The experts of the Polim Museum from Beran started the restoration project of the memorial complex on the Jasikovac hill above this town.
According to the archaeologist Predrag Lutovac, this simultaneously started a large project of restoration and conservation of eighteen monuments of the NOB and the revolution in cities in the north of Montenegro.
"During the past year, the Ministry of Culture approved funds for the Polim Museum in Berane for five projects for the protection of cultural assets in the municipalities of Berane, Bijelo Polje and Rožaje, with the aim of conducting certain research and initiating the procedure for them to enter the archive of cultural heritage", says Lutovac.
He explains that these are archaeological sites and monuments that were known to exist, but so far have not been treated as cultural assets.
"Now funds have been approved to start the research and valorization process. One of those monuments is the monument in Jasikovac, designed by the famous architect Bogdan Bogdanović," says Lutovac. According to him, on the basis of documentation from last year, when the revaluation of protected cultural monuments was carried out, it was established that until now only one memorial plaque was protected in Jasikovac with the inscription that nine patriots were shot at that place.
"In the late XNUMXs and early XNUMXs, Bogdan Bogdanović built a large memorial complex that has not been included in the list of protected cultural monuments even today. Considering that we were in the last year and had a lot of activities, we decided to transfer the work on the monument to this year, and these days its reconstruction is starting," says Lutovac.
This well-known archeologist explains that from the received eighteen thousand euros, the team working on the restoration is obliged to create a restoration project that involves recording the existing condition in order to find a measure to restore the monument to its original state.
"Since its construction, no one took care of it, it was covered with graffiti and we cleaned the stone blocks during the last year. The main part of the monument is overgrown with lichens. Now we are treating it as a protected cultural monument, because we started the procedure for obtaining that status last year and we can't wait any longer. It is high time to start protection", Lutovac believes.
He adds that archaeologists and experts in restoration and conservation have an agreement with the local administration in Berane, so they will not stop only at the monument of ten hectares.
"We will extend the project to the arrangement of the forest, i.e. park area of 24 hectares, and we will begin the arrangement and protection of the entire Jasikovac. Our intention is to turn this place into a real Beran picnic spot," says Lutovac.
The project will include the arrangement of asphalt and paved areas, then the entire complex will be fenced, a parking lot will be created on the side where the car exits, then the paths will be illuminated, water will be brought to the monument for its maintenance, and video surveillance will be installed.
"From the Municipality of Berane, they promised help in terms of thinning trees in the park area. This implies a change in the detailed urban plan, because it is illogical to have a 24-hectare storage complex and not have a place to drink coffee. A good idea is to build a garden and a lookout point where the parking lot would be, so that when someone comes they have a place to try a national dish or just drink a coffee," adds Lutovac. He says that these days the process of cleaning the monument part without chemicals, i.e. the physical cleaning of the monument, is starting, which will be completed in 20 days.
Restoration of all NOB monuments in the north of Montenegro
Lutovac explains that the design project for the memorial complex in Jasikovac was carried over from 2014, while the Polimski Museum, which owns all the licenses, applied for this year's call for tenders from the Ministry of Culture and as many as eighteen projects were approved.
"The Ministry of Culture has approved over one million euros for repair work on protected cultural assets in Montenegro. These are mainly monuments of the NOB and the revolution, and we agreed to do all the monuments in the north - in Gusinje, Andrijevica, Petnjica, Bijelo Polje, Mojkovac. We also took a number of monuments located in the territory of Pljevlja, Šavnik and Žabljak. As soon as the funds are approved, we start that work, which we will finish during this season, in two to three months. About 150 euros have been earmarked for the monuments in the north," says Lutovac.
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