FRUŠKA GORA

Fruška gora (Hungarian: Tarczal, Latin: Alma Mons) is an island mountain in Srem, the region of Vojvodina, Serbia. Most of the mountain lies in Vojvodina, Serbia except for a small section to the west which lies in Croatia. It covers the total area of 25.525 km² being 75 km long and 12 to 15 km wide. In 1960 Fruška gora was declared National park. Its highest peak is Crveni Čot at 539 m. Other important peaks are Stražilovo (321m), Iriški Venac (451m), Veliki Gradac (471m). The mountain’s name is derived from the old Serbian name for the Frankish people: Fruzi (sing. Frug; adj. Fruški). The literal translation of “Fruška Gora” would be “the Frankish Mountain”. It received this name due to its function as a natural border during Frankish campaigns. During the time of the Roman Empire, its name was Alma Mons (“Fertile Mount”).

Fruska Gora is an isolated, narrow, island mountain in Pannonia plain. The slopes and valleys of Fruška Gora are covered with meadows, pastures, corn fields. The orchards and vineyards with famous wine cellars can be found along the mountain slopes. The mountain parts higher than 300m are covered in deciduous forests. The thickest linden tree can be found Fruška gora. The mountain is rich in oak trees, beech trees and in more than 50 other protected species.

The mountain is natural habitat for many animal species such as deer, mouflon, weasel, wild hogs, etc. The creation of the mountain began in Mesozoic 90 million years ago; its location, specific geological history and different microclimatic conditions make it very interesting and important to science. Thanks to unique and very rich deposits of fossil fauna and flora, Fruska Gora is called the ‘mirror of geological past. 164 fossil animal species older than 123 million years have been found there.

The craftsmanship of wine-making in Srem is one of the oldest in Europe. The grapevine has sprouted on the fertile hills of Fruška Gora for over 1,700 years, ever since it was first planted by Roman Emperor Probus of the ancient Sirmium. With the arrival of Ottoman Turks, viticulture in Srem was almost annihilated.

However, it was gradually rehabilitated, reaching full bloom during the Austro-Hungarian rule. The grapevine remained the pillar of life of many Karlovci generations, while Sremski Karlovci wine sparkled throughout Europe, always noble and refined, side by side with the best. Karlovci was considered to be the seat of Serbian wines for several centuries. The Fruška Gora wines were exported to the Czech Lands and Poland back in the 15th century. Zaharije Orfelin, a writer and member of the Academy of Sciences in Vienna, printed Iskusni Podrumar (Experienced Cellar-Keeper) in 1783 in Vienna. Prokopije Bolić, the archimandrite of Mt. Fruška Gora’s Rakovac monastery, printed the first viticulture manual, Soveršen Vinodelac (The Perfect Vintner), in Buda in 1816. The two books are the oldest Serbian-language viticultural and winemaking treatises known in Vojvodina.

ABOUT KRČEDIN

Author: Jovanka Zurković
Source: Danas
Small river isle of Krcedin with 10 km long bank belongs to the group of the biggest Danube islands in the region from the mouth of the Drava River to the mouth of Tisa River. From the mainland the isle is separated by Gardinovacki armlet (so called “Dunavac”), which is connected with system of other armlets and pools. Municipality of Indjija Tourist Organisation believes that insufficient attention has been paid to Krcedin and that it has been neglected for many years. But the times are changing; so they believe Krcedin can have great influence on tourist affirmation of the area and it will soon become the important spot on the tourist map of Srem District and Vojvodina Peovince. Their beliefs can be justified by many reasons. There are some who believe that the Danube River is the most beautiful at this particular spot and that it can offer unimaginable possibilities for tourism development. The people who have built their weekend houses here believe this as well. I suppose that is why the price of the houses is bigger than in other parts of Srem. Also the people who live in Krcedin expect the improvement of life quality from the tourism development, because more guests will come who will spend their money in the famous Serbian restaurants, so called “kafanas”, on renting the boats, on buying fresh fish.

Mile Obradovic, the chronicler of Krcedin and the president of the Krcedin Hometown Association believes that it is the most beautiful place in the world and he talks about Krcedin from the heart. According to Mr. Obradovic the geographic location of Krcedin is the main reason for its development. It is very near for the citizens of Indjija. It is only 3 kilometers away from Coridor X and 30 kilometers from Belgrade and Novi Sad. The village is very old and there are a lot of archeological sites to testify to its age. First traces of the Krcedin settlement can be found in neolith. During the rule of Celts the fortification was built in the immediate surroundings.

During the period from Habsburg Monarchy to the end of World War I, Krcedin was located at the military border and all its inhabitants were border keepers. The history records keep track of Krcedin as inhabited settlement in 16th century. According to the records there were 41 households in 18th century. It was inhabited primarily by Serbs from Serbia, Bosnia and Lika. Some of Krcedin inhabitants came to Krcedin from South of Serbia and Kosovo during the great migration led by Carnojevic and Sakabenta.

There are several theories about how Krcedin got its name and all these theories are connected to the ways of life at the village at different times. Different empires and different rulers left different marks.

During the rule of the Turks, Krcedin was the big village with 27 households and it could be compared to Zemun of that time. The village was more prominent than the settlements of Zemun and Vukovar. It was actually privileged because it protected the road leading from Constantinople via Belgrade to Buda City in Hungary. That was why the village was exempt from paying to the Thurks blood tax which was Ottoman rule that was not popular then, and which has been held up as an example of the cruelty of Turkish rule since then, because the children from Balkan Christian families were taken away from their families and raised as Muslims in Istanbul. The Turks ruled over the region for more than 168 years and they left nothing but the name of present archeological site Kalakaca. The archeological site Kalakaca represents an old settlement which dates back to the Older Iron Age. It is situated on the river terrace high above the Danube bank, close to Beska Bridge. The origins of Kalakaca are related to the first use of iron in the Balkans. Thanks to the metal objects found here it became a very valuable archeological site. Similar settlements are refered to as the “Kalakaca settlement type”.

After signing the Piece of Karlovac, the village of Krcedin was given to Karlovac lords and it was merged to military border so the Krcedin villagers became once again the border keepers. During the Austria – Hungary Empire the village was inhabited intentionally.

The villagers of Krcedin used to go to a war and fight over small pieces of land. This is something which shaped their character. “The people from Srem like to start a fight; they like to drink a lot sometimes; the last thing they like to do is to work. “ The story tells about the time when the empress wanted to give to the villagers of Krcedin them some land and they did not want to accept it, so they were punished by 16 whip slaps over their backs”, said chronicler Obradovic.

The Germans came by the middle of 19th century. By the time they would make the half of the Krcedin inhabitants. They introduced novelties into the life of the village. However, they were forced to leave in 1945. Krcedin villagers still miss having old German settlers as their neighbours in their village. After the World War II, the colonization brought the people from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Krcedin.

Krcedin used to be wine making village. You can still find vineyards there. When a guest arrives to a home in Krcedin it is a tradition to offer him some wine. Even the people who come to spend only weekends at their weekend houses in Krcedin would treat you to a glass of wine when you come to visit them. And this is what a place where the House of Wines Zivkovic found its home looks like. The tradition of spending time with your neighbours and friends, drinking wine and talking has never died out here.

Old Krcedin villagers like to tell a story about great tragedy which happened in 1728 when the Krcedin priest Vladimir Petrovic reported to Karlovac Archbishoprics that, due to long dry weather spell, there was no wine in the village, no brandy in the village and nobody could be found drunk in the village.