Banja Luka
- Rebuilding Ferhadija
- Human Rights in a Multi-Ethnic Bosnia - Harvard study
