Negotin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
|
| Location in Serbia | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| General Information | |
| District | Bor |
| Land area | 1089 km² |
| Population (2002 census) |
17,762 (town) 43,551 (municipality) |
| Settlements | 39 |
| Coordinates | |
| Area code | +381 19 |
| Car plates | BO |
| Postal code | 19300 |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) CEST (UTC+2) |
| Website | http://www.negotin.info |
| Politics | |
| Mayor | Radmila Gerov |
Negotin (Serbian Cyrillic: Неготин, listen ) is a town and municipality in the Bor District of north-eastern Central Serbia. It is situated near the borders between Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria. It is the judicial and cultural center of the Bor District.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] Name and early history
Some historical sources indicate that the Negotin settlement was first mentioned in 1530, although home historians think it has much older roots. In book "Red and white - Serbian-Celtic Parallels" (Crveno i belo - srpsko-keltske paralele, Glas srpski, Banja Luka, 2000.) by Prof. Dr. Ranka Kuić (PhD in Anglistic and Celtic Studies), she postulated that the name "Negotin" had been derived from Celtic words NEGES and TIN, meaning "The fortress of war". She also postulated that many, if not most of, geographical names in former Yugoslavia also had Celtic origins (and a lot of it has also been proven by some leading Serbian archaeologists, e.g. Prof. Dr. D. Srejić).
Until the beginning of the 18th century, Negotin was just a small town, with no strategical or cultural importance. At the beginning of the 18th century (mainly 1718-1739) however, Austrians conducted a major build-up of the town as a fortified town and their stronghold in their south-eastern territories. After a brief period of renewed Turkish occupation, Negotin was once again liberated in 1804 by Hajduk Veljko's rebels during the First Serbian Revolution (Prvi srpski ustanak).
[edit] The Serbian Revolutions 1804-1833
After being liberated in 1804-10, Negotin quickly gained on importance and size. The civilized life thrived and the government, as in the most parts of then-liberated Serbia, achieved much in matters of education and modernization. However, these great days were short lived - in 1813, after Napoleon had successfully taken Russia and Austria out of game and therefore helping Serbia, the Turks crushed the ill-fated state of the Serbs. The defenders of Negotin chose, however, not to evacuate and became ensieged in the then-fortified town. Eventually, a Turkish gunman sighted Hajduk Veljko and shot his cannon. Hajduk Veljko was hit in his chest by a cannonball and died immediately. His co-fighters buried him in an unmarked grave, so that the Turks couldn't exhume and decapitate him, like they used to do with all fallen Christian fighters. Once again, Negotin was conquered. The Second Serbian Revolution of 1815 (Drugi srpski ustanak) brought nothing to Negotin initially, having only liberated Belgrade and its vicinity. However, thanks to the smart diplomacy of the Prince Miloš (Knez Miloš), this part of the country was once and for all liberated in 1833, with practically no fighting at all.
[edit] The second half of the 19th century and the World War in Negotin
Until the formal declaration of independence in 1878, Negotin had already achieved very much in terms of build-up of its position as a regional cultural, educational and religious center. The first state school was opened in 1824, followed by Gymnasium (Gimnazija) in 1839. With the time, the old Church of Our Lady became too small for the bishop of Negotin, so a grand new cathedral church was built in 1876. At the very same time, many Negotinians went to famous Europan universities, seeking education and enlightment. The most famous two were Stevan Mokranjac, the brilliant and one of the most famous Serbian composers and Đorđe Stanojević, a psycisist and an astronomer. The cultural life also thrived, with many choral and other artistic societies. Most of the educational insitutions had been opened in the matter of months after beeing opened in Belgrade (Public Library etc.). It was in this period that the idea of moving the town to the banks of the Danube first took a stronghold with the government and local officials. However, this has never happened, although various administrations in various times have tried to do this. The town was simply too big for moving. Still, Negotin was not far away from the Danube, only approx. 4 miles, so the river transportation was still possible for its trade. However, the town's position also had a serious disadvantage - it was very close to the Danube, but lower than the river, so it had always been surrounded by many swamps and ponds.
In the meantime, the town of Zaječar, being much closer to Niš and, therefore, to the rest of Serbia, was slowly taking over as a regional center. This advantage became much clearer especially with the construction of railroad. Negotin was though more to the north and thus closer to Belgrade and the rest of Serbia, but those roads led through unaccessible mountain terrain, whereas it was much easier to go to the south, so Zaječar was, in terms of transport, much better off than Negotin. Until the beginning of the First World War, Zaječar had overtaken Negotin in terms of size and importance.
The dynastic fights had little impact on the fate of the town. In 1903, rebelleous officers killed the king and queen of Serbia, Aleksandar Obrenović and Draga Mašin. Although they helped the other dynasty, the Karađorđevićs, to come to power, they did this in such a monstrous and horrible way that even the new royal family distanced themselves from this terrorist group and subsequently tried and executed all of its members.
The Balkan Wars of 1912-1913 didn't bring much to this area. However, the units from this part of the country took part in almost all the battles of both wars, earning respect and glory. On July 28th, 1914, ally-turned-enemy Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. After initial successes by the Serbian armies, in the winter of 1915/16, the vastly outnumbered Serbia couldn't repel anymore the attacks by combined armies of Austria-Hungary, Germany and Bulgaria. But, instead to capitulate, the Serbian government chose to go in exile, together with its army. Negotin was soon occupated and it remained so until the fall of 1918, when the glorious Serbian army came victoriously back to the country. Negotin now became the part of newly-formed Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
[edit] Interbellum
The period between two world wars was very much like the pre-war years. Negotin continued to lose on its size and importance and Zaječar was becoming the new regional center. Much of this was also happening due to poor environmental conditions in Negotin and its surroundings, as already mentioned above. In the 1930's, the government and local officials started a huge irrigation project, aimed at getting rid of swamps around the town and gaining more agricultural land for the ever-growing population. As for the industry, there had been some modest investments in the area, but the town itself remained strongly commited to its previous roles of trading center and preserving its old manufactures, many of which were, by the way, by the time quite obsolete. Still, there had been some progress and it was unfortunately stopped by the World War Two in 1941.
[edit] World War Two
As the war raged in Europe, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia had been spared, at least during the initial two years. Still, it hadn't helped much to prepare for the inevitable, mostly because of unsettled national problems in the Kingdom. Therefore, as the German, Hungarian, Italian and Bulgarian forces attacked on April 6th, 1941, Yugoslavia simply fell apart after only two weeks of fighting. Many officers and soldiers, mostly from Serbia, had been taken prisoners of war and transported to the PoW-Camps in Germany, Austria, Poland and as far as Norway. Although Negotin hadn't seen much of the fighting, already in the summer of 1941, some guerilla resistance had been reported. Most of these "partisan"-forces had been consequently taken out of action during the summer and fall of 1941, with their fighters captured and killed. As for the remainder of the war, there hadn't been any major battles or attrocities recorded in the area. Just as the Germans easily and without resistance came in in 1941, so did the Partisans and the Soviet troops, on their way to Belgrade and further. Negotin was liberated on September 12th, 1944, after less than 3 1/2 years of German occupation.
[edit] Socialist Yugoslavia
Coming soon
[edit] Modern Negotin
Coming soon
[edit] Future developments
Coming soon
[edit] Population
According to the 2002 census the population of the Negotin municipality is 43,551, of which 17,762 live in the town of Negotin.
Ethnic groups in the Negotin municipality (2002 census):
According to the 2002 census, most of the settlements in the Negotin municipality have Serb ethnic majority. The settlement with Vlach ethnic majority is Kovilovo. Ethnically mixed settlement with relative Vlach majority is Aleksandrovac.
[edit] Economy
The population of the villages around Negotin is mostly supported by the family members who work as guest-workers in the countries of western Europe, agriculture is a side activity more than an income-generating one.
The largest employer in this municipality is the Chemical Industry Prahovo, although this company, just like many others in Serbia, is in very poor financial shape.
[edit] Wines from Negotin
Coming soon
[edit] Education and Public Health
The town has one orphanage, one kindergarten and day care center, three elementary and four high schools, some of which are vocational. There is also an elementary school for children with handycaps. The Negotin hospital offers all basic and many specialist services to this and the neighboring municipalities.
[edit] Culture, tourism, and famous people
The highlight of the cultural life of Negotin is the annual musical celebration called Mokranjčevi Dani, after Stevan Mokranjac the famous Serbian composer. Another famous Negotinian was Hajduk Veljko (also known as Vojvoda Veljko Petrović), a hajduk from the early 19th century, as well as Đorđe Stanojević, well known Serbian scientist, whose statue is in the center of the town.
The Negotin museum is home to many archeological findings, from Roman times to the more recent World War II era. The Negotin municipality is also home to many galleries, monuments, churches and monasteries, and archeological sites. The nearby Iron Gates national park offers breathtaking views, excellent hunting grounds, and many trails for hiking (most trails are not well marked or maintained, so hiking is recommended only for the experienced).
[edit] Mokranjčevi Dani
Coming soon
[edit] Municipality
Negotin municipality includes the town of Negotin and the following villages:
- Aleksandrovac
- Braćevac
- Brestovac
- Bukovče
- Veljkovo
- Vidrovac
- Vratna
- Dupljane
- Dušanovac
- Jabukovac
- Jasenica
- Karbulovo
- Kobišnica
- Kovilovo
- Mala Kamenica
- Malajnica
- Miloševo
- Mihajlovac
- Mokranje
- Plavna
- Popovica
- Prahovo
- Radujevac
- Rajac
- Rečka
- Rogljevo
- Samarinovac
- Sikole
- Slatina
- Smedovac
- Srbovo
- Tamnič
- Trnjane
- Urovica
- Crnomasnica
- Čubra
- Šarkamen
- Štubik
[edit] Gallery
 The house where Stevan Mokranjac was born and spent his childhood |
 Knez Todor's Court (Todorčetov konak) - The oldest non-sacral building in town. Today is used as a gallery and museum. |
 A Concert in the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Negotin, during the Mokranjčevi Dani festival |
 The Krajina Museum in Negotin |
 Townscape between the world wars |
