The Jewel of Southern Herzegovina: Kotezlije Mujo's Mosque

On the road to Trebinje from Ljubinje, on the slope of Lipnica hill, on the right side of the road, just 2 kilometers before Popovo Polje in the village of Kotezi, lie the remains of a mosque.  

Folk tradition says it is the oldest mosque in Southern Herzegovina, which, according to oral tradition, was built by Kotezlija Mujo, who also built a mekteb (primary school) next to the mosque and is buried in the graveyard located in front of the mosque's facade.

In Kotezi, besides this mosque, during the Ottoman rule, the aforementioned mekteb, two cisterns, three towers, several fortified houses (čardak), and residential buildings were constructed. Little remains of all these structures; most have almost disappeared, and the few remaining parts are somehow still standing, overgrown and in very poor condition.

The only structure that is somewhat preserved is the mosque itself, built in the center of the village, and its cylindrical minaret made of stone still stands today, defying time.

The mosque's base is rectangular, with external dimensions of 7.70 meters by 10.10 meters, with two windows in the mihrab and door walls, and one small window at the top of the other two walls.

It was built of rubble stone bound with lime, and its walls were 0.65 meters thick. The four-sided wooden roof was covered with stone slabs. Next to the mosque stands a cylindrical, particularly striking minaret, also built of rubble stone, with a roof lined with red bricks on the inside.

At the top of the minaret are four small windows from which the adhan (call to prayer) was once heard. The stone mihrab, located on the southeastern wall of the mosque, has a semi-circular niche 0.93 meters wide and about 2.20 meters high, which is arched at the top.

The frame of the niche protrudes from the wall body by about 15-20 cm and has a width of 1.55 meters and a height of about 2.70 meters.

The mosque has several graves in its courtyard with old, inscription-less tombstones. Two cisterns, built immediately next to the mosque on its northeastern side, are an integral part of the mosque complex. Southwest of the mosque building are the remains of the mekteb building, which also housed a teacher's residence.

The building, with external dimensions of approximately 5 by 10 meters, is built of dressed limestone. During the Uprising in Herzegovina (1875-1878), the mosque was significantly damaged, and its roof was destroyed. A photograph dating from before 1939 shows that the mosque building had been repaired and roofed. From an article describing the journey of the Reis-ul-ulema Fehim ef. Spaho through Herzegovina and his visit to Kotezi, it can be concluded that the mosque building was in use.

The mosque was damaged again in 1942 when its roof was removed, and the mekteb building, which also housed the teacher's residence, was demolished. This led to the progressive deterioration of the wall structures, floors, windows, doors, and the overall interior of these buildings. The mosque and mekteb have been out of use since then. There is no information that they have been repaired or are being maintained.

State-Protected Monument

By the decision of the Provincial Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments and Natural Rarities of NR Bosnia and Herzegovina No. 104/50 from 1950, the building was placed under state protection. In 1954, the then Provincial Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments and Natural Rarities of NR Bosnia and Herzegovina conducted a technical survey of the building and prepared a reconstruction project for the mosque in Kotezi. In 2003, the Commission for the Preservation of National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina declared it a building complex – a national monument.

Protection and rehabilitation measures established by the Law on the Implementation of Decisions of the Commission for the Preservation of National Monuments, established in accordance with Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (“Official Gazette of Republika Srpska”, No. 9/02), apply to this national monument.

RS Government Indifferent to Restoration

Unfortunately, the Government of Republika Srpska, which was obliged to provide legal, scientific, technical, administrative, and financial measures for the protection, presentation, and rehabilitation of this national monument, which includes the mosque, mekteb, two cisterns, and the mosque courtyard, including boundary walls, has not done so.

It was also obliged to provide funds for the preparation and implementation of the necessary technical documentation for the rehabilitation of the national monument, which it has also failed to do.

(Jasmin Kreso)