Počitelj kao poveznica antike, sadašnjosti i budućnosti
Počitelj Connecting the Antique, Present and the Future

Summary/Abstract: Počitelj represents another untold story of our country. As an unfortunate beginning of this story serves the fact that Počitelj has been enlisted as one of the most endangered world heritage monuments by World Monuments Watch. Therefore, it is our duty to tell the story of Počitelj so that this important treasure gets its well-deserved place on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Where to start from? What do we know about Počitelj so far? I would say that our current state of knowledge on Počitelj is rather limited. But who should be entitled to tell the story of Počitelj and in what way should the narrative be presented? I argue that this task should be done by scholars. A clear and complete understanding and picture of Počitelj requires an interdisciplinary approach as well as a skilled combination of inductive and deductive methods. The presentation of our findings should be situated within the historical timeline starting from the Antique, covering the Middle Ages up until the present day. The story of Počitelj should depart from the works done by the pioneers in archaeology in Bosnia and Herzegovina, among which are Dr. Ćiro Truhelka, Vaclav Radimski, Karl Pač, Dr. Esad Pašalić, Valjko Paškvalina. Many remarkable things are still underground waiting to be discovered, as was the case with the 150 m2 wide Roman mosaic in Skelane excavated by the archaeologist M.A. Mirko Babić. Therefore, it is necessary to secure continuous research in the academic field of archaeology and history. The numerous academic associations that assemble young scholars represent the potential of our young researchers. To name a few: „Bathinus“ – association for research and promotion of the Illyrian heritage and Classical civilization; „Digi“ – association for digitalization and informatization of cultural heritage; „Stećak“ – association for the preservation of the visual and iconographic value of the Medieval monumental tombstones known as stećak. In order to achieve an efficient valorization and economically valuable presentation of the research findings they need to be closely related to tourist activities. Potential divergences in research findings should not be dealt with in an exclusivist academic manner. Instead they should be approached with tolerance and a continuous open-mindedness for new results. Our story can be the beginning of a growing mosaic that represents and creates historical and cultural as well as natural heritage in our beautiful country. Each small stone in this mosaic must carry the potential of presenting the complete picture while the all-encompassing perception of our heritage must entail a plain and notable dimension of the respective goods. Abandoned houses without a titular decay rapidly. Therefore, we must ensure that Počitelj gets a functioning organizational titular, that will transform Počitelj into a modern tourist infrastructure of historical sites by including Počitelj in EU financed projects on the valorization of the cultural and historical heritage in our region. A good example for this is the Viminacium in our neighbouring country Serbia.

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