NESUH-AGA VUČIJAKOVIĆ MOSQUE IN LJUBUŠKI

Ljubuški is a constituent part of the history of medieval settlements in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Ковачевић-Којић, Градска насеља, 115). It is reasonable to assume that its building was initiated by herzeg Stjepan Vukčić Kosača, 1435–1466. (Ћирковић, Херцег Стефан Вукчић-Косача; Konjhodžić, Kronika o ljubuškom kraju, 42). Shortly after the fall of the Bosnian Kingdom (1463), Ljubuški (with its surroundings) became part of the Ottoman State. The transition of power happened before the census of Herzegovina sanjak of 1475/77, where Ljubuški was recorded as a village with only seven houses. The same source lists posadniks (mayors) of then Ljubuški fortress, who included a religious servant (imam). Thus, as early as in the second half of the 15th century, there was an Islamic sacral facility in Ljubuški, a masjid (Aličić, Poimenični popis, 398). To the west of the Neretva River, Ottomans definitely took hold in the first half of the 16th century (Zlatar, Gazi Husrev-beg, 56).

 In such circumstances, a long period of peace and security ensued in Herzegovina which was, among other things, characterized by the process of acceptance of Islam by local population. It was then that significant settling on the natural plateau immediately below the Ljubuški fortress began. It was there (about 250 meters away from the fortress) that the dizdar (commander) of Ljubuški Nesuh-aga Vučijak(ović), according to the waqf principle, commissioned a mosque with a maktab in 1558/59 (Čar Drnda, Nastanak Mostara, 278-280). The mosque was built of hewn stone and covered with the hipped roof. Next to its right wall (at the west corner) a 12-meter-high stone minaret of octagonal shape was built. A smaller plot in the immediate vicinity was used as a cemetery from the very beginning. From the text of Nesuh-aga's waqfnama (deed of endowment) we learn that, for the maintenance of his endowments (in Ljubuški and Mostar), the waqif allocated a considerable amount of money (123,000 dirhems), as well as 23 shops (in Mostar marketplace) and two mills (at the Radobolja and the Studenica rivers). The first and lifelong imam and hatib (preacher) of the Nesuh-aga Mosque in Ljubuški was Mevlana Muslihudin hodža, who was certainly the main spiritual authority of Muslim community in Ljubuški at the time (“Vakufnama Nesuh-age Vučjaka”, 145-149; Hasandedić, Muslimanska baština, 104). In 1585, a total of 30 Muslim households lived in Ljubuški (Aličić, Opširni katastarski popis, 370-372).

From the early 17th century, the urban center of Ljubuški gradually shifted from the hill of Buturovica (350 mamsl) to the present Old Town (Gožulj), where the marketplace with public institutions was formed. Nesuh-aga's endowment thus began to lose its significance, since life slowly “moved” from the hill to the gentle, water-rich slope, where mahalas (neighborhoods) and new mosques of the characteristic Oriental style were built. However, the development processes which began were soon interrupted by a series of Ottoman-Venetian wars which marked a great part of the 17th century. Ljubuški was also casualty of these events, several times. In a postwar census of 1701, the Nesuh-aga Mosque was labeled as a devastated building which requires repair (Hafizović, 197). Due both to the ravages of time and natural disasters, building interventions on the mosque were certainly necessary during the 18th century as well.

The last, thorough repair of the Nesuh-aga Mosque was done during Austro-Hungarian administration in our country (1891) and it cost 264 forintas. At the time, Ljubuški was modernized and spread all the way to the plain, at the border of Ljubuško polye. In the old town core (particularly in houses below the fortress), the number of inhabitants continuously decreased. Still, the Nesuh-aga Mosque still defied time. Until 1929 (certain) Islamic prayers (namazes – daily prayers) were performed. It stood proudly during the 1940s as well. And then, in the whirlwind of the Second World War, the occupying Italian army desecrated and devastated the Nesuh-aga Mosque. While they were withdrawing (1943) the mosque chronogram (in Arabic) was taken, and ended up in the garden of a villa (La Casarella) in the Italian village of Ravella. Immediately after the Second World War, Ljubuški citizens asked the new socialist authorities to request the restitution of the seized chronogram from Italian government; however, it did not happen (Mujić, Prilozi, 191-202). The era of socialist Yugoslavia followed (1945-1992), when the Nesuh-aga Mosque was completely neglected and left to additional destruction.

After democratic social changes, and then after the end of the aggression on the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992–1995), general attitude toward cultural-historical heritage from the Ottoman period began to change in a positive direction. In this respect, one should certainly commend the Decision of competent bodies of 2003, pursuant to which the Nesuh-aga Mosque (with the cemetery) within the architectural ensemble Old Town of Ljubuški was proclaimed a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Besides, we were very pleased to witness recent comprehensive conservation-restoration works which were done on towers and bulwarks in Ljubuški. It is a demanding work and, by the end of the summer of 2022, almost 2 million of convertible marks were spent on it, with the support of the EU funds. We were glad to hear the news that this generational project of the Municipality of Ljubuški will continue soon. We hope that it will also finally include restoration of the nearby Nesuh-aga Mosque, which has been waiting for almost 75 years. This forgotten monumental pearl from the long-passed 16th century certainly deserves it.

References:

• Aličić, S. Ahmed (1985), Poimenični popis sandžaka vilajeta Hercegovina, Sarajevo.

• Čar Drnda, Hatidža (2014), Nastanak Mostara, njegov urbani i demografski razvoj do kraja 16. stoljeća, Sarajevo.

• Ћирковић, Сима (1964), Херцег Стефан Вукчић-Косача и његово доба, Београд. Hafizović, Fazileta (2016), Popis sela i zemlje sandžaka Krka, Klis i Hercegovina oslobođenih od Mletačke republike 1701. godine, BOA TTD 861, Zagreb-Sarajevo.

• Hasandedić, Hivzija (1999), Muslimanska baština Bošnjaka II, Mostar.

• Konjhodžić, Mahmud (1974), Kronika o ljubuškom kraju, knjiga prva, Ljubuški.

• Ковачевић-Којић, Десанка (1978), Градска насеља средњовјековне босанске државе, Сарајево.

• Mujić, Muhamed, “Arapski epigraf iz Ravella potječe iz Ljubuškogˮ, Prilozi za orijentalnu filologiju, 22-23, Sarajevo, 1972.

• Zlatar, Behija (2010), Gazi Husrev-beg, Sarajevo.

• Vakufnama Nesuh-age Vučjaka, u: Vakufname iz Bosne i Hercegovine (XV i XVI vijek), Sarajevo, 1985.

• http://old.kons.gov.ba/main.php?id_struct=6&lang=1&action=view&id=1844