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Introduction
The most important event for the cultural heritage in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and especially in Sarajevo in 2010, was the research of the archaeological site called Firduz/Firuz’s hammam and the discovery of its remarkably valuable substructures. The authentic remains of the hammam’s hypocaustum bear vividly witness to the concept, method and building technique of this type of structures in the Ottoman period. That valuable site should be presented and accessible to the wider public, that is, needs to be conserved, restored and adequately integrated into the contemporary life of the Baščaršija quarter in Sarajevo. Bearing in mind that our society very often lacks the right approach to the protection and revitalization of the cultural and historic heritage, we considered it is necessary to organize a round table called “Firduz-bey’s hammam, Sarajevo: Revitalization of the archaeological site”, and to discuss solution possibilities of that demanding task. At the same time, the meeting was dedicated to the 18th April – the International day of monuments and monument sites, in the year 2011 thematically dedicated to waters (H2O). The opinion exchange of experts on the protection and heritage integration into the sustainable development, should have warned the local community and the responsible institutions as well, to approach the integration of the Firduz-bey’s hammam archaeological site with full attention, and to select an intervention that will follow generally-accepted international principles of heritage protection and preservation. By organizing this round table, we wanted to initiate cooperation of National Committees in the region. We invited ICOMOS NCs of Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Bulgaria. Unfortunately, representatives of some invited National Committees were not able to participate at this meeting because of their obligations. Prof. dr. sc. Vjekoslava Sanković Simčić, dipl.ing.arh. President of the ICOMOS National Committee in Bosnia and Herzegovina