Geotehnika Montenegro of Nikšić will be carrying out major works until November next year to mitigate the landslide around Kanli Kula, which, once implemented, will stop further shifting of the land and “cracking” of the fortress. The estimated value of the project, financed by the Public Works Administration of Montenegro, had been 300k euros; however, an offer from Geotehnika was accepted at 219,615 euros including VAT. Experts from Geotehnika have already been working for a month on the complex project.
The audit of the main project is being carried out by Civil Engineer, Podgorica. The Public Works Administration had earmarked 50k euros for this; however the company has cost 27,600 euros for the completion of the work.
The damage to Kanli Kula has become all the more visible in recent years, with cracks and crevices in the walls widening, and sagging increase. Experts have confirmed that this is the consequence of a significant landslide from the main road to the Old Town and The Church of the Archangel, noting that it is now precarious.
Kanli Kula Damage - photo Radio Jadran
The repairs to Kanli Kula, an old Turkish fortress from the 16th century - once a prison, but in 1966 rebuilt as one of the best summer stages on the Adriatic - will be carried out in two parts. The first is to carry out minor works that will precede major landslide mitigation. Only then will the second-stage reconstruction of the fortress take place, Prof. Dušan Lučić of the Montenegrin Institute of Civil Engineering, stated to Radio Jadran. Prof. Lučić was a member of the team involved in the exploratory work carried out at the beginning of April 2017.
The project works will take one year, given the need to use the entire 11- month hydrological cycle to monitor how the soil “reacts” in all atmospheric conditions.
During a visit to Herceg Novi this summer, the Ambassador of Turkey to Montenegro, Songul Ozan, stated that the Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Montenegro was interested in cooperating with the city and government to find a model that would assist the renovation of Kanli Kula and remedy the landslides that threaten the fortress. Together with her Deputy Bled Kačar and Trade Relations Advisor Derij Koč, the Ambassador urged the Municipality’s leadership to consider applying for the project with the Turkish Agency for International Cooperation and Coordination.
For the repairs and adaptation to Kanli Kula, JUK Herceg Fest, which manages the fortress, will be working jointly with the Ministry of Culture under a mandatory conservation project, stated the Institution’s Director Gordana Porobić Krcunović.
Although architecturally in a deplorable state, the fortress has been able to “withstand” all cultural and entertainment programmes that have been minimised in technical and technological terms. This summer, a high-tech visitors centre was opened at the fortress, with funding provided by the Interreg IPA Cross-Border Cooperation Programme for Croatia-Bosnia Herzegovina-Montenegro 2014-2020, through the Fortress ReInvented project. With augmented reality glasses and 3D animation, users were able to step back into the Middle Ages and see what this centuries-old fortress and the city of Herceg Novi looked like throughout history.
Source: Radio Jadran
