Certain conditions must be met for a monument to go beyond national borders and be declared part of world cultural heritage. In order to comply, a monument must, among other things, prove its authenticity and uniqueness (something that is especially difficult with ancient Roman monuments) as well as provide evidence of its integrity, that is, to show that its authenticity has not been altered.
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The story of the candidacy of Gamzigrad, or Felix Romuliana for the World Cultural Heritage List, dates back to the 1990s. A debate at the national level unfolded as to which of two splendid monuments on the territory of Serbia should be given priority when putting forth a candidacy: the 14th-century Dečani Monastery in Kosovo, an endowment and the tomb of King Stefan Uroš III, also named after the monastery Stefan Dečanski of the medieval Serbian Nemanjić dynasty (with more than 3,500 square meters of fresco painted murals), or Gamzigrad, a unique archaeological site in the valley of the Crna Reka River near the city of Zaječar. Hungarian archaeologist, ethnographer and travel writer Felix Kanitz recorded the site in the 19th century and released impressive drawings in an effort to capture international attention. He claimed that the site was one of the "greatest and best preserved Roman remains in Europe."
The dilemma was resolved by archaeologist, professor and academician Dr. Dragoslav Srejović, and it was decided to nominate the Dečani Monastery.
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This nomination, however, was never put on the agenda of UNESCO's World Heritage Committee due to the unfavorable political conditions in our country at the time.
"Professor Srejović dreaded that Gamzigrad would fall into disrepair through neglect; he was desperate", - says Marko Omčikus, art historian and senior associate at the Republican Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, an expert on cultural heritage protection.
Omčikus explained that when he was visiting Zaječar the director of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, reporters and municipal officials asked him whether Gamzigrad could officially become part of the World Cultural Heritage. |
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"I answered that this was still far off because they must adopt certain regulations at the local level - plans, landscaping and land development... It is very important to have certain legal guarantees at the local level related to commitments for the monument that is being nominated. These guarantees are of the very essence when a decision is made about the status of a monument at the level of an international commission. A few years later, I was in a position to note with great satisfaction that they had invested great effort and accomplished a lot; they were really into it." National Museum in Zaječar Director Bora Dimitrijević was also very active in promoting Gamzigrad internationally on a grand scale. As becomes a kind host, he always found the time to tour Gamzigrad with visitors -from the Museum's exhibition rooms housing mosaics, sections of sculptures done in marble and red porphyry, bits of jewelry, utensils, pottery, the mosaic of Dionysus - one of the largest preserved in Europe.
| Felix Romuliana was, according to historical sources, built on some five hectares by Roman Emperor and Tetrarch Galerius (Caesar from 293 to 305, and Augustus from 305 to 311), and dedicated to his mother Romula. That this is indeed a monument of Roman court architecture (as is Diocletian's palace in Split) was established as late as 1984 when an archivolt made of tufo sandstone was discovered with a FELIX ROMULIANA inscription. The interior of the complex is divided into the southern and northern sections, and was protected by two fortifications: an older and unfinished one and a later one with twenty polygonal towers connected by tall battlements. In the northern section were two luxurious palaces with halls adorned with mosaics, frescoes and sculptures. Between the two was a small temple with a sacrificial altar. In the southern section were monumental public buildings: a temple dedicated to Jupiter, a granary, a tribunal, a public bath… Not far from the palace, on the Magura hill, another splendid archaeological discovery was made in 1989 - a Mausoleum, the place of apotheosis of Galerius and Romula as well as their burial site. Gamzigrad was damaged during an incursion of the Huns in the 5th century. Following several attempts to rebuild it, it was definitively abandoned in the second half of the 9th century. |
We wanted to learn what the monument stands to gain by being placed on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List.
"By signing the Convention, each country takes on the obligation to extend special protection to the sites and monuments within its borders that have been entered on the World Heritage List. The international community gives assistance to these countries to protect this cultural or natural wealth. When a monument is declared part of world heritage, this is a great honor to the community as well as for the country in question, but also a great commitment", Omčikus explains.
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"In the event Gamzigrad is proclaimed part of the World Cultural Heritage, our country would be obliged to provide financial means for its full maintenance and protection on a regular basis, and all this requires well conceived plans and programmes. Naturally, in becoming part of such an elite world community, the monument may count on other types of assistance - consultative, expert, and may apply for material help with other foundations, etc. Providing there is solid management, a broad list of other opportunities will present itself." |
Preparing the project to apply for the UNESCO World Heritage List is a complex undertaking and is carried out by experts from competent institutions. It is better not to apply than to join the process insufficiently prepared. The scope and complexity of the preparations for Gamzigrad to be entered on the UNESCO's list of protected monuments is also borne out by the project of the Ministry of Culture of Serbia titled "Interactive Gamzigrad", presented to the public in December 2005. The project represents a great technological breakthrough and was prepared by a team from the Center for Digital Archaeology. It endeavors to show an ideal reconstruction of this find dating back to late antiquity in three-dimensional stereo projection for which special 3D glasses and special 3D graphical cards are needed.
| In 1972, UNESCO adopted a Convention on the protection of world cultural and natural heritage which was signed by 176 states committed to international cooperation aimed at protecting the 730 remarkable monuments on the World Heritage List in 125 countries. The number of countries and monuments on the list is continually on the rise. In Serbia, the following monuments are on the World Heritage List: Stari Ras with the Sopoćani Monastery, the Studenica Monastery as well as the Dečani, Peć Patriarchate, Gračanica and Bogorodica Ljeviška monasteries, grouped under the title of "Medieval Monuments in Kosovo". |
Gamzigrad has been nominated because it has thus far enjoyed the highest category, and the condition for a monument to have integrity has been observed because Romuliana is in an uninhabited area and it was spared subsequent alterations and destruction, while systematic archeological excavation was launched in 1953 when modern archaeological methods had been established here.
It usually takes a year, or sometimes longer, from nomination to official proclamation. Therefore, we can hope to receive a report on whether Gamzigrad has been entered on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List sometime in mid-year next year. This list, they say, today represents that which the Seven Wonders of World was to the ancient world. |
