Press release

The association CENTER strongly condemns the vandal attack on the Serbian cultural heritage in Novi Pazar. The archaeological site of the Latin Church in Postenje in Novi Pazar from the 14th century was a cultural monument under previous protection and is located about 400 meters from Peter's Church. It was completely destroyed during the previous week by the owner of the plot on which the Serbian medieval church and cemetery were located, with the aim of building a "car lot".

This violent act clearly testifies that the atmosphere of vandalism and anti-civilizational behavior towards cultural heritage is not abating.

Unfortunately, other cultural and historical sites in Novi Pazar are also endangered. The so-called detectorists are constantly excavating archaeological sites, and the unplanned expansion of the city of Novi Pazar is disrupting the spatial units around the Sopoćani Monastery, Đurđevi Stupovi and Peter's Church, which are on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List.

We hereby ask the competent institutions and state bodies of the Republic of Serbia, when will these crimes against cultural heritage in our country finally stop?

We appeal to the competent institutions to bring those responsible to justice as soon as possible, and that the institutions that take care of the protection of cultural heritage do their job.

If silence and non-reaction continue, we fear that the practice of repeating this behavior will continue in the future.

Let's preserve our cultural-historical monuments and archaeological sites - let's save ourselves.

To achieve our goals, we cooperate with people, organizations, and institutions at the local and national level. The best artnerships are specific, result-oriented ventures between individuals, representatives of civil society organizations, but we also believe in strong partnerships with institutions.