The reason for this column is the decision of the Government of FBiH from 21.12.2021. by which the municipality of Konjic was granted the status of a city, due to its rich cultural, historical and natural heritage.
The municipality of Konjic has 54 national monuments, of which 11 are in the city (4 national monuments do not yet have an information board). One of those monuments from May 2006 is an architectural ensemble of the Franciscan monastery.
Roman Catholic Church of St. John the Baptist, was built from 1895 to 1987, the interior was completed in 1909, and the bell tower in 1919.
The church was designed in 1893 by Josip Vancaš (Sopronje, Hungary 1859 – Zagreb 1932).
It was thoroughly renovated in 1968, when the watch was given to it by Petar Dika from the USA, who was in office until May 18, 1992 (grenade-damaged bell tower), and again from May 18, 2000. The restoration was carried out in the summer of 2001, when the painter-restorer from Novi Sad, Mario Veknić, restored all three damaged paintings on the ceiling of the church, which were painted in 1909 by the painter Nikolić.
The monastery was built from 1939 to 1940. In 1945, the authorities took the monastery for their own needs, in 1955 they returned the first floor to the church, and in 1969 the second floor. Until then, there was the Manager of the Franciscan Residence, and only since 1970 Bruno Ćesić, Dobroslav Stojić, Rade Dragičević, Bono Krndelj, Luka Marić, Zdenko Karačić, Ivan Bradvica, Ivan Mladina, Alojzije Bošnjak, Anthony Burnside and now Fr. Ferdo Boban have been appointed guardians of the Franciscan monastery.
In the basement of the Monastery, on an area of about 800 m2, a modern Gallery was built, which opened in 1990, and again in June 2006.
There are three units in the Gallery, namely a collection of paintings and statues, an ethnological and numismatic collection, and a treasury of church clothes, metals and books.
The gallery has paintings by Ivan Lacković, Edo Murtić, Lazar Drljača, Ljubo Lah and others.
The visitor can see a gilded chalice from 1758, a prayer book printed in Rome in 1842.
The ethnological collection is especially rich, interesting and valuable embroidered handicrafts, as well as carved furniture from Konjic made in 1932.
In the collection of the monastery, the portrait of St. Paškal of Bojlon from the end of the 16th or the beginning of the 17th century, and the work of Ivan Tišov, The Laying of Christ in the Tomb and the Gilded Chalice with the inscription of the master Josip Vasiljević from 1758.
The gallery has two stone urns from the Roman period, which were found during the construction of the settlement of Luka, in Konjic.
Konjic received the status of a city due to the third paragraph of Article 5 of the Law on the Principles of Local Self-Government, which implies the possibility of declaring a town of special historical and cultural significance as a city. That is why we have a special duty as citizens to get to know, preserve, be proud of and promote this entire heritage.
All the monuments are part of us, and we are part of them, testifying to the rich past of the Konjic region. Hopefully, a guide on the national treasures of the municipality will be printed soon.
Mirsad Čukle / Novikonjic.ba
