INVESTIGATION OF CORRESPONDANCE CHARACTERISTICS OF CONSTRUCTION STONE FOR REHABILITATION OF ALADZA MOSQUE IN FOCA, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Abstract

The Aladza Mosque in Foca was built in the middle of the seventeenth century and it was destroyed
during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Given that it is a monument protected by the state and
included in the World Heritage by UNESCO, it is necessary to carry out its rehabilitation. It is essential
to construct the religion building of the same materials, dimensions and exterior form.
Since the building was demolished in its entirety, there has been damage to some original stone
fragments that the mosque was built of. Therefore, it is necessary to provide new supplies of stone
matching the original.
Firstly, research were conduscted with the existing original fragments and based on them were
overwied the possibilities for finding an appropriate sites of the stone in the immediate vicinity. Based
on a certain mineralogical-petrologic and geomechanical characteristics of the original fragments
originating from the various structural components of the mosque, six locations were selected for the
investigation of possible finding sites in the immediate area. Samples that were taken underwent the
same testing procedures. Obtained results indicate that samples from four sites can be used as a material
for rehabilitation because their characteristics match the original fragments.