TURKISH-ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE in 16Th and 17Th CENTURY in CROATIA

TURKISH-ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE IN 16th AND 17th CENTURY IN CROATIA

ISSUES OF ASSESSMENT AND RECONSTRUCTION

Zlatko Karač

University of Zagreb - Faculty of Architecture

HR – 10000 Zagreb, Kačićeva 26

phone: 385/1/4639-382, e-mail:

SUMMARY

Until recently, the Islamic heritage left from the times of the Turkish rule was a poorly preserved and completely unknown layer of historic architecture in Croatia, present mostly in the regions of Slavonia, Lika and the Dalmatian Zagora region. Croatia has just recently performed an inventory of its Ottoman heritage (coinciding with the layer of renaissance and early baroque in the free parts of Croatia at the time). This unusual ‘counterpoint’, i.e. the meeting point of Islamic architecture and Western visual arts, is today highly valued as a specific quality of the Croatian cultural space. This report will present the research of Ottoman architecture so far, the recent renovations, as well as the conservation restitution programs that are currently in preparation - from archaeological presentations to procedures for the conservation of ruins, there adaptation for new functions, and related assessment and methodological issues.

INTRODUCTION

The “Turkish period”in Croatia – historical framework. –The least researched layer in the history of Croatian architecture with a insignificant sample of preserved monuments is that dating to the Turkish-Islamic period during the 16th and 17th centuries. The Ottoman conquests of Croatian territories began after the Battle of Krbava Field in 1493 and ended with the Battle of Sisak in 1593 and a crushing defeat in their expansionary wars. In classical historiography the lands bordering with the Ottoman Empire are almost mythically described as the antemuraleChristianitatis or the “Bulwark of Christianity” and defended frontiers of Christian Europe from the Ottoman Empire. In 1552 these frontiers had extended as far as 48km from Zagreb, to the River Česma near Čazma, and, with the building of Petrinja on the River Kupa, even closer. Warring continued up until the Peace of Zsitvatorokand the final demarcation of the Ottoman Empire (Bosnia) on 23 December 1795. A period of 302 years went by from the fall of Imotski,the first Croatian territory to be conquered, in 1493 to 1795 when the Ottomans finally left their last stronghold within the territory of Croatia. The Ottomans continued to have a hold on the bordering regions of Lika, Kordun and Zagora, whereas Slavonia was only under Turkish rule for a century and a half. [10].

Vice versa Croatian Renaissance – stylistic framework. –Centuries of warring but also the coexistence of Croatia and the Islamic world and oriental arts while the Renaissance flourished in towns along the Adriatic Coast helped shape one of the greatest cultural counterpoints in the development of art in these regions. WhileNiccolò Fiorentino was completing the dome of Šibenik Cathedral, Littoral Makarska was already part of the Islamic world, and when the SponzaPalace (Divona) in Dubrovnik was built the Turkish border was only 3 kilometres above the City of Dubrovnik. The advent of Islamic architecture in Dalmatia coincided with the Renaissance at the end of the 15th century and during the entire 16th century, while its extended duration coincided with the Early Baroque in the 17th century.

And while much has been written about the reliquiae reliquiarum art of the Renaissance and Baroque that flourished within the few free regions of Croatia, there are very few interpretations and very little has been documented, recorded and archived on the chronologically concurrent Turkish-Islamic heritage that was built up over three centuries in other parts of Croatia [1, 6, 10, 18, 22, 26].

TYPOLOGY OF ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE IN CROATIA

The reason for the scarce number of preserved Islamic monuments in Croatia is due to the systematic destruction of anything that symbolised Islam within the initial years after the Turks had been expelled from Croatian lands. However, for practical reasons, and due to poverty in the liberated lands, Islamic buildings were adapted and served new purposes. In this way, certain mosques were altered and transformed into Catholic churches and have, as such, survived to this day. Individual Turkish forts continued to serve as military forts and Turkish utilities – bridges, waterworks, wells – also continued to be used.

Mosques, masjids and musallas. –According to records of theMeshihat of the Islamic Community in Croatia, during Turkish rule as many as 189 mosques, or “places of prayer” were built in the regions of Slavonia and Lika [16], to which should be added several dozen places of worship in the Dalmatian Zagora region and Littoral Makarska. Based on defter (cadastre) lists it may be discerned that kasabas (semi-urbanised market towns) like Vukovar, Valpovo, Đakovo, Račaor Drniš had five mosques (ormahala mesjids), each during their urban phase, whereas šehers (large towns, cities)had more: Osijek definitely had eight (during Čelebi’s days even perhaps 12) [2], Požega had nine places of prayer (three mosques and six mesjids), etc.Čelebi’s descriptions of the šeher Cernik from 1660, in which he sees 21 mosques, or of Gradiška, where he notes 26 Islamic places of prayer, seem difficult to believe, especially as, at the same time, he records only nine in the much more developed Ilok. Čelebi’s note on Osijek as having 66 Muslim places of prayer is also rather difficult to believe! [4]

During the early years of Christian requisition, in poorer regions mosques served as Catholic churches. After the liberation of Lika, priest Mesić adapted mosques in Perušić, Budak, Bilaja and Ribnik for Christian services. During this early post-Turkish phase it is possible that medieval sacral buildings, which the Turks had used as mosques in the interim, were converted into churches. This holds true for the gothic Cathedral of Đakovo (a 'holy fort mosque'), the Church of St Lawrence and the Franciscan Church of St Demetrius (the Šerklot mosque) in Požega, the Romanesque chapel in Koprivnica and “Suleiman’s mosque”, which was within an adapted medieval church at the Kaptol castile near Požega, and for the existing chapel in the Valpovo castle, which also served as a mosque. Čelebi also notes that the Suleiman-han mosque at the castle in Brod was also a church before it became a mosque (probably the Chapel of St Mark) [4]. The medieval All Saints’ Church in Požeške Sesvete was also converted into a mosque and then reverted into a Catholic place of prayer after the Turks. The gothic church in Perušić, north of Gospić, was also used as a mosque by the Turks, and then later re-consecrated and became the Church of the Holy Cross. A mosque is also mentioned as existing in Udbina in the post-Turkish period. The Old Croatian central-plan church at Gradina, Solin, which is only preserved in its groundplan, was converted into a mosque. The “small mosque” at Tvrđa in Osijek was converted in1700 into the Chapel of St Francis.

Only three mosques remain preserved to this day in Croatia. All three have classical domes from the 16th century: at Đakovo (the All Saints’ Church) [17, 23], in Drniš (St Anthony) [24, 26] and at Klis (St Vitus) [25, 26]. It seems that the small Church of Our Lady of Angels at the fort in Imotski was built in 1788 upon the remains of a mosque, just as the church nearby at Glavina from 1722, which is structurally an Islamic place of prayer, was adapted for the needs of Orthodox Christians settling the area. Certain other mosques, destroyed in relatively recent times, have been described and documented. For example, the mosque in Vrgorac which was adapted into a Catholic church in 1694 remained standing until 1913, and its minaret “… made of beautifully hewn stone and 40 feet high with an inner spiral staircase” continued to exist until 1861. The ruins of a mosque were recently cleared in Prološac near Imotskiby Šarampov-most during the construction of the road. The remains of mosque walls are apparentlystillvisible in Pakrac during low water levels on the PakraRiver, and remains are also mentioned as existing in Orahovica. In 1938 the remains of a “Turkish place of prayer” were noted at Bosut near Vinkovci. And the Kasim-Pasha mosque from 1558 at Tvrđa in Osijek has been archaeologically researched and recorded[15].

The only minaret (mosque tower) in Croatia from the 16th century has been preserved in Drniš and is made of finely carved stone [24, 26]. Photographs and drawings from 1919 record and document the then existing lower part of the minaret at the Kasim-Pasha mosque in Đakovo (called the “Turkish dungeon”), which was, at the time, incorporated as a romantic ruin within the Bishop’s park. A description of the minaret of the Šerklot mosque in Požega was provided by Čelebi who says that it “…was very high and made completely of red brick” (probably a Franciscan medieval bell-tower) [4].

Most urbanised settlements also had a musalla (a larger area for prayer in the open) where all Muslim džemats (religious congregations) occasionally bowed together in prayer. One such area has been identified on the plan of Turkish Vukovar within the “bećarski križ” zone [9], and it is said thatmusallaswere also noted on the cadastre defters of Požega (1579) and Mitrovica (1581).

Tekkes. –There were around 20 Dervish tekkesor zavijas(types of monasteries). The most significant was Hindi-baba’stekke in Vukovar, a prophet whose grave was visited by pilgrims. It stood at the site of what is today the Eltz Manor and in the post-Turkish years (until 1736) it served as the administrative centre of the nobility. Other tekkes are mentioned in Grgurevci in Srijem, and the Ulama Pasha’s zavijain Požega from 1550. During the 17th century there were four tekkes in Osijek, three in both Mitrovica and Nijemci, two each in Pakrac and Rača, and one each in Cernik, Ilok and Valpovo.

Cemeteries, turbes and tombstones.–The only existingturbe (mausoleum) in existence in Croatia today is in Ilok. It is an open pavilion with a dome supported by four columns [1]. In view of its location in the centre of the fort plateau, it probably belonged to one of the Srijem sandžak-begs.

Only photographs remain of Gaiba’s turbewhich stood on the banks of the Sava near Stara Gradiška. In concept, it is a closed “chapel” with a quadrangular groundplan. The Austrian forces tolerated the renewal of this mausoleum over a period of two centuries and its maintenance was paid for by Muslims who regularly visited it from the Bosnian bank. Its last reconstruction was apparently paid by the Emperor Franz Josef I himself [7, 12, 20]. Theturbewas disassembled in 1954 and transferred to Bosanska Gradiška, and was devastated during the recent war by Serb forces. The Halil-Beg Memibegovićturbefrom 1601 (destroyed in 1815, documented in descriptions) stood at Visuće near Udbina.Archaeological excavations at Križanić Square at Tvrđa in Osijekhave recently brought to light the groundplan of the large octagonal Kasim-Pasha turbet depicted on parterre “graphics” on the paving [15], which is also well-known from other plans and landscapes of Osijekdating from Turkish times, and from Čelebi’s description which states that it is a lead-covered light domed mausoleum [4]. A further smaller, open-type turbehas been discovered at the same site. Mustapha-Pasha’s polygonal turbe in Osijek has also been archaeologically researched, whereas the site of Bayram-Beg’s’sturbeta (Čelebi mentions it as standing at the exit towards Valpovo) and Husrev-Beg’sturbelocated in the “gardens” on the Belgrade road remain unknown for now [4]. The most renowned place visited by pilgrims in Ottoman Slavonia – Hindi-Beg’s turbewhich stood beside the dervish tekkein Vukovar– has not been preserved, but is beautifully described in a number of places in Čelebi’s Putopisi [4]. Hasan-efendi’s turbe built around 1590 next to the Khalwatiyyah Tekke in Požega, where the Dönmez-Beg turbe once stood, was also a place visited by pilgrims as was the turbe of fort commander Ahmed.

Quite a number of smaller grave monuments - mezarnišan, or standing tombstones, have been preserved in Croatia, which are the most numerous group of non-figurative almost abstract Islamic stone plastique. In shape they are predominantly cylindrical, although they are also less frequently rectangular stone pillars with accentuated čalmas (heads) stylized in the form of turbans, fezzes, etc. They are no longer to be found in situ, and better specimens are housed in museum collections at Požega (finds from Kujnik and Rudine), Vukovar, Brod, Đakovo..., at the Franciscan monasteries in Cernik, Hrvatska Kostajnica and Makarska, and at the Church of St Michael in Konjsko in the Dalmatian Zagora.An embellished tombstone is also to be found at the town cemetery of the City of Korčula and a second less preserved one was housed at the lapidary of the city hall. A tombstone with an ulematurban may be seen even today walled into the terrace of the Dešković House in Pučišća on the Island of Brač, which confirms that Dalmatian stonemason workshops carved monuments for Muslim cemeteries, probably in Herzegovina. The intentional destruction of Turkish resting places is also confirmed in reports from the beginning of the 19th century when the road beneath Bijela Stijena “was repaired”using material consisting of broken stone tombstones from the adjacent Muslim cemetery. During the laying of the road running from Đeletovci to Nijemci in 1850 a Turisk cemeterywas destroyed which was, according to the parish priest, specific due to its stone monuments that “…had heads wrapped in imitation turbans…”.

A necropolis was excavated in 2001 and researched using the C-14 method at the Pakrac settlement Vinogradi at the indicative toponymic site termed “Tursko groblje”and dated to a period around 1643.

Madrasahsand mektebs. – There were already four madrasahs (religious secondary schools) in Osijek in the 16th century, among which those of Kasim-Pasha and Mustapha-Pasha are worth mentioning, alongside five mektebs (primary schools). Čelebi notes that the Osijekmektebs “...were in good repair and full of children like in the saray palace” [4]. At Pakrac, which was also the centre of the sandžak (large territorial unit) for a short while, Čelebi notes that there were threemadrasahs and six mektebs (more than in Osijek!) [4]. Ilok had two madrasahs and six mektebs, there were also two secondary and three primary schools in 17th century Rača on the River Sava, and two mektebsare recordedas existing in both Vukovar and Nijemci.

Houses, manors and residential towers. –Due to its transient construction there are almost no preserved examples of residential architecture dating from the Turkish period in Croatia. The few buildings that remain which have visible oriental elements and are locally given names like “Turkish house”, etc, are probably younger in provenance and imports to the bordering towns towards Bosnia. Buildings like this existed until recently, like the Tomić House with a “Turkish” chimney in Požega or the storiedčardak Muljević in the part of Požega called Arslanovci(!). The last remaining “Turkish House” was also recently devastated in the centre of Slavonski Brod. The borderland čardak (blockhouse) on the banks of the River Sava in Županja, certain houses in Voćina and an unusual “Turkish House” with a porched čardak in Bakar (probably a “Levantine” acquisition belonging to a seafarer or merchant) belongs to this category of house reminiscent of oriental buildings. [13].

In mid-16th century Požega there is mention of a luxurious kösk (villa, summerhouse) belonging toBali-Beg Malkočević, and later of Hadži-Mehmed’s serajwhich was open to all travellers as a place to spend the night. Whether these residences belonging to notable people were truly impressive needs to be confirmed by notes made by travellers from the West, for example, Prandstätter who, during his visit to Ilok in 1608, was a welcome guest of the Srijem sandžak-begat his wooden seraj. The stone “Kadija’s Manor” in Imotski is today part of the Franciscan monastery. The ruins of the manor of HasanAga Arapović (sung in the Hasanaginica) with a tower and three wells may still be seen at the Lupoglav site near Zagvozd. In the mid-17th century, Čelebi saw“...single-storey and two-storey houses, all covered in shingle (...) and all with gardens as beautiful as an earthly paradise”in Cernik [4].

Timber frame constructions (a wooden framework filled with unfired clay - ćerpić, rammed earthor wicker) is an oriental art brought to Croatian regions by travelling Turkish dunđers (carpenters, builders). Čelebi also notes an interesting fact concerning the quality of building in Turkish Drniš: “Now the town has no buildings made of wood. Due to fear that they may be burnt down during warring, allthe buildings are made of durable material...” (around 1660) [4].

In Lika and especially in the Dalmatian Zagora, many authentic Turkish residential towers, predominantlyfrom the 17th century, remain standing to this day. These specific fortified types of feudal residences (common all over the Balkan region) include: the Alića-kulina Tower and the Tower of Aga Senković in Gospić (17th cent.), the elegant Tower of Jusuf-Aga Tunić in Islam Grčki, the ruins of the Atlagić Tower in Benkovac, Alibeg’s Tower in Imotski, a number of ruined Turkish towers in nearby Glavina, as well as the Mumaz Tower and Dizdarević Tower (also the birth house of poet Tin Ujević) and the Cukarinović Beg Tower, all of which are in Vrgorac.There are three residential towers at Plina beneath Ploče (the old parish manor, the GrupkovićTower near Puljani and another at the Karamatić hamlet). There are also numerous residential towers in Littoral Makarska (under Turkish rule from 1499):three towers at GornjiTučepi, probably from the 16th century (Bušelić, Šarić and Lalić), and three further preserved Turkish towers in the hamlets around Podgora (Ruščići, Marinovići and Batošići), as well as towers in Drašnice, the Zalina Kula in Igrani (it is unclear whether it is Turkish in origin or was used against the Turks), the two-storey tower in Gracu and the ruins of a Turkish tower in Drvenik near Zaostrog [3]. The only preserved residential tower in Slavonia is the Jahja-BegTower in Gorjani, with a quadrangular groundplan, massively built of brick, which was converted in 1837 into the Chapel of the Three Kings [18, 22].