The views expressed in this essay are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of

MDG-F Programme Culture for Development or implementing agencies.

Town of Jajce –
Temple of the God Mithra
By Damir Hadžić

The role and significance of the area and town of Jajce are enormous, to grasp this
fact some details must be given to wider area of Jajce and common features of this
heritage, in other words the area of Bosnia and Herzegovina. There are two
elements that are central in the formation of the historical and cultural
physiognomy of Bosnia and Herzegovina; it’s a natural isolation, and geographical
position between the two great cultural dominants of East and West. These strong
influences at times clashed violently, but at times intermingled to generate a third,
indigenous stamp.

In the town of Jajce, there has been building but also demolition and destruction
over past centuries. The town is in the area within the mediaeval walls, which has
been in existence from the mediaeval through the Ottoman period to the present
day. There are few documents on the town's past, and no major archaeological
excavations have been carried out. Our knowledge of the more distant past of the
town thus remains fragmentary. Almost all archaeological finds have been
accidental, usually in the course of digging the foundations for new buildings. The
most ancient traces of human habitation on the urban area of Jajce date from the
Eneolithic age (on locality of Varošnice). Throughout the town, there are Bronze
Age remains in deep tufa1 cuttings, and also material traces of the later Iron Age.

Prehistoric pottery has been found in tufa cuttings by the Museum of the 2nd
Session of AVNOJ2. These finds suggest the existence of a prehistoric settlement
nearby, the location and chronological context of which have yet to be determined.
When the foundations for the Social Centre were being made, shards of prehistoric
pottery dating from the late Bronze age (1250-800 BCE) were also found, washed
down from higher land. It is not yet known whether there was a prehistoric
settlement on the site of the Jajce fortress, but its hilltop position and the pottery
washed down to lower levels suggest this as a big possibility. The present extent
of research is not sufficient to make it clear whether there was continuity of
settlement in the transition from prehistoric times to antiquity. The oldest antique
remains date from the third century and later, to the end of the sixth century.
Antique bricks were found in Pijavice, opposite the former railway station, and a
Mithraic temple below Volukja in the Bare residential area. When the five storey

1
Tufa is created by special organisms known as tufa sedimentary generators, and the water in
which tufa is created must meet certain conditions. These plant organisms create tufa, i.e. calcium
carbonate, from water that contains a high percentage of calcium bicarbonate. There is a great
usage of tufa, and much of the town of town Jajce is built on it.
2
Antifascist Council of National Liberation of Yugoslavia

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The views expressed in this essay are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of
MDG-F Programme Culture for Development or implementing agencies.

block north of the Banja Luka gatehouse was being built, two late antique tombs
and one vaulted sepulchral were found (4th to 6th century)

The Mithraeum, bricks and

sepulchre were on the edge of
a late antique era settlement in
the valley at the confluence of
the Pliva and the Vrbas, in the
late mediaeval area outside
the ramparts, on the plateau
between the two town gates.
Antique pottery was also
found by the present day
police station, but this site was
outside the settlement of that
time.

In the antique era the site of present day Jajce probably had a settlement with a
customs post and an observation post for surveillance of the crossing over the
Vrbas. The settlement was inhabited not only by the indigenous population but
also by the Romanized descendants of the Pannonian tribe of Maezaei (Mezei) and
foreigners, among whom were incomers from the eastern provinces of the Empire,
whose community is to judge from the Mithraeum and the length of time it was in
use was a powerful one. The Romanized inhabitants respected cults, as far as is
currently known from monuments to Jupiter Dolichenus and Silvanus (Pan). The
surroundings of Jajce are rich in antique monuments, mostly discovered
accidentally.

Sixteen grain pits or granaries were found on the site of the Social Centre. Based
on similar finds elsewhere in Bosnia and Herzegovina, these pits were dated to the
4th to 7th century, but the absence of archaeological material means that they
cannot be reliably dated. It is known that such grain pits were still in use in the
late mediaeval era in the region inhabited by Slav tribes and peoples. On the edge
of this site a miniature 14th to 15th century stećak tombstone was found.

The early mediaeval history of Jajce is poorly known. It was in the early mediaeval
župa or county of Pliva, which is referred to as part of the then Croatian state by
the Byzantine Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus in his works of De
administrando imperio in the mid tenth century. The next reference to Pliva
County in historical sources is not until 1366, when the Bosnian ban or ruler
Tvrtko bestowed it on the Hrvatinić line, in the person of duke Vukac Hrvatinić, for
his services in the defence of the town of Sokol three years early. This action, in
1363, halted the military campaign of the Croat-Hungarian king Ludovic against
Bosnia.

2
The views expressed in this essay are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of
MDG-F Programme Culture for Development or implementing agencies.

UNESCO Tentative Lists and Jajce

Expert commission of UNESCO and ICOMOS made in April 2009 a negative

evaluation to nomination file of natural and architectural ensemble of Jajce to the
WH list. These commissions claim that Jajce is not making any of criteria for
inclusion on WH list, reports is comprised form two parts. First part is form
documentation presented and second from expert visits to the site. In the
documentation presented file is given negative position to the nomination of
property, the mark is that “Jajce has a medium regional value“, somewhere better
case is a second report from site visit that has gave a comments about necessity of
intensive repairs in Jajce, demolition and removal of numerous illegal buildings as
well as change of border of nominated area. All these suggestions are representing
inputs about better appearance of the town and monuments. Conclusion to these
reports is suggestion to the Presidency of BiH to withdraw the nomination of Jajce
to the UNESCO World Heritage list3.

Mithraeum in Jajce

This antique religious monument is situated on the site known as bare, located
200 meters west from medieval town core of Jajce on left bank of river Piva. The
cult of the invincible God of the Sun, Mithras, was speeded by soldiers, slaves and
merchants from the Orient, or by soldiers who came into contact with the
followers of the cult in the East. As a belief that promised greater social justice and
a life after death, it attracted the lowers strata of society, and posed a considerable
challenge to the spread of Christianity.

The cult was widespread throughout the provinces of the Roman Empire,
including that of Dalmatia, within the borders of which most of present-day Bosnia
and Herzegovina lay (Đ. Basler, 1972, p. 65). The followers of Mithraism sought as
a rule to locate their places of worship in caves, and in the absence of such sites
they built small single-celled temples or spelaea; where the terrain permitted,
they would excavate the soil to reinforce the impression of a cave, the Jajce site is
one such.

The spelaeum is hollowed out into the rock, with a floor level below ground level.
Nature of the soil, moisture and tufa deposits have partly obscured the plan of the
Mithraeum. Temple consisted of an irregular square cell. The walls of the
Mithraeum had no foundations, and were made of marl with no mortar binding
and left un-plastered. It is assumed that the roof would have been made of
brushwood shingles.

The west wall, with a carving in the centre, was almost entirely cut from the living
rock. The north wall collapsed and the interior is filled with limestone deposits.

3
Press conference of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments 18/05/2009, (Fena news agency)

3
The views expressed in this essay are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of
MDG-F Programme Culture for Development or implementing agencies.

Part of the threshold was discovered in the north-east corner, not in its original
position. It is assumed that the entrance was in the east wall, where a limestone
block was found that served as threshold.

On the west wall, which is in

fact the living limestone rock,
there is a largely well-
preserved carved relief.
Mithras' right fist holding a
knife, the top of a Phrygian
cap and Mithras' face, a
serpent's head, and the left
hand border of the relief have
been broken off. The right
hand side of the relief has a
natural deposit of dark red
pigment. The workmanship is
fairly crude. The relief is set in Interior of the Mithras Temple
a shallow niche, finished in the
shape of a gable roof and
decorated with palmettos. The image of the god killing a bull occupies almost the
entire height of the niche.

This is a representation of the Mithraic tauroctony, simple in type, but including

all the necessary iconographic symbols: Mithras in Persian garments, with a
fluttering cloak. With one knee he is crushing a bull, while seizing him by the
muzzle with his left hand and stabbing him in the heart with his right. He is being
assisted by a dog, a serpent and a scorpion. There is also a raven, which has
brought an order from Ahuramazda. To either side are the dadophorae or
torchbearers. In the upper section are the sun (shown without rays) and the moon
(without sickle).

The remains of the Mithraeum in Jajce were discovered during the construction of
a private building. The site was purchased by the Society for the Preservation of
Antiquities in Jajce and provided with protection under the supervision of F.
Steiner, engineer. At first a wooden fence was erected, and soon after this a
protective stone structure was erected, which survives to this day. The Mithraeum
in Jajce almost certainly dates from the early fourth century CE (D. Sergejevski,
1937, 16).

Conditions and works on the monument

A small amount of works is carried away on this monument; some investigations

are carried by D. Sergejevski in 1931 just after the finding and later on there is a
protective structure that is built and repaired in 1951. Conditions to the
monument are not good; there is an exposure to damp that causes rapid
deterioration. The whole site is damp and close to the river, the monument that is

4
The views expressed in this essay are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of
MDG-F Programme Culture for Development or implementing agencies.

conserved in situ in the protective structure that covering the finding is in the bad
condition and in urgent need of repair.

Further works necessary

More archaeological investigations are required as well as detailed documentation

of the monument with modern recording methods. Monument is in a need of
revitalization project and some minor repairs with conservation works. Better
display of monument with signage system that leads to monument is necessary,
caused by its distant location from the city core as well as its unpleasant
appearance of protective building.

Exterior landscaping of area with better presentation of findings and historical

facts are a must, as well as small display area before entrance that is illustrating
and describing archeological findings find at the site (shrine remains, roman coins,
fibula, ect.). Jajce as strategically industrial and tourism orientated town needs to
improve tourist infrastructure and information campaign to the extent of total
coverage of cultural and natural monuments in area of town, improved protection
of fortress and mediaeval fortifications is necessary from a lack of maintenance
and adverse effects of the weathering.

Present day issues in Jajce are from one side rich and high potential of culture
tourism core, with outdated system of heritage potential presentation. Like
majority of heritage living cities Jajce grows and lives with its heritage, it has a big
issue with new inappropriate and illegal building practice. Urban response of the
city to the tourism potential in presentation of cultural and natural heritage needs
to be improved. Reality is lack of funds and investments in culture sector are
present in obvious cause of Mithraic temple, going form outdated and unattractive
protective building to general attitude towards relocation of funds in tourist
infrastructure.

Bibliography:

− Truhelka, Ćiro, Royal town of Jajce, Sarajevo, 1904

− Basler, Đ., Architecture of the late antique period in BiH, Sarajevo, 1972
− L. Thalloczy, Povijest Jajca (History of Jajce) Zagreb, 1916.
− Kreševljaković, Hamdija, Contributions to the history of Bosnian towns, Sarajevo, 1952
− Mazalić, Đoko, Old town of Jajce, National Museum in Sarajevo, 1952
− Bešlagić, Š. National Liberation War monuments in Jajce and their protection, 1958.
− Sergejevski, D, Das Mithraum von Jajce. Journal of the National Museum XLIX, Sarajevo, 1937
− Anđelić, P. Jajce, In: Arheološki leksikon, Sarajevo, 1988
− Ančić, Mladen, Jajce, portrait of a mediaeval town, Sarajevo 1999
− http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/2098/
− Strategy for development of town of Jajce, period 2003-2013, municipality of Jajce

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The views expressed in this essay are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of
MDG-F Programme Culture for Development or implementing agencies.

About Author:

Damir Hadžić, born 1976 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, studied at the Faculty of
Architecture, Architecture and Cultural Heritage Conservation and Management of
Cultural Property at the Sarajevo University, Bratislava and Siena. On Faculty of
Architecture in Sarajevo received an architects diploma at Academia Istropolitana Nova in
Bratislava, and by the University of Siena master and reported the doctorate. Works as an
architect and consultant in the private, public and non-governmental sector in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Slovakia, Italy, Slovenia and Sweden. Published about 20 papers and over 90
projects in the fields of architecture, restoration and reconstruction of cultural heritage.
Held lectures on the theory and practice in the restoration and protection of cultural
heritage at numerous conferences and seminars in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the
world. One of the founders of the non-governmental organization Group for Heritage, the
first registered at the state level in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which deals with the themes
of reconstruction and restoration of cultural heritage and preservation of cultural and
historical values of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Actively involved in projects of post-war
reconstruction and restoration of national monuments in Bosnia and Herzegovina since
2000.

About the MDG-F Programme:

The Programme Culture for Development is a three-year programme funded by the

Spanish Millennium Development Goals Achievement Fund which is being implemented in
partnership of three UN Agencies: UNDP, UNICEF and UNESCO, in cooperation with the
Ministry of Civil Affairs of BiH, Ministry of Culture and Sports of FBiH, Ministry of
Education and Culture of RS, as well as other institutions working in the area of education
and culture. The Programme started in January 2009.