The book "Herceg Novi - a city of monumental fortresses" by professor Lazar Seferović was promoted on Friday evening at the Forte mare fortress. Two years ago, this fort was nominated for inclusion on the UNESCO cultural heritage list, to which professor Seferović, who initiated its restoration half a century ago, contributed significantly.
That fact was the main driver for writing the book, which he co-authored with his grandson Matej Paseta, in order to leave a trace of the fortress, which should become the 981 member of the World Cultural Heritage.
"I am convinced that the young generations of Novalja residents who are coming will recognize and know how to appreciate the values that belong to them as their vision of the future and these areas. That was the goal of all my books that I have written so far about Nova and Boka Kotorska. I am, to put it modestly, a chronicler of Herceg Novi - my knowledge as an art historian has been transferred to the pages of my books, and a significant contribution was made by my colleagues and former students", said Seferović.
Forte mare meets all the requirements for UNESCO's list of world cultural heritage and that will certainly happen in the coming period, confirmed the general secretary of the national office for UNESCO, Milica Nikolić.
She reminded that the Ministry of Culture of Montenegro, in cooperation with the Ministries of Culture of Italy and Croatia, is implementing the project of registering Venetian defensive fortresses between the 15th and 17th centuries on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Three Montenegrin sites were nominated - the fortress of Forte Mare and the fortifications of Kotor and Ulcinj. The fortress of Kotor was entered immediately on that list, and the fortress of Herzegovina was assessed as meeting the UNESCO standard, but a conservation project is to be prepared.
"Rarely in Montenegro do we have experts who are so dedicated to the cultural heritage of their city, such as Professor Seferović, who was one of the first to advocate the idea of valorizing the Forte mare fortress," said Nikolić.
"The popular historical monograph "Herceg Novi - the city of monumental fortresses" represents a valuable achievement in the field of presentation and popularization of the cultural heritage of Montenegro and the Mediterranean, said one of the reviewers of the book, Dr. Boris Ilijanić, and emphasized the value of the new information collected in the book.
"A city that was built and destroyed nine times" like ancient Homer's Troy", as the author of this monograph says, is composed of multi-layered deposits, each of which carries a projection of the life of the era to which it is a witness, and Lazar Seferović and Matej Pašeta really made us those layers will be available", asserted Architect Vuk Čvoro.
Seferović also explained why the book, which has 12 chapters and 223 pages, also contains texts on both letters.
"The principle that I write part of the texts in Latin and the other in Cyrillic is motivated by the fact that the Bokelians throughout history, through church and other books, wrote both letters, which is the result of the dual confessional nature of the population who live here and call themselves Bokelians, but also their tolerance", emphasized Seferović.
Professor Seferović thanked the former permanent representative of our country at UNESCO Dragica Ponorac, photographer Miloš Samardžić, photo authors Mina Janković and Slobodanka Klisura and others.
City music and the group Exodus took part in the special program, and verses dedicated to Herceg Novi were recited by Vesna Radović.
A tireless creator
Lazar Seferović graduated from the high school of music in Kotor, and the Faculty of Philosophy (history of art and Italian language) in Zagreb. He was a professor at the gymnasium and art school in Herceg Novi. He was the president of the Association of Art Historians of Montenegro. He worked in tourism as the president of the Tourist Association of Herceg Novi, Boka Kotorska and Montenegro.
He founded the Bokelji ensemble, the "Feast of Mimosa, Days of Music" festivals. He was a member of the festival council of the Dubrovnik Summer Festival, the Cetinje Biennale. He led the restoration of the cultural monument in Herceg Novi after the 1979 earthquake. He is the author of about 15 books on art and important personalities of Herceg Novi.
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