By visiting the Old Town of Ljubuški and the fortress of Herceg Stjepan, the defensive tower was officially opened after extensive conservation and restoration works. Vedran Markotić, the mayor of Ljubuški, on this occasion, stated that the Herceg Stjepan fortress is one of the symbols of the City of Ljubuški.
“Generations have dreamed and talked about this moment. I am happy that this is being realized in our time. One part is finished, and we will soon continue with the complete restoration. We have already secured funds for this from the Federal Ministry of Spatial Planning, the Ministry of Culture, and the Public Company Parkovi Ljubuški,” said the mayor, reports Fena.
He added that the tourist importance of this project is enormous, emphasizing that over the past years more than 1.5 million marks have been invested in this project, including the construction of access roads, asphalting, and investments in the fortress itself.
This is the largest and most significant restoration project in this area, highlights Radoslav Luburić, director of HERAG, adding that this has restored the central part of the tower, called ‘Herceguša,’ and the defensive tower.
“This has made the site safe for visitors, which was not the case before,” he believes.
The restoration of this site is not completely finished, Luburić emphasizes, noting that the restoration will continue through calls for projects from the European Union, as well as from the federal government, to bring this place to its full capacity and make it accessible to all visitors and tourists.
Besides this, several other projects related to this location have been implemented. “The first was the Medieval Thematic Route, where we built the access road. The second was FORT-NET, where we worked on the southeastern ramparts, that is, the walls on this tower,” explained Luburić.
Project designer Ferhad Mulabegović says that apart from partial works 10 or 15 years ago, there were no serious activities.
“Some things were difficult to predict with the project. There were almost 400 or 500 cubic meters of debris and destroyed material here that covered some structures, which were not even visible. I am glad that with extensive excavations in this central object, we arranged the palace, which is of residential character, and the defensive tower. The question remains what modifications and additions there were in the process over 300 years,” explains the designer.
What has been done now, Mulabegović states, is actually complete conservation with elements of restoration, without any improvisation.
“There is no reworking here. Part of the defensive tower was restored according to the only preserved photograph from 1924, which is unique. The tower was even higher, but we did not want to raise it to create an observation deck,” he concluded.
The partners of this project are the City of Ljubuški, the County Road Administration of Split, the City of Solin, and the Municipality of Ulcinj, and the goal of the project is the preservation, verification, and promotion of cultural and historical heritage in peripheral urban areas.
The works were carried out and financed through the project “HeritageREVIVED – Preservation, valorisation, and promotion of cultural heritage on the outskirts of urban areas,” and were implemented through the INTERREG IPA cross-border cooperation program Croatia – Bosnia and Herzegovina – Montenegro 2014 – 2020.
Završena kula u Ljubuškom: “Ovo je projekt o kojemu su sanjale generacije”
Obilaskom Starog grada Ljubuški i tvrđave Herceg Stjepana, svečano je otvorena branič kula nakon završetka opsežnih konzervatorsko-restauracijskih radova. Gradonačelnik Vedran Markotić izjavio je da je tvrđava Herceg Stjepana jedan od simbola grada i da su generacije sanjale o ovom trenutku. Naglasio je da je jedan dio završen te da će uskoro nastaviti s potpunom obnovom, za koju su već osigurana sredstva od Federalnog ministarstva prostornog uređenja, Ministarstva kulture i Javnog poduzeća Parkovi Ljubuški.
Turistička važnost projekta je ogromna, a dosad je uloženo više od 1,5 milijuna maraka. Radoslav Luburić, ravnatelj HERAG-a, istaknuo je da je obnovljen središnji dio kule ‘Herceguša’ i branič kula, čime je lokalitet postao siguran za posjetitelje.
Obnova nije potpuno završena, ali će se nastaviti uz podršku projekata Europske unije i federalne vlade. Provedeni su i dodatni projekti poput tematske rute Srednjeg vijeka i projekta FORT-NET za obnovu jugoistočnih bedema.
Projektant Ferhad Mulabegović naveo je da su radovi uključivali velike iskope kako bi se uredio rezidentni palas i branič kula, te da je konzervacija izvedena bez improvizacija, prema jedinoj sačuvanoj fotografiji iz 1924. godine.
Partneri projekta su Grad Ljubuški, Županijska uprava za ceste Split, Grad Solin i Općina Ulcinj. Projekt je financiran kroz INTERREG IPA program prekogranične suradnje Hrvatska – Bosna i Hercegovina – Crna Gora 2014 – 2020.