Blidinje is a karst plateau between Čvrsnica and Vran mountains that belongs to the municipalities of Jablanica and Posušje. At the foot of the Vran mountain in the southwest-northeast direction is a field called Dugo polje, after which the entire area got its name. A necropolis of 150 stećak tombstones is located in the plain next to the road leading to Lake Blidinje. This necropolis dates back to the 14th-15th centuries. The forms of stećak are as follows: 72 slabs, 59 crates, 14 tall crates, 4 gables with a base and 1 gable without a base. A large number of slabs sank into the ground, and some of them were preserved only in fragments. Some slabs were poorly made, irregular, and almost not carved at all. The crates are mostly small and narrow. Tall crates are of normal dimensions and of the usual shape. The gables in this necropolis have no roofs, they are high and of the usual dimensions. Not a single stećak contains an epitaph. The aesthetic value of stećak is very high. A total of 32 stećak tombstones, mostly crates, were decorated. The most numerous decorations are plastic rosettes with 4, 5 or more leaves. They appear either alone or in combination with a crescent. After the rosette, the most common ornament is a stylized cross. The crescent moon is also among the most numerous motifs on these stećak tombstones, recorded in a total of 16 cases. Borders appear 16 times in various designs as frames of the surface, the most common border is of a winding line with spirals or with trefoils in free surfaces, and with zigzag incised lines. Circular wreaths appear 8 times on 4 stećak tombstones, mostly twisted. Other decorations include curved lines with trefoils, ribbons with incised hooks, a shield with a sword, a sword, lilies, arrows, and an apple. Among the figure compositions in this necropolis are depictions of hunting scenes, tournament scenes, dances, and figures emerging from the tower. Men, women, deer, horses, and snakes are also depicted on these stećak tombstones. In terms of shapes, relief motifs, and stonework, as well as their artistic originality, the stećak tombstones from Blidinje are the most similar to those in Herzegovina and Dalmatia, i.e. the Dalmatian hinterland. Due to its position and overall appearance, the necropolis seems very imposing. The stećak tombstones of this necropolis are carved from limestone of approximately the same quality. They were cut in a quarry located on the slopes of Vran, a few hundred meters from the necropolis. The orientation of the stećak is almost exclusively southwest-northeast. Although there are disruptions, you can observe the columns or rows of stećak tombstones, which are placed opposite the direction of orientation, i.e. in the northwest-southeast direction.
Sources and literature:
- Bešlagić Šefik, Stećci – kultura i umjetnost, Veselin Masleša, Sarajevo 1982, 253. 257, 268, 272, 343, 350-351.
- Bešlagić Šefik, Leksikon stećaka, Svjetlost, Sarajevo 2004, 20-21.
- Bešlagić Šefik, Stećci na Blidinju, JAZU, Zagreb 1959, 25-37.
- Lovrenović Dubravko, Stećci. Bosansko i humsko mramorje srednjeg vijeka, Rabic, Sarajevo 2009, 209-210.
- Zelenika A., “Dugo polje”, in: Arheološki leksikon Bosne i Hercegovine, vol. III, ed. Borivoj Čović, Arheološka nalazišta regija 14-25, Zemaljski muzej Bosne i Hercegovine, Sarajevo 1988, 211.