Stećci Medieval Tombstones

Between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries, communities across Bosnia, Herzegovina and neighbouring regions carved monumental limestone tombstones known as stećci, tens of thousands of which survive standing in fields, on ridges and beside old roads. The carving is unlike anything else in medieval Europe: raised arms, spirals, crescents, hunting scenes, dancing rings of figures and stylised knights, with a vocabulary that has been argued over for a century and never resolved. A selection of necropolises across four countries carries a joint UNESCO listing. Radimlja near Stolac is the best known and most accessible, with well over a hundred stones in a roadside field, several carved with the raised-hand figure that has become their emblem.

History

Stećci first appeared in the mid-12th century, reached their peak in the 14th and 15th centuries and stopped being made in the very early 16th century, during the Ottoman conquest of Bosnia and Herzegovina; an estimated 60,000 stand in Bosnia and Herzegovina and about 10,000 more in Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia, at more than 3,300 sites, over 90 percent of them in poor condition. Following Arthur Evans's thesis of 1875, many scholars linked them to the Bosnian Church and the Bogomils, an idea questioned as early as 1899 by Kosta Hörmann, the first director of the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina; since the mid-20th century scholars such as Marian Wenzel have concluded that they were a common tradition of Catholic, Orthodox and Bosnian Church followers alike (Wikipedia, Stećak).

What to look for

• Radimlja necropolis - the most accessible site, with over a hundred carved stones.
• The raised-arm figures - the emblematic carving found across the necropolises.
• Boljuni - another Herzegovina site with dense and varied carving.
• Hilltop necropolises - stones standing on ridges in open landscape.

When to go

April to October; spring brings green fields around the stones and better photographs. The sites are open landscape with no shade, so avoid the middle of a summer day.

Practical notes

These are open fields with minimal facilities and, at most sites, no interpretation at all, so their meaning is not self-evident and a guide or reading beforehand matters. The listed necropolises are scattered widely and some need a car and local directions to find. Weathering has erased much of the carving on many stones.

Nearby

Stolac's Ottoman town and Počitelj are close in Herzegovina; Mostar lies northwest.

Key facts