Monument to Freedom, Jasikovac
Bogdan Bogdanović's 18 m sandstone pyramid on Jasikovac hill, where nine students were shot in July 1941, unveiled 15 September 1977 and restored in 2015
Memorial complex · Jasikovac hill
The Monument to Freedom stands on Jasikovac, the wooded hill east of the centre of Berane across the Lim, where Italian troops executed nine students on 17 July 1941. It is the work of Bogdan Bogdanović, the Belgrade architect: an 18 m cylindrical pyramid of yellow sandstone and porous siga stone, standing in a ring of 40 gabbro blocks engraved with scenes from the history of the Vasojevići, the clan of the upper Lim. A stone bridge leads to it through a semicircular portal cut into the earthworks of an old Ottoman fortification. It was unveiled on 15 September 1977 and restored in 2015.
Getting there
From the centre of Berane the monument is about 1.4 km, a quarter of an hour on foot across the Lim bridge and up the stairs and stone-paved path through Jasikovac park. By car Berane is 17.4 km and about 22 minutes from Andrijevica, 34.6 km and about 43 minutes from Bijelo Polje, 30.8 km and about 43 minutes from Rožaje and 94.3 km (about 1 hour 40 minutes) from Podgorica. The times are free-flow driving times.
What to see
- The pyramid: 18 m of yellow sandstone and siga, round in plan and tapering to the top like a cone.
- The 40 gabbro blocks around it, each engraved with a scene, that together tell the history of the Vasojevići. The stone carving was supervised by the master mason Momir Džunić of Temska near Pirot in Serbia, whose stonemasons had worked with Bogdanović on earlier memorials.
- The bridge and the portal: a stone bridge with a semicircular portal leads through the ring of earthworks; in Bogdanović's memorials the portal stands for the living entering the world of the dead.
- Jasikovac forest park, 24 ha. The monument sits in a sunken grassy hollow at its centre, from which the town cannot be seen at all: only trees, the ramparts and distant mountains.
History
Jasikovac was an Ottoman fortification above the town, and on 17 July 1941, the day the uprising began in the upper Lim valley, Italian troops shot nine students here. The monument came three decades later: Bogdanović drew the concept in 1972, work began in 1976 with the architect Radosav Zeković assisting, and the complex was unveiled on 15 September 1977. Unlike many Yugoslav memorials it was never abandoned. The municipality maintains it, a restoration of the main complex was completed in late 2015, and it is used every year for commemorations, among them on 9 May and on 13 July.
Nearby
- Knjaževac memorial park in Andrijevica, up the Lim.
- The Lim, which runs through the town below the hill.
- Cmiljevica and the Cmiljača ski area.
- Other memorials in Montenegro.
Questions
Who designed the Monument to Freedom?
Bogdan Bogdanović, with the concept drawn in 1972 and the complex unveiled on 15 September 1977. The master mason Momir Džunić supervised the stone carving.
What do the engraved blocks show?
The 40 gabbro blocks around the pyramid tell the history of the Vasojevići, the clan of the upper Lim valley.
How far is it from the town?
About 1.4 km from the centre, a quarter of an hour on foot across the Lim and up through the park.
History
17 July 1941
Executions on Jasikovac
Italian troops executed nine students on the hill, the site of a former Ottoman fortification, on the day the uprising began in the upper Lim valley.
1972-1977
Built
Bogdan Bogdanović drew the concept in 1972; work began in 1976, with the stone carving supervised by the master mason Momir Džunić of Temska and the architect Radosav Zeković assisting. Unveiled 15 September 1977.
2015
Restoration
The restoration of the main complex was finished in late 2015.
Sources
Spomenik Database, Berane (secondary) · Wikipedia, List of Yugoslav World War II monuments and memorials in Montenegro (secondary, unreferenced) · Municipality of Andrijevica, Day of the municipality, 17 July (uprising of 1941 in the upper Lim valley) · OSRM routing (car and foot, OpenStreetMap data, ODbL; times without traffic)
