Vršac
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Location in Serbia | |
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| General Information | |
| District | South Banat |
| Land area | 1324 km² |
| Population (2002 census) |
36,623 (town) 54,369 (municipality) |
| Settlements | 24 |
| Coordinates | |
| Area code | +381 13 |
| Car plates | VŠ |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) CEST (UTC+2) |
| Website | http://www.vrsac.org.yu |
| Politics | |
| Mayor | Jovica Zarkula |
Vršac (Вршац) is a city located in Serbia at 45.13°N, 21.30°E. In 2002 the city's total population was 36,001, while Vršac municipality had 53,751 inhabitants. Vršac is located in Banat region, in the Vojvodina province. It is part of the South Banat District.
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[edit] Name
In Serbian, the town is known as Вршац or Vršac, in Romanian as Vârşeţ, in Hungarian as Versec (in the Middle Ages, before the Ottoman rule, also: Érsomlyó), and in German as Werschetz.
[edit] History
Name Vršac is of Slavic origin. The Slavs settled in this region in the 6th century, and the Slavic tribe known as Abodrites (Bodriči) was recorded to live in the area. The Slavs from the region were Christianized during the rule of the Bulgarian duke Ahtum in the 11th century.
In the 15th century, the town was in a possession of the Serbian despot Đurađ Branković. Branković was probably the one who built the Vršac Fortress after the fall of Smederevo in 1439.
Ottomans destroyed the town in the 16th century, but it was soon rebuilt. In 1590/91, the Ottoman garrison in Vršac fortress was composed of one aga, 2 Ottoman officers and 20 Serb mercenaries. The town was seat of the local Ottoman authorities and of the Serbian bishop. In this time, its population was composed of Muslims and Serbs.
In 1594, the Serbs in the Banat started large uprising against Ottoman rule, and Vršac region was centre of this uprising. The leader of the uprising was Teodor Nestorović, the bishop of Vršac. The size of this uprising is illustrated by the verse from one Serbian national song: "Sva se butum zemlja pobunila, Šest stotina podiglo se sela, Svak na cara pušku podigao!" ("The whole land has rebeled, a six hundred villages arised, everybody pointed his gun against the emperor").
The Serb rebels beared a flags with the image of Saint Sava, thus the rebellion had a character of a holy war. The Sinan-paša that lead the Ottoman army ordered that green flag of Muhammad should be brought from Damascus to confront this flag to the Serbian flag with Saint Sava image. Furthermore, the Sinan-paša also burned the mortal remains of Saint Sava in Belgrade, as a revenge to the Serbs. Eventually, the Serb uprising was crushed and most of the Serbs from the region escaped to Transylvania fearing the Ottoman retaliation. However, since Banat region became deserted after this, which did not conformed to the Ottoman authorities who needed population in this fertile land, the authorities promised mercy to everybody who come back. The Serb population came back, but the mercy did not applied to the leader of the rebellion, bishop Teodor Nestorović, whose skin was striped as a punishment. The Banat uprising was one of the three largest uprisings in the Serbian history and the largest one before First Serbian Uprising lead by Karađorđe.
In 1716, Vršac passed from Ottoman to Habsburg control, and the Muslim population fled from the town. In this time, Vršac was mostly populated by Serbs, and in the beginning of the Habsburg rule, its population numbered 75 houses. Soon, the German colonists started to settle here. They founded new settlement known as German Vršac, which was located near old (Serbian) Vršac. Serbian Vršac was governed by knez, and German Vršac was governed by schulheis. Name of the first Serbian knez in Vršac in 1717 was Jovan Crni. In 1795, two towns, Serbian Vršac and German Vršac, were officially joined into one single settlement, in which the authority was shared between Serbs and Germans.
The 1848/1849 revolution disrupted the good relations between Serbs and Germans, since Serbs fought on the side of the Austrian authorities and Germans fought on the side of the Hungarian rebels.
Since 1918, the town was part of the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later renamed to Yugoslavia). During the Axis occupation (1941-1944), many citizens were sent to concentration camps or killed. Since 1944, the town was part of the new Socialist Yugoslavia, and since dissolution of this country in 1991-1992, the town was part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1992-2003), Serbia and Montenegro (2003-2006), and since 2006 it is part of an independent Serbia.
[edit] Inhabited places
Vršac municipality includes the city of Vršac and the following villages:
- Vatin
- Veliko Središte
- Vlajkovac
- Vojvodinci
- Vršački Ritovi
- Gudurica
- Zagajica
- Izbište
- Jablanka
- Kuštilj
- Mali Žam
- Malo Središte
- Markovac
- Mesić
- Orešac
- Pavliš
- Parta
- Potporanj
- Ritiševo
- Sočica
- Straža
- Uljma
- Šušara
[edit] Ethnic groups (2002 census)
The population of the Vršac municipality is composed of:
- Serbs = 39,418 (72.5%)
- Romanians = 5,913 (10.87%)
- Hungarians = 2,619 (4.81%)
- Roma = 1,186 (2.18%)
- Yugoslavs = 1,019 (1.87%)
- Others.
Settlements with a Serb ethnic majority are: Vršac, Vatin, Veliko Središte, Vlajkovac, Vršački Ritovi, Gudurica, Zagajica, Izbište, Pavliš, Parta, Potporanj, and Uljma. Settlements with a Romanian ethnic majority are: Vojvodinci, Jablanka, Kuštilj, Mali Žam, Malo Središte, Markovac, Mesić, Ritiševo, Sočica, and Straža. Šušara is a settlement with a Hungarian ethnic majority. Orešac is an ethnically mixed settlement with a plurality of the population being Romanian.
[edit] Tourist destinations
The Millennium sport center, built in 2002, is located in Vršac. It is one of the best sport centers in Serbia and Montenegro. The region around Vršac is famed for its vineyards.
The symbol of the town is the Vršac Tower (Vršačka kula), which dates back to the mid 15th century. It stands at the top of the hill (399m) overlooking Vršac.
Considering that Vršac is also famous wine region, one of interesting places to visit in Vršac is private winery, Vinik, which is located in the very center of the city. It is the place where you can enjoy in the taste of one of the finest red and white wines in Serbia - Vrżole Noir and Vrżole Blanc.
[edit] Famous residents
- Teodor Nestorović, the bishop of Vršac and leader of the Serb uprising in Banat in 1594.
- Paja Jovanović (1859-1957), famous Serbian painter.
- Jovan Sterija Popović (1806-1856), Serbian playwright, dramatist, comediographer, and pedagogue.
- Nikola Nešković (1739-1775), Serbian painter.
- Vasko Popa, poet.
- Nedeljko Popović Serba, painter.
- Milan Jovanović, photographer.
- Sultana Cijuk, an opera singer.
- Bora Kostić, chess player and World traveller.
- Female basketball sensation Zorana Todorović was born in Vršac in 1989, well known for standing over two metres tall and still growing as at the summer of 2006.
[edit] Sister cities
[edit] References
- Dušan Belča, Mala istorija Vršca, Vršac, 1997.
- Dr. Dušan J. Popović, Srbi u Vojvodini, knjige 1-3, Novi Sad, 1990.
[edit] External links
- The Official Site Of Vršac City
- Site Of Vršac City
- Private Winery Vinik - by combining traditional family recipe and modern technology makes famous red and white Vrżole wines
- Vršac - Electronic Banat
- Old Vršac Postcards
