Beocin - engleski - niska rezolucija

PRINCIP PRESS 

BEOČIN 

IN THE EMBRACE OF THE DANUBE AND FRUŠKA GORA

Beočin gem 

170 yEaRS 

LAFARge BFC

Beočin Municipal Building

Publisher 

“Princip Press” 

6 Cetinjska St., Belgrade, + 381 11 32 270-34 

www.nacionalnarevija.com 

For Publishers 

Mišo Vujović, 

Director and editor-in-chief 

Co-publisher 

Beočin Municipality 

25 Svetosavska, + 381 21 870-260, www.beocin.rs 

For co-publisher 

Mr Bogdan Cvejić, 

President 

Editor and organiser 

Branislav Matić 

Technical Editor 

Aleksandar Čosić Život je premija. 

Texts 

Branislav Matić, Đorđe Srbulović, Zoran Plavšić 

“DDOR Novi 

Sad” a.d.o. je osiguravajuće 

društvo 

koje se poverenjem više od 

900000 klijenata i iskustvom 

i dužim od 60 godina izborilo 

za lidersku poziciju u našoj 

zemlji, s učešćem od oko 26 

odsto tržišta i bruto obračunatom 

premijom osiguranja u 

2008. godini od oko 140 miliona 

evra. 

“DDOR Novi Sad” bavi se svim vrstama osiguranja. 

Pored klasičnih osiguranja imovine, 

lica, useva i plodova, životinja, od odgovornosti 

iz delatnosti, transporta i kredita, motornih 

vozila, u njegovoj ponudi sve je više životnih 

osiguranja. Ako se ima u vidu visina sredstava 

koja se izdvajaju za finansiranje sprečavanja i 

suzbijanja rizika, kao i zavidne tehničke rezerve, 

kompanija je u samom vrhu osiguravajućih 

društava Srbije. 

Na matičnom tržištu DDOR je osnovao i 

Društvo za upravljanje penzijskim fondom – 

Dobrovoljni penzijski fond “DDOR penzija 

plus”. To je posebno pravno lice koje klijentima 

u Srbiji treba da obezbedi visokokvalitetno 

penzijsko osiguranje. 

Putem sopstvenog reosiguranja “DDOR 

Novi Sad” dodatno garantuje sigurnost svojim 

klijentima tako što velike rizike plasira kod 

najboljih stranih reosiguravača. 

Od pre godinu dana DDOR je član grupe 

Fondiaria Sai, treće po učešću na osigurava- 

jućem tržištu 

Italije i ključne 

na tamošnjem finansijskom 

tržištu. Ona 

na njemu učestvuje preko 

sopstvenih kompanija i strateških 

ulaganja u sektorima 

osiguranja, bankarstva, telekomunikacija, 

nekretnina, zdravstva 

i poljoprivrede. Osnovne delatnosti grupe 

na osiguravajućem tržištu Italije tiču se neživotnog 

osiguranja. Posebno je važno osiguranje 

od auto-odgovornosti, u okviru koga zauzi- 

Maps 

ma prvo mesto u toj zemlji, s tržišnim učešćem 

od 23%. Svoje proizvode i usluge Fondiaria Sai 

u Italiji plasira preko nacionalne mreže od oko 

3.500 agencija i 1.500 finansijskih savetnika. 

Ukupna vrednost sredstava kojima upravlja 

veća je od 30 milijardi evra. U 2008. godini 

zaključena premija osiguranja bila je oko 11,6 

milijardi evra. 

Nakon pridruživanja toj grupi, stvoreni su 

preduslovi za dalje unapređenje rada i rezultata 

DDOR-a. Otvorene su brojne strateške mogućnosti 

jer se Fondiaria Sai ubrzano širi na region 

Jugoistočne Evrope. 

Translated by 

Mark Pullen 

Photography 

Dragan Bosnić, Archive “Serbia – National Review”, 

Beočin Municipal Archives, Workshop of the Ademovski family 

Beočin Municipality 

Distribution 

Milenko Vasilić 

Printed by 

“Portal”, Belgrade 

GENERAL PARTNER 

Cilj DDOR-a predstavlja jačanje pozicije na 

tržištu osiguranja u Srbiji i, uz negovanje starih 

proizvoda, plasiranje čitave palete novih, potpuno 

prilagođenih klijentima i njihovim potrebama. 

Ali, najvažniji zadatak „DDOR-a Novi 

Sad” jeste da blagovremena isplata šteta ostane 

ključni faktor prepoznavanja kompanije. 

PARTNERS 

CIP - Каталогизација у публикацији 

Народна библиотека Србије, Београд 

338.48(497.113 Беочин)(036) 

MATIĆ, Branislav 

Beočin : u zagrljaju Dunava i Fruške gore 

/ [texts Branislav Matić, Đorđe Srbulović, 

Zoran Plavšić ; editor and organiser 

Branislav Matić ; translated by Mark Pullen ; 

photography Dragan Bosnić]. - Belgrade : 

Princip press, 2010 (Belgrade : Portal). - 

190 str. : ilustr. ; 21 cm 

Podaci o autorima preuzeti iz kolofona. - 

Tiraž 1.000. - References & sources: str. 186-188. 

ISBN 978-86-85215-88-9 

1. Srbulović, Đorđe [аутор] 

2. Plavšić, Zoran [аутор] 

a) Беочин - Водичи 

COBISS.SR-ID 175881228 

Copyright © "Princip Press”. All rights reserved

Beočin 

In the embrace of the Danube 

and the Fruška Gora 

Belgrade-Beočin 

2010

BEOČIN, TOWN WITH FOUNDATIONS 

Facing the new century 

IN THE BEGINNING 

It’s true that every city, like every man and every book, has its own story; its own “small 

personal legend”. Beočin’s story is structurally and logically postmodernism, stylistically 

peaceful and elegant, spiritually straight and long like the mountain under which it nestles. 

Its Postmodernism lies in the fact that it is composed of many fragments, neatly grouped 

around a common adopted centre (the centre of the 

municipality and the centre of the story). 

Its Elegance stems from the fact 

that noble attachment to the land 

enhances people’s elegance and 

grounding, just as such people 

enrich the country and the 

region. 

Its openness and nobility 

are because it 

would prove difficult 

to be otherwise 

within such infinite 

plains on the banks 

of such a great river; 

here all acts of 

pettiness and deception 

are stripped 

bear by time, 

laughter and wine, 

so much so that 

such acts become un 

bearable even to 

themselves. 

Its straightness and 

length are under the unforeseeable 

blue heaven, 

where if you're short of 

breath and lain on the earth 

‘tis as though you never were. 

Beočin rose as a gift to the land 

and received gifts from her. Even the 

town’s industry is sourced from the land, 

never mind the vineyards, wheat, other plants and 

animals. Sharing the fate of the nation, Beočin has passed through various epochs, empires 

and ideologies; blossomed fully and faced scourges, periods of peace and wars. And now it 

remains, facing the new century, open to artists and deeds, ideas and entrepreneurship. 

Waiting for us. 

5

6 

BEOČIN – IN THE EMBRACE OF THE DANUBE AND THE FRUŠKA GORA 

Contents 

In the beginning 

Beočin, town with foundations, 

facing the new century (5) 

Compendium 

Facts & figures (8) 

Map of the municipality (10) 

Chronology of main events (12) 

Narrative history 

First glance (26) 

All about the name and references (30) 

Selections of ancient history (32) 

Middle Ages: phases and stirrings (34) 

Turkish Period: fiery darkness (38) 

Under the Habsburgs: wounds and 

organisation (42) 

Post-Ottoman: plague, banditry, 

progress (44) 

New history: cement 

and visionaries (46) 

Co-operatives (50) 

Forest communities (52) 

Teacher (54) 

Settlements 

Beočin, with village (56), Čerević (60), 

Rakovac (64), Susek (68), Lug (74), 

Banoštor (76), Sviloš (80), Grabovo 

(84), Brazilija (86) 

Gifts of nature 

Soil (88), Natural deposits (88), Forests 

(88), Viticulture (90), Fruit growling 

(92), Cattle and poultry farming (92) 

Sacral heritage 

Monasteries: Beočin (94), Rakovac (96) 

Orthodox Churches: Transfiguration 

of the Lord in Beočin (102), St. Sava in 

Čerević (102), St. George in Banoštor

ORIENTATION 7 

(104), Archangel Gabriel in Susek (106), 

Presentation of the Virgin in Sviloš (106), 

the Holy Archangel in Grabovo (106) 

Roman-Catholic Churches: 

Saint Barbara in Beočin (102), 

the Catholic Church in Čerević (104) 

Merdžin House of Prayer (102) 

Culture and education 

Mini review of the history of Beočin 

Culture (108) 

Cultural Institutions (124) 

Schools (126) 

Tourism 

Introduction (130), Hunting and fishing 

tourism (130), Catering and rural 

tourism (132), Tourist event (), 

Development projects (136) 

Health 

Short history (138) 

Today (138) 

Sport 

Warming-up since prehistoric times (140) 

Clubs (140) 

New Century 

Lafarge in Beočin (152) 

Municipal development strategy (158) 

People, times, deeds 

Great creators: Jovan ‘Grčić’ Milenko 

(162), Milenko Šerban (166), Jovan 

Soldatović (168) 

Anthology: From Beočin Chronicles Ljube 

Vukmanović (172), Three songs of Jovan 

‘Grčić’ Milenko (178), Fruška Gora folk in 

Song by Đoke ‘Čiče’ Savić (180) 

Services information (182) 

References and sources (186)

8 


Facts & figures 

Area: 186 km 2 

Location: within the central area of the Serbian 

province of Vojvodina, in the county 

of Srem (Syrmia) on the northern slopes of 

Mount Fruška Gora. Administratively located 

in South Bačka District. Novi Sad, the cultural 

and economic centre of the province, is 

located just 15 kilometres away and its urban 

transport routes reach Beočin 

Altitude: From 87 to 539 metres above sea 

level. The Town of Beočin itself is 196 metres 

above sea level 

Longitude: 19 ° 43 '21'' east of Greenwich 

Latitude: 45 ° 11 '54'' north of the equator 

Average Temperature: average maximum 

16.9°C, average minimum 6.5°C 

Annual hours of sunshine: 2189.4 

Precipitation: 671.6 mm 3 per m 3 annually 

Regional roads traversing the municipality: 

• Novi Sad - Beočin - Croatian border (Ilok) 

• Via Pan-European Corridor 10 (Belgrade 

– Zagreb toll motorway) exit for Ruma, 

following the route Ruma – Irig – Rakovac 

– Beočin 

• Beočin is connected to Belgrade (89 

miles) via Petrovaradin and the old Novi 

Sad transit road 

• Beočin lies only 17 kilometres from 

the Belgrade – Novi Sad – Subotica toll 

motorway, a branch of the main road 

transport artery through Serbia, offering 

excellent links to all other major roads in 

the country 

Air transport: Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla International 

Airport is located 80 kilometres 

away. 

Distances 

• Beočin – Novi Sad: 17 km 

• Beočin – Ilok: 15 km 

• Beočin – Belgrade: 101 km (Belgrade – 

Novi Sad motorway) 

• Beočin – Belgrade: 94 km (via Ruma and 

the Belgrade – Zagreb motorway) 

• Beočin – Subotica: 120 km 

• Beočin – Ruma: 34 km 

• Beočin – Sremska Mitrovica: 48 km 

• Beočin – Zrenjanin: 68 km 

Postal Code: 21300 

Population: 16,086 (based on the 2002 Census) 

Average population density: 86 inhabitants 

per km². In Grabovo there are only nine 

inhabitants per km², while in the single urban 

settlement of Beočin Town live over half 

the population of the municipality (8,058 

or 56.64%), equating to 230 inhabitants per 

square kilometre 

Administration: There are eight cadastral 

municipalities, ten registered local communities 

and seven local offices 

Demographics: Home to more than twenty 

na tionalities, Serbs represent the vast majority 

(68.2%), followed by: Roma (6.5%), 

Slovaks (six per cent), Yugoslavs (5.4%) and 

Croats (4.7%). The remaining 15 nationalities 

(Bunjevci, Hungarians, Macedonians, Slavic 

Muslims, Germans, Romanians, Russians, Ruthenes, 

Montenegrins, Albanians, Bosnians, 

Bulgarians, Slovenes, Ukrainians and Czechs) 

make up a combined total of 4.2%. The remaining 

five or so per cent of the population 

are of other ethnicities or failed to declare 

their nationality. Besides the village of Lug, 

where Slovaks account for 96.4% of the population, 

Serbs make up the vast majority of the 

population in all settlements 

Villages: Eight villages are home to 43.36% of 

the population. They can be classified into two 

groups: upland and Danube-side settlements. 

In order: Beočin (& village), Rakovac, Čerević, 

Banoštor, Susek, Sviloš, Grabovo and Lug. The 

largest cadastral municipalities are Susek 

(3,940.7 ha), Beočin (3,505.6 ha) and Čerević 

(3,263.6 ha). The smallest settlement is Lug 

(996.5 ha). In population terms, the largest 

settlement is the Town of Beočin (8,058), 

Čerević (2,826) and Rakovac (1,989). The 

smallest number of inhabitants, only 138, 

lives in Grabovo 

Patron saint: St. Vasilije Ostroski & Tvrdoski, 

12 th May

Map: 

Obrad Nikolić

12 


Chronology 

Years, people, events 

20,000-5,500 BC. It is the Palaeolithic and 

Mesolithic periods and the territory of today’s 

Vojvodina is sparsely populated . 

5,500-3,500 BC. Major changes come with 

the dawn of the Neolithic period: inhabitants 

live in dugouts and even houses above ground 

made from woven materials. Settlements are 

grouped and fortified for defensive purposes, 

people begin to herd cattle and farm the land, 

making tools and weapons from bones, as 

well as processing polished stones. Two major 

Neolithic cultures are clearly recognisable: 

Starčevo (earlier) and Vinča (later). 

3,500-2,000 BC. The copper and bronze ages 

reach Srem via Transylvania and the Carpathians. 

Alongside mining, metallurgy skills 

develop. Crafts and trade are conceived, with 

the first armies created. During this period 

Vojvodina is inhabited by Illyrian-Pannonian, 

Dacian and Celtic tribes. 

950 to around 350 BC. The Hallstatt culture 

blossoms on the territory of today’s Beočin, 

as it does in the rest of Vojvodina. 

350 to 30 BC. The area is influenced by La 

Tène culture. 

1 st century BC. A fortification known as Mala 

ta Bononia is built on the site of today's 

Banoštor, directly opposite Begeč on the 

Bačka side. Roman auxiliary infantrymen of 

the Cohors secunda Alpinorum equitata are 

stationed at the fort. The territory of modern 

Beočin, meanwhile, is the site of the Ala I 

Civium Romanorum encampment. 

85 BC. Following defeat at the hands of the 

Romans, the Scordisci Celtic tribe move 

across the Sava and through Srem, passing 

the Danube and inhabiting today’s Banat. 

6-9 AD. The Breuci Illyrian tribe, which inhabits 

the area along the Sava and Danube 

Beočin Monastery

PATHS OF REMEMBRANCE 13 

rivers and the Fruška Gora, mounts a strong 

but unsuccessful revolt against the Romans. 

304. St. Irenaeus of Sirmium, Bishop of Srem, 

is persecuted in Christ’s name under Emperor 

Diocletian. 

395. The death of Emperor Theodosius I is 

followed by the permanent splitting of Rome 

into eastern and western empires, with Srem 

belonging to the latter. This proves to essentially 

determine the fate of the region in the 

centuries that follow. 

580. The area of today’s Beočin is overrun by 

Avars. At this time Avar Khagan, Bayan, raises 

the camp at Mursa (reflux) enters Bononia 

(Banoštor). Despite being pushed by Huns, 

Ostrogoths and Gepids, Srem remains under 

Avar control for more than two centuries. 

769. The crumbling Avar state and Srem, including 

the area of modern-day Beočin, become 

the scene of fighting between Bulgars 

and Franks. 

832. The Bulgars conquer Srem. 

865. The Bulgars establish episcopacy in Mitro 

vica as a subordinate of the Ohrid Archbishopric. 

927. The death of Bulgar Tsar Simeon is followed 

by the short-lived conquest of Srem by 

Hungarians, before Tsar Samuel soon manages 

to reclaim the region. This is followed by 

the rise of Byzantium and then the Hungarians 

again. 

1001. Hungarians accept Christianity and 

the royal crown from Rome, quickly becoming 

firebrand defenders of the Catholic faith. 

1142. Between this date and 1163, Serbian 

Prince Beluš, son of Great Prince Uroš and uncle 

of Stefan Nemanja, rebuilds the fortress at 

Banoštor, constructing a monastery alongside. 

1220s. The residence of Catholic bishops is 

located in Banoštor, with its residents tasked

14 


– through “Latin ceremony and obedience 

to the Roman Church” – with converting a 

number of “Slavs and Greeks”. Increasingly 

frequent conflicts breakout between Serbs 

and Hungarians for supremacy over Srem 

(which then also accounted for the modern 

region of Mačva and part of Šumadija), which 

would extend into the next century. 

1237. On the eighth of July, within the donated 

guide of Bela IV, the first written record of 

Čerević, preserved to this day, is made. 

1284. Serbian King Dragutin Nemanjić, following 

his renouncing of the crown at an assembly 

in Deževo (1282) in favour of his brother Milutin, 

heads north and receives from the King of 

Hungary, his father-in-law, power over administratively 

significant areas, including Srem 

and Belgrade, but also Usora and Soli (modern 

Tuzla) to the west of the River Drina. Thus is 

formed the Serbian "Northern Kingdom", with 

Dragutin becoming King of Srem. 

1339. Čerević is mentioned under the name 

Castelanus Castro Chereug, which means the 

site has a fortress (which was built by Gorjanski, 

along with a castle). 

1344. According to documents dating back 

to this year, a Serbian Orthodox monastery 

strongly exists and works in the town of 

Mitrovica. 

1372. Franciscans gain permission to build 

a monastery in Čerević, "a purely Serbian 

region”. By then large numbers of Serbs are 

present on the Fruška Gora and beside the 

Danube. 

1420's. Srem’s largest landowner becomes 

Ser bian Despot Stefan Lazarević. 

1436. The papal district listings of Beočin are 

mentioned under the name Belcsin. 

1437. The Pope's special inquisitor, Jacob de 

Marchia, is sent to quell the Hussite movement 

in Srem, while it is recorded that “many


Serbs of Orthodox faith” live in and around 

the village Beočin. Beočin’s Catholic priest 

Valentine, who joined the Hussites, manages 

– together with Kamenički Tom – to flee to 

Moldova to avoid persecution. 

Late 15 th Century. Great estates in Srem and 

the Beočin area are bequeathed to Serbian despots 

Đurđe Branković, Vuk Grgurević Branković 

(Zmaj Ognjeni Vuk / Fiery Dragon Wolf), 

Stevan and Demitrije Jakšić. 

1462. The Ottoman Turks are defeated at the 

Battle of Čerević. 

1482. The last of the Gorjanskis dies and Čere 

vić, along with other possessions, is given 

to Ivan Korvin. 

1477. The Jakšić brothers gain possession of 

Small and Large Sviloš. 

1498. Srem becomes home to Stevan Štilja nović, 

the last Paštrovićki duke and Serbian despot, 

a saint of the Serbian Orthodox Church 

(mentioned on 17 th October, while his mortal 

remains now rest in Belgrade’s Saborna 

Cathedral). 

Early 16 th Century. Mass inward migration 

from the south, coupled the withdrawal of the 

Hungarian population to the north (prompted 

by the threat of Ottoman invasion), leads 

to Srem becoming almost entirely Serbian. 

1504. Imre Tarek, according to the will of Ivan 

Korvin, gains possession of Čerević. 

1521. During the build up to his decisive siege 

of Belgrade, Ottoman Sultan Suleiman I conquers 

Šabac, crosses the Sava, sweeps over 

most of Srem and completely encircles the 

city at the confluence of the rivers. Most of 

the settlements of today’s Beočin municipality 

are destroyed. 

1526. The Ottoman Turks begin their occupation 

of Petrovaradin on 28 th July. In the days 

that follow, destruction befalls, consecutively, 

Kamenica, Banoštor, Beočin, Čerević, Susek, 

A pitcher from a burial site of late antiquity at Sviloš 

A goblet from the same site

16 


Sviloš and, finally, Ilok Castle on 8 th August. 

The fall of Bačka follows immediately, after 

which the Hungarians are roundly defeated 

at Mohács. 

Late 1526. The enigmatic ‘emperor’ Jovan 

Nenad descendant of Nemanjić suddenly appears 

and, commanding a considerable army, 

frees the whole of Bačka and declares Subotica 

his capital. Part of the army is sent 

to Srem, where it liberates the fortress at 

Banoštor and Čerević, along with all surrounding 

settlements. 

1527. Jovan Nenad is murdered in an ambush 

of 26 th July, as part of an internal struggle for 

control of the Hungarian crown. All the territories 

he liberated and held are quickly reclaimed 

by Ottoman hands. 

1533. The first reliable written evidence of 

the existence of Rakovac Monastery is recorded. 

1546. Ottoman tax records show that Rakovac 

Monastery pays an annual contribution 

of 800 Akçe. 

1553. Bishop Antun Vrančić travels through 

the Beočin area, leaving an interesting travel 

journal. 

1571. Austrian MP Levin conducts a census 

in parts of Srem including, amongst other 

places, today’s Beočin municipality. Thanks 

to this we now have partial descriptions from 

that year. 

1578. The Ottoman cadastral register mentions 

Beočin Monastery, marking its first 

written trace. 

1622. Longin, Abbot of Beočin Monastery, 

arrives in Moscow seeking help for the reconstruction 

of holy shrines. 

1625. A Serbian school opens in Grabovo, becoming 

the first such school on the territory 

of present-day Vojvodina. 

1657. The restoration of the large dormitory 

and the monastery at Rakovac see it start to 

grow into an important Culture Centre. 

1665. Evliya Çelebi, the famous Turkish travel 

writer, visits the Beočin area. 

1678. Rakovac Monastery is once again destroyed 

by Turkish forces. 

1683. The Great Turkish War and Battle 

of Vienna break out – marked by the Ottoman’s 

attempt to capture the capital of the 

Habsburg Empire and the period of the fragile 

Sanjak peace in Srem. A deep chronicle of 

horrors begins. 

Rakovac Monastery is also devastated, with 

the abbot and monks brutally murdered.


1685. Beočin is mentioned under the name 

Beucsin. 

1687. Rakovac is liberated from Turkish rule. 

1688. Sviloš is liberated from the Turks on 

15 th July. 

1692. Abbot Teofan launches the restoration 

of Rakovac Monastery. 

1695. A Serbian school is opened in Sviloš. 

1697. War is still raging when, on 30 th July, 

Prince Livio Odescalchi, a nephew of Pope 

Innocent XII, is given Srem (with the exceptions 

of Petrovaradin Fortress, Slankamen, 

Zemun and the militarised border areas of 

the Danube and Sava river basins) by Austrian 

Emperor Leopold I in a gesture of gratitude 

for a large war loan. Serbian Patriarch 

Arsenije III Čarnojević gives his blessing for 

refugee monks from Rača on the River Drina 

to restore Beočin Monastery. 

1698. During March the Imperial Commission 

for Contributions, led by Count Carlo 

Carafa di Stigliano, declares Srem an official 

Odescalchi possession (represented by abbot 

Bonin). At the time Beočin is part of the 

Petrovaradin district and has 49 households. 

1700. A copy of Dušan’s Code is produced at 

Rakovac Monastery. 

1710. A Serbian church is built in Čerević, 

leading to the establishing of accurate birth 

registers (these would be destroyed, as an 

important source of certified historical information, 

by occupying Croatian forces during 

World War II). 

1714. Srem enters into the possession of Balthazar 

Odescalchi, successor of the late Prince 

Livio. The settlements of Neštin, Čerević and 

Banoštor, previously occupied by Serbian militia 

during the Rakocija uprising, are designated 

as a military border area. At Rakovac Monastery 

the famous Rakovački Srbljak (an anthology 

dedicated to Serbian saints) is compiled by 

Abbot Teofan and written by Monk Maxim. 

1716. A new Austro-Turkish war breaks out. 

Austrian forces takeover Belgrade. 

1723. Orthodox monks open a single-grade 

school in Čerević. 

1731. Construction of a large church within 

Beočin Monastery begins. 

1735. Archbishop Vikentije Jovanović raises 

a Baroque bell tower in Rakovac. 

1739. The Turks partially return, fortifying a 

long border along the Sava and Danube. 

1742. The first primary school is established in 

Čerević, under the patronage of St. Sava Church.

18 


1761. Bishop of Arad Sinesije Živković, formerly 

a monk from Rakovac, prints the book Rules 

of prayer for holy Serbian educators, on the basis 

of handwritten Rakovački Srbljak manuscripts, 

at Râmnicu in Romania. Meanwhile, Rakovac 

Monastery gets new iconostasis – works of Vasilija 

Ostojić and Janka Halkozović. 

1767. Amvrosije Janković painted the Rakovac 

dining room with a stunning nine great 

compositions (following the Croatian occupation 

of World War II, we can only see these 

paintings in photographs). 

1782. Famous Zaharije Stefanović Orfelin 

(1726 -1785) takes up residence at Beočin 

Monastery. 

1795. The worst in a series of 18 th century 

plague epidemics ravages Srem. This casts a 

shadow over trouble caused by the raids of 

Fruška Gora bandits throughout the century. 

1837. Mihaelo Troha creates lithographs 

pre senting the monasteries of Beočin and 

Rakovac. 

1839. Beočin clay-shale is used to build a 

bridge between Buda and Pest. There is no reliable 

evidence of who discovered the building 

material, though it is assumed to have 

been in use since much earlier. This project 

does, however, mark the first preserved recorded 

use of Beočin cement, thanks to engineer 

Adam Clerk. 

1846. Poet Jovan Grčić Milenko is born in 

Čerević on 9 th December. 

1847. A new school building is unveiled in 

the village of Beočin on 14 th April. 

1848. The Serbian Vojvodina is formed. This 

autonomous province includes parts of the 

regions of Banat, Bačka, Srem and Baranja. 

Andrevlje


1849. The creation of the Serbian Vojvodina 

and Tamiš Banat significantly extends the 

territory of the Serbian Vojvodina, though 

simultaneously minimising the previous Serbian 

national majority. 

1855. Apatin-born miller Josif Čik buys the 

Beočin mine from Viennese company Wiener 

Waser Baumto for 100 forints. The year is remembered 

as the official start of industrial 

production in Beočin. 

1860. The Serbian Vojvodina and Tamiš Banat 

is abolished. Beočin becomes home to Heinrich 

Orenstein, another visionary whose ventures 

would form an important chapter in the 

history of this part of Srem. He was to lease 

20 hectares of land from Beočin Monastery 

(or rather the Department of the Serbian 

National Church Fund in Sremski Karlovci) 

and begin his own production of cement. He 

would remain in competition with Čik until 

the death of the latter. 

1861. The first school library is established 

in Beočin. 

1867. The Austro-Hungarian Compromise 

transforms the former Habsburg Empire into 

the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary. Čik 

attends the World Exhibition in Paris and 

then secretly takes up employment at a cement 

plant in England, only to surface for a 

time as a construction engineer at the Vienna 

Polytechnic Institute. Jovan ‘Grčić’ Milenko 

begins a five-year medical course in Vienna 

on a Matica srpska scholarship. 

1869. Having acquired new knowledge and 

experience, Čik returns to Beočin and sets 

about significantly modernising his cement 

plant. Orenstein forms a partnership with 

Schpitzer & Redlich, investing new capital to 

improve production. 

1875. Poet Jovan ‘Grčić’ Milenko loses his 

long fight against tuberculosis on 10 th June 

at Beočin Monastery. He is in his 29 th year 

of life. He is buried beside the monastery’s 

church, with an epitaph reading: "the Mount 

keeps your body, while your memory [is kept] 

by all of Serbdom!", as written by Jovan 

Jovanović Zmaj. 

1878. Archduke Rudolf, Austrian Crown Prince, 

conducts a hunt in the Beočin forest, with 

an entourage that included famous zoologist 

Alfred Brehm. Rudolf compiles several 

records of the expedition. 

1880. A folk school is founded in Čerević. 

1882. A folk school is founded in Beočin Village. 

1885. Čerević-native Đoka Savić Čiča prints 

the book Fruška Gora folk in song in Novi Sad. 

1886. The Serbian Church-glee club, the first 

Church Choir in the Beočin area, sings about 

the Great Nativity (28 th August) in Čerević. 

1888. The area’s first chemist’s shop is 

opened in Čerević, under the ownership of 

Dušan Cvejić. 

1891. Family problems for Redlich (divorce), 

lead to a redefining of the partnership between 

Orenstein and Schpitzer, though production 

continues. 

1896. An Industrial voluntary fire service is 

founded in Beočin.

20 


The Homeland Museum of Čerević 

1898. On 4 th January, just days after the 

death of Josif Čik, his competitors buy his 

cement factory. The result is a unified Beočin 

cement factory under Redlich, Orenstein and 

Schpitzer. Beočin’s first electrical distribution 

centre is opened. 

1899. The Serbian Agricultural Workers Cooperative 

is established in Čerević on 30 th 

October. 

1900. Famous warrior and writer Marko 

Miljanov visits Čerević. A “hitherto unseen 

welcome and honour” is organised in his 

name. The Serbian Agricultural Workers Cooperative 

is also established in Beočin on 5 th 

August. Poet Laza Kostić arrives by coach at 

Beočin Monastery for a lengthy stay. 

1901. The Agricultural Workers Co-operative 

is established in Rakovac. 

1902. A reading room and library for factory 

workers and employees is founded in 

Beočin. 

1903. A group of Beočin residents purchase 

the so-called Noble Forest and establish a 

Forestry co-operative under the title ‘Property 

of the Forest Community of Beočin’ on 

23 rd February. Funds for the purchase, totalling 

66,000 crowns, are provided by the Serbian 

Bank from Zagreb with an interest rate 

of seven percent. 

1905. The Agricultural Workers Co-operative 

is established in Susek. 

1906. The partnership of Orenstein and 

Schpitzer is dissolved following an unsuccessful 

release of land and quarries. The deal 

is concluded through an affair (largely political) 

and meagre settlement, with administra-


tion of the factory and quarry taken over by 

the newly established Beočin cement factory 

‘Union’ joint stock company. The new company 

includes its own capital and that of the 

Hungarian General Credit Bank from Budapest 

and the Austrian General Credit Institute 

(the leading bank of the Rothschild’s Viennese 

house). The Serbian Singers' Society 

‘Equality’ is founded in Rakovac. The Sokolsko 

Society is established in Čerević upon the 

initiative of artisans Sime Tikvić and Stevan 

Soldatović. A new school building is erected 

for the children of labourers and employees 

of the cement factory. 

1907. An Apprenticeship school is established 

in Beočin. Milenko Šerban, famous 

Serbian painter, is born in Čerević. 

1908. After a year of construction, the 

Beočin-Petrovaradin railway line is completed. 

The play Found Children, written by 

János Szabó, is performed in Beočin on 27 th 

December, marking the beginning of theatrical 

life in the town. 

1910. At the cement plant a lift is put into 

operation linking the factory to the Erdelj 

Quarry. The Fruška Gora Serbian Choral Society 

is formed. Newspapers Zastava (Flag) and 

Branik (Shield) write about 

social life and youth entertainment 

in Čerević. Mata 

Ko sovac’s book Serbian Orthodox 

Archbishopric of Karlovci: 

according to data from 

1905 is published. It also 

men tions Beočin (298 homes, 

of which 213 are Serbian, 

with 407 married couples and 

6,016 cadastral hectares in 

the district). 

1918. The Serbian Duchy of 

Vojvodina becomes an integral 

part of Serbia and the Kingdom of Serbs, 

Croats and Slovenes. The cement factory buys 

the town’s first cinematic projector, with the 

first projection made on 10 th June. 

1920. The Beočin cement factory is nationalised 

and production is focused entirely on the 

domestic market, due to the enormous needs 

of rebuilding a nation devastated by war. The 

Serbian Bank from Zagreb confirms the full 

repayment of the 1903 loan to purchase the 

Noble forest, eliminating the mortgage and 

validating 79 Beočin locals as the owners of 

509 hectares of forestland. Sculptor Jovan 

Soldatović is born in Čerević. 

1921 The Jovan ‘Grčić’ Milenko Cultural-Artistic 

Society is founded in Čerević. 

1924. Dimitrija Ruvarac’s book Beočin Monastery 

is published in Sremski Karlovci. 

1925. FC Susek is founded, later to become 

FC Hajduk. 

1926. The Jovan ‘Grčić’ Milenko Serbian Singing 

Society performs in the churchyard of 

Čerević’s St. Sava Church to mark the centenary 

of Matica srpska. Čerević-born painter 

Milenko Šerban stages his first solo exhibition. 

1913. Beočin football club is 

founded.

22 


1932. The Beočin Mountaineering Society 

(21 st December) is established. 

1930s. Poet Tin Ujević and sculptor Toma 

Rosandić take up residence at the Villa of Dr 

Dimitrija Konjević in Čerević on a number of 

occasions. 

1933. A Fisherman’s co-operative, the first 

in Srem, is founded in Čerević on 10 th December. 

1943. Occupying Croatian armed forces burn 

the Village of Grabovo to the ground, leaving 

151 civilians dead. 

1944. Between 5 th and 16 th October all Beočin 

Municipality’s settlements are liberated from 

Croatian and Nazi occupation. 

1945. By decision of the new Communist 

government, Srem is divided between two 

federal units: eastern Srem becomes part 

of the People’s Republic of Serbia, whi- 

le western Srem (accompanied by Baranja) 

becomes part of the People's Republic of 

Croatia. 

1946. Cultural-Artistic Society ‘Brile’ is found - 

ed, named after folk hero Stevan Petrović 

‘Brile’, who was killed near Beočin on 9 th 

May, 1943. 

1949. Jovan Soldatović’s first exhibition is 

staged. 

1951. The Osovlje Mountaineering & Skiing 

Society is founded. 

1952. Jovan Soldatović establishes the Sculpture 

Department of the Higher Pedagogical 

School in Novi Sad and becomes its first 

professor. Cultural-Educational Society ‘Isa 

Medaković’ is founded. 

1959. Filmski Bulletin, a unique publication 

in the then Yugoslavia (winner of a special 

award at the Pula Film Festival for the 

Young Beočin gentlemen between the two world wars


best amateur film magazine), begins to be 

distributed in Beočin. 

1962. Beočin local Nikola Ćirilović, a member 

of the Opera of the Serbian National Theatre, 

plays Cavaradossi in Puccini’s Tosca. 

1963. The film Reka (River) by Beočin-born 

film director and cameraman Đuro Konrad, 

starring Ivan Herak in the title role, wins 

third prize at the Inaugural Festival of Amateur 

Yugoslav Film in Novi Sad. 

Konrad receives a special award at the Festival 

of Amateur Yugoslav Film for his animated 

film Quo Vadis football, produced according 

to the scenario of Mijata Rukavina. 

1967. Beočin local Ivan Novačić receives the 

Zmaj Award for his poetry. A new primary 

school building is unveiled in Beočin. The 

1964. Work begins at the Workers’ University 

in Beočin. A record number of cinemagoers 

attend the Beočin cinema to watch the 

films Pesma Buntovnik (Rebel Song) and David 

& Goliath. Bulgaria’s Ljiljana Dimitrova Orchestra 

makes a guest appearance. 

1965. Jovan Soldatović makes study visits to 

Paris and London. Matt Collins and the Dolphins 

perform in Beočin. 

1966. The Great retrospective exhibition of 

Milenko Šerban is staged in Belgrade. Đuro 

Vida Mandić, beauty of the Beočin amateur theatre

24 


House of Koruška (Carinthia), today’s Koruška 

čarda, is opened in the Fruška Gora National 

Park. 

1968. The Great retrospective exhibition of 

Milenko Šerban reaches Novi Sad. 

1969. Radio Beočin is established on 9 th March. 

Its first chief editor is Nikola Ćirilović. 

1970. The October Award, the highest recognition 

in the Municipality of Beočin, is established. 

1971. Vitomir Ljubičić and Đorđe Mol dovanović, 

a champion of drama and a conductor 

of the Serbian National Theatre in 

Novi Sad, are both engaged to work with 

Beočin amateurs. The Beočin Culture Centre 

is founded. The town hosts poets Desanka 

Maksimović, Mira Alečković, Dobrica Erić 

and Ljubivoje Ršumović. The Jovan Grčić 

Milenko Central Library is established in 

Beočin, with regional offices in the Village of 

Beočin, Rakovac, Čerević and Lug. 

1972. The ‘Sava’ Inter-Republic Culture 

Community is formed. Beočin finds its place 

among the twelve municipalities selected 

from Srem, Mačva, Jadar, Drina, Semberija 

and part of Slavonia. In December an exhibition 

of the works of Sava Šumanović is staged 

in Beočin. 

1973. Beočin hosts the Srem Festival of Ama - 

teur Theatre for the first time. The Isa Medaković 

Musical Youth Centre and Library is 

founded. 

1974. Belgrade hosts another major retrospective 

exhibition of Milenko Šerban’s 

work. That same year his Great retrospective 

exhibition reaches Sremska Mitrovica. Beočin 

Culture Centre is demolished. Sculptor 

Cvijo Popović exhibits in the Gallery of Naive 

Art in Jagodina (then the town of Sve - 

tozarevo). 

1975. Jovan Soldatović is appointed as a professor 

at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad. A 

charter is signed twinning Beočin and Bosnia’s 

Ugljevik. 

1977. Filming begins at the Rakovac Quarry 

for the short feature film Pinki, written by 

Pero Zubac and starring Beočin-born Miodrag 

Trajković. 

1978. The publication Omladinski informator 

(Youth informer) is launched under founding 

editor-in-chief Radomir Joković and deputy 

editor Nikola Doroški. The Photo-Cinema 

Club stages an exhibition of photographs by 

Stevan Lazukić. The ‘Stojan Vukosavljević’ 

Radio Club is formed. 

1979. Over 28,000 books are borrowed from 

the Jovan ‘Grčić’ Milenko Library during the 

course of this year! The library has 2,100 

members. 

1980. The Homeland Museum in Čerević 

opens its doors. The Brile Society performs 

in Šid, Bela Palanka and Cazin. 

Communications tower on Fruška Gora 

1983. Beočin and Negotin are twinned.

A playground in Beočin 


1984. The Brile Society performs in Austria. 

A formal decision is taken to rebuild the 

Culture Centre. 

1986. Jovan Soldatović receives the Order of 

Service to the Nation with Gold Star. 

1987. The new culture centre is constructed, 

becoming the first dedicated building 

of its type in Beočin. It is now home to the 

Beočin Culture Centre. The first ballet performance 

in the history of Beočin – Sergei 

Prokofiev’s Cinderella – is performed on 5 th 

May by the Serbian National Theatre of Novi 

Sad. The first night-long opera performance 

– Gioachino Rossini’s Barber of Seville – is 

staged on 19 th June by the Opera of the Serbian 

National Theatre. 

1996. A charter is signed twinning Beočin 

and Montenegro’s Herceg Novi. 

1997. Two major retrospective exhibitions of 

Milenko Šerban are staged in Belgrade (third 

time) and Novi Sad (second time). 

1998. Television Beočin begins broadcasting 

under the guidance of editor-in-chief Sekula 

Petrović. 

2000. The foundations are laid for the Church 

of St. Vasilija the Miraculous in Beočin. 

2001. World-renowned cement manufacturer 

Lafarge takes over the Beočin cement factory. 

2003. The ‘Saint Trifun’ Association of wine 

growers & winemakers is established in 

Banoštor. The Forest Community of Beočin 

marks the centenary of its foundation, using 

the occasion to donate timber from Beočin 

for the construction of wooden elements of 

the magnificent St. Sava Temple in Belgrade. 

2005. Celebrated local sculptor Jovan Soldatović 

passes away in Novi Sad. Following 

the long dominance of plum farming, peaches 

finally become the crop of preference in 

Beočin’s orchards. 

2009. After thirteen years of construction, 

the building of the Beočin Sports Centre is 

unveiled. 

2010. A monograph of Beočin is published, 

entitled Beočin - In the embrace of the Danube 

and the Fruška Gora – representing the 

first complete chronicle of the municipality, 

which you are now reading.


26 

FIRST GLANCE 

On the northern edge of the splendid Fruška Gora and 

the right bank of the mighty Danube lies Beočin, a town 

with a rich history and perhaps an even richer future. Today 

this Srem town is the seat of its own municipality and represents 

its economic, political, industrial, commercial, business, 

cultural and sporting centre. 

Thanks to its unique geographical position, Beočin 

has historically proved an ideal terminal point in Srem for 

numerous ferries, boats and ships. It is here that travellers 

crossed the Danube and journeyed on through Bačka 

to the north or crossed from Bačka, headed southwards 

through Srem. Goods and people have mainly been transported 

via Beočin, but occasionally also "books and dangerous 

ideas". As such, many written records have been 

left behind and the history of the region can be reliably followed 

from the time of the Roman Empire. Furthermore, 

post-WWII archaeological research allows us to see what 

life was like in Beočin and the surrounding settlements 

during even earlier periods. 

This town certainly owes its origin and development to 

the prevailing natural conditions, the climate and quality of 

soil. The area’s suitability for agriculture, as well as forests 

rich with game and timber, the powerful river abundant 

with fish and other treasures, have all provided great opportunities 

for work and life, offering broad horizons. 

The town and municipality afford great importance 

to the Serbian Orthodox monasteries erected here in the 

Middle Ages – probably on the sites of earlier churches and 

monasteries. Of the twenty monasteries that still exist on 

the Fruška Gora, the most important for Beočin are the one 

with which is shares a name and that of Rakovac. These 

spiritual centres have led the population and indelibly 

marked the whole area, nobly enshrining its high spirituality 

and culture. 

Another very important factor for the development of 

Beočin and this part of Srem – the fourth factor on our list, 

if we are counting – is undoubtedly the Beočin cement factory, 

which is now in the family of one of Europe’s economic 

giants. The emergence and growth of the factory in the first 

half of the nineteenth century marked the start of modern 

industrial production throughout the region. It led to the 

sudden and qualitative urbanisation of this area, ushering 

in everything associated with such a process. 

1 

2 

“Link to Futog and 

the white world”: 

Ferry in Beočin 

The favourite place 

for fishermen, 

painters and 

photographers: 

Sandbanks on the 

Danube near Beočin 

Ferries & boats 

“For centuries a wide 

array of vessels have 

sailed from one bank 

to the other; coming 

and going between 

this neighbourhood 

and the distant world 

of the unknown. And 

to this day ferries 

cross the Danube 

in the Beočin area, 

transporting goods 

and passengers 

between Bačka and 

Srem in the absence 

of bridges. At one 

point Beočin was even 

a port of call for the 

regular river transport 

line between Novi Sad 

and Ilok. However, 

with the arrival of the 

raging winter and the 

freezing of the river, 

ferries and boats were 

forced to stop. There 

were also mild winters, 

like that of 1957 to 

‘58, when jetties, piers 

and rowing boats were 

left in the water from 

late autumn to early 

spring.” (Letopis, 1994)

NARRATIVE HISTORY 

1 

2 

27


28 

Beočin has been the seat of the municipality since 1953, 

holding sway over its other settlements of Čerević, Rakovac, 

Susek, Lug, Banoštor, Sviloš and Grabovo. According to the 

2002 census, the municipality covers 183 square kilometres 

and is home to 16,086 inhabitants. The majority are Serbs 

(10,967), with the remainder comprised of numerous ethnic 

communities. Beočin (with village) has 8,058 inhabitants, 

Čerević 2,826, Rakovac 1,989, Susek 1,132, Lug 801, Banoštor 

780, Sviloš 362, Grabovo 138 and Brazilija 1,300.Serbs make 

up the majority in all settlements except the Lug, where the 

dominant population is ethnically Slovak. 

Today Beočin is part of Serbia within the province of 

Vojvodina, which itself is traditionally divided between the 

districts of Banat, Bačka and Srem. The Town of Beočin and 

all other villages of the municipality belong geographically 

to Srem, though they are administratively part of South 

Bačka District. 

Historians have written at length about the history of 

Pannonia and the Serbs living in it; about the history of the 

Serbs within the Habsburg monarchy, in Hungary and, finally, 

in Vojvodina. The Serbian Vojvodina, or rather the Serbian 

Duchy and Tamiš Banat, was formed as a separate province in 

1849 and abolished in 1860. Although short-lived, it illustrated 

the seemingly eternal aspirations of the Serbian people to 

maintain all essential elements of their identity and preserve 

their ethnic, religious, political and other specificities in a 

state essentially not considered their own. When its creation 

was declared in 1848 it included parts of Banat, Bačka, Srem 

and Baranja. However, by the time the Serbian Vojvodina and 

Tamiš Banat was created in 1849 the territory of the province 

had been significantly expanded and the Serbian majority 

duly minimised. Even so, it did not last long and was abolished, 

as mentioned, in 1860. Nevertheless, the name Serbian 

Vojvodina, or simply Vojvodina, remained in the minds of the 

people. Even in the post-1918 period, following the creation 

of the first joint state of the southern Slavs, the name and 

concept of Vojvodina endured. On the whole, though, it was 

the subject of speculation among various political parties and 

interests - in complete juxtaposition to the actual historical 

meaning of Vojvodina. Finally, in 1945, the Autonomous 

Province of Vojvodina was formed within the then People’s 

Republic of Serbia and it still exists to this day. 

Srem (or Syrmia), however, according to some theories, 

was named after the Roman metropolis of Sirmium on the 

Sava River, which lies underneath modern-day Sremska 

1 

2 

Can one use a picture 

of a garden to express 

a history that to date 

has mainly served as 

a battlefield? Beočin 

Monastery Park 

and flower beds 

being planted 

in Beočin town 

Vestiges 

Many archaeological 

discoveries have been 

made on the territory 

of today’s Beočin 

settlements. Indeed, 

a separate book 

would be required 

simply to record their 

number, describe 

and date them. The 

site of a settlement 

lies on the hill above 

Čerević, with layers 

clearly visible from 

the Neolithic period, 

Copper Age and 

Bronze Age. Relics of 

Bronze Age pottery 

also exist at various 

other sites, such is in 

Sviloš. This testifies to 

the settling of a wide 

area around Beočin 

and the surrounding 

villages since the dawn 

of man.


1 

2 

29


30 

Mitrovica. No reliable evidence confirms when the name 

of Sirmium spread to refer to the entire area, but there are 

several reasons to suggest this had already occurred by the 

early Middle Ages. 

The region of Srem has also seen its borders change. The 

name originally referred to the area immediately surrounding 

the town of Mitrovica. By the time of medieval Hungary, 

though, it had grown to become the Duchy of Srem, which 

included only the eastern part of modern Srem, the area 

between the Sava and Danube rivers, with Ilok the most 

westerly settlement. Srem covered a much wider area in the 

medieval Serbian state, including the district to the south 

of the Sava (Mačva, Jadar ...). The people of Dubrovnik, 

for instance, believed Mount Rudnik to be located in 

Srem. Following liberation from Ottoman rule at the 

end of the 17 th century, Srem was considered by both the 

Hungarian and the Croat-Slavonia leaderships as covering 

both the former counties of Srem and Vukovar. Following 

the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 and the transformation 

of the Habsburg Empire into the Dual Monarchy 

of Austria-Hungary, the former military border area was 

abolished and a special county was formed, with the town of 

Vukovar as its capital. Serbs in the region considered Srem 

to include the territory directly belonging to the Karlovac 

Archdiocese, which meant the County of Srem without 

Vinkovci county and district, but with the Osijek Field. 

Following the country’s liberation in 1945, eastern 

Srem became part of the People’s Republic of Serbia within 

the province of Vojvodina, while western Srem, along with 

Baranja, became part of the People’s Republic of Croatia. 

Both republics then belonged to a single country - the Demo 

cratic Federal Yugoslavia, later to become the Federal 

People’s Republic of Yugoslavia and finally the Socialist 

Fe deral Republic of Yugoslavia. That country collapsed into 

civil war in 1991/92 and the two parts of Srem found 

the mselves divided between two different countries: the 

Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Croatia. 

All about the name and references 

According to preserved sources, the name Beočin is first 

mentioned in Medieval Latin documents. Within Papal 

district listings from 1436 we find the name Belcsin, mentioned 

as the Catholic parish of priest Valentine. This priest, 

along with Kamenica priest Tom, joined the Hussites and 

1 

Faithful to his 

nest and never 

losing orientation to 

return: the famous 

Čerević stork 

Malata Bononia 

This fortification, to 

date the only Roman 

building of its kind to 

be found beside the 

Danube, was most 

probably constructed 

in the first century BC 

and remained in use 

for several hundred 

years. Situated beside 

the main road linking 

Malata Bononia to 

Sirmium, the fort 

served as a forward 

position for the 

Roman defensive lines 

beside the mighty 

river. It was manned 

by the oldest Roman 

auxiliary infantrymen 

of the Cohors secunda 

Alpinorum equitata, 

while the territory of 

modern Beočin was 

the site of the Ala I 

Civium Romanorum 

encampment. During 

Rome’s domination of 

the area Srem became 

part of the province 

of Pannonia Secunda, 

later renamed 

Pannonia Sirmiensis.


1 

31


32 

managed to escape the persecution of inquisitor Jacob de 

Marchia by fleeing to Moldova to translate Holy Scripture 

into the Hungarian language, in the spirit of the Hussites. 

It should be noted during this period the area in and 

around Beočin was awash with Hussites, “apostates of the 

Catholic Church”, as they were officially called. Evidence 

of this is found in a letter of Srem Bishop Jakob, dated 25 th 

March 1437, stating that the Hussites had crossed from upper 

Hungary into Srem. It was for this reason that Pope Eugene IV 

sent the aforementioned Jacob de Marchia to Srem that same 

year, 1437, with an inquisitor’s authority and orders to “suppress 

heresy”, regardless of the means and methods applied. The 

inquisitor only partly succeeded in carrying out his orders, 

prompting him to seek assistance from the king of Hungary. 

During this period the Catholic Bishop of Srem resided 

in Banoštor (Bani Monasterium), where Bishop Innocentia 

(1231-1232) housed his headquarters and built a temple. The 

best assumption is that the Episcopal seat of the area prior to 

the schism was in Dombo (now Dumbovo). Interestingly, archaeological 

research in this area has revealed the remains of 

a Byzantine Orthodox church underneath the Catholic church, 

as confirmed by the discovery of a mosaic. Regardless, it seems 

that Dombo, or Dumbo, was a much more important place than 

Beočin during this period. Archaeological research has also 

uncovered ceramic teeth for weaving and pot vessels from the 

1 st century BC at this site. More importantly, research at the 

site has revealed the ruins of three buildings, one of which is 

a blacksmith’s with a forge and smith’s tools still intact, while 

the second is a watchtower at the entrance to the valley. The 

objects are primitive earthenware items. 

The name Beucsin first appeared following the expulsion 

of the Ottoman Turks from Srem in the late 17 th century. 

According to the Serbian version of how the place was 

named, monks from Rača by the Drina constructed a monastery 

in the mid 15 th century and called it Beo Čin: simply, 

‘White Deed’. However, such a method for naming a place 

would be unique and is, thus, highly unlikely. The same can 

be said for the nearby Sentić wasteland, which is unlikely 

– despite popular opinion – to have been derived from the 

Hungarian word Szendere. 

Selections of ancient history 

The first historically relevant inhabitants of the territory 

we today know as Vojvodina were an Illyrian tribe known 

1 

Can we stop, 

can we see, can 

we understand? 

A view of the 

Danube from Beočin 

View of Inspiration 

“He stood on that hill, 

that sandbank above 

a parched seabed, 

and there, across the 

mythical river, he 

read the light over the 

first plain. He looked 

translucently up and 

down, into the past 

and the future, he saw 

and felt everything; 

he was at peace with 

everyone. He thought: 

Thank you, Lord, for 

gifting me just this 

land, while I wait to 

return to my heavenly 

homeland, this sky and 

this river. I will be able 

to love, understand and 

protect here. This will be 

my country, my sky and 

my river.”


1 

33


as the Autariatae, who most likely lived on the territory of 

Bačka and Srem. The Illyrians inhabited a wide area of the 

Balkan Peninsula known as Illyricum. The region of today’s 

Srem was settled by the Illyrian Amantini and Breuci tribes, 

and it was actually the Breuci that first settled the area of 

Fruška Gora beside the Danube and are, therefore, of interest 

to us. This was an important Illyrian tribe that led a valiant 

but unsuccessful revolt against the Romans from 6 to 9 

AD. Then the ancient Celtic Scordisci tribe, upon their defeat 

at the hands of the Romans in around 85 BC, crossed the 

Sava into Srem and then crossed the Danube into Banat. 

The city of Sirmium was one of the most important centres 

of Roman power at the time. This large, wealthy, strongly 

fortified town was the centre of the entire province and a 

bastion of Roman dominance over the region. In addition to 

this metropolis, the area’s Roman defensive zone, the Limes, 

included a number of smaller but, for the period, equally 

important forts and settlements that the Romans occupying 

Srem had constructed as a Limes along the Danube. The 

left bank of the Danube belonged to the nomadic Iazyges 

(Jazyges) tribe of the Sarmatian people and, keen to install 

defences to repel them, Emperor Augustus gave orders for 

a series of fortifications to be built on the Srem side of 

the river: Cornacum (Vukovar), Cuccium (Ilok), Bononia 

(Banoštor) Burgene (Banovci), Cusum (Petrovaradin), 

Acuminicum (Slankamen) etc. The whole system of fortifications 

represented the Roman defensive barrier protecting 

Pannonia from various marauding tribes and hordes seeking 

to plunder Roman territory. It was precisely to protect the 

empire from such tribes that the Limes were constructed. 

Middle Ages: phases and stirrings 

The final division of the Roman Empire into the Western 

and Eastern empires saw Srem, in accordance with Emperor 

Theodosius I’s decree of 395AD, given to the Byzantine 

Empire. The region, thus, entered the territorial boundaries 

of the Eastern Empire. This would determine – perhaps 

decisively, though initially unthinkingly – the destiny of all 

future generations, religiously, culturally and politically. In 

the centuries that followed the 1054 schism of the Church, 

there were many unsuccessful, often bloody, attempts to 

overturn that deeply embedded division. 

Around 580AD the Ancient Avars invaded and settled the 

area. Sources say that the Avar Khagan (emperor) resided at 

34 

1 

View from Mount 

Fruška Gora: Silver 

artery through 

a timeless forest 

Observation 

“With Pavliš, as he 

says the ‘Danube 

Hill’, he observed 

from there the great 

Danube’s waters, 

like the first and a 

later man, and on 

its countless waves 

and water currents 

he recognised the 

harsh, vengeful logic 

of transience and 

death. He sang of his 

homeland: “White bird 

beside the Danube, her 

wings spread; that bird 

is my village, protected 

by a fairy.”


1 

35


36 

Mursi (Croatia’s Osijek), before breaking camp and heading 

for Bononia (Banoštor). In the period of mass migration, this 

area was dominated by the Huns, then the Ostrogoths and 

later the Gepids. Srem, however, remained under the Avars 

until the fall of their nation in 769. After that it became the 

scene of fighting between Bulgars and Franks. The Bulgars 

conquered Srem in 832 and the region remained under 

their control until the death of Emperor Simeon in 927. The 

Bulgars established the episcopacy at Mitrovica in 865, as a 

subordinate of Archbishopric of Ohrid. Upon Simeon’s death 

Srem was briefly occupied by the Magyars, until Bulgarian 

Emperor Samuel managed to retake it. Then Byzantium reemerged 

as the master of this territory and by the second 

half of the 11 th century the Magyar Hungarians had developed 

into an ever-more powerful force in the region. 

Byzantium would no longer play a significant role in this 

area, but it was during this period that the Serbian nation began 

to encroach more and more from the south. This would 

mark the start of the history of Serbia’s varied and often complicated 

relations with the Hungarians. In the third decade of 

the 13 th century Banoštor became the residence of a Catholic 

Bishop tasked with converting the “Slavs and Greeks” of Srem 

to “Latin Rites and obedience to the Roman church”. The 

13 th century witnessed frequent conflicts between Serbs and 

Hungarians for supremacy of Srem. In 1268, for example, 

Uroš I entered Mačva with designs to conquer the province. 

He came into conflict with the daughter of Hungarian 

King Bela IV, the widow of Rastislav Mihajlović. Uroš was 

captured during the fighting that then broke out. However, 

Uroš’s sons, Milutin and Dragutin, managed to forge good 

relations with the Hungarians –with Dragutin marrying the 

daughter of the Hungarian King and Milutin taking a wife 

of Hungarian nobility. Dragutin relinquished his crown to 

his brother Milutin at an assembly in Deževo in 1282, afterwards 

heading north, where he was granted great regions to 

command by the Hungarian king, whose own son-in-law had 

fought against the Byzantine Empire. Among other territories 

under Dragutin’s control, there were Srem, present-day 

Mačva and Jadar, Belgrade and, west of the Drina, Usora and 

Soli (now Tuzla). By taking these lands Dragutin practically 

formed a second Serbian kingdom, a northern realm, and 

began to become known as the “Sremki King”. By then the 

Serbian state was already firmly holding sway over this area 

too. From the time of this ruler, and particularly during the 

14 th and 15 th centuries, Serbia’s influence grew significantly 

1 

Pilgrimage: 

The miraculous 

icon of the Virgin 

of Beočin (kept at 

Beočin Monastery) 

Cross 

The presence of 

Christianity was 

recorded in this 

region very early. This 

is evidenced, for 

example, by the 

hagiography of the 

saintly martyr Irinej, 

Bishop of Srem, 

who was slain for 

his faith in 304AD, 

during the reign of 

Emperor Diocletian. 

The modern name 

of Sremska (D) 

Mitrovica, formerly 

Sirmium, was derived 

from the name 

of St. Demetrius, 

protector of this city 

(and protector of 

Thessalonica, where 

his mortal remains 

still reside).


1 

37


in Srem. In Mitrovica, for example, a Serbian Orthodox monastery 

existed from as early as 1344, while by the second half 

of the 14 th century great numbers of Serbs had populated the 

Fruška Gora and the Danube area. According to records, in 

1372 “believers” received permission to build a monastery 

and church in Čerević, “in the Serbian neighbourhood”. 

The Hungarians, who’d settled the Pannonian plain at 

the end of 9 th century, managed to establish a strong and 

stable state relatively quickly. The turning point in their 

history had been the acceptance of Christianity and the 

receiving of the royal crown from Rome in 1001AD. With 

this crown, the then ruler of Hungary, King Stephen I, also 

received the title of “Apostle” from Rome and, upon his 

the death, the right to be listed in the order of saints. The 

Hungarians have remained ardent defenders of the Catholic 

faith since then. With such a mindset, the stage was set for 

wars against the Bogumils in Bosnia and Srem. 

Srem felt the expansion of Serbian, Hungarian and even 

other influences heavily during the 15 th century. The Serbian 

element came to the fore when Despot Stefan Lazarević became 

the largest landholder of Srem. Alongside Serbs and 

Hungarians, there were also Slavic Catholics, Slavic Bo gumils 

from Bosnia and even numbers of Hungarian Hussites. 

However, by 1437 Serbs represented the vast majo ri ty of 

Srem’s inhabitants. Great estates in this area also belon ged to 

Serbian despots Đurđe Branković, Vuk Grgurević Branković, 

Stevan and Dimitrija Jakšić (who received Small and Large 

Sviloš after 1477). By 1478 Čerević had 86 whole and 41 half 

manor estates, divided between a Hungarian and a Serbian 

part. At the end of the 15 th century despot Stevan Štiljanović 

moved from Montenegro to Srem, while the Serbian element 

continued to grow during the 16 th century, when Hungarian 

and other Catholic inhabitants fled to the north in advance of 

a Turkish invasion. The remaining Slavic-pagan and Hussite- 

Bogumil population vanished over time, either in the wars 

that followed or by converting to the Orthodox Faith. From 

that period onwards, we are able to access – to our benefit 

– more reliable data allowing us to follow the history of the 

settlements of today’s Beočin Municipality (which we will 

deal with in a separate chapter of this book). 

TURKISH PERIOD: FIERY DARKNESS 

The inhabitants of Europe, particularly southern and 

southeast Europe, were living in fear of an Ottoman Turk 

38 

1 

2 

3 

4 

Keepers of memories: 

Homeland Museum 

in Čerević 

Autochthony 

In the second half of 

the 20 th century it was 

generally accepted 

that the period from 

the 5 th to the 7 th 

centuries AD marked 

the Great Migration 

of the Slavs. However, 

numerous recent 

research studies, as 

well as archaeological 

and historical 

finds, indicate that 

the true image of 

the South Slavs, 

primarily the Serbs 

and Croats, could 

differ considerably 

from the accepted 

belief that they settled 

the Balkan Peninsula 

in the 5 th and 6 th 

centuries. Serious 

grounds exist 

to consider the 

possibility of an 

autochthonous Slavic 

population on this 

territory, or at least 

one that was present 

long before the Great 

Slav Migration.


1 

2 

3 4 

39


40 

invasion from the mid 14 th century. Having created a 

strong state in Asia, with an army that had proven unbeatable 

to date, the Ottomans destroyed everybody who stood 

before them. In less than two centuries they occupied a 

significant part of the European continent. The Turkish 

onslaught would only be halted as late as the 17 th century, 

in front of Vienna’s city walls, prompting the start of their 

gradual retreat. 

Nations fell like dominoes in the face of the Turkish 

advance: Serbia, Bulgaria, the Byzantine Empire, Bosnia, 

Herzegovina and, in the first half of the 16 th century, Hungary. 

At that time Srem and Beočin found themselves within 

the Turkish super state. 

The Serbs of Srem began to gradually strengthen in numbers 

from the start of the 16 th century. Mass migrations from 

parts of Bosnia and Serbia already occupied by the Turks, 

coupled with the retreat of Srem’s Hungarian population, led 

to that area becoming completely Serbianised by the beginning 

of the 16 th century. As previously noted, many Serbian 

despots lived in Srem and held sway over great estates at the 

time. The weight of Serbian power and Serbia’s fragile position 

is best demonstrated by the fact that Serbs actually 

fought on both sides in the wars waged by Hungary against 

the Ottoman Turks. For example, the Turkish arrival in Srem 

in 1521 also saw the arrival of around 20,000 southern Serbs, 

who’d been able to join the Turks on condition that they ally 

themselves to the Ottomans and pay a tribute. Serbs also had 

to join the Turkish army. For example, Turkish fortifications 

at Ilok were manned by around 400 armed Serbs in 1529. 

The Turkish threat to Srem became evident in the 

second half of the 16 th century. There were frequent skirmishes, 

plundering raids and small battles, such as one at 

Čerević in 1462, which the Turks lost. Despite being torn 

by internal conflicts, such as the peasants’ revolt of Gyorgy 

Dózsa, Hungary managed to resist the Turkish onslaught 

for quite a long time. However, they lacked the strength to 

endure an exhausting century-long conflict. The advancing 

Turks avoided fortifications and defended settlements during 

their aggressive campaigns, but they razed everything 

else in their wake, besieging cities and forts. 

Novi Sad’s Petrovaradin Fortress fell into Turkish hands 

on 28 th July 1526. In the days that followed a similar fate befell 

the settlements of Kamenica, Banoštor, Beočin, Čerević, 

Susek, Sviloš and, finally, Ilok Castle on 8 th August. The 

Turks also quickly conquered Bačka and, relentlessly con- 

1 

2 

From the lithographs 

of maestro Mihaelo 

Troha: Monasteries 

Beočin and Rakovac 

as they appeared in 

the 19 th century 

Appearance 

“The earliest fine art 

depictions of Beočin 

Monastery are on 

the lithographs of 

Petrovaradin-born 

artist Mihaelo Troha 

from 1837 to 1841,” 

writes Vojislav 

Matić. “The monastery 

complex is shown 

from the approach 

side and the northwest 

(more attractive) 

side. This drawing also 

shows the first artistic 

representation of the 

old chapel. Similar 

details are provided by 

an engraving created 

around the mid-19 th 

century. Both artistic 

impressions indicate 

the changes to the 

monastery that were 

made during the major 

renovation of 1893.”


1 

2 

41


tinuing their campaign, roundly defeated the Hungarians 

at Mohács during the same month. 

UNDER THE HAPSBURGS: 

WOUNDS AND ORGANISATION 

Life became relatively peaceful for the people of Beočin 

in the period of Turkish rule that followed the Battle of 

Mohács. The Beočin area was an Ottoman sanjak (district) 

deep within Turkish lands, far from the front lines. However, 

the outbreak of the Polish/Hapsburg – Ottoman War (1683- 

1699), which saw Turkey attempt to capture the capital of 

the Holy Roman Empire (Vienna), marked the end of that 

particular period of peace in Srem. This war of attrition saw 

Srem come under attack during European attempts to repel 

the Turks. Terrible destruction and suffering followed. Many 

details from the period have not been preserved, but the 

suffering of the people is captured eloquently in the case of 

the destruction of Rakovac Monastery and the brutal murders 

of the abbot and resident monks (a detailed description 

of this event can be found in Slavko Gavrilović’s book Srem 

from the end of the 17 th to the mid-18 th centuries, published 

by the Novi Sad Faculty of Philosophy and the Institute of 

History, Novi Sad, 1979). 

Srem’s development flowed along two lines until the 

Austro-Turkish War of 1716-18: Odescalchi’s Srem and the 

Petrovaradin Chamber/border government. As such, there 

was often territorial overlap between Odescalchi’s Srem 

and the Petrovaradin border government. The Petrovaradin 

Chamber/border government had primarily been established 

to collect revenue considered as imperial (Austro-Hungarian) 

or state funds. Even a simple count of the many various contributions 

and their means of collection would require extensive 

work and represent a special study. For example, revenue 

collected from taverns or Gypsies, the so-called “Gypsy 

tribute”, which saw members of the nation forced to pay a 

tribute purely on the basis of their ethnic origin. 

With the handover of Srem into the possession of Balt 

hazar Erba-Odescalchi, successor of the late Prince Livio 

Odescalchi, in 1714, it became evident that the territory in 

question had been reduced in line with a supposed imperial 

debt. Accordingly, some settlements, including Neštin, 

Čerević and Banoštor, were designated as a military border 

area – having previously been occupied by Serbian militia 

during the Rakocija Uprising. 

42 

1 

2 

Many of the famous, 

anointed or crowned 

with immeasurable 

gifts have passed 

through here: 

Old Beočin lane 

Beočin Monastery, 

1934 

Lords 

Count Butler von 

Clonebough, who 

took possession 

of Čerević in 1723 

from the daughter 

and heir of Baron 

Heinrich Nehem, 

treated the peasants 

very poorly, as is most 

commonly mentioned 

in numerous 

complaints. It was 

no better under the 

count purportedly 

known as Count 

Chirnhaus, landholder 

of 1724, against 

whom a genuine 

revolt sparked. The 

Chamber sold the 

manor in 1727 to 

Count O'Dwyer, then 

commander of the 

Osijek Fortress. After 

his death it was 

bought by Count 

Friedrich Cavriani, 

who leased it to Adam 

Čupor in 1734...


1 

2 

43


44 

POST-OTTOMAN: PLAGUE, 

BANDITS, PROGRESS 

The late 17 th and early 18 th centuries proved to be an 

extremely difficult and unhappy period for the population 

of Srem and, thus, the Fruška Gora settlements. First of all, 

during the last two decades of the 17 th century the region 

regularly witnessed military conflict. The heavy fighting 

that took place from 1683 to 1699 between the Hapsburg 

Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire largely occurred on the 

territory of the Balkan Peninsula. Srem, unfortunately, was 

no exception. There were frequent raids, looting, burning, 

destruction and mass murder; the population was forcibly 

displaced or forced to flee the seemingly endless misery. 

One of the most important consequences of this war 

was the suppression of the Turks on land beside the Danube 

and Sava rivers, which saw most of Srem – including the 

territory relevant to this monograph – returned to the control 

of a European, Christian nation (Austria). Then, in the 

first decades of the 18 th century, the new Austro-Turkish 

wars were fought on this territory, further endangering 

lives. When the borders along the Sava and Danube were 

irrevocably determined in 1739, a long period of stability 

and continuity was finally ushered on (the area’s stability 

would not even be endangered with the resurrection of the 

Serbian state in the early 19 th century.) 

An interesting account has preserved the cultural situation 

in Srem during the 18 th century. Namely, back in 1767, 

Dr Markovski, a county physician, described the Srem people 

of Fruška Gora as a robust, tall people with dark eyes 

and hair, a fierce temperament and durability in business, 

who, despite an unhygienic way of life, tend to live to a ripe 

old age. The homes in which they live, he says, are particularly 

scant, or better to say wretched. 

In connection with the plague epidemic of 1795, doctors 

Štrand and Kitl reported that a large number of people 

were living in dugouts or narrow houses that air barely entered. 

There were also houses without windows, with windows 

meaning holes in walls, because glass represented an 

unimaginable luxury. Often the only light entering homes 

came through doors. 

Clothing was also flimsy. Taube recorded in the 18 th century 

that children were naked and barefoot in the winter, 

wearing nothing except a shirt. Men wore red hats on their 

heads, like fezzes. Adults’ clothing was made of linen or 

1 

2 

Čerević, two images 

in time: Were those 

phases were more 

external or internal? 

Nicknames 

“Many Čerević 

households have their 

own special nickname. 

Some gained their 

nicknames due 

to an ancestral 

characteristic, 

occupation or the part 

of the village they 

settled; in recognition 

of the name of a 

grandfather or some 

insult. The Stanković 

family are called 

Krvopije (Bloodsuckers), 

the Stefanovićs were 

called Sprtovi (Sprts), 

the Vukelićs are 

Opančari (Opanak 

makers), the Marunkić 

family are Brkini 

(Moustached), the 

Zarićs are Irižani 

(Irig folk), the Vasićs 

Ribarovi (Fishermen), 

the Savićs Vecini 

(Veks), the Cvejićs are 

Apotekarovi (Chemists) 

and the Baćanovićs 

are Pekmezarovi 

(Jam-makers).” 

(Leposava Klajić)


1 

2 

45


cloth, sewn and woven by the local women. Women dressed 

“Turkish style”, with a head scar covering their shoulders. 

Generally the people retained many of the Turkish 

customs, words and habits. They even sat in the Turkish 

way, cross-legged on the floor. 

Weddings lasted up to a week. And those attending 

would eat and drink so much that the money spent would be 

enough for the happy couple to live on for months. Wakes 

lasted for up to three days and people drank at them, often 

singing loudly. “The custom of kissing the deceased was 

firmly rooted in the culture and even led to disease, especially 

in summer when flies gather and swarm. It is rare to 

see a man with no pockmarks or other disease scars.” 

Things only started to improve from 1849. 

NEW HISTORY: CEMENT & VISIONARIES 

It is not reliably known who first discovered Beočin’s 

“kaja” (cement) and the value of its properties to the construction 

industry. Though it is assumed that the cement’s 

use was established much earlier, the oldest surviving records 

of the local cement are from 1839. That year Beočin’s 

lime-rich marlstone was used to build a chain bridge between 

Buda and Pest. Construction was managed by engineer 

Adam Clerk, who personally insisted on the use of 

Beočin cement. 

Historian Futó Mihály notes that in 1855 Apatin-born 

miller Josif Čik, of the Viennese company Wiener Waser 

Baumto, bought the Beočin quarry for the princely sum of 

100 Hungarian Forints. That year is today considered as the 

official start of industrial production in Beočin. 

Five years later, in 1860, Beočin welcomed a new resident: 

Austrian Heinrich Orenstein, another visionary whose 

ventures would mark an important chapter in the history of 

this part of Srem. Orenstein leased 20 hectares of land from 

the Beočin Monastery (or rather the Administration of the 

Serbian Church’s national funds in Sremski Karlovci) and 

began production of cement. His competition with Čik, enlightening 

and very stimulating for both parties, would last 

for the next 37 years, until the death of the latter. 

At that time both cement plants were producing socalled 

Roman Cement. Čik, however, surged ahead in leaps 

and bounds. In 1867 he attended the World Exhibition in 

Paris and studied the latest developments in the production 

of building materials. Wanting to discover the hid- 

46 

1 

2 

Early 20 th century: 

transporting cement 

by cart from the 

Beočin cement factory 

Cement is also 

delivered by barges: 

loading from the 

makeshift pier 

in Beočin 

Depth 

The Hungarian 

population, even 

during the period of 

their nation’s zenith, 

only comprised a thin 

layer of the ruling 

classes in Srem. The 

main support for 

their power came 

from nobles and the 

Catholic Church. In 

Srem we find a 

predominantly 

Orthodox population 

from the time 

of Cyril and 

Methodius. During 

this period, apart from 

the name of the town 

of Mitrovica, there are 

reminders of names 

of other places, as 

well as settlements 

bearing the names 

of saints Peter, 

Paul and Michael 

(Petrovci, Pavlovci and 

Mihaljevci). Srem’s 

major fortifications of 

this era are Zemun, 

Kupinovo, Mitrovica, 

Vrdnik, Slankamen, 

Varadin, Ilok, 

Šarengrad and Erdut.


1 

2 

47


48 

den recipe for a newly emerging type of cement, Portland 

cement, he travelled from Paris to England, where he secretly 

took up employment at a local cement factory. After 

learning all he required, Čik moved to Vienna and at one 

point was engaged as a construction engineer at the city’s 

Polytechnic. He then returned to Beočin and completely 

modernised his factory. 

Orenstein, however, did not drop out of the race. The 

deposits of marlstone and limestone were rich enough 

for two plants. In 1869, in order to provide new capital 

to improve his production, Orenstein formed a partnership 

with Schpitzer & Redlich, practically building a 

brand new factory. He again leased the land of his factories 

and quarry from the Beočin Monastery (or rather the 

Administration of the Serbian Church’s national funds in 

Sremski Karlovci). At the same time, he set about buying 

rural estates at slightly higher prices than the (admittedly 

low) market price, with the former owners using the proceeds 

to buy large flats elsewhere or higher quality land for 

farming. Orenstein invested in shipping and built houses, 

large buildings and schools. 

For personal reasons, following Redlich’s divorce, the 

partnership was reconstructed in 1891 to include only 

Orenstein and Schpitzer. 

In late 1897 Josif Čik passed away. By 4 th January 1898 

Orenstein and Schpitzer had already bought Čik’s factory 

at auction, thereby finally uniting the two Beočin cement 

factories. The newly formed company would be called the 

Union Beočin Cement Factory Redlich, Orenstein and 

Schpitzer. 

In 1906 this partnership company was liquidated and its 

assets and liabilities were taken over by a newly established 

joint stock company, Beočin cement factory “Union”. The 

formation of this new company included capital investments 

by the Hungarian General Credit Bank from Budapest and 

the Austrian General Credit Institute (the leading bank of 

the Rothschild’s Viennese house). The company also built the 

railway line from Beočin to Petrovaradin and was then given 

the lease of Hungary’s state railways. The railway’s construction 

sped up the production of cement and also made it 

cheaper. It saw an end to winter restrictions on handling or 

transport (in winter, when ships are unable to navigate the 

river because of the ice, cement is smooth and traversable). 

In 1920, the newly established Kingdom of Yugoslavia 

introduced nationalisation. As a result of the enormous 

1 

2 

Between the two 

World Wars BFC 

worked to its 

maximum production 

capacities, due to 

the enormous needs 

of rebuilding the 

country 

A workers’ colony 

sprung up to cater 

to the needs of the 

Cement plant 

Caring for people 

Before World War 

II the BFC Workers’ 

Colony included 650 

apartments and a 

factory hospital with 

30 beds and a surgery 

theatre. There was 

also a dental clinic 

and workers’ baths, a 

national school with 

five grades and a civil 

engineering school 

with four grades, a 

crafts school and a 

nursery. The schools 

were staffed by 

seven teachers and 

attended by around 

400 pupils. Workers 

sought entertainment 

in the casino, cinema 

or sporting club. It 

was also installed with 

its own bakery and a 

warehouse shop for 

supplying workers with 

goods below market 

prices. The food in the 

workers’ canteen was 

very high quality.


1 

2 

49


needs of a country ravaged by war, production was focused 

primarily on the domestic market. A new dimension 

was also introduced to business – great consideration 

for the workers. 

1 

View of the Cement 

Factory during 

the first quarter 

of the 20 th century 

50 

CO-OPERATIVES 

Joining co-operatives, communities, business and other 

societies is a tradition of the Beočin area. This was not 

merely an economic and business act of rational self-interest, 

but often an expression of that beautiful antiquated notion 

of solidarity and community closeness. 

It was 30 th October 1899 when the last year of the 19 th 

century was marked in the village of Čerević by the founding 

of the Serbian Agricultural Workers Co-operative. By 

5 th August the next year such a co-operative had also 

been founded in the town of Beočin. The founding deeds 

for the new fellowship were signed by the first fourteen 

men of Beočin, each “with a single share”. They accepted 

that they would “all together and each for himself, jointly 

guarantee adherence to the terms of orders of the commercial 

law for all obligations of the co-operative.” At 

the Founding Assembly, Mr Sima Milutinović was elected 

president, alongside deputy Ljubomir Mirković, while one 

Bogdan Glumac, a teacher, was appointed organiser and 

supervisor. 

At the end of that year, 1900, the co-operative was accepted 

into the Union of Serbian Agricultural Workers 

Co-operatives in Austria-Hungary. As a start-up credit, the 

Beočin men were approved a loan of 4,000 kuna from the 

central coffers of the Serbian co-operative, which could be 

used, as was written “only for agricultural purposes and 

only gradually, according to the most stringent needs of the 

co-operative.” 

Soon after its founding, the co-operative welcomed 60 

farmers as new members. They were able to deposit money 

as savings, benefiting from an interest of five percent, while 

the co-operative would loan them up to 600 kruna. The 

Agricultural Workers Co-operative was founded in Rakovac 

in 1901 and Susek in 1905. The year 1903 was also particularly 

important for the development of this type of association 

in Beočin municipality, as it was then that an unusual 

forest community was established, with the local Serbian 

agricultural workers co-operative playing an important role 

in its creation. 

2 

The Hall of 

Orenstein, once 

co-owner of BFC 

Customisation 

Because of the 

considerable need 

for manpower in the 

process of cement 

production, capable 

workers were brought 

between the world 

wars from Lika, Banija 

and Kordun, from 

Bosnia, Herzegovina 

and Dalmatia. Though 

they came from 

completely different 

environments and 

lifestyles, and despite 

being torn by their 

nostalgia and old 

worries, the new 

workers of the cement 

factory quickly fit into 

the new environment, 

thanks to the caring 

community in which 

they had arrived, 

became economically 

independent and, in 

Beočin, gained their 

permanent home.


1 

2 

51


52 

Forest Community 

A forestry co-operative was established on 23 rd February 

1903 under the name “Property of the Forest Community 

of Beočin”. At that time Beočin had around three hundred 

houses that were home to 1,900 inhabitants. The marlstone 

rich land was not very fertile and phylloxera threatened 

to devastate the vineyards. Uncertainty loomed over 

everyone. The Forest Community then established an, albeit 

poor, co-operative of field hands and vineyard workers. 

They joined forces to buy 509 hectares of forestland 

on an area from Beočin town to the top of Brankovac on 

Fruška Gora. 

How did it happen? 

When hearing that a Jewish man named Kron, then a 

known capitalist, was selling a major forest estate on the 

Fruška Gora, several prominent Beočin residents, admirable 

and honest people, led by teacher Bogdan Glumac, rallied 

the residents of Beočin. Glumac the teacher told the 

story. He explained why they, the locals, needed to buy the 

forestland so it could remain theirs to use as a permanent 

source of income, as security, as support during difficult 

years and for the generations to come (because the forest 

will “outlive us and remain after our departure”). He then 

asked those who were for to stand, so they could determine 

interest in making the purchase. Everyone rose from their 

seats. All of the 79 local patrons present voted for the purchase 

of the forest “manor”, as they called the estate. A 

contract was compiled defining the rights and obligations 

linked to the management of the forest, which was declared 

a shared estate, with each co-owner gaining an ideal part. 

The forest was purchased for 66,000 Austro-Hungarian 

krone. A loan for that amount was issued by the Serbian 

Bank in Zagreb to the Serbian Agricultural Workers Cooperative 

in Beočin. Legal affairs were entrusted to lawyer, 

Dr Jovan Jovanić. In the name of the Beočin folk, he forged 

a contract with the owners of the forest – one Carl Kron 

from Novi Sad, along with Alexander Leopold and Ludwig 

Licht from Szekszárd. The contract was written by hand, in 

German, and included seven short points. Everything was 

entered into the land register. The registrar added his signature 

and stamp on 28 th April 1903, confirming that everything 

was done properly. 

The Beočin folk gradually felled the forest. They sold 

wood for firewood and logs for the supporting pillars of the 

1 

2 

3 

Gala celebration 

of the arrival of 

new church bells 

in Čerević, 1920 

Original agreement 

on the establishment 

of the Forest 

Community, 1903 

Chapel in Beočin 

Monastery Park, 

20 th century, built 

according to the 

design of famous 

architect Vladimir 

Nikolić 

Contract 

In the contract on 

the foundation of the 


it is stated, amongst 

other things, that 

the members jointly 

own and enjoy the 

forest, that a “Forest 

Committee” of 12 

members will be 

selected among them 

to manage the forest, 

that each member has 

“the right to one vote”, 

that the Committee 

is obliged to convene 

the Assembly every 

three months and 

settle its bills, but that 

all income from the 

felling or sale of trees 

be made available 

to the Serbian 

Agricultural Workers’ 

Co-operative until 

full repayment 

of the loan taken.


1 

2 3 

53


Beočin Cement Factory’s marlstone mine and as railway 

sleepers for the track to Petrovaradin. The debt to the Serbian 

Bank in Zagreb was duly repaid and on 21 st December 1920 

they finally received confirmation that the debt had been 

settled in full. This was also confirmed at the registry office 

of the County Court in Ilok on 5 th January 1921. From that 

date to this day the 509 hectares of forest have remained 

privately owned and today it continues to yield profit for 

the great-grandchildren of the founders. 

In truth, there were many attempts to take the forestland 

away from the locals. Over the course of more than a 

century, the forest and its owners have changed five countries 

and legal systems. The Community, however, has remained 

unified, safe from external threats and “also from 

themselves”. 

The Patron Saint’s Day of the Forest Community is Lazar’s 

Saturday. 

Teacher 

1 

2 

Beočin high street, 

1914 

Municipal House 

in Beočin, from 

a 1914 postcard 

Beočin teacher Bogdan Glumac played an exceptional 

role in all of this, as “the man who gave his whole self, but 

really all of himself, to his people.” As such, it is right that 

we record a few words about him here. 

His long life journey saw him rise from a teacher to a judge 

of the district court. Born 17 th March 1878 in Račinovici, 

he went on to complete the teacher training school in Sombor 

and arrived in Beočin as a twenty-year-old to teach literacy 

and life skills to the village children and help their parents. 

He was assisted by his wife Olga, also a schoolteacher, 

with whom he had three children. 

He was engaged in the school board, tasked with applying 

his knowledge to become head of the Church Assembly 

and the Serbian Agricultural Workers Co-operative and, 

most tellingly, in the establishment of the Forest Community. 

He rallied and convinced people, taking virtually all of 

the implementation on himself. He compiled the rules of 

the Community, which remain practically the same to this 

date. He secured the loan, etc. In order to “persuade the 

peasants to become landowners”, he also personally, alongside 

the locals, bought an ideal ownership slot, becoming 

one of the 79. 

“Generations of descendants of the founders of the Forest 

Community remain thankful to him to this day because 

he helped the poor locals to have a decent life.” 

54 

Departure 

Alongside his great 

work in the school and 

Forest Community, 

Beočin teacher Bogdan 

Glumac completed 

the Law Faculty 

of Zagreb. Upon 

graduation, he moved 

to Sremski Karlovci 

in 1913 and began 

to work in the Royal 

County Court. He 

was appointed Judge 

of the District Court 

in Novi Sad in 1919, 

then as judge of the 

Civil Court. He went 

into retirement in 

1929 and for a while 

practiced law. He 

died in Novi Sad on 

5 th February 1936 in 

his 58 th year.


1 

2 

55


SETTLEMENTS IN THE 

BEOČIN MUNICIPALITY 

1 

2 

Beočin Beach 

City Park 

56 

Beočin (with village) 

The settlement known to the folk of Beočin as Beočin city 

is relatively young. It was created at the beginning of the 20 th 

century as a planned community of settled labourers and 

experts of the Beočin Cement Factory. As we have already 

noted, the factory provided excellent conditions for the 

work and life of its staff, particularly between the two world 

wars. During that period the workers’ colony had 650 flats, 

while there were National, Civic and Apprenticeship schools, 

a workers’ bathroom, cinema, sporting clubs, a storage facility 

for privileged supplies, a bakery, canteen, casino etc. 

The settlement started spreading eastwards following 

World War II, with the construction of high-rise blocks. 

There was a continuing influx of new residents from foreign 

climbs and, due to the domestic proletarian movement, the 

settlement started to assume the shape of a real city. The 

workers’ colony grew into Beočin town and became the municipality’s 

economic, cultural, administrative, social and 

political centre, with all the amenities required of such a 

status in the second half of the 20 th century. 

Today it is a prosperous town just 15 km from Novi Sad 

that is home to over 8,000 inhabitants. It is also the seat of 

a municipality of almost 17,000 citizens. The residents here, 

who are predominantly Serb, live in 2,774 households, equating 

to an average of 2.9 per home. The average age is 37.3. 

Beočin village is a local community situated less than 

two kilometres from the city of Beočin that has practically 

developed alongside the town. Prior to the construction of 

the cement plant it was known as an agricultural settlement 

with developed vineyards. The first written record of 

the village dates to 1437, when the Pope’s special inquisitor, 

Jacob de Marchia, came to the area on a number of occasions 

to spread Catholicism among the Orthodox population 

and noted that many Serbs lived there. It remained 

a village inhabited by Serbs even during the period of 

Ottoman Turkish rule. The Muslim authorities in Belgrade, 

known as Effendia, were paid their tenth (a tenth of every 

yield) and another 30 forints a year for each farm. In addition, 

they had to pay an imperial tax worth the value of 

one gold coin. 

3 

4 

5 

6 

Beočin: Scenes 

from the town 

Directive 

By order of Austrian 

Empress and 

Hungarian Queen 

Maria Theresa (1717- 

1780), from the 

dynasty of Habsburg- 

Lothringen, every Serb 

village in her empire 

had to have at least 

one priest for every 

100 inhabitants.

SETTLEMENTS 

1 

4 

2 

5 

3 6 

57


58 

On the basis of a permit issued by Arsenija Čarnojević, 

the monks of Rača below the Drina came to the devastated 

and ruined Beočin Monastery. They first erected a wooden 

church, then later, in 1732, built a new one (restored in 

1893). The monastery estate was defended, maintained and 

worked by Peasant immigrants called Pronoiars, who were 

relocated to live around the holy area. The monastery’s forest 

was also a well known hunting ground. Eagle hunting in 

the area even attracted Austrian Crown Prince Rudolf (who 

tragically took his life along with his mistress, Baroness 

Mary Vetsera, at his Mayerling hunting lodge). The monastery’s 

wine was also excellent, with the most famous and respected 

in Europe coming from Tancoš Hill. Tradition has it 

that this robust and playful wine caused drinkers to rejoice 

and dance so much that the entire hill land area was given 

the name Tancoš (from the Slavic verb tancovati, meaning 

to play and dance). 

Life in the village changed from its very foundations 

once the cement factory was built. In unusual fascination, 

the farmers sold their land too cheaply, perhaps as they 

were not sufficiently aware of the value of the marlstone 

and limestone it held. The poorest residents left the fields 

and went to take on tough jobs at the factory. And today 

this is already the history of the town of Beočin and not 

the village, which have long been mutually developing and 

assimilated. 

“Today Beočin Village has around 1,500 residents in 

400 households. Most of the inhabitants work in Beočin 

collectives, while a minority are employed in Novi Sad. A 

smaller portion of the population deals exclusively with 

agriculture, though almost every household in the village 

has added income from agriculture,” notes the modern municipal 

chronicle. “The village has a kindergarten, preschool 

department, elementary school to fourth grade, a culture 

centre with a branch library, an agricultural workers cooperative, 

cattle market, seedling nursery and tavern. In 

addition an installed sewage network, Beočin has installations 

for gasification and fixed telephony and can also 

claim proudly to be among the first local communities in 

Vojvodina to receive a cable television distribution system 

offering 40 television channels.” 

On the periphery of the local community are located, in 

addition to the seedling nursery, the Cold water and Rome 

picnic and excursion area, which is owned by the Forest 

Community. 

1 

2 

Two views of 

Beočin village 

Travel notes 

From the description 

of Čerević written 

by Austrian official 

Levin in 1571, as well 

as an earlier travel 

journal written by 

Bishop Antun Vrančić 

(1553), we see that 

by then the Catholic 

population had 

already abandoned 

the area. The 

Serbian Orthodox 

population remained, 

but temporarily 

withdrew deeper into 

the woods, keeping 

away from the main 

roads traversed by 

Turkish troops and tax 

collectors. According 

to this testimony, the 

Čerević castle was in 

ruins, the catholic 

churches had been 

converted to mosques 

and the monasteries 

into stables.

SETTLEMENTS 

1 

2 

59


The Patron Saint’s Day of Beočin village is the Trans figuration 

of the Lord (19 th August), which locals celebrate as 

the Day of the local community. 

Čerević 

1 

Čerević, the most 

famous panorama 

of the village 

60 

The white-collar village – it is often referred to as such 

because of its cultural and historical heritage, and perhaps 

even more, because of its celebrated residents, whose fame 

spread far and wide from their home village. The village 

grew on the confluence of the Čerević stream and the River 

Danube, seven kilometres from Beočin town and 24 from 

Novi Sad. Covering an area of 3,264 hectares, it is home to 

2,826 inhabitants in 1,019 households. The vast majority of 

residents are Serbs (81 percent), who settled the place back 

in the 12 th century. Today it is the second largest settlement 

in Beočin Municipality. 

In the Middle Ages this place, which developed as a wellknown 

market area, was known under the names of Villa 

Chervet, Castrum Chereug, Oppidum Chernjeg, Chernjhuyg, 

Cserlegg, Thericos et al. The Hungarians called it Csorog or 

Cserog. There are several interpretations of the origin of the 

name. Some believe that it originated from the Hungarian 

word cserovicz (clear water). Academic, Professor Branislav 

Bukurov, PhD., a doctor of geographical sciences and a great 

connoisseur of the Hungarian language, who also dealt with 

toponymy, says that Čerević is named after the Turkey Oak, 

Quercus cerris, because the original local fortress was located 

in a turkey oak forest. 

The first written record of the village dates back to 

1237. On 8 th July that year, in the donation documents Bele 

IV, which gifted the confiscated possessions of the Prefect 

of Magyarcsanád, Petar Cistercitski, to the monastery in 

Ukurdu (Belafonsu, today’s Petrovaradin), Čerević is mentioned 

as Villa Chernjet. 

During the campaign of Ottoman Sultan Suleiman in 

1521, a series of Srem forts were destroyed, including the 

one in Čerević. During the Mohački campaign of 1526 

Čerević was conquered without a fight. The village was 

briefly liberated by ‘emperor’ Jovan Nenad Crni (black) in 

an unusual and exciting historical episode that lives on as a 

folklore story to this day. 

The oldest census of Srem, dating back to 1546, mentions 

Čerević as a village-town. It numbered 28 ordinary 

and six widowed households and the census noted another 

Wasteland and 

abandonment 

Other 16 th century 

travellers recorded 

some details about the 

Beočin area. Gerlah 

(1573) mentioned 

Čerević as an 

abandoned town; 

Schweiger (1577) 

mentioned, besides 

ruined towns, a village 

inhabited by Serbs and 

Turks; Lubenau, in 

addition to the fortress 

with only walls 

remaining, mentions a 

large village below it.

SETTLEMENTS 

1 

61


62 

six auxiliary units and a duke. Wheat represented the main 

crop and there were two mills, while vineyards were also 

well represented. The Serbian population reared pigs. 

In 1745 Čerević was demilitarised (with the border abolished) 

and became a part of Srem County. By 1848 it was 

the seat of the elected county official. The local Catholic 

parish was established in 1752 and a birth register was kept 

from 1740, but was destroyed in a fire of 1812. The current 

Catholic church was built in 1744 and is administered by 

the patriarchy of the Futog Estate. 

Čerević residents were once renowned as good tradesmen. 

As such, the village was home to tailors, blacksmiths, 

millers, masons, silk makers etc. The residents were also 

known as traders. All of these progressive maestros wanted to 

educate their children, which is why the first primary school 

was established within St. Sava Church in 1742. According 

to the Karlovac Metropolitan, two decades earlier, in 1723, 

Orthodox monks opened a single-grade primary school that 

taught theology, literacy and hymns. The school later grew in 

accordance with the times and needs. By the late eighteenth 

century it had five grades. A century later, at the end of the 

1800s, the school began to also welcome girls. A great benefactor 

of the Matica srpska, Čerević-born merchant Atanasije 

Gereski, bought a house for the purposes of the school. 

We are mentioning all of this to clarify how it came to be 

that this small place beside the Danube gave us so many educated 

people and gentlemen in the 19 th and 20 th centuries. 

Čerević was visited by Austrian Crown Prince Rudolf 

Habsburg, accompanied by zoologist Alfred Brehm. A 

special hunt, for scientific purposes, was organised to coincide 

with the visit. The hunt was to determine whether 

the Golden Eagle and the so-called Zlataš were one and the 

same bird. Chronicles note that many members of the ‘refined 

world’ came to hunt during that period, as the Fruška 

Gora proved a rich hunting ground with many challenges. 

In 1900 Čerević saw the organising of an unprecedented 

welcome reception for Marko Miljanov (1833-1901), a famous 

Serbian poet and duke from Montenegro. 

In 1906 the Sokolsko Society was established in the village, 

modelled on the Czech movement of Dr Miroslav Tirš, 

creator of the Telovežbani (body-training) system – a form 

of gymnastics. 

It was on the holiday of the Assumption of Mary, on 28 th 

August 1886, that Čerević saw the first ever church choir 

sing anywhere in the Beočin area. And the village’s Church 

1 

The gate and tower 

of Čerević’s St. Sava 

Church, the symbol 

of the village 

Parishes 

Interestingly, the 

Serbian Orthodox 

church in Čerević 

is dedicated to St. 

Simeon Mirotočivi and 

Serbia’s St. Sava. It 

has a rich iconostasis 

and valuable paintings, 

religious books and 

chronicles, which 

represent records of 

importance to the 

history of the Beočin 

area. In one report 

from the Karlovac 

Diocese, dated 1732, 

it was noted that a 

stone church was built 

in Čerević in 1700. It 

claimed that the roof 

was covered by boards 

and was crumbling. In 

1765 a brick church 

was mentioned and 

in the census of 1766 

it was confirmed that 

the church was built in 

1744 and consecrated 

on 20 th July 1751.

SETTLEMENTS 

1 

63


64 

glee club was extremely active – except during the periods of 

the two world wars. It later grew quiet and lost its way, but 

the choir was again re-established three decades ago, under 

the auspices of the village cultural-artistic society, and yet 

again recently, housed back in Čerević’s orthodox church. 

Čerević is among the few villages in Serbia that boast 

their own Homeland Museum. The museum here opened 

in 1980. The permanent exhibition chronologically follows 

the development of the village, from archaeological finds 

and a collection of fossils, to the lives and works of famous 

Čerević folk. The museum preserves original manuscripts 

by poet Jovan Grčić Milenko, as well as works of local painter 

Milenko Šerban and sculptor Jovan Soldatović. 

The official municipal chronicle notes: “Today Čerević 

folk fill their free time by engaging in the ‘Sremac’ football 

and chess clubs, hunting associations and voluntary fire service. 

The village has a post office, primary school to fourth 

grade, a nursery school and a clinic... It has Orthodox, Roman 

Catholic, Adventist and Nazarene churches. In addition 

to Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Nazarene graveyards, in 

Čerević there is also a Jewish cemetery. The Patron Saint’s 

Day of the village and local community is St. Procopius 

(21 July).” 

The road to the Fruška Gora National Park sets off from 

Čerević, passing the popular Testera day trip picnic area 

and the excursion area of Andrevlje. Along the western road 

out of the village, towards Banoštor, a well-known holiday 

home settlement is situated beside the Danube. 

Rakovac 

This village at the eastern extreme of Beočin municipality 

is four kilometres from the town, towards Novi Sad, in the 

foothills of the Fruška Gora on the Rakovac stream. It is home 

to 1,989 inhabitants in 683 households and has an almost 

entirely Serb population. It occupies an area of 2,045 hectares. 

It emerged as a workers’ colony of Rakovac Monastery, 

which was built in the 16 th century. In 1943 the occupying 

Croatian authorities destroyed Rakovac Monastery, burned 

the village and slaughtered almost all inhabitants. After the 

war, closer to the Danube, a new Rakovac was built. The 

original part of the village is now known as Old Rakovac. 

There are no relevant references to Rakovac virtually up 

until to the construction of the monastery. Historians note 

that in 1471 Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus appointed 

1 

2 

3 

4 

Čerević: 

Chemist’s “At the 

Holy Ghost”, founded 

way back in 1888. 

Cross at the 

Crossroads 

Roman Catholic 

Church 

Local Community 

Turkish Čerević 

Most data on Čerević 

during the Ottoman 

period is the legacy 

of travel writer Evliya 

Çelebi. In 1665 he 

noted that Čerević 

was a small town 

of 70 houses with 

boarded roofs, which 

had a mosque, a 

taqiyya, several inns, 

mekteb and madrasah 

schools, many shops, 

a travellers’ inn 

and a dock on the 

Danube. The place had 

a branch of the Ilok 

district, a council and 

a castle commander 

with around forty 

soldiers. The village 

belonged to the 

Srem Sanjak and, as 

a “living hub” was 

connected with Futog 

via the ferry across 

the Danube.

SETTLEMENTS 

1 

3 

2 4 

65


66 

Vuk (Grgurević) Branković as the Serbian Despot “in the 

southern parts of Hungary, towards the Turks,” in order to 

safeguard the border. Such security was of added importance 

to the king, as he had just led his battle for the throne 

against Vienna. Upon the death of despot Vuk Grgurević, 

aka Zmaj Ognjeni Vuk (Fiery Dragon Wolf), in 1485, the new 

despot became Đorđe Branković, son of Despot Stefan the 

Blind. In 1496 Đorđe became a monk, taking the name of 

Maxim, while his brother Jovin took over the role of despot 

from his home in Kupinik (now Kupinovo). At the request of 

his courtier Raka, who was linked to both the construction and 

the name of the monastery, despot Jovan bestowed the gift of 

the monastery and the village of Ledinci. Rakovac was freed 

from Ottoman rule in 1687. Five years later, in 1692, Teofan, 

Abbot of the monastery, began restoration. In 1704 more 

monks arrived from Serbia to complete the restoration. 

Alongside the monastery the peasant labourers (Pronoiars) 

originally settled, serving the monastery and de fending 

it if required. Following liberation from the Ottomans, 

the Pronoiars built houses on land given to the monastery by 

the emperor and also cultivated the monastery’s land. The 

number of Pronoiars grew over time and after the abolition 

of feudalism the municipality of Rakovac was created. 

In 1734 the monastery had 43 Pronoiar families. Two 

decades later, in 1754, there were 24, while in 1770 there 

we re 29. During the time of the Meerut Frontier around 

fifty people settled here (some sources claim that there were 

exactly 48). 

In 1775 Empress Maria Theresa requested that relations 

between the monastery and the Pronoiars be registered and 

confirmed. However, this was only done in 1802 through 

the Rakovac Convention. The monastery also had disputes 

with surrounding nobles over boundaries and property, 

which led to the marking of boundaries and plots in 1757 

(The Feketeova Convention of Đure or Đerđa Feketeu). 

Feudal relations were abolished in 1853. (...) 

“Today Rakovac is a modern village,” says the Chronicle. 

“In addition to a local community office, it has a clinic, 

the Health Centre of Dušan Savić ‘Doda’ from Beočin, as 

well as a four-grade branch of Beočin’s Jovan Grčić Milenko 

Primary School, attended by around 90 pupils. The Ljuba 

Stanković Nursery School from Beočin also has a group of 

pupils here. In addition to the Rakovac Monastery, the local 

community has two other cultural memorial monuments 

(one in Old Rakovac and one on Stručici Hill). 

1 

2 

3 

Eco-ethno club 

in Čerević and 

scenes from 

the village 

Tsar Jovan Nenad 

He appeared in the 

midst of general 

chaos in the country 

among the terribly 

suffering people. He 

presented himself 

as “emperor Jovan 

Nenad, descendant 

of Nemanjić” and 

claimed that he was 

“God sent”. He stood 

against the torrent, 

raised an army and 

picked a fight with 

the Turks. For a short 

time he freed Backa, 

declared Subotica his 

capital and transferred 

part of his army to 

Srem. At the end of 

1526 he ousted the 

Ottoman soldiers from 

forts in Banoštor and 

Čerević, freeing all 

of the surrounding 

villages. He was killed 

in an ambush as part 

of a tussle for the 

Hungarian crown on 

26 th July 1527 and all 

that he had liberated 

was soon recaptured 

by the Ottoman.

SETTLEMENTS 

1 

2 3 

67


Rakovac has a significant number of small and mediumsized 

enterprises that contribute greatly to reducing unemployment 

levels. Rakovac is traversed by two regional roads, 

a railway line, water system, telephone lines, gasification, 

and the local sewage system. Such regulated infrastructure 

has created conditions for the economic development and 

expansion of the settlement.” 

The Patron Saint’s Day of the village and local community 

are Saints Cosmas and Damian (14 th July). 

Susek 

1 

2 

3 

4 

Rakovac: 

Monastery 

High street 


office 

School 

68 

Territorially the largest and one of the oldest settlements 

of Beočin municipality, Susek is located at the western 

extreme of the territory along the road to Ilok. It is 20 

kilometres from Beočin town and is the last stop for Novi 

Sad city transport lines in that direction. It covers 3,941 

hectares (just over a fifth of the total area of the municipality). 

This Danube-side village has around 1,132 residents 

in 370 households. It is a livestock centre with three to five 

thousand head of livestock (cattle, sheep, pigs), representing 

the highest per capita in the municipality. At the end 

of April it hosts an annual livestock exhibition, attracting a 

large number of farmers and customers. 

Running through the village are the streams of Čedomir 

and Lišvar. The area was once home to a dense forest. In 

order to make room for the village, it was felled (sasecana), 

leaving a big scar (usek). Some believe that the name of the 

village is derived from those two Serbian words – Sasek and 

Usek. According to the other version, the name comes from 

the fact that it is precisely at that point that the Danube 

cuts into the bank below the mountain. As the village has 

always been characteristically Serbian, both versions could 

be factual. 

Medieval Latin and Hungarian documents mention the 

village as Sizsezeg, Sizsljuech, Sylsek, Zilsek, Zilzegh. It is 

known that the site of Szilsezeg lies some six kilometres 

from today’s Susek in the forest on the territory of today’s 

Crkvina. The village was destroyed during the Ottoman invasion 

and the population fled and took refuge. The majority 

of residents moved their homes closer to the Danube, 

in order to take advantage of fishing possibility and because 

it was closer to the main road. Traces also indicate 

that a settlement existed here in Roman times, within the 

limits of the then Imperial Danube Limes (Cornacum forti- 

Smoke 

During the Ottoman 

era the Christian 

population of the 

Beočin area paid their 

occupiers a tribute 

(tax). In Bačka the 

tribute was calculated 

on the number of 

gates, while in Srem 

it depended on how 

many chimneys there 

were. This was why 

the Srem folk referred 

to this tribute as 

dimnica (smoke-fee).

SETTLEMENTS 

1 

2 

3 

4 

69


70 

fication). Traces of this period include, of course, Roman 

tombstones and an altar dedicated to Diana, both found on 

the road between Susek and Ilok, as well as several smaller 

items from that period. 

During the Middle Ages Susek was fully included in 

defence operations for Ilok Castle, which was, and is, in 

the vicinity, sharing the fate of that town. In 1307 the lord 

of Susek is recorded as one Carpenter Nikola of the Čak 

tribe. The lords of the manor later changed. Papal district 

listings from 1332-1337 record a priest called Georgije 

from Szilszeg, who paid his parish contributions for the 

period. Brothers Imre and Ladislav Ujlaki (from Ilok) are 

mentioned as landlords of Susek in the early 15 th century, in 

1410 and 1417. Ujlaki family held sway over Susek, among 

other lands, for a long time. Before the Ottoman period the 

only other landlord mentioned is one John Szapolyai. 

Despite being fortified in the Middle Ages and referred 

to, according to some data, as well populated by 1445, during 

the time of the Ottoman invasion Susek disappeared 

without a trace. The oldest Ottoman census of the area does 

not mention this place – not until 1566-67, when it had 28 

ordinary households and one widow’s household, a prince 

and a priest. It had the status of a village. A similar condition, 

with some minor variations, was recorded in all subsequent 

censuses during Ottoman rule. 

On 12 th July 1688, Louis of Baden took Ilok, a few days 

later Susek too. 

The village later became part of Odescalchi’s Srem and, 

in 1737, was included in reforms to the system of territorial 

divisions that saw the manor divided into two parts: 

Upper Srem Gornjosremsko (around Ilok), including Susek, 

and Lower Srem Donjosremsko (Iriški). According to the 

census carried out at that time, the first for two centuries, 

Susek was home to 97 households. Nine of them had married 

brothers or sons, three had bachelor sons over 15 years 

of age, six were widows with estates and three were craftsmen. 

All of them were Serbs. In addition to people, the census 

listed all land and livestock. 

The 1773 land system remained in place until the beginning 

of the 19 th century. Then Susek gained either a duke or 

a judge to manage the community. The official was elected 

by landowners, with three proposed candidates. Feudal relations 

were abolished in 1848, but the decision only came 

into force in 1851, when the whole system was reformed 

again. Susek possessed sufficient assets to become a mu- 

1 

2 

Susek: 

Culture Centre 

Gymnasium of 

Jovan Popović 

Primary School 

Co-operative 

As far back as 1897 

the first agricultural 

workers co-operative 

was established in 

Susek. It is still in 

existence to this 

day. It has about 300 

subcontractors and 

72 members. The cooperative’s 

property 

includes 86 hectares 

of agricultural land 

and 200 hectares 

in state use. Floor 

storage and silos have 

a capacity of 250 

tonnes. It produces 

and buys many types 

of field crops that 

are then sold on to 

larger processors in 

Vojvodina.

SETTLEMENTS 

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2 

71


72 

nicipality in its own right. It was managed by an elected sixmember 

municipal committee. The right to vote was held 

by all locals who paid annual taxes of at least three Forints, 

followed by non-residents who paid annual taxes of at least 

six Forints on property they owned in the area. This system 

remained in force until 1861, when everything regressed 

to the state of 1848. Six years later, in 1867, yet another 

new system was introduced. The situation only gained longterm 

regulation and stability in 1870 (those reform steps 

remained in place until 1922). 

In 1886 the village was merged with the county (district) 

of Ilok. 

Susek, a village with a great Serb majority, is home to 

the old Church of the Archangel Gabriel. Its Baroque icons 

were painted in 1779 by famous artist Teodor Kračun. The 

church possesses a number of holy relics, while the status 

of a virtual holy relic is given to the flag of the local Serbian 

volunteers who refused to be mobilised by Austro-Hungary 

in World War I and, instead, put themselves at the disposal 

of Serbia. Local resistance to Croatian occupation during 

World War II led to the brutal murders of 326 Susek folk in 

Nazi concentration camps. 

The nearby fields provide the basin of the Čedomir and 

Lišvar streams. At one time there were so many cattle here 

that one herdsman had to mind the cows while another 

tended the oxen and the stable hand watched horses. Today 

things are done differently, but there are just as many cattle. 

They say that the food here is completely natural, as is 

the water from the Doljani and White springs. The village 

also has a medium pressure gas pipeline. 

“Susek folk are interested in developing rural tourism. 

They plan to create a tourist complex on the fish farm pond 

that houses a large number of fishing shacks,” says the 

modern day municipal chronicle. “The village has the eightgrade 

Jovan Popović Primary School, where the fifth to 

eighth grades include pupils who travel from the surrounding 

Beočin municipal settlements of Lug, Sviloš, Grabovo 

and Banoštor. Susek has a post office, clinic, a newly constructed 

multi-purpose hall and sports hall at the primary 

school. There is a football club, Partizan, and a volleyball 

club, as well as numerous associations (such as hunters 

or folk culture), which are all primarily meeting places for 

young locals. 

The Patron Saint’s Day of the village and local community 

is St. Archangel Gabriel (26 th July). 

1 

2 

Fish farm and 

a well-known 

traditional riverside 

restaurant in Susek 

Fish pond 

and the rest 

Susek folk have always 

taken an interest in 

fishing. They catch 

15 tonnes of carp 

annually from their 

fish pond, which 

covers 140 hectares 

in the Danube Liman 

area. They even 

have pike, catfish, 

silver carp and grass 

carp. There are 

colonies of birds in 

the vicinity of the 

village: heron, stork, 

cormorant, wild ducks 

and geese. The local 

hunting ground is 

stocked with fallow 

deer, roe deer, wild 

boar and fox.

SETTLEMENTS 

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74 

Lug 

Founded in 1902, Lug was the youngest village in the 

Beočin municipality until recently. It sprung up in the 

Fruška Gora, six miles from the Danube and the Beočin- 

Ilok road, and 25 kilometres from Beočin town. It covers 

an area of 996.5 hectares and includes 241 households with 

801 inhabitants. Most of them are ethnically Slovak. 

At the beginning of the 20 th century Duke Odescalchi 

was seeking to intensify the use of forests in that area in 

order to clear the fertile land. He therefore sought workers, 

essentially woodsmen and mainly Slovaks, to clear the local 

Frušk Gora grove (or lug) and settle the area. He offered the 

woodsmen a homestead and a piece of land in the district, 

to be repaid in instalments. 

Many eagerly accepted the call and in 1902 the first 

Slovak families, from Gložan, Bački Petrovac, Kulpin and 

Čelarevo, came to the Fruška Gora. Thus the village was created 

and gained its name. 

At the point the side of the mountain levels out and 

sweeps down to the Danube, at an altitude of 240 to 160 

metres, surrounded on three sides by linden trees, Lug actually 

leans northwards towards the endless plain. Lug folk 

are mainly engaged in agriculture and construction. They 

have also gained repute as beekeepers (the village has more 

hives than people). They are renowned for their Slovakian 

sausages, “the spicy ones that awaken the taste buds and 

the senses.” 

The village has a culture centre that has been home to 

the Mladost (youth) Cultural-Artistic Society for the past 

25 years. The recipient of various national and provincial 

awards, the society fosters colourful Slovak dancing and 

singing. The Chronicle notes: “Lug now has a four-grade 

school with a pre-school department, clinic, post office, culture 

centre, a newly built church and church home, modern 

roads in all streets, street lighting, water supply and sewage 

networks, four shops, two cafés and a sports buffet. The 

locals fill their free time by participating in the Poljana 

(Meadow) football club, the Jedinstvo (Unity) hunting society, 

the Beekeepers Association, the local organisation of 

the Matica Slovačka etc.” 

The surrounding villages fell victim to fire in 1943 

and Lug remained intact, thanks to its location away from 

the main roads. As a result many families from Susek, 

Sviloš, and Ležimir found refuge among the people of Lug. 

1 

2 

Lug: 

Typical traditional 

house 

Slovakian Evangelical 

Church 

Woodsmen 

Duke Arthur 

Odescalchi of Srem 

(1836-1925), owner of 

35,000 acres (around 

14,000 hectares) 

of land in Srem, 

constantly cleared the 

forest to increase the 

availability of arable 

land. He brought 

woodsmen from the 

Slovak villages of 

Gložen, Bački Petrovac 

and Kulpin. To 

prevent them from 

having to constantly 

travel home, the duke 

allowed the woodsmen 

to buy land and build 

cottages, but only once 

they’d cleared the part 

of the forest known as 

Lug (Grove). Nowadays 

those events of 1902 

are considered as the 

founding of the village 

of Lug. Hospitable and 

industrious, they soon 

built a church and 

school and attained 

the standards of the 

neighbouring Serbian 

villages, with which 

it continues to cooperate 

well. Today it 

is a modern, orderly 

village.

SETTLEMENTS 

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2 

75


However, on 5 th October 1943 Lug was stumbled upon by 

Gestapo men and so-called Cossacks (Hitler’s soldiers from 

the Baltic republics) searching for resistance fighters. It 

appears that the intervention of Ilok priests Vereš and 

Tancikač, or rather their guarantee that the village did not 

have members of the armed guerrilla forces, saved the population 

from yet another massacre at the last moment. Lug 

folk celebrate the anniversary of that day, 5 th October, as 

their village festival (kirbaj). 

Banoštor 

1 

2 

A Lug wheat field 

Banoštor ferry 

crossing 

76 

One of the oldest settlements in Srem, Banoštor is located 

along the road leading from Petrovaradin along the 

right bank of the Danube, 12 kilometres after Beočin town. 

It is 28 kilometres from Novi Sad. It is directly across the 

river from Begeč, with which it has been linked by a ferry 

since ancient times. The first mention of Banoštor dates 

back to the 7 th century, when it was the site of a Roman city 

called Malata or Bononia. Beside the settlement was a road 

leading from Zemun, through Slankamen and Petrovaradin 

and on to Osijek. 

In the Middle Ages this settlement is listed as Ko (sto - 

ne), Ku, Knj, Kenje, Cuhet, Cuher, Ko, Kovi, Bani and Mo na - 

sterium. In the 12 th century, between 1142 and 1163, the 

fort here was rebuilt and extended by Serbian Prince Beluš, 

son of Great Prince Uroš, uncle of Stefan Nemanja. 

Medieval documents show that Beluš also built a monastery 

alongside the forest. Since he was also a Hungarian palatine 

carrying the title of ‘ban’, the name of the place became 

Ban Monoštra (Ban’s Monastery). It is probable that Beluš 

is buried here. Latin sources from that same century indicate 

that the monastery first welcomes Benedictines, only 

later reverting to the canoness of St. Abre. 

In either 1229 or 1239, depending on conflicting data, 

Pope Gregory IX relocated the seat of the Diocese of Srem 

to Banoštor, because the Karlovac bishop could not successfully 

perform his job. Then a church was built: a three-nave 

basilica which was destroyed by the Ottomans – apparently 

it was an impressive structure for the time. The same 

site was later chosen for the present Catholic church. This 

church, along with the entire settlement and its surroundings, 

suffered from the Tatar invasion of 1241. It later lost 

most of its significance and was no longer the only seat of 

the Diocese, but rather one of two. 

After all 

The centuries gave 

way and nothing is 

like it was, even the 

last traces of the 

old fortress have 

disappeared, empires 

and nations have 

changed, but this 

village has remained 

where the Tekeniš 

and Čitluk streams 

merge with the 

alluvium plains of 

the Danube. Today 

the village is home 

to around 800 

people (94 percent 

of Serbian origin), in 

311 households. The 

average age is almost 

45 (43.7 for males, 

45.5 for females).

SETTLEMENTS 

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78 

By around 1300 the settlement already had importance 

as a trading centre and craftsmen village, even being mentioned 

on occasion as a civitas (city). During the reigns of 

Serbian kings Milutin and Dragutin, who ruled Srem at one 

time, the monastery at Banoštor was under the jurisdiction 

of the Peć Archbishop via the Bishop of Mačva. 

With the spread of Bogumils and Hussite teaching during 

the second half of the 14 th century, Rome dispatched 

an inquisitor, Jacob de Marchia, with the task of employing 

all possible means to strengthen the position and influence 

of the Catholic Church. His method was such that he came 

into direct conflict with the population. 

After numerous attacks, in 1526 the Ottoman campaign 

(from 28 th July to 15 th August) saw them take the entire 

territory from Petrovaradin to Osijek. Banoštor, then 

predominantly Serb, was probably destroyed in the attack 

– the chronicle of 1550 mentioned it as destroyed and deserted. 

It was briefly liberated by ‘emperor’ Jovan Nenad 

Crni (black), but that was just a flash of light in a prolonged 

darkness. 

According to the first Ottoman census of 1546, Banoštor 

was classed as a village-town with 15 houses, a duke and a 

military unit, while all residents were Serbs. Records note 

village income from fishing, ferrying, two mills and agricultural 

products typical for the area. 

The village later experienced a population boost. During 

the reign of Suleiman II (1524-1574), Banoštor had the status 

of a village. Alongside 49 Christian households, there 

were also 10 Muslim families. The Christians include an 

Orthodox priest. The turnover of the ferry was intense. There 

was a mosque and Muslims were mainly engaged in repairing 

boats and were exempt from paying tributes and some 

taxes. 

A mid-16 th century travel writer described the place as 

the ruined village and town of Wonost. And the secretary of 

the Austrian Embassy, Mr Prandsteter, left a record of the 

ruined Banoštor fortress. At the time celebrated Turkish 

travel writer Evliya Çelebi passed through, there was a 

town with a castle commander and around forty soldiers, 

a mosque and about a hundred board-roofed houses. The 

fortification later disappeared without a trace. 

Following liberation from Ottoman rule, the place was 

home to only Serbs, as evidenced by the census of 1736-37, 

as well as a report of 15 th October 1733. In 1732 the stone 

mosque, built of materials taken from the destroyed 

1 

2 

3 

4 

“And ships pass; 

they will not wait”: 

on the Danube 

near Banoštor 

Not to be separated, 

“it won’t do”: Wine 

cellar, tamburitza 

orchestra and 

vineyard in Banoštor 

However, wine 

Italian Riesling 

is cultivated on 

35 hectares of 

Banoštor vineyards, 

Chardonnay occupies 

eight and Župljanka 

(Parishioner) is grown 

on two hectares. In 

2007 the municipality 

leased out (over 15 

years) the newly 

founded Fruškogorski 

Vineyards “Banoštor” 

to rejuvenate the 

vines and plant new 

vineyards on available 

plots, using indigenous 

grape varieties 

(Sauvignon and 

traminca white wine 

grapes and Frankish 

and black burgunder 

varieties for red), so 

that old traditions can 

lead to a modern 

wine cellar.

SETTLEMENTS 

1 

2 3 

4 

79


80 

church, was again reshaped into a church and dedicated to 

St. George. The consecration of the church was attended by 

Metropolitan Bishop Stefan Stratimirović (1757-1836). 

Banoštor’s territory includes more than 150 hectares of 

vineyards that produce the grapes for some of the finest 

wines of this region. Around twenty interesting small wineries 

and wine cellars have developed. Some of them, such 

as the Bononija vineyard of the Šijački family, are equipped 

with modern presses and filling machines and produce 

more than 10,000 litres of wine annually. They also accept 

small groups of tourists, with advanced reservations. One 

also mustn’t forget that Banoštor wine goes down well with 

some good nibbles – first and foremost the excellent local 

domestic cheese. 

Banoštor also hosts the work of the Agricultural 

Workers Co-operative Grozd (Cluster), which includes villagers 

from Grabovo. The co-operative occupies around 

250 hectares of land (235 hectares of state land and around 

20 hectares belonging to the co-operative). With around 80 

members it organises production of sunflower, wheat, corn 

and soybeans. 

Banoštor folk come together through the hunting association 

and football club Proleter. The village has several 

shops, a petrol station, post office, health clinic, primary 

school to fourth grade, local community office and two 

sawmills. The Patron Saint’s Day of the village is Đurđić 

(16 th November), while residents agreed to mark the Day 

of the local community during the traditional Banoštor 

Grape Days event on the second Saturday in September, 

when the village already attracts a large number of guests. 

Sviloš 

At an altitude of around 151 metres above sea level, this 

silken (svilen) village links northern and southern Srem, 

Beočin with Sremska Mitrovica. Covering an area of 1,242 

hectares, it is home to 362 residents living in 123 households. 

It is 18 kilometres away from the municipal centre 

and provides access to the village of Grabovo. At one time 

the area was known for the rearing of so-called Baur sheep, 

known in Srem as cigaja and svilena (silken). The sheep’s 

wool, they say, was as soft as silk – hence the name of the 

village. Others, however, consider it more likely that the 

name comes from the Hungarian word Szolos, indicating an 

abundance of vineyards. 

1 

2 

Traditional house 

in Banoštor 


office 

Podolian Cow 

This beast is 

descended from 

European wild 

cattle. Before the 

tractor it was the 

main pulling power 

for processing land 

in the Beočin area, 

especially on its 

heavy fen soil. Bred 

in the Podolia area of 

present-day Ukraine 

(hence the name), 

as far back as the 

Middle Ages large 

herds were driven 

from the Pannonian 

Plain and transferred 

to major European 

cities (Venice, 

Nuremberg, Ausburg, 

Vienna). Those 

oxen with the big 

horns were much 

appreciated in Europe 

for the quality of their 

meat. There are still 

some herds dotted 

around Vojvodina 

today.

SETTLEMENTS 

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2 

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82 

Judging by the graves found on the area of today’s village, 

this place was also inhabited during Roman times. It 

is likely that there was an outpost of Ilok Castle on the 

site. Sources and place names suggest that the village was 

markedly Serbian from its beginnings. One of the later 

waves of migrating Serbs came as a consequence of the 

deep penetration of the Ottoman Turks into the Balkans 

during the 15 th century. After the fall of Smederevo (1459) 

and the end of the medieval Serbian state, the Serbian 

nobles who relocated to Hungary included the brothers 

Stevan and Dimitar Jakšić, sons of Duke Jakša. In recognition 

of their extraordinary heroism and merit in the struggle 

against the Turks, Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus 

soon give them considerable estates to govern, which 

– in 1477 – included large and small Sviloš. The record 

of the bequeathed land marks the first written mention 

of this place. We know that Sviloš was still in the possession 

of the Jakšić family and their descendants when the 

Ottoman invaders penetrated Pannonia in 1526. However, 

during that very year, upon the fall of Petrovaradin and 

the whole area to the Ottoman Empire, the occupying 

administration was also established in Sviloš – lasting 

just over a century. Following the defeat of the Turks at 

Vienna and the counterattack of the Christian army, the 

village was freed in the liberating wave of 15 th July 1688. 

Following the end of the war, Sviloš also became part of 

Odescalchi’s Srem, sharing the fate of the other settlements 

of this estate. 

A Serbian church was recorded in Sviloš in 1573. The 

present Church of the Presentation of the Virgin was built 

in 1726 (The iconostasis of the church was only painted 

in 1855 by Matej Petrović). By the late 1890s Sviloš was 

home to 86 Serbian homes, with 483 souls. The school had 

75 pupils. Until the early 19 th century the settlement was 

managed by the Ilok Manor, according to regulations from 

1737. From 1836, the head of the municipal council was 

either a duke or a judge, elected (as in the neighbouring 

settlements) by landowners from three proposed candidates. 

The reform of 1851 saw Sviloš enter the municipality 

of Susek. However, in 1886 it became part of Ilok district 

in Srem County. 

Nowadays Sviloš has a four-grade school, clinic, two 

shops, a bakery and local community office. The Patron 

Saint’s Day of the village is marked on the Feast of the 

Nativity (21 st September), while the Day of the Sviloš Local 

1 

2 

Sviloš: 

High street 

Church of the 

Presentation of 

the Virgin, built 

in the 19 th century 

First buses 

Way back in 1933 the 

Bežanov brothers from 

Ilok opened the first 

bus route from their 

town to Novi Sad via 

Beočin. Two Czechmade 

buses travelled 

through Srem’s 

Danube-side villages 

and over the bridge 

in Petrovaradin to 

the main town of the 

northern province. A 

one-way ticket cost 

10 dinars (the ferry, 

however, was still 

more popular because 

it was cheaper, with a 

return ticket costing 

10.5 dinars). After 

King Alexander 

Karađorđević was 

assassinated in 

Marseilles in 1934, 

the Bežanov brothers 

transported the 

locals to Belgrade 

and Oplenac for 

the funeral and 

commemorative 

gathering.

SETTLEMENTS 

1 

2 

83


84 

Community is marked on 30 th July (Fiery Mary). That day 

also commemorates the residents lost in 1941 during the 

brutal rule of the Croatian Quisling army. 

Grabovo 

This mountain Village, on a flat area above the Tekeniš 

stream, is five kilometres from the Danube. It covers an 

area of 1,447 hectares and lies at an altitude of 200 to 240 

metres on arable land surrounded by forests. It has 138 

residents, predominantly Serbs, in 54 households. Once 

part of Banoštor, it was first mentioned in 1733, when it 

was home to 32 souls. Some Serbs found refuge in the 

village as far back as the Great Migration under Arsenije 

Čarnojević. After the Meerut rebellion of 1788, more refugees 

came, this time from the Požarevac area. At the end 

of the 18 th century, in 1791, Grabovo had “80 homes with 

456 souls.” 

A wooden church dedicated to St. Archangel Michael 

existed here from 1732. The present church dates back to 

the second half of the 18 th century. 

Many people from this small village have opened themselves 

up to the strange wide world and Grabovo folk have 

turned up in the most unexpected places. It was recorded, 

for example, that ten Grabovo natives participated in 

Russia’s October Revolution. In 1943, during World War II 

and occupation under the Quisling state of Croatia, the village 

was burnt to the ground and 151 locals were brutally 

murdered. After the terrible war, the majority of the population 

had been re-housed in Inđija. The village was resurrected 

from the ashes, with just fifty homes and about 150 

inhabitants emerging out of the burned ruins. Nowadays 

the village school is attended by just six pupils up to the 

fourth grade. 

Grabovo is isolated along a blind road. The road from 

Koruška beside the Danube through Sviloš leads only to 

Grabovo. The isolation and modest population, which were 

once considered shortcomings, are now deemed a kind 

of comparative advantage. There are no crowds or stress, 

no chemicals, no industry or any pollution whatsoever. 

Moreover, in order to improve agricultural yields locals 

use only natural, protective, organic fertilisers. Indeed, this 

was one of the reasons why the state-of-the-art Fruška Gora 

Dairy was built right here. 

1 

2 

Well in Sviloš 

Church of Holy 

Archangels Michael 

and Gabriel, built 

in the 19 th century 

and heavily damaged 

in 1943 along with 

the village 

Train 

They sometimes 

travelled by train 

too. Residents of the 

surrounding villages 

would rise after 

midnight and drive or 

ride into Beočin. There 

they could catch the 

four a.m. train for 

Petrovaradin and 

from there quickly 

catch another and 

arrive “already by nine 

o'clock” in Belgrade.

SETTLEMENTS 

1 

2 

85


86 

The gasification of the village was completed in 2005 

and a modern telephone exchange centre came into operation 

early in 2009. 

The patron saint of Grabovo is the Archangel Gabriel 

(26 th July), while the Day of the Local Community is 7 th July 

(Midsummer’s Day). 

Brazilija 

The youngest lo cal community in the municipality of 

Beočin, it was only founded in 1983. Alongside Brazilija, 

the community includes Up per (Gornji) and Lower (Donji) 

Šakotinac. Though there are signs indicating that the 

place has been inhabited for over 300 years, such as an old 

graveyard, it is also evident that the two Šakotinac settlements 

sprouted up and developed alongside the Beočin cement 

factory in the first half of the 19 th century, as workers’ 

settlements. 

The building of houses along the Beočin-Čerević regional 

road in the late 1950s led to the birth of Brazilija. However, 

it is known that one of the first houses in Brazilija, the famous 

Villa Konjević, was erected back in 1926. It is claimed 

that the village was also settled by a number of newcomers 

from faraway, Brazilian cement workers, who inspired the 

name of the village. Over time the youngest settlement in 

the municipality grew to become one of its most populous, 

which led to the establishing of a new local community in 

1983 – initially named “Brotherhood-Unity”, then later renamed 

Brazilija in the 1990s. 

Today it has around 1,300 inhabitants. With the exception 

of a local community office, the community lacks any 

public service institutions. 

Nursery and 

primary school children 

travel to Beočin, 

the dead are buried 

in Beočin or Čerević, 

while the rest of the 

adult population “do 

all they can to help 

Brazilija gain amenities 

appropriate to a 

place of its size”. 

The Day of the local 

community is 10 th 

October. 

1 

2 

Grabovo: 


office 

Monument to the 

victims of the horror 

of the Croatian 

occupation in 1943 

Infrastructure 

Brazilija is largely 

covered in terms of 

infrastructure. Water 

and sewage networks 

have been installed, 

gas and street lighting 

have been introduced, 

almost all streets are 

paved and, as of late, 

most households 

also have telephone 

connections. The 

construction of a 

clinic, nursery and 

chemist’s is expected.

SETTLEMENTS 

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2 

87


GIFTS OF NATURE 

Land 

The territory of Beočin municipality is made up of four 

distinct geological terrains: mountain highlands, loess plateaus, 

valleys with streams and the alluvium plains of the 

Danube. These undulating and flat areas sweep gradually 

northwards. The highest area is the Fruška Gora (the Crveni 

Čot peak at 539 metres/asl), while the lowest parts are those 

sweeping down to the Danube. Twelve streams emerge 

from the Fruška Gora and into the Danube valleys: Lišvar, 

Čedomir, Sviloški, Tekeniš, Čitluk, Potoranj, Čerevićki, 

Šakotinac, Kozarski, Časorski, Dumbovački and Rakovački. 

Of the total area of Beočin municipality (18,590 hectares), 

agricultural land accounts for 8,484 hectares (46 per 

cent). In the northern area the soil type is black chernozem 

(a top class soil, with a high percentage of humus, excellent 

for agricultural production), while in the southern areas the 

soil is brown high-carbon soil and gajnjača, which has been 

cultivated with forests and pastures. 

The area’s land quality and formation makes Beočin municipality 

suitable for crop farming, livestock production, 

fruit cultivation and viticulture. The average maximum 

temperature during the growing season is 23.9ºC, while the 

minimum is 11.9ºC. The area has an average of 120 days of 

precipitation, equating to every third day. 

1 

2 

A sunflower 

field in Lug 

The world will be 

left to the young, 

just as the soil 

88 

Mines 

Fruška Gora’s mass boasts significant mineral re sources. 

These include, principally, marlstone deposits for cement, 

coal and limestone needed to produce slaked lime. Hard rock 

types (latite, dolomite, serpentinite, dacite and andesite), 

clay and sand are used in the production of building materials. 

When tuffaceous rocks (formed by the consolidation of 

volcanic ash and other materials) are used as a building material, 

they are also referred to as sedra (Tuff). 

Forests 

Some 7,701.22 hectares (41.43%) of the municipality’s 

land is covered by forests and forestland. The highest percentage 

of woodland is in Beočin town’s cadastral municipality, 

while the lowest is in the cadastral municipality of Lug. Part 

of the municipality’s territory is also covered by the Fruška 

Grass pea 

In addition to corn 

and wheat, once upon 

a time the areas of 

Beočin were also 

heavily sewn with 

grass pea. These peas 

could only be eaten 

as cud by cattle and 

sheep, but then pigeon 

owners also came, 

buying the crop to 

feed their high-fliers 

this protein-rich 

food. There are still 

some crops today.


1 

2 

89


Gora National Park, which is under the 1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd degrees 

of protection. This territory includes the largest linden forest 

area in Europe, while other major assets include oak, beech, 

hornbeam, poplar and willow forests. Interestingly, these 

forests are even home to orchids. There is an abundance of 

different species of mushrooms and edible fungi. 

Viticulture 

“Indeed, a man spends half his life wondering before 

he realises what the most important thing is. How great it 

is that we live in vineyard climbs. And the fact that man 

notices this late is not his fault: he lives in such a miserable 

period that has downgraded, to the level of mere crops, 

nature’s two greatest gifts: grain and grapes. Bread and 

wine. (...) I am grateful to the gods who allowed us to be 

born in vineyard climbs. (...) Wine combines the world’s 

two most important philosophies: passion and joy.” 

So wrote, and lived, Béla Hamvas, Hungarian writer and 

librarian, Szentendre field hand, Tisa warehouseman, social 

critic, one of the last wise Europeans and a child of this immense 

plain. Since time immemorial the Beočin area has 

cultivated and passed on both of the traditional wisdoms 

united through wine: passion and joy. 

The local tradition of viticulture and wine production is 

long and glorious in many ways, as testified by the chronicling 

of wine culture in the various records we researched. 

Nowadays Beočin is home to two successful winemakers’ 

and winegrowers’ associations. 

Sveti Trifun (St. Tryphon) was founded in the village of 

Banoštor in 2003. It quickly managed to secure marketing 

for its Bermet wine on the world market, gaining a geographic 

origin brand in 2007. Such brands are protected by 

the Intellectual Property Office in Belgrade and the Serbian 

Ministry of Agriculture. 

The other association is the Beočin selo (village) Club of 

winegrowers, winemakers and fruit growers. 

Members have joined forces to improve the quality of their 

wine in order to meet high international standards. Neglected 

and poor quality crops are rejuvenated with new varieties of 

high quality with origin controls. Five years ago the association 

had only around a hundred hectares of vineyards. Today it 

already has 230 hectares and will soon reach almost 400. The 

association produces wines with a confirmed geographic origin 

and is seeking the place it deserves on the market. The 

90 

1 

2 

3 

Logo of the 

“St. Tryphon” 

Winegrowers and 

Winemakers Club 

Banoštor’s Grape 

Days festival 

A blessed Fruška 

Gora vineyard 

Reorientation 

“Five years ago we had 

about 100 hectares 

of vineyards, now we 

have 230,” says Mayor 

Bogdan Cvejić. “By 

the end of 2009 they 

covered an area of 

250 hectares and soon 

that will increase 

to as much as 300 

to 400 hectares. We 

have households 

that produce 30- 

40 thousand litres 

of wine. Those are 

grape varieties with 

protected geographical 

origin. They produce 

Chardonnay, Riesling, 

Neoplanta (an 

autochthonous species 

made at the Faculty 

of Agriculture in Novi 

Sad and producing 

a top dessert wine), 

Merlot, Cabernet and 

Frankovka.”


1 2 

3 

91


winemakers of Banoštor, Čerević and Beočin have long traditions 

and excellent results of cultivating renowned varieties 

of wine grapes that are characteristic of the vineyards of the 

Fruška Gora (Italian Riesling, Merlot, Hamburger, Cabernet 

Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Gamé etc.). 

Wine is produced in the traditional, craftsman’s way in 

wine production cellars. Market placements are now eased 

thanks to a registered geographical origin. Of the three geographical 

origin-protected wine grapes produced in Vojvodina 

(Chardonnay, Merlot and Italian Riesling), two are from the 

Beočin municipality. The quality of local wine is undeniable. 

International recognition of the geographical origin of 

Beočin wines, which is expected soon, will help to improve the 

performances of local wines on international markets. 

The area’s wine cellars most renowned for high quality 

wines includes Urošević, Stojković, Radošević, Ačanski, 

Kuzmanović, Prekogačić, Salaksija, Fruškogorski Vineyards, 

Silbaški and the Bononija winery. 

Fruit growing 

1 

2 

Picture of abundance: 

the fruit offer of the 

Beočin area continues 

to expand and 

improve 

Re-emergence of 

livestock farming, 

return of livestock 

farmers: former 

industrial workers 

are returning to their 

ancestral lands and 

devoting themselves 

to this sector in ever 

greater numbers 

Great efforts have been exerted to promote the development 

of organic fruit production and fruit products 

(Rakia, conserves, jams etc.) in the Beočin region, while 

the area of land covered by orchards is constantly increasing. 

Until recently plum represented the leading fruit crop, 

only for peaches to take over top spot in 2005. There is also 

significant production of apples, apricots and pears, while 

cherry, walnut, black currant and blueberry production is 

constantly increasing, along with the cultivation of strawberries 

under plastic. 

Cattle and poultry farming 

92 

Beočin municipality is rich in meadows and pastures. In 

recent years, since the resolving of key environmental issues 

(caused by the antiquated technology of the cement factory), 

the quality of this land has risen sharply. The area also boasts 

lots of corn and forage crops, providing ample livestock fodder. 

This is one of the reasons why the recent period has seen 

the number of head of cattle increase by a fifth, the number 

of pigs triple and the number of breeding sheep double, 

while the number of poultry has more than doubled. 

Beočin’s farmsteads rear turkeys, ducks, geese, quails 

and mountain goats. 

Ploughing 

and winking 

When work in the field 

ceases, when the locals 

gather to relax, they 

sing songs like: But 

it’s nice to plough with 

a horned oxen, if only 

my girlfriend could lead 

white oxen.


1 

2 

93


94 

Sacral HERITAGE IN 

BEOČIN MUNICIPALITY 

MONASTERIES 

Beočin Monastery 

It is certain that the monastery existed in the mid 16 th 

century and surviving records make mention of it in the 

Ottoman cadastral Defter tax censuses of 1578 and 1614. 

“The scant data available on the old church of Beočin 

Monastery describes it as a smaller one-nave building with 

surrounding stone walls, sunken channel areas derived ‘on 

wormwood’ and a traditional dome above the choir,” writes 

Vojislav Matić, great connoisseur and researcher of Fruška 

Gora’s sacral heritage. 

In the first half of the 17 th century there are two re feren 

ces to abbots of the monastery travelling as far afield 

as Moscow to seek help for their impoverished parish: 

Abbot Longin in 1622 and Antonija in 1629. Later, some 

ti me during the period of the Austrian-Turkish wars of 

1683 to 1695, the monastery was initially attacked and 

then again, this time severely damaged and subsequently 

abandoned. It was only towards the end of the cheerless 

17 th century, in 1697, that Patriarch Arsenije Čarnojević III 

gave his blessing to displaced monks from Rača Monastery 

on the Drina to restore Beočin. They first built a small 

wooden church, completed 1708, where they worshipped 

for a full 23 years. Construction of the new large church 

commenced in 1731 and was completed nine years later. Its 

patrons were one Milivoje Milaković, “leaseholder of the 

Futog post office”, and his son Peter, “a postman from 

Gložan”. A three-storey belfry was added in 1753, receiving 

an additional porch and awnings in 1762. The monastic 

residences on the south side were built in 1741, with those 

on the western side added in 1777. 

The church, dedicated to the Ascension of the Lord, has 

a basic three-tiered exterior with a septilateral alter apse 

and a semicircular apse above the choir. The interior of the 

temple and four of its iconostases were painted by Novi 

Sad-born Janko Halkozović in 1754, while the sumptuous 

baroque iconostasis was carved by an unknown artist in 

1765. At that time icons of the Apostles, the Nativity and 

Old Testament prophets were painted by renowned artists 

Dimitrije Bačević and Teodor Kračun. 

1 

2 

3 

Beočin Monastery: 

Monastery church 

and residences 

View of the monastic 

complex from 

the famous 

monastery park 

Chapel of St. George 

in the park, as it 

looks today 

Vakalov 

Susek is related to 

the existence of one 

lost monastery. An 

Ottoman document 

from 1549 mentions 

that the monks were 

given permission to 

repair the Akalov 

Monastery. Later 

the monastery 

was mentioned as 

Vakalov. The precise 

location is not known, 

but in the district 

of Susek village a 

Vakalova potes still 

exists. The monastery 

was apparently 

completely abandoned 

after 1614.

MONASTARIES & CHURCHES 

1 

2 3 

95


96 

The building of the main church coincided with the 

construction of a monastery chapel by the stream (1734- 

1739), but it was demolished in 1905. The only remnants of 

the chapel are an icon of the Holy Virgin and the doors of 

the imperial entrance, which declare on the back that the 

patron of the chapel’s iconostasis was Dimitri Janaći. A new 

chapel was later built in the monastery park, according to 

the design of renowned architect Vladimir Nikolić. 

Despite all the destruction, Beočin Monastery’s repository 

was still rich in the first half of the 20 th century. However, 

during the Croatian occupation of World War II almost all of 

the monastery’s treasures were plundered and transferred 

to Zagreb. Only part of the stolen treasure was returned 

after the war and is today kept in the Museum of the Serbian 

Orthodox Church in Belgrade. 

A number of notable people and events have been connected 

with Beočin Monastery and its turbulent hi story. 

They have been referenced and recalled extensively, inclu 

ding here in this very book. Dimitrije Ruvarac, one of the 

most renowned Serbian historians of the new era, wrote an 

extensive monograph on Beočin Monastery back in 1924, 

providing a veritable goldmine of important documents 

and details. Young poet Jovan Grčić Milenko spent the last 

months of his life here in the monastery, when already 

terminally ill with tuberculosis. He succumbed in 1875 and 

was buried beside the church on the north side, where his 

tombstone still stands. 

Beočin Monastery is today home to the miraculous icon 

of the Virgin Mary, five centuries old. “Giving children to the 

infertile, bringing the sick back to life” Prioress Ekaterina 

tells us. “To date more than 150 children whose mothers 

were medically declared infertile have prayed before the 

icon of the Holy Mother.” Mother Ekaterina has lived in this 

holy place for 35 years and has personally witnessed many 

miracles of the Beočin Virgin Mary Icon. These miracles 

occur on the basis of deep foundations in spiritually and 

religious faith – it is written in the book that will preserve 

the chronicle of holy wonders for generations to come. 

Rakovac Monastery 

On the wall of the church’s narthex is a visible record 

of the saintly brothers Cosmas and Damian dating back to 

1533. It is unclear whether the date marked the building of 

the church, a restoration of just the painting, but it marks the 

1 

2 

3 

4 

Beočin Monastery: 

Icons and part 

of the iconostasis 

Prioress Nun 

Ekaterina 

The tomb of Bishop 

Varnava Nastić 

Treasury 

“Of the remaining 

antique treasures 

in Beočin we 

should mention the 

embroidered curtain 

of the royal doors, 

fashioned by a nun 

named Ana during 

the late 14 th or early 

15 th centuries. This 

impressive work of art 

presumably arrived in 

Beočin in 1697. The 

remarkable fivedome 

reliquary from 

Šišatovac Monastery 

was the work of 

goldsmith Dimitar from 

Lapovo. It was made 

between 1550 and 

1551, but was brought 

to Beočin in 1753. The 

monastery also had a 

gold-plated silver cross 

in its possession that 

was crafted in 1625 

by Božićko Radišić 

and Duro. All of these 

items were kept on 

display in glass cases 

at Beočin Monastery 

untill the outbreak of 

World War II” 

(Vojislav Matić)


1 

2 3 

4 

97


98 

first tangible reference to the existence of Rakovac. According 

to legend, the monastery was built by Raka Milošević, 

Great Courtier of Despot Jovan Branković, thus suggesting 

that the name of the holy place is derived from its patron. It 

was built on the northern slopes of Fruška Gora’s Zmajevac, 

in a valley with a stream that would later, along with the 

monastery and the surrounding Pronoiar settlement, be 

given the name Rakovac. (This legend was entered into the 

monastic chronicle in 1704 by Abbot Teofan; we know this 

thanks to the transcript of Isaiah Parivodski from 1767). 

According to the second version, the name is derived from 

the fact that the stream was home to a lot of crabs (rakova) in 

ancient times and the name of Rakovac was later transferred 

to the monastery and village. 

Records indicate that Ottoman invaders plundered the 

monastery and the locals in 1541, just eight years after the 

church was first mentioned. The following reference is from 

1546: Ottoman tax records show that Rakovac Monastery 

is liable to make a payment of 5,000 Akçe and an annual 

contribution of 800 Akçe. 

After that all traces are lost – details of the suffering 

and restoration remain in the dark recesses of a difficult 

and unfortunate time. We only find reference again in 

1657, inscribed on a stone slab in the wall of the dormitory, 

from which we learn that restoration of the monastic 

dormitory was completed at that time. Just as Beočin was 

resettled and reconstructed by monks fleeing Rača on the 

Drina, so it is certain that Rakovac gained new brothers 

from the highly sacred monasteries of central Serbia which 

had been destroyed by the Ottoman. By the time it hosted 

Bishop Sebastian of Budapest in 1662, Rakovac Monastery 

had already started growing into an important centre of 

culture. Rakovac developed certain characteristics, becoming 

known for the valuable activity of transcribing, fostering the 

education of monks, maintaining a high sense of mission and 

“responsibility before God and kin in evil days”. The Ottoman 

wrath was felt again in 1678 and 1682, but we know that by 

1692 it had been restored to its earlier state and continued 

its cultural momentum. It was here that, among other 

works, a famous copy of Dušan’s Code was produced. Here 

in 1714 the Rakovački Srbljak was handwritten, representing 

the then most comprehensive anthology of Serbian saints. It 

was on the basis of that precious manuscript that Monk 

Maxim, and Archbishop Sinesije Živković prepared and 

printed the Rulebook of Worship of all Serbian Educators in 

1 

Rakovac Monastery 

Gift 

In 2003, to mark 

the centenary of 

its founding, the 

Assembly of the 


in Beočin decided 

to donate valuable 

timber for the wooden 

elements needed 

during construction 

of Belgrade’s St. Sava 

Cathedral. The gift 

was made in memory 

of the founders of the 

Community and as a 

concrete contribution 

of Beočin folk to 

the raising of this 

magnificent building; 

this “church that 

builds us.” The Holy 

Synod of the Serbian 

Orthodox Church was 

informed of the gift 

and temple builders 

were offered precisely 

the type and amount 

of wood needed.


1 

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100 

1761 in Râmnica, Romania. “The book is richly illustrated 

with fourteen engravings on separate sheets,” describes 

Predrag R. Milovanović, one of the best living connoisseurs 

of old Serbian books. “It had huge significance, because it 

was simultaneously a declaration opposing unification and 

opposing Russianisation.” 

“It was precisely from that period that Rakovac entered 

the fertile 18 th century and gained its most famous monks: 

Sebastian (Archbishop of Budapest from the 17 th century), 

metropolitan bishops Vićentije Jovanović, Pavle Nenadović, 

Danilo Jakšić, Sinesije Živanović, Mojsije Putnik, Josif 

Šakabenta, Panteleimon Živković and Georgije Hranislav 

(all from the 18 th and early 19 th centuries),” explains Dr 

Željko Fajfrić, another of the fruitful researchers of Fruška 

Gora monasteries (Fruškogorska Holy Hill, Šid, 1997). 

The Church of Holy brothers Cosmas and Damian 

continues the tradition of the holy mountain’s threeapse 

structure and the Morava school. It has largely retained 

its original appearance, is covered by a semi cylindrical 

vault, with elliptical apses both inside and out. Its octagonal 

dome with square bazisom was created through the use of 

pendentives, with arches that rely on four square pillars. The 

church was thoroughly renovated in 1763 and again in 

1900. The Baroque belfry was built in 1735 at the behest 

of Metropolitan Bishop Vićentije Jovanović. The old threesided 

dormitories, originating from 1656, were renewed in 

1771 (today a new dormitory is being constructed to house 

a hundred or more people.) 

Little remains of the oldest frescoes from the 16 th centu 

ry (there are fragments in the calotte and tambura dome, 

as well as on two pillars). The paintings considered the 

most important at Rakovac are nine large compositions in 

the dining hall, dating back to 1768, works of Ambrosija 

Janković. Today we can only see them in photographs, 

be cause they were completely destroyed in World War 

II. (“The painter paid greater attention to their realism 

than their style. Wherever he had the chance, he placed a 

figure in the foreground, a fashionable costume or a natural 

landscape ...”). 

Earlier, in 1761, Rakovac gained a new iconostasis. It 

was painted by renowned Sremski Karlovci painter Vasilije 

Ostojić and completed by his student and assistant Janko 

Halkozović. A significant treasure is also represented by 

the iconostasis in the cemetery chapel, completed by Halkozović. 

1 

2 

3 

Rakovac Monastery, 

south side view of the 

monastery church 

Title page and 

engraving with the 

image of Despot 

Stefan Lazarević from 

the ‘Rules of prayer 

of saintly Serbian 

educators’, printed in 

1761 by Arad Bishop 

Sinesija Živković, 

adapted from 

the handwritten 

Rakovac Srbljak 

Odescalchi 

War was still raging 

between Austria and 

Turkey on 30 th July 

1697, when Prince 

Livio Odescalchi, 

a nephew of Pope 

Innocent XII who 

had loaned 350,000 

florins to Emperor 

Leopold I for his war, 

was given the Duchy 

of Srem (Ducatus 

Syrmiensis). The 

emperor did, however, 

reserve the right 

for his state to use 

Petrovaradin Fortress, 

Slankamen and 

Zemun, with the miles 

of space around them, 

while part was covered 

by the Danube-side 

and Sava-side military 

border. Odescalchi 

and his heirs managed 

Srem’s remaining 

territory for the next 

few decades.


1 

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101


RELIGIOUS BUILDINGS 

IN BEOČIN MUNICIPALITY 

BEOČIN 

Church of the Transfiguration of Our Lord 

This Orthodox church was built in the late 18 th century 

in the Danube Baroque style. Its iconostasis and royal 

entrance doors were made by Novi Sad-born woodcutter 

Aksentije Marković, as testified by a written record (the 

contract with the church council of the village Beočin from 

1791). The gilding was added in 1802 by Ilija Gavrilović and 

the icons were painted by Stefan Gavrilović, then one of 

the best masters of Serbian Baroque painting. The interior 

of the temple is painted from the altar to the narthex. The 

central part of the nave features the images Descent of the 

Holy Spirit and the Stoning of St. Stephen, which are partially 

preserved works of unknown painters. 

1 

The Church of 

St. Vasilija of 

Ostrog Čudotvorac 

(Miracle worker) 

in Beocin 

102 

Church of St. Barbara 

The Roman Catholic Church of Saint Barbara, patron 

saint of miners, was erected just prior to World War II. 

However, a belfry was not constructed and to this day the 

sounds of bells are only heard emanating from speakers. The 

church is a simple red-brick structure. In 1979 a Holy Cross 

(Crucifixion) was erected in the courtyard. 

House of Prayer 

The youngest house of worship on the territory of 

Beočin municipality, the Merdžin House of Prayer, is for 

members of the Muslim faith. Having resettled from Kosovo 

to the area at the end of World War II, Beočin’s Albanian (or 

Roma) colony has continued to grow in number. In the late 

1980s they launched an initiative to construct a religious 

object in the form of the House of prayer. Construction 

started in 1994 and was completed in 2004. 

ČEREVIĆ 

Church of St. Sava 

There is no reliable data confirming the commencement 

of the construction of the Orthodox St. Sava Church (though 

it was most likely built in the early 18 th century). However, it 

Population 

In the first half of 

the 18 th century the 

population of Čerević 

was recorded as 

consuming “140 loaves 

a day” (recorded 

in 1730). By 1774 

there were 121 

households with 1,163 

inhabitants. In 1808 

the rebel state had 

already existed south 

of the Sava for five 

years and Čerević had 

1,508 inhabitants. Two 

years later, in 1810, it 

is recorded as having 

308 households, while 

half a century later, 

in 1860, it had 2,200 

inhabitants. By 1880 

Čerević’s population 

had dropped to 1,767 

in 384 houses.


1 

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104 

is known with certainty that it gained its modern appearance 

in the 1770s. It is a single-nave building with a pentagonal 

apse, to which a belfry was added on the west side. According 

to a contract dating back to 1825, the iconostasis was the 

work of woodcutter Marko Vujatović. Upon completion the 

iconostasis was embellished with images of the crucifixion, 

the Holy Virgin and John the Baptist, while at the sides are 

three icons of Christ’s suffering. The throned icons depict 

Saint Sava, the Virgin Mary with Christ, Jesus Christ and 

Saint John the Baptist. The altar contains two valuable 

gospels, with illustrated presentations of the Holy Trinity 

and the Four Evangelists and the Four Evangelists with the 

Ascension of the Lord. 

The north wall of the church includes three crosses, 

one of which was dedicated by the church’s patron, Todor 

Trčkić. In the churchyard is a monument to Petar Kostić, 

a trader and benefactor who established the Fund for the 

education of poor students. Among the scholars of this fund 

were known painter and stage designer Milenko Šerban 

and poet Jovan Grčić Milenko. The monument to him was 

erected by the Matica Srpska, who administered the fund. 

Roman Catholic Church 

This Čerević church was built in 1744 in the style of then 

contemporary church architecture with a built-in belfry 

(inspired by the emerging Rococo style). Above the altar is 

an oil-on-canvas painting two metres tall, depicting the Holy 

Family: Mary, the baby Jesus and Joseph, surrounded by 

angels hovering over the panorama of Čerević. Surrounded 

by a carved and gilded frame, it was painted in Budapest by 

Janoš Volinhofer, one of the best local painters of the late 

18 th century. 

Two important paintings in this church are works of 

Serbian painters: the Crucifixion of Christ, oil on canvas, 

by Arsenija Teodorović, and the Prophet Moses with the Comma 

ndments tablets by Konstantin Pantelić. 

Banoštor 

Church of St. George 

Built on a hill overlooking the Danube, the Orthodox 

Church of St. George dominates this village. The iconostasis 

was erected in 1833 by Maxim Lazarević, while the icons 

were painted in 1836 by Konstantin Pantelić. The throned 

icons represent St. George, the Virgin Mary with Christ, 

1 

2 

3 

The Roman Catholic 

Church of St. 

Barbara, Beočin 

The Roman Catholic 

Church in Čerević 

The Church of St. 

George in Banoštor 

Years & People 

Banoštor had 53 

Serbian houses in 

1734, 30 in 1756, 55 

in 1766 and 65 in both 

1774 and 1791. By 

1810, records show, 

the village had 430 

inhabitants in 85 

houses and by 1900 

it had 767 inhabitants 

in 140 houses. The 

village gained 53 new 

residents relocated 

from Serbia during 

the Serb uprising led 

by Koča Anđelković 

in 1788. In the 

period from 1774 to 

1810 Vienna began 

colonising the area 

with Germans. At the 

turn of the 19 th to the 

20 th centuries Banoštor 

had 979 inhabitants, 

while ten years later 

(1910) it was home to 

1,110 (of which 605 

were literate). In order 

of nationality: 766 

Serbs, 389 Germans, 

19 Slovaks, 16 Croats, 

three Hungarians 

and 17 others.


1 2 

3 

105


106 

Christ and St. John. The church was renovated two decades 

ago thanks to the contributions of residents and holidayhome 

owners in Banoštor. 

Susek 

Church of the Archangel Gabriel 

Built in 1770 after the expulsion of the Ottoman 

occupiers from Vojvodina, the interior of the church was 

painted by famous baroque painter Teodor Kračun. The 

name of the maestro who decorated the iconostasis with 

engravings is unknown. The iconostasis was painted in six 

zones, with 64 fields. The throne icons depict the archangel 

Michael, St. Nicholas, St. John, the Virgin Mary with Christ, 

Christ and the Archangel Gabriel. The doors of the royal 

entrance depict the Annunciation and medallions showing 

St. Sava and St. Simeon. The side doors have medallions 

showing holy Emperor Uroš and holy Prince Lazar. The 

iconostasis was painted in 1901. 

SVILOŠ 

Church of the Ascension of the Holy Virgin 

This church was built in the mid 19 th century and 

decorated with paintings in 1853. 

The iconostasis, as is written on his back, was painted by 

Matej Petrović. The most artistically valuable icons depict 

the Ascension of the Holy Virgin, the Last Supper and the 

Virgin Birth, as well as the central icon of the Holy Trinity. 

GRABOVO 

Church of Holy Archangels 

Michael and Gabriel 

Though formally erected prior to the church in Sviloš, 

the completion is believed to have taken place in 1857, when 

the glorious royal doors were installed. The iconostasis was 

constructed by Sava Ljubinković (1840) and icons were 

painted by Pavle Šortanović (1857). 

In 1943, during the area’s occupation by fascist Croatian 

forces, the Grabovo church was destroyed during the attack 

that saw the village burnt and the majority of residents 

murdered. Life only partially returned to the village after 

the war. A number of houses were rebuilt and, in 1981, the 

church was too. 

1 

The Church of 

St. Archangel 

Gabriel, Susek, 

built in the 

18 th century 

Life in numbers 

The first census in 

Sviloš was taken 

during the taxation 

reforms of 1737. At 

that time the village 

had 20 households 

with four married sons 

and two widows with 

estates. The census 

records 19 horses, 

19 oxen, 11 cows, 36 

sheep, 33 pigs, 33 bee 

hives, 37 and a half 

acres of arable land, 

415 hoes for working 

vineyards and 410 

for plums. In 1756 

Sviloš included 24 

homes, while by 1791 

there were 55 with 

224 souls. The priest’s 

annual revenue was 

38 forints and 48 

krajczár. In 1810 

the village had 67 

houses. In 1888 it 

had 517 inhabitants, 

then during the Koča 

uprising Sviloš’s 

number of households 

grew to 121.


1 

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108 

CULTURE AND EDUCATION 

Mini review of the history 

of Beočin culture 

In the 19 th century, with the “Serbian re-emergence”, 

Srem – including the Beočin area – welcomed virtually all of 

the Serbian cultural and spiritual elite of the era, who came 

to work, visit, tour the Fruška Gora monasteries or gather 

in Sremski Karlovci. This was a time filled with enthusiasm 

and romantic ecstasy, libertarian national dreams and feelings 

of joy in anticipation of the approaching hour of the 

restoration of Serb geography and history. And a lot of people 

read, according to the standards of that era. According 

to chronicler Sekula Petrović, in 1826 the contributors to 

many issues of the publication Danica, published by Vuk 

Karadžić in Vienna, included the names of Susek priests 

Stefan Timić and Đorđija Trifonović. Moreover, according 

to the same chronicler, at the start of that century Beočin 

Monastery had one of the richest libraries and was on the 

list of contributors to many Serbian guides, publications 

and almanacs. Popular publication Srpska pčela (Serbian 

bees) wrote at the time: “Of all the latest Serbian books, 

only a few will be found in monastery libraries, with the exceptions 

of the self-contained libraries of Krušedol, Beočin, 

Opovo, Šišatovac (recently Kuveždin) and wherever else 

there are patriotic abbots and monks.” 

The best reflection of this movement in Beočin is certainly 

represented by the life and works of the area’s most 

famous local poet, Jovan Grčić Milenko (1846-1875), student 

of Vienna, scholar of Matica srpska, the so-called 

“Fruška Gora Nightingale”. 

This period also saw the first fruit borne as a result of 

the establishing of numerous schools and libraries, with 

the expansion of the area’s culture base. “The return of the 

nation to culture and culture to the nation.” Existing cultural 

institutions were strengthened, such as Matica Srpska, 

and new ones were created, such as the Serbian National 

Theatre (1861). In the final quarter of the 19 th century this 

wave visibly began to arrive in Beočin. Ten years after the 

death of Grčić Milenko, fellow Čerević native, Đoka “Čiča” 

(Uncle) Savić, printed the book Fruška Gora folk in song in 

Novi Sad (1885). This was no special achievement in literary 

terms, but it illustrates the changing state of minds. Already 

1 

2 

An old postcard 

image of Beočin 

monastery 

Regular visitor: 

poet Laza Kostić 

Petar Kostić 

This man was another 

successful merchant 

from Čerević. He 

earned a fortune and 

bequeathed all his 

property to the Matica 

Srpska on condition 

that the interest on 

capital be used to help 

pupils and students of 

secular and theological 

science (“he dictated 

his will from his 

sickbed on 29 th August 

1865”). Financed 

scholars were required 

to learn Latin, German 

and Hungarian, in 

addition to their native 

Serbian. Scholars who 

didn’t learn Latin 

were unable to receive 

a scholarship. “The 

first scholarship 

was the son of 

Čerević Archpriest 

Maksimović, then later 

two Milenkos, also 

Čerević natives, Jovan 

Grčić Milenko and 

Milenko Šerban.

CULTURE 

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109


110 

by the next summer, in 1886, Čerević welcomed the Serbian 

church-choir Society, the first church choir in the Beočin 

area. At the turn of the century, in 1900, the village played 

host to famous Serbian Duke from Montenegro, Marko 

Miljanov, writer of the eminent Example of heroism and humanity, 

and the visit turned into a major cultural and literary 

celebration. That same year Beočin Monastery welcomed 

another great Serbian writer, poet and scholar, Laza Kostić, 

who came for a longer stay as a guest of the young and 

learned Abbot, Dr Georgija Letić. And at Laza’s invitation, 

judging by their correspondences, he was joined in Beočin 

for a while by fellow writer Simo Matavulj, one of the poet’s 

best friends, who travelled to the area from Belgrade. 

The cultural flair of the Serbs from this area and their 

promotion of culture continued into the 20 th century. By 

1902 a reading room and library had been established for 

factory workers and employees in Beočin. A preserved invitation 

from 1908 shows that on 27 th December that year 

Beočin hosted the theatrical performance of the play Found 

children, written by Janos Szabo. This date is now regarded 

as the beginning of theatre in this town. All proceeds from 

this performance were set aside to fund the equipping of 

the Beočin Student Library. 

Several cultural societies were established in and around 

Beočin in those years between the first and second decades 

of the 20 th century, such as the Fruška Gora Serbian Choral 

Society in 1910. That same year saw famous publications 

Branik (Protector) and Zastava (flag) write about social life 

and youth entertainment in Čerević (at the party depicted 

“a dilettante view is given”, accompanied by a male choir 

which sang Hosanna Smolenski). In the 1910 book Serbian 

Orthodox Metropolitan of Karlovac according to data from 

1905, by Mata Kosovac, Beočin is mentioned (298 homes, 

of which 213 are Serbian, 407 married couples, 6,016 cadastral 

acres in the district). 

According to available sources it was then, in the early 

1900s, that the larger and more prominent taverns of 

Čerević and Beočin Village gained stages that hosted the 

performances of travelling theatrical troupes. Actor Dušan 

Životić, a member of the Fotija Iličić theatre troupe, writes 

in his book My memoirs that the troupe performed in 

Čerević in July 1911, dancing Eda Tota’s Seoski lola (Village 

rogue), Sterija Popović’s Boj na Kosovu (Battle of Kosovo), J.E. 

Tomić’s Baron Trenk and others. The troupe then went on 

their merry way down the Danube to Sremska Kamenica. 

1 

Đoka Savić Čiča, 

image first published 

in his book ‘Fruška 

Gora folk in song’, 

1885 

Đoka Savić ‘Čiča’ 

(1852-1937) 

A man of modest 

education but vibrant 

spirit, a farmer, 

shepherd, head of 

household, one of 

the most well-known 

residents of Čerević 

at the time and a 

contributor to Matica 

Srpska. In 1885, on 

the tenth anniversary 

of the death of Grčić 

Milenko, his famous 

collection Fruška 

Gora folk in song was 

published in Novi Sad 

(reprint 1999), which 

is what we remember 

him for today. His 

grave, a memorial 

pyramid of black 

granite, is located near 

the main entrance to 

the Čerević cemetery.

CULTURE 

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112 

Then everything collapsed in the terrible maelstrom 

of the Great War, which – along with its prologue and epilogue 

– lasted half a decade. “Although that war, with the 

exception of the start and the end, was largely waged far 

away from this region, and although the Austro-Hungarian 

government sought to maintain a semblance of normality, 

the battle was strongly echoed in the hearts of Beočin 

folk. In that mirror they could clearly follow the course of 

the war. And then followed the great turning point, then 

came victory; the collapse of the Hapsburgs, liberation and 

unification came.” 

Between 24 th and 25 th November 1918, Beočin, and indeed 

the whole of Srem and the entire Serbian Duchy of 

Vojvodina, finally became part of Serbia and, soon thereafter, 

Yugoslavia. The centuries-long Serbian dream had 

been fulfilled and a whole new era, with new outlooks, values 

and lexicon. All of this, of course, was also adjusted to 

the cultural matrix. Despite the country’s internal political 

situation being very weak and hindered by many obstructions 

(which could only have surprised the ignorant and the 

flippant), hardworking professionals were able to re-launch 

cultural life. 

The end of the war hadn’t even been perceived, nor had 

the breakthrough of the Macedonian/Salonika Front even 

started when Beočin Cement Factory bought the first cinema 

projection device and, on 10 th June 1918, organised 

the first film screening in the history of Beočin. Though 

this had been done with quite a different aim in mind, 

it turned out to be another individual branch of cultural 

awareness of this town and area, which were on the brink 

of a new era. Two years later, in 1920 (the importance of 

the event could not have been known, but it remained recorded), 

Čerević marked the birth of future famous sculptor 

Jovan Soldatović, one of the individuals who would go 

on to spread the glory of their homeland throughout the 

culture and art of their country and beyond. The following 

year, in the same village, the Jovan Grčić Milenko Cultural 

and Artistic Society was founded. It would go on to use its 

programmes to introduce new vigour to the culture of this 

and neighbouring places. 

Chroniclers of that time reported on the formation and 

increasing importance of the work of amateur theatre companies. 

A wealth of material on the history of the theatrical 

life of Beočin was collected and systematised in Sekula 

Petrović’s book Beo – činovi (White – deeds) Theatrical life in 

1 

2 

3 

Most interpreted 

playwrights in the 

history of Beočin 

theatre life: Branislav 

Nušić and Jovan 

Sterija Popović 

Cast and crew for the 

play “Badger before 

court”, performed at 

worker colonies in 

the late 1920s 

Atanasije Geretski 

(1810-1885) 

This man, originally 

from the Grčki family 

in Čerević, embarked 

out into the world and, 

travelling through 

Trieste, arrived in 

Odessa. He acquired 

merchant’s skills 

through training and 

operated throughout 

the Mediterranean, 

becoming wealthy in 

the process. Under 

the fatigue of old 

age he returned 

to his homeland, 

taking up residence 

in Novi Sad. In 1878 

he donated a large 

amount of money 

to the Great Serbian 

Orthodox Grammar 

School to establish his 

Foundation and help 

the development of 

Serbia’s youth. Two 

years before his 

death, his estate 

was bequeathed to 

Matica Srpska.

CULTURE 

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3 

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114 

Beočin 1908-2009. Through this book we learn that the theatrical 

associations of Čerević and Beočin village performed 

on the premises of the Sokolsko Society and in fire stations; 

schools, churches and community centres were used in other 

Beočin villages. They mostly performed, according to Mr 

Luka Hajduković, single-act comedies and “plays with singing”. 

Again they note Eda Tota’s Seoski lola (Village rogue), 

then under the adaptation of Stevan Deskaševa and with 

the music of Isidor Bajić. As time passed, so the expressiveness 

of these amateur actors matured and their repertoires 

grew to include more demanding comedies – most notably 

those of Kosta Trifković and Branislav Nušić. 

Historian Dimitrije Ruvarac published his 1924 book 

Beočin monastery in Sremski Karlovci, along with a broader 

work on the monasteries of the Fruška Gora. To mark 

the centenary of Matica srpska in 1926, the Jovan ‘Grčić’ 

Milenko Serbian Singing Society performed a “concert to 

remember” in the churchyard of Čerević’s St. Sava Church. 

That same year, young painter Milenko Šerban, then 20, 

held his first solo exhibition, thus marking the start of his 

artistic career. 

“In 1927 a celebration with dancing was organised in 

Čerević. They sang Mokranjac’s Druga rukovet and Bajić’s 

songs Sitna Kiša (Light Rain) and Luna sija (shining Luna),” 

explains Sekula Petrović. “On 12 th July that year, alongside 

a rich cultural programme, a commemorative plaque 

to Jovan Grčić Milenko was unveiled and, at the Beočin 

Monastery, the choir performed a requiem. At the end of the 

1920s, workers of the cement factory, organised into a drama 

group, performed Petar Kočić’s Badger before court. The 

play was performed at Workers House (one time premises 

of the Association of Pensioners and today the premises of 

the Roma Association). Another popular gathering place for 

Beočin folk was the Koric tavern...” 

And in those years, as well as throughout much of the 

19 th century, the road to Beočin was travelled by various 

great figures of culture, some perhaps quite unexpectedly. 

It was recorded that during the 1930s poet Tin Ujević 

and sculptor Toma Rosandić stayed in the Čerević villa of 

Dr Dimitrija Konjović on several occasions. A photograph 

from Čerević, shot at the time and evidently during summer, 

shows the famous poet a in bathing suit, accompanied 

by friends on the bank of the Danube. 

Unfortunately, however, even this peace – fragile and 

perhaps illusory as it was – didn’t last long. Neither the 

1 

2 

3 

“Koric”, 1929: 

Beočin’s most famous 

inn and performance 

venue in its day 

The villa of 

Dr Dimitrije Konjević 

in Braziilja and its 

dear guest (right) 

poet Tin Ujević 

Marko Miljanov 

(1833-1901) 

The eighth issue of 

publication Narodno 

kolo, published 8 th 

October 1900, wrote 

about the visit to 

Čerević of famous 

Marko Miljanov 

Popović Drekalović 

“fighter against 

Turkish oppression, 

former plumewearer 

(top fighter), 

duke and member 

of the Montenegrin 

Council.” The report 

shows that Miljanov, 

author of Primjeri 

čojstva i junaštva 

(Examples of humanity 

and heroism), was 

there with his wife 

for a short visit to see 

Georgija Maksimović, 

the village priest. He 

also met with national 

poet Đoka Savić 

‘Čiča’ at his home in 

Čerević. The occasion 

attracted many people 

to the village and the 

event turned into 

an impromptu folk 

festival.

CULTURE 

1 

2 3 

115


116 

country nor the ideological ideas that the Serbian based it 

on were given enough time or a real chance. A new darkness 

soon followed, filled with rumbling battles, collapse and 

horrific ‘deliveries’ arriving from across the Sava. The occupying 

forces in Srem represented a “domestic occupier”, the 

most dreadful of all preceding unwelcome occupiers. For 

well-known reasons, the true heinousness of the occupation 

was never fully expressed, truthfully and characteristically, 

neither in culture nor through art – neither then nor in the 

decades that followed. We know the consequences. Perhaps 

some people really believed that they could eliminate an unwanted 

reality by closing their eyes? 

A new peace did not emerge from this war of pan-European 

and Yugoslav slaughter, but rather a “new world”. The 

State’s structural form changed, as did the social system, 

ideology and value structure; the entire lexicon. 

Srem saw the organising of cultural propaganda events 

even before the war had ended – during its last few months 

– by the soon-to-be liberators, “aimed at raising the moral 

of the population”. These events included performances of 

appropriate sketches, recitals, renditions of battle songs 

and ideological anthems, as well as the inevitable speeches. 

Finally, between 5 th and 16 th October 1944, all the settlements 

of Beočin municipality were liberated from the 

Croatian and German occupation. One year later, in 1946, 

the Beočin Workers’ Stevan Petrović Brile Cultural-Artistic 

Society was founded. This was the main organisational 

framework (appropriately for the new era) through which 

culture would seek, and find, its conduits. 

Chroniclers report that in the early post-war years they 

performed Glišić’s Glava Šećera (Sugarloaf), Ivan Cankar’s 

Hlapec Jernej in njegova pravica (The Servant Jernej and His 

Right), Skender Kulenović’s A šta sad (And What Now), 

Branislav Nušić’s Knez Ivo od Semberije (Duke Ivo of Sem beri 

ja), Svinja (Pig), Dr (Doctor), Analfabet (The Illiterate one), 

Jovan Sterija Popović’s Ženidba i Udadba (Groom’s Marriage 

& Bride’s Marriage), Zla Žena (Evil Woman), Kir Janja (Miser) 

and Anton Chekhov’s Prosidba (Marriage Proposal). There 

were also concerts, folk events, works of amateur literature 

and pamphlets. Members gathered in the building 

that would later become a post office. The Culture Centre, 

which collapsed in 1974, was in the vicinity of the cement 

factory. The most cheerful gatherings, such as the dances 

that probably best marked the citizens’ youths, were held 

at the fire station. 

1 

Tin Ujević, 

Dr Dimitrije Konjević 

et al. on the Danube, 

1932 

Tin Ujević 

(1891-1955) 

“Remembered for 

his straw hat with a 

wide brim, swimming 

trunks, worn out 

shoes and a cigarette 

in his mouth, he 

would walk from the 

villa of his friend Dr 

Konjović in Brazilija, 

through Bakanjača 

to the sharp turn in 

the Danube, with 

friends, but also often 

alone. He would spend 

all day bathing in the 

Danube. He would 

speak pleasantly 

and fondly with the 

fishermen, rejoicing 

when they caught 

something. He smoked 

a lot and enjoyed 

watching the Danube 

in silence.” 

(Leposava Kljaić, from 

the manuscript of 

Đoka Dević ‘Čađo’)

CULTURE 

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118 

Significant local contributors to nurturing cultural life 

at that time included Stojan Stanivukov, Franja Draganić, 

Ivan Koh, Dušan Krga, Jožika Dvoržak, Josip Sokola, Ivan 

Hajtl, Mihailo Mergl, Ivan Gabrić, Jusuf Šabić, Stojanka 

Dugošija, Persa Kovačević Petrović, Katica Stanivukov, 

Vik tor Anderluh, Zdravko Ferić, Ljubica Čerevićki and others. 

Professional records also show that Radomir Putnik, a 

prominent theatre worker, critic and journalist, would pop 

in from Belgrade. His advice, it is said, was very important 

to the Beočin amateurs. 

The Isa Medaković Cultural-Educational Society, according 

to preserved photographic evidence, has been operating 

since 1952. At that time Susek’s cultural gatherings were 

mainly held at the Jovan Popović School, while in Čerević 

Nikola Ćirilović gathered the youth with his directing and 

acting. They performed works by Sterija, Nušić, Subotić, 

Veselinović and Ogrizović. 

The Pioneers Brass and Youth Tamburica Orchestra was 

foun ded in the early 1960s, at a time when the Beočin Photo- 

Cinema Club was already in full swing. From 1959 this club 

had been publishing its Filmski bilten newsletter – a unique 

publication in the then Yugoslavia. The newsletter even received 

a special award as the best amateur film magazine at 

the Pula Festival, the country’s main film event. Over the 

course of eight years, until 1967, thirteen issues of the newsletter 

were published. It was a quarterly publication that cost 

a single Dinar. The editorial department were based at 8 Ive 

Lole Ribara Square and included Đorđe Milanović, Zoran 

La zarov, Karlo Šetalo, Mijat Rukavina, Vjekoslav Letoš and 

Branko Petričević. The editor was Đuro Konrad. This man, 

known affectionately as Gega, is best credited for the film 

Reka (River), starring Ivan Herak in the lead role. This film, 

of which Konrad was both director and cinematographer, 

was used to represent the Beočin group at the Festival of Yugoslav 

Amateur Film in Novi Sad in 1963. Konrad also made 

the films Sunčev Slap (Sunny Waterfall), Omega 126 and Soba 

za Prenoćište (Room for the Night). His film about the lives of 

Gypsies in the Potleušica colony on the plateau above the cement 

factory was banned. Adapting the screenplay of Mijata 

Rukavina, Konrad also made the film Quo vadis football, 

which received a special award at the Pula Festival in 1966. 

Theatrical life was most intense in Čerević during the 

1960s (states S. Petrović in his retrospective). He highlights 

the play Pesma (Song) by Oskar Davičo. The Serbian 

National Theatre in Novi Sad made regular guest appear- 

1 

2 

3 

Isa Medaković 

Stevan Petrović ‘Brile’ 

Enrolees on the 

course for amateur 

theatrical leaders, 

Novi Sad, 1947: 

Beočin’s Franja 

Draganić is pictured 

in the front row, 

far right 

Dušan Cvejić 

(1862-1937) 

This Chemist and 

Master of Pharmacy 

was best known for 

opening the first 

chemist’s in the 

history of the Beočin 

area, known as the 

Chemist’s “at the 

Holy Ghost”. He 

completed primary 

school in Vinkovci, 

before studying 

pharmaceuticals in 

Zagreb and gaining his 

Masters. He worked as 

a chemist in Zagreb, 

Brod, Samobor 

and Novi Sad. His 

career spanned a 

full 58 years, 49 of 

which were spent 

in Čerević! “He was 

married to Angelina, 

from the Grčki 

family that gave us 

writer Jovan Grčić 

Milenko. He was 

president of the 

Serbian reading room 

and the ‘Adriatic 

Guards’ in Čerević.

CULTURE 

1 2 

3 

119


120 

ances in the Beočin area during that period, performing 

the works of Dragutin Dobričanin, Jovan Sterija Popović, 

Branislav Nušić, Zoran Petrović and Saša Božović. 

Among the performing actors we find the likes of Ružica 

Sokić, Peđa Tapavički, Ivan Hajtl and Milica Radaković. 

One slightly nostalgic record reminds us that in Oc tober 

1964 Beočin hosted Bulgaria’s Ljiljana Dimitrova Orch e- 

stra. In April the following year, Matt Collins and the Dolphins 

performed. During this period, at the end of September 

each year, the Andrevlje forest clearing provided the venue 

for the event Divan je kićeni Srem (Wonderful is the Sprucecovered 

Srem), which brought together several thousand participants. 

Beočin native Ivan Novačić won the Zmaj Award 

for poetry in 1967 and on 9 th March 1969 Radio Beočin was 

founded. Its first chief editor was Nikola Ćirilović. The founding 

of the station was reported in the Srem newspaper Sremske 

novine on 19 th April that year under the headline “For listeners 

in the Danube Area: Here’s Radio Beočin”: 

“In Beočin, and it could be said throughout the entire 

Danube area, between 14:30 and 15:30, listens to the purely 

experimental programme of the local radio station. While 

staffing remains unstable and it is also technically underequipped, 

the radio station in Beočin is definitely on the 

right track to wining over listeners in the 50-kilometre area 

it covers. When it begins broadcasting a continuous programme 

from 1 st May, as we have been told, one can expect 

it to be even better quality...” 

At the end of the 1960s “in Beočin raged a Flame 

(Plamen)”, an entertainment orchestra that was essential to 

the dances at the Fire Station: Oto Novacić (band leader 

and organist), Andrija Bočković (accordion), Zvonko Sterlih 

(jazz trumpet), Đura Nebeski (guitar), Miodrag ‘Džigeran’ 

Mikić (drums) and Franjo Jakubec (singer). 

In 1971, renowned Vitomir Ljubičić, champion of the 

Serbian National Drama Theatre, and Djordje Moldovanović, 

musical assistant and conductor of this respected Novi 

Sad-based institution, were engaged to work with Beočin’s 

amateurs. The Radnički (Workers) Film projection company, 

Workers University and Radio Beočin were integrated 

into the Beočin Culture Centre. In the town, the Vojvodina 

child-poet event Green Hills of Childhood included guest performers 

Desanka Maksimović, Mira Alečković, Dobrica Erić 

and Ljubivoje Ršumović. 

The following year, 1972, the Sava inter-republic community 

of culture was established, bringing together twelve 

1 

2 

3 

4 

“Love without ...”: 

Ratka Dulić and 

Nebojša Kojić playing 

the lead roles 

“Multicoloured Ball”: 

Ratka Dulić and 

Dragutin Veselica 

Radojka Ivaz, 

vocal soloist 

Anđelka Poptešin, 

vocal soloist 

Mika Antić 

(1932-1986) 

This famous writer 

and journalist, author 

of the unforgettable 

poem Plavog čuperka 

(Blue topknot), sailor, 

puppet theatre 

worker and editor of 

publications Neven, 

Ritam and Dnevnik, 

was a frequent guest in 

Čerević, mostly at the 

Homeland Museum 

and the home of Dr 

Doda Savić. Their 

“nights of song under 

the linden” with guitar 

and wine are fondly 

remembered. They 

also wove various tales 

there – interesting, 

rare, captivating.

CULTURE 

1 

2 

3 

121 

4


122 

municipalities of Srem, Mačva, Jadar, Podrinja, Semberija 

and part of Slavonia. Beočin is among those municipalities. 

In December that year Beočin hosted an exhibition of 

Sava Šumanović paintings. 

Beočin Village’s Isa Medaković Library was open in 

early 1973, while the local Musical Youth association was 

founded at the end of that year. At the Review of Amateur 

Theatre of Srem, held that year in Beočin, the hosts won 

with the play Love Without... by Jacques de Vala, directed 

by Vitomir Ljubičić. The irresistible Ratka Dulić won the 

award for the best acting achievement. The winners went 

on to represent Srem at the Festival of Amateur Theatre of 

Vojvodina in Kikinda. 

During this period, however, the local cinemas were the 

primary instruments of cultural life among Beočin folk. Two 

permanent film theatres (Beočin, Čerević) and a mobile cinema 

ensured that many people could watch films on the big 

screen. "This summer that mobile cinema from Beočin also 

showed films in Belgrade, by the seaside and in the place 

called Tkon on the island of Pašman.” (S. Petrović) 

And so the years, names, dates, festivals and awards 

stacked up. The Brile Society performed in all of Beočin’s 

settlements, as well as entertaining the residents of Kikinda, 

Loznica, Sremska Mitrovica, Aranđelovac, Požarevac and 

elsewhere. Ratka Dulić received another acting award. 

Branislav Šumanović recorded the first record single. 

Anđelka Poptešin became a member of renowned band 

Đerdan. The Rakovac Quarry provided the location for a film 

about Yugoslav national hero Boško Palkovljević ‘Pinki’, 

shot there according to a screenplay by Pera Zubac and 

with Beočin native Miodrag Trajković playing the central 

role (1977). The Milan Vukosavljević Radio Club is founded 

and the Youth Informant launched (1978). Its first editor-inchief 

was Radomir Joković, alongside deputy editor Nikola 

Doroški. Meanwhile, local recitalist Karlo Šetalo performed 

in Velika Plana, Donja Trnava and elsewhere. 

The Čerević Homeland Museum was founded in 1980, 

featuring a permanent exhibition dedicated to poet Jovan 

Grčić Milenko, sculptor Jovan Soldatović and painter Milenko 

Šerban. 

Four years later, in 1984, exactly a decade after the demolition 

of the old Beočin culture centre, an extremely important 

decision was taken to build a new one. Construction was 

completed three years later, thus marking “the start of a new 

era in Beočin’s history of culture”. The first ever ballet per- 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

Beočin’s most 

prevalent theatre 

directors: 

Petar Jovanović ‘Peđa’ 

Milan Boškov 

Julijan Ursulesku 

Scene from the Beočin 

performance of the 

play “Patriots”, 1995. 

The Beočin team 

for the play “(Go) 

home!” by Ljudmila 

Razumovska, 2002. 

Album 

“Leaf through that 

album, look at those 

bright faces of 

beaming ideals and 

faith in tomorrow, 

try to meet any of 

those fiery eyes with 

your own. You know 

they are the ones who 

formed that history 

you study today, that 

they are associated 

with dates that you 

need to remember, 

that they are the 

protagonists of events 

we are proud of today. 

Their books, plays, 

actions, achievements; 

their travel, dancing 

and discoveries. The 

best that they had they 

gave to Beočin, first 

and foremost 

to themselves.” 

(Letopis, 1994)

CULTURE 

1 

2 3 

4 

5 

123


formance in the history of Beočin took place on 5 th May that 

same year, when Sergei Prokofiev and the Serbian National 

Theatre of Novi Sad performed Cinderella. By 19 th June the 

first full-length opera performance had also taken place, 

with the Opera of the Serbian National Theatre performing 

Gioachino Rossini’s Barber of Seville. The Song about Beočin 

(Pesma o Beočinu), from a record by Sava Tušjaka, was promoted 

on 17 th November before going on to become a hit. 

1 

2 

The Beočin Culture 

Centre, built in 

1987, and (below) 

an exhibition within 

the centre 

124 

Cultural Institutions in Beočin 

The Culture Centre of Beočin Municipality, as noted, 

was established in 1971 through the integration of the Rad - 

nički (Workers) Film projection company, Workers Uni versity 

and Radio Beočin. Work was based at the Stari Dvor (Old 

Palace) for a full sixteen years until 1987, when the mo ve 

was made to the newly constructed Culture Centre building. 

“Today it is a modern cultural, educational and information 

centre employing 25 full-time staff members and 

ten permanent casual workers, delegated to operations 

within RTV Beočin, the Music School and Library, or organising 

various cultural and educational activities, maintaining 

the cable TV distribution system,” explains the official 

web presentation of the modern Culture Centre of Beočin 

Municipality. “The most popular events organised by this institution 

are the event Beočin Summer, the Festival of Amateur 

Theatre, the Children’s winter holiday zone and others.” 

Libraries of Beočin The bastion of heritage founded in 

1902 is the Workers Reading Room for labourers and employees 

of the Beočin Cement Factory. It was housed for a 

long time in the so-called Canteen, the present premises of 

the Pensioners Association, opposite the cement factory’s 

main entrance. 

The Jovan Grčić Milenko Homeland Library was founded 

in 1971 within the Beočin Culture Centre that was also 

established that year. The Library experienced its golden 

age of operations while the culture centre was still housed 

within the Old Palace. For example, over 28,000 titles were 

borrowed and read in 1979 alone, when the library had 

2,100 members (compared to 649 in 2008.)! 

Since 1987 the library has also been located on the premises 

of the Culture Centre. It has a Native Collection and a 

department of publications, as well as manuscripts, posters 

and other library materials. Its composition also includes 

branches in Beočin Village, Rakovac, Čerević and Lug. 

Province 

Man wonders when 

he realises what 

history reveals almost 

imperceptibly when 

he enters those doors 

of Beočin, how the 

centuries and spaces 

open in front of him, 

and who prospers 

along these unexpected 

paths. What 

visionaries, clergymen, 

poets; what developers, 

entrepreneurs, 

founders, such 

dignified and noble 

people, patriots and 

Europeans! And 

Zaharija Orfelin, Grčić 

Milenko, Laza Kostić, 

Tin Ujević, Mika Antić; 

and Teodor Kračun, 

Vasilija Ostojić, Janka 

Halkozović; and 

patriarch Arsenija III 

Čarnojević, and Čiča, 

Orenstein, Schpitzer, 

Redlich, Petar Kostić, 

Atanasije Gereski! And 

man realises, for the 

umpteenth time, that 

“the province is 

not a geographical 

category, but a 

psychological one”.

CULTURE 

1 

2 

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126 

SCHOOLS 

The history of education in the Beočin area dates back 

almost four centuries. It emerged in the first quarter of the 

17 th century, when a Serbian School was opened in Grabovo 

(1625). This school is considered to be the oldest on the 

territory of the modern province of Vojvodina. During that 

century a number of Austrian-Turkish wars were conducted 

in the region. Armies changed, coming and going, defending 

or destroying, eradicating lives and villages, houses 

and sanctity. Nevertheless, the people’s awareness of the 

importance of education was apparent and far-reaching 

even then. 

Towards the end of that century, in 1695, a Serbian 

school was opened in Sviloš. Then, in the 18 th century, 

Orthodox monks opened the first single-grade school in 

Čerević (1723), followed by the first primary school within 

Čerević’s Church of Saint Sava (1742). There was also a 

school in Susek’s church when it was first built in 1770, 

until the school was able to secure conditions to work independently. 

A school was later founded in Beočin Village and 

we know that the new school building opened on 14 th April 

1847. It was also here that the first school library was 

opened in 1861. So-called Field schools were established in 

Čerević in 1880 and in Beočin Village two years later. 

The cement factory founded a school for the children of 

labourers and employees in the early 20 th century. A new purpose-built 

school building was erected in 1906. The following 

year an Apprenticeship school was founded in Beočin. 

Times, of course, have changed and the school system 

has progressed accordingly. After the world wars opportunities 

arose for specific types of education, in order for 

the war generation to compensate for what they lacked. In 

1964 the Workers University was opened in Beočin. 

Nowadays Beočin Municipality boasts two primary 

schools with three and four separate offsite campuses respectively. 

The Jovan Grčić Milenko Primary School. The main 

campus of the Jovan Grčić Milenko Primary School is in 

Beočin, while it has separate offsite campuses in Beočin 

Village, Čerević and Rakovac. The main campus has eight 

grades. Built in 1966, it was extended in 1981 and now covers 

a total area in excess of 7,000 square metres. There are 25 

classrooms, five faculty offices, a preparation room and gymnasium. 

The school has 115 employees and 1,150 pupils. 

1 

2 

Jovan Grčić Milenko 


in Beočin 

Jovan Popović 


in Susek 

Tradition 

Since ancient 

times Beočin folk 

have possessed 

(self) awareness 

of the importance 

of education and 

knowledge and that 

without it there is no 

genuine progress. As 

such, the construction 

of new schools or the 

support of existing 

ones is considered one 

of the highest forms 

of patriotism. And 

those most gifted 

and “literary 

skilled” sought to 

enable continuing 

education. We see that 

all very well from the 

examples (mentioned 

in this book) of Petar 

Kostić, Atanasije 

Gereski, Nikola 

Igić. Today’s Beočin 

education, therefore, 

has something 

to lean on.

EDUCATION 

1 

2 

127


128 

The Jovan Popović Primary School. The main campus 

of the Jovan Popović Primary School is in Susek, fifteen 

kilometres west of Beočin town. It has separate offsite 

campuses in Lug, Sviloš, Grabovo and Banoštor. The school 

has a long academic tradition rooted, as previously noted, 

in the late 17 th century. The school buildings were put into 

operation during the post-war reconstruction of the village 

in 1949. Until 1953 it functioned as a four-grade, before expanding 

to become an eight-grade facility with offsite campuses. 

The new school building was constructed in 1964 

and today the main campus covers an area of nearly 2,000 

square metres. It has a gymnasium with ancillary facilities 

and equipment. It has a total of about 250 pupils. Classes 

are performed in Serbian except in Lug, where Slovakian is 

used. The school’s pupils also achieve outstanding results in 

extra-curricular activities, particularly in sporting activities 

and the work of the Student beekeeping co-operative. This 

co-operative, ranked second in Serbia at a competition in 

Čačak in 2002, has two facilities. Hives are made in one, 

while the other is the apiary (producing honeys, beeswax 

and propolis resin). Almost a third of all pupils are involved 

in the work of this beekeeping co-operative. 

The Ljuba Stanković Nursery School. This preschool 

institution, located in Beočin town, started working back in 

1974 as a unit of the Radosno Detinjstvo (Joyous Childhood) 

Nursery School from Novi Sad. Just a year later, however, 

it opened facilities in Lug, Susek and Čerević. In 1976 the 

Beočin campus was re-established as a separate organisation 

within the Novi Sad Joyous Childhood Nursery, thus 

today this is considered the founding year of the Beočin 

nursery school. It established a satellite unit in Rakovac in 

1977 and Banoštor in 1981. 

On 1 st July 1990 the Beočin organisational unit of the 

Joyous Childhood Nursery broke away to become the independent 

Ljuba Stanković. Its Čerević unit was extended in 

1994 and a new unit was opened in Beočin village 1995. 

Today this institution covers the entire territory of the 

municipality where work with preschool children is needed. 

It is under the jurisdiction of the Serbian Ministry of 

Education. The nursery works to high professional standards 

and has a lyrical motto: 

Every child in nursery, 

Happy must they be, 

And we will, all together, 

Make that reality. 

1 

2 

Future artists 

at Čerević’s 

preschool nursery 

Playground 

of Čerević’s 

preschool nursery 

Children 

“Here in these fields 

all the subsequent 

greats of Beočin 

culture and history 

that we have 

mentioned ran like 

kids, learned at these 

or similar school 

desks, experienced 

similar sorrow or 

joy. It doesn’t make 

much sense to gauge 

whether it was harder 

or easier for them than 

today’s children. In 

some things it was 

harder, in others 

easier, as is the way 

with life. However, it 

is important that in 

the present chaos we 

not forget that among 

our children, who we 

follow every morning 

to nursery or school, 

there are future 

greats. Do not be 

ashamed later in front 

of them because we 

failed to recognise!” 

(Letopis, 1994)

EDUCATION 

1 

2 

129


130 

TOURISM 

The mighty and beautiful River Danube, the nearby 

rich Fruška Gora National Park and the fact that priority 

is given to large Development projects are just some of the 

essential elements that will transform Beočin into a serious 

tourist destination. 

Two of Fruška Gora’s 17 famous monasteries are located 

in Beočin municipality: Beočin and Rakovac, both of which 

date back to the 16 th century. Visitors can tour them independently 

or as part of a wider tour of the Northern holy mountain 

(as Fruška Gora is ever more commonly dubbed) for a 

day or longer at any time of the year. But you simply must go 

and, as they say, “whoever goes once will always return.” 

Fruška Gora has hiking trails and cycle routes complete 

with outstanding natural features and great beauty. It’s advisable 

to study the map and plan your route in advance to 

include the excursion sites of Testera, Osovlje or the Post 

Office resort at Brankovac, as well as the Andrevlje clearing’s 

facility CePTOR: Centre for the economic and technological 

development of Vojvodina. You can also head for the 

mountaineering homes at Orlovac, Zmajevac or Rim. Be sure 

to visit some of the area’s beautiful viewing points, such as 

those on the Red Čot peak, Kobila, Brankovac and Zmajevac. 

Beočin’s municipal authorities are also considering the introduction 

of motorcycle routes, as well as tours in small opentop 

buses. Beočin’s tourism development strategy has been 

amended to include chapters on the promotion of winter 

tourism and extreme sports tourism as part of the local offer. 

Hunting and fishing tourism 

These two specific leisure activities feature prominently 

as high quality sectors of Beočin’s overall tourism mosaic. 

“This municipality has three hunting grounds: one in 

the Fruška Gora National Park, then the Čot area and the 

Susek fish pond area. They are home to fox, marten, wild 

cat, jackal, hare, roe deer, wild boar, fallow deer, pheasant, 

wild duck, imperial eagle, booted eagle etc. The Fruška Gora 

hunting ground is administered by the national park’s public 

company, while the Susek Fish Pond is run by DTD Ribarstvo 

from Petrovaradin and the Čot hunting area is managed by 

the Srndać Hunting Association from Beočin. These associations 

were founded by the hunting associations of Beočin, 

Ra kovac, Banoštor, Grabovo, Sviloš, Susek and Lug. The Ser - 

1 

2 

Charm of 

the mountain: 

Picturesque walkways 

on Fruška Gora 

The traditional 

‘Jackal Hunt’ 

event in Čerević 

National park 

Founded 1960, the 

Fruška Gora National 

Park covers about 

25,000 hectares 

as an actively 

protected area. It 

is characterised by 

exceptional natural 

beauty and rare flora 

& fauna, as well as 

high potential for 

tourism, hunting and 

fishing. It is given a 

special dimension by 

its total of 17 active 

old Serbian Orthodox 

monasteries located 

in its forests. Two of 

these monasteries are 

in the area of Beočin 

Municipality, while 

about 60 per cent of 

the municipality’s 

territory is included 

in the National 

Park area.

TOURISM 

1 

2 

131


bian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Ma na gement 

established the Čot hunting area, before handing it 

over – via the Hunting Association of Serbia – to the Srndać 

Hunting Association to manage. This hunting ground covers 

a total area of 11,457 hectares. All of Beočin’s hunting zones 

boast a large number of technical facilities: hunting centres 

and homes, feeding grounds, watering holes and solo hunt 

areas for game, hides, fenced areas for receiving pheasants, 

food storage facilities etc.” 

Catering and rural tourism 

1 

2 

3 

4 

The CePTOR 

centre on Andrevlje, 

Fruška Gora 

Interior of the 

Ethno house in Lug 

Koruška, 

a traditional 

riverside fish 

restaurant 

Just like everywhere else in the world, good restaurants 

(riverside eateries, inns, farmsteads, raft restaurants and 

ethno taverns) are an essential ingredient of a high quality 

tourism offer. Beočin’s catering establishments could serve 

as a textbook examples, with the likes of Karaša in Beočin, 

Che Steva riverside restaurant in the Danube settlement, 

the Ethno house in Čerević, Villa Adamović in Susek and others. 

Real guests of style and taste, with a required dose of 

curiosity, are interested in authentic gastronomic offers 

based on the products, spices and culinary styles of the region 

they are visiting. They are interested in the local atmosphere, 

music, rhythm and dance. And all that really awaits 

them at the better restaurants of the Beočin area. What they 

may still be lacking would be classed as technical details, but 

even that should be remedied relatively quickly. 

Rural tourism is taking its first steps in Beočin municipality 

– albeit very deliberate and self-determined steps. 

The Municipal Commission for Categorisation has registered 

the first rural household to deal with this sector and 

announced the upcoming registration of a second. The areas 

identified as having the highest potential in this sector 

are environmentally impeccable villages, like Grabovo and 

Lug, or communities with renowned vineyards, wine cellars 

and distinctive “wine routes”, such as Banoštor. 

Tourism Events 

Beočin boasts a significant number of traditional events, 

two of which gather particularly large numbers of guests 

“from outside”. One is devoted to grapes and wine, while 

the other is an unusual hunting event. 

Banoštor Grape Days have been held annually for the 

past 12 years on the second weekend of September, dur- 

132 

Andrevlje 

Andrevlje’s Centre 

for the Economic 

and Technological 

Development of 

Vojvodina (CePTOR) is 

undoubtedly the most 

representative tourist 

facility in Beočin 

municipality. It is 

also equipped to cater 

for the organising of 

high-level scientific 

conferences, 

symposia, cultural 

gatherings, project 

presentations and 

the like. Moreover, 

regardless of those 

business and tourism 

arrangements, major 

devotees to Fruška 

Gora have their own 

“substantial reasons” 

why they go there, to 

Andrevlje, so often.

TOURISM 

1 

2 3 

4 

133


134 

ing the traditional harvest period. This three-day festival 

is Beočin municipality’s most significant tourist event of 

international character. 

The event brings together winemakers, distributors, 

connoisseurs, professionals and those seeking fun. In addition 

to exhibition and trade fair themes, the event also has 

an educational character. The event is co-organised by the 

Banoštor Local Community office, which provides all event 

venues, Banoštor’s Sveti Trifun (St. Tryphon) Winegrowers & 

Winemakers Association and The Municipality of Beočin. 

The Jackal Hunt has been taking place in Čerević on 

the first Saturday of February for the past 11 years. It is the 

top hunting tourism event in the Beočin area and is considered 

one of the brands of the municipality. Organised 

by the Čerević Local Community office, the event’s technical 

organisers are the Srndać Hunting Association and 

the Čerević Hunting Association. Though the event has a 

tourism character, it is part of the calendar of the Hunting 

Association of Serbia. It brings together over 500 foreign 

and domestic participants. 

Orthodox online is an international competitive photography 

exhibition organised annually in the first half of 

November. In just four short years it has gained a reputation 

far beyond the borders of Serbia: in 2009, for example, 

209 photographs by 48 artists from nine countries on three 

continents were vying for the awards. The competition is 

organised by the Society of Lovers of Photography (Društvo 

Ljubitelja Fotografije), the film and video achievement of 

Beofoto from Beočin. Sponsored by the Municipality, the 

event is dedicated to the holy Bishop Varnava of Hvosno 

and Beočin, whose final resting place is Beočin Monastery. 

An important place is also taken by smaller events that 

are traditionally held in the Beočin area: The Review of 

Municipal Livestock in Susek (bringing together a large 

number of exhibitors and visitors in April), the Review of 

Amateur Theatre of Srem, a number of village and church 

saints’ days, the Slovak Cake Making Fair in Lug and others. 

The revival of some beautiful traditional events has 

also been announced. These include the Golden Fishpot 

of the Danube (once a traditional competition in cooking 

fish soup, which is now to be renewed) or the Fine Artists 

Summit, organised by Beoart. 

Sports tournaments, such as those in football (Beočin 

town in May, Čerević in July, Beočin village in August), also 

attract great interest and a considerable number of visitors. 

1 

2 

3 

4 

Scenes from 

Banoštor’s Grape 

Days festival 

A scene from the 

regional review of 

amateur theatrics 

Opening of the 

International 

exhibition 

‘Orthodox Online’ 

Spirit of the game 

& social rituals 

“We see that the 

Beočin area also 

has a rich variety of 

ethno-cultural and 

tourist events. They 

take place yearround. 

They are the 

places of meetings and 

community rituals, 

a mirror of the life 

of the nation. They 

represent cuisine, 

fashion, taste, 

sense of humour, 

imagination, music, 

products, healing 

and seduction. Only 

behind and around 

that weaves, as a 

comprehensive event, 

all the rest.”

TOURISM 

1 

2 3 

4 

135


136 

Development projects 

This complete picture of Beočin tourism is set to be 

more firmly established and raised to a higher level with 

the realisation of several major projects that are currently 

being implemented by the leaders and experts of Beočin’s 

Municipal services. 

Danube Marinas. A study of marinas, conducted at 

the behest of the provincial Executive Council, envisages 

the building of three marinas on the territory of the 

Municipality of Beočin (of a total of thirteen new marinas to 

be built along Serbia’s stretch of the Danube). A 100-berth 

marina in Beočin town is considered a priority. 

Motor campsite. This project is the second important 

element of this development package. A location for 

the campsite has been identified to the east of Beočin’s 

‘Danube’ settlement, between the narrow Dunavac river 

channel, to the south, and the main course of the Danube, 

to the north. All infrastructure and utility connections 

are located in the immediate vicinity and a central road 

through the camp has already been constructed. The 

Municipality has committed itself to fully equipping this 

site to cater for prospective investors. According to the 

plan, this site will become one of the most modern motor 

campsites in Serbia. 

Danube City beach in Beočin. According to project 

proposals, Beočin town’s existing beach will be converted 

into a bathing area of European rank, with all the necessary 

facilities and equipment that entails. 

The Beočin marina, motor campsite and modern city 

beach, conceived and devised as a single package, will represent 

the first such developed tourism centre on the right 

bank of the Danube after it enters Serbia. Simultaneously, 

it will be the closest and most convenient point of contact 

with the river from the Fruška Gora National Park. 

In order to complete the picture, it is necessary to add 

two more truly strategic projects to all of these developments. 

First, the Bridge over the Danube at Ledinci will 

radically improve conditions for road transport between 

Srem and Bačka – Beočin and northern Serbia, and on towards 

central Europe. Additionally, the spatial plan of the 

Republic of Serbia envisages the building of an airport on 

the territory of Beočin, five kilometres from Rakovac. This 

would represent the last element needed to confirm the international 

tourism credentials of the Fruška Gora. 

1 

2 

Concert at the 

‘Beočin cultural 

summer’ festival 

Beli Majdan 

(White Quarry) Cave 

Beli Majdan 

(White Quarry) 

This interesting cave 

is one of Beočin 

municipality’s 

main tourist 

attractions. Once a 

major dig site from 

which stone was 

quarried, probably 

for construction of 

the nearby Rakovac 

Monastery, the 

entrance is about ten 

metres wide and the 

manmade cave widens 

as it reaches deeper. 

Its main chamber 

has a height of 

four metres.

TOURISM 

1 

2 

137


138 

HEALTHCARE 

As with so many other developed areas, the origins of 

health care in Beočin municipality are inextricably linked 

to the area’s spiritual centres. The first places recorded as 

centres where the sick were received and treated are the 

monasteries of Rakovac and Beočin. During the period of 

devastating epidemics, the monks even provided this type 

of assistance beyond the boundaries of their monastic estates. 

According to suggestions from available resources, 

an organised medical service existed during the first major 

military garrison here, but assistance was only offered to 

the civilian population in exceptional cases. 

Records show that in the 19 th century Beočin Monastery 

also began to take care of the sickest citizens, such as those 

suffering from tuberculosis. It was there that great poet 

Jovan Grčić Milenko spent the final months of his short life, 

succumbing at the monastery on 10 th June 1875 and subsequently 

being buried there. It is also known that a clinic 

existed at the Beočin Cement Factory, providing assistance 

to those injured at work and basic health care for sick staff 

members and their families. 

Beočin’s first proper modern health institution is considered 

as being the hospital that functioned from within 

the cement factory in the period between the two world 

wars. As already stated, it had 30 beds, a surgery theatre 

and a dental clinic. 

In 1945, immediately after the Second World War, a local 

branch of the Novi Sad Health Centre opened in what 

is now Beočin’s police headquarters. At that time the cement 

factory’s clinic also had a laboratory, male and female 

wards, a general practice clinic and a dental clinic. The first 

doctors were Dr Vasiljević and Dr Jokić, while the nursing 

staff included Ema Kendl, Savka Pacek, Ružica Gajinović 

and Vera Pendelj. Within Beočin Monastery there was also 

a specialist hospital for pulmonary diseases, under the leadership 

of Dr Milan Tabori. A maternity hospital was soon 

opened in what is now the local police headquarters. Its director 

was Dr Gustav Ivković, with nurses Irena Miladinović, 

Mara Koplić, Katica Lazarević, Ljubica Vukosavljević et al. 

The current Dr Dušan Savić Doda Health Centre was 

opened in 1979 under the guidance of its first director, Dr 

Sava Vlahović. This institution is at the heart of healthcare 

in Beočin and has six local branch clinics in Susek, Lug, 

Sviloš, Banoštor, Čerević and Rakovac. 

1 

2 

The Dušan Savić 

‘Doda’ Health Centre, 

Beočin town 

The local branch 

health station 

in Čerević 

Dušan Savić ‘Doda’ 

(1910-1985) 

This medical doctor, 

university professor 

and national liberation 

fighter was one of 

the founders of the 

Novi Sad Medical 

Faculty. He completed 

primary school in 

Čerević, secondary 

school in Novi Sad 

(1930) and graduated 

medicine in Belgrade 

(1936). After the war 

he was appointed an 

associate professor at 

the Medical Faculty in 

Novi Sad, becoming a 

full professor in 1961 

and elected president 

of the Serbian Medical 

Society in 1972. His 

name lives on as the 

title of the Beočin 

Health Centre.

HEALTH 

1 

2 

139


SPORT 

Despite local jokes and the myths to the contrary, the 

reliable chronicle concludes – on the basis of documents 

and not jokes – that the football club in Beočin was founded 

as far back as 1913! Susek Football Club was founded after 

the Great War, in 1925; later it would change its name to 

Hajduk, then later again to Partizan. 

The Sporting Federation of Beočin, surprisingly, was 

only founded in the 21 st century, on 15 th March 2001, at the 

initiative of the Municipality itself. Today it brings together 

22 clubs from 12 sports. It has 1,109 registered athletes, of 

which 13 are national representatives of Serbia. 

Basketball Club ‘Beočin’. Basketball appeared in Beočin 

as a competitive sport back in 1970, when a few young men, 

led by Peter Tresiglavić and inspired by the successes of the 

Yugoslav national team, founded the club. Initially named 

‘Cement’, in 1989 the maintenance of the club was taken 

over by businessman Boris Kondić and the club was renamed 

‘Elkond’. The club enjoyed a series of excellent results 

in the lower leagues and managed to reach the heights 

of the federal league. Sponsorship of the club was then taken 

over by the Beočin Cement Factory and basketball club BFC 

reached the very peak of the domestic top league. At that 

time games were played in Novi Sad, which raised strong 

questions about the issue of completion of the Beočin sports 

hall (now, finally, resolved). 

In 1996 BFC played perhaps the most uncertain play-off 

finals in the history of Serbian basketball, against Belgrade’s 

Partizan. The first two games, held in Belgrade, were won 

by BFC (93:89 & 89:85). The revenge ties, the third and 

fourth match of the series, were played in Novi Sad. In circumstances 

that remain controversial to this day, Partizan 

won (79:63 & 71:69), tying the series at 2-2. They then went 

on to win the decider, played in Belgrade, with a score of 

65:56, becoming champions for 1996. 

Today Beočin’s senior women’s basketball team competes 

in the First “B” league, while the youth teams, including 

three boys’ age groups and two girls’ age groups, include 

a total of around 80 registered players. 

Men’s handball club ‘Cement’. This sport has been 

played in Beočin since 1959. Initially attracting mainly students 

and school pupils, its greatest successes were achieved 

in the mid 1990s, when it competed in the Vojvodina lea- 

140 

1 

2 

Exterior of the Beočin 

Sports Centre 

The main hall of the 

Beočin Sports Centre 

Sports Centre 

The attractive building 

of the Beočin Sports 

Centre finally opened 

in 2009 after thirteen 

years of construction. 

The centre is certain 

to facilitate the 

improvement of the 

performances of a 

number of existing 

clubs, as well as 

encouraging the 

creation of some 

new ones. The first 

official game of the 

new sports centre 

was played on 15 th 

November 2009, as a 

round seven encounter 

of the women’s 

basketball B League 

between Beočin and 

Lazarevac. The game 

saw the host team 

record their second 

win of the season. The 

first international 

match played here 

was also basketball, 

with Vojvodina NIS 

losing in the tenth 

round of the WBL to 

Slovenia’s Merkur 

Celje, 57:66.

SPORT 

1 

2 

141


gue and reached the national Cup finals of the then FR 

Yugoslavia. Today handball club Cement boasts around thirty 

players and competes in the Serbian league. Since 2009 

it is no longer “a home team away” in Novi Sad, but rather 

competes in its own town. The re-opening of the handball 

school is expected to help the club turn a new page in the 

history of Beočin handball. 

Women's handball club ‘Cement’. The girls’ section of 

the Beočin handball club attracted great interest and a large 

number of players from its very inception. Since 1996 it has 

been a stand-alone club and has since managed to fight 

its way up to League Two. It now competes in the Serbian 

league and has some 30 registered players. 

1 

2 

Beočin’s top athletes 

and competitors 

of 2007 

Volleyball Club ‘Metalmatik’. Volleyball has been 

played in Beočin since the 1960s. However, the club was 

only recently established and remains the youngest sports 

club in the municipality. Thanks to a large increase in the 

popularity of this sport in Serbia, over fifty children are now 

training at the club and results are sure to follow. The club’s 

women’s team currently competes in the Vojvodina league. 

Sports Fishing Club ‘Jaz’. Founded in 2004 on St. 

Nicholas’ Day (19 th December), this club has already won 

over 400 medals and over 60 team trophies. It maintains a 

constant presence at the top of senior sports fishing competitions 

in the province. The club, which has over 300 members, 

also conducts high quality work with youngsters and 

its cadets are among the best in Vojvodina. Together with 

The Karaš fishing club, Jaz takes care of the infrastructure 

and environmental areas set aside for sports and amateur 

fishing in Beočin Municipality. 

Sports Fishing Club ‘Karaš’. The Karaš organisation of 

sports fishermen was established in the municipality of Beočin 

six decades ago. Its members voluntarily built the Karaš 

Clubhouse on the Danube (it now has new contours and purposes) 

and the Karaš Organisation was among the founders 

of the Fishing Association of Serbia and Fishing Association 

of Vojvodina. The club now has about 200 members (it once 

had as many as 600) and three team categories (cadet, junior 

& senior) that all compete in league competitions. In 2009 

Karaš’s seniors were ranked first in the Vojvodina championship. 

The club has received numerous awards and recognitions, 

including the coveted October Award, the highest 

acknowledgement of Beočin Municipality. 

142 

Coincidences 

After the basketball 

players of BFC led 

Partizan 2-0 in the 

final play-off series 

of 1996, the third 

game in Novi Sad, 

which could have seen 

the country gain a 

new champion, was 

not attended by a 

single member of the 

Basketball Federation 

of Yugoslavia 

(led by Nebojša 

Čović), nor was the 

winners’ trophy 

prepared! Where did 

this almost indecent 

confidence in the 

result of the match 

come from, after two 

straight defeats of 

Partizan? Then coach 

of BFC, Miroslav 

Nikolić, moved to 

Partizan some time 

later. Life is full of 

coincidences, isn’t it?

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Football club ‘Cement’, Beočin. The first real leather 

football was brought to the area by Beočin local Martin 

Bayer, who returned after studying to be a machine locksmith 

in Budapest. The young workers of the Beočin cement 

factory formed their club back in 1913. By 1919 the 

team was playing under the name ‘BAK’, but by 1932 it had 

been renamed ‘BSK’. The Beočin football club has used the 

name ‘Cement’ since 1933. 

The club competed in the municipal and regional leag u- 

es until 1971, when it successfully secured promotion to the 

Vojvodina league. Between 1975 and 1992 the club played 

in the Novi Sad-Srem league, before again winning promotion 

to the Vojvodina league. In July 1993 the club competed 

in the play-offs for the Republican League, North 

Group, but it had to wait another two years before managing 

to reach that level (1995). The club’s promotion to the 

second division in 1996 marked the greatest achievement 

in its history. However, from 2001 to 2008 it competed in 

the third division (Serbian League, Vojvodina Group) and 

since then it has been competing in the lowly fourth division 

(Vojvodina League, West Group). 

The club has four team categories (cockerels, pioneers, 

cadets & seniors), with about 110 registered active players 

and thirty boys of pre-competition age. 

Football club ‘Partizan’, Susek. Founded back in 1925, 

the club has enjoyed a series of successes over the years. The 

zenith of its achievements undoubtedly came in the 

1975/1976 and 2003/2004 seasons, when it ranked fourth in 

the league. A number of players nurtured at this club went on 

to play for Beočin’s ‘Cement’ and Bačka Palanka-based club 

‘Bačka’. The club’s first team currently competes in the Novi 

Sad League and its youth team has 40 registered players. 

Football club ‘Poljana’ (Paddock), Lug. Football has 

been played in Lug since 1929, but it was only in 1934 that 

the first leather ball arrived – brought by student Jan Šinka 

from Zagreb – and the first official match was played against 

the team from Susek. Until World War II the club only 

played friendly matches and carried various names: ‘Fruška 

Gora’, ‘Radnički’ (Workers’) and ‘Poljana’ (Meadow). It was 

officially registered on 9 th August 1969 under its present 

name. During the late 1990s the team was twice ranked 

among the top teams in its competition, representing its 

greatest achievements. 

Football club ‘Sremac’ (Srem man), Čerević. The first 

real football was brought to Čerević in 1920, but it wasn’t 

144 

1 

2 

Friendly: Football 

veterans of Belgrade’s 

Red Star and 

Beočin’s Cement 

Pioneers FC, 

Cement, 2004 

Peak 

The biggest 

celebration of football 

in Beočin was on 15 th 

June 1996, when 

club Cement won 

promotion to the 

second division. On 

that day they 

overcame the club 

Radnički 3-0 in 

Sombor, securing 

first place in the 

Serbian league North 

Group. The colours of 

Cement were defended 

in that memorable 

year by: Zekić, 

Nikitović, Janjić, Zima, 

Bočković, Milovanović, 

Govedarica (captain), 

Trninić, Kišjuhas, 

Zsuzsa, Simonović, 

Rad, Mitrović, Sabo, 

Đurđević, Vranješević, 

Zečević, Rajić, 

Krćmar, Marčetić, 

Čuljak, Ninković and 

Spasojević. Coach: 

Vlada Savić.

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until 1929 that a club competed out of the village. Initially 

named ‘ČSK’, in 1946 its name changed briefly to ‘Hero 

Raša’ before gaining its present name in 1948. The club 

won the municipal cup in 1960 and gained promotion to 

the regional league for the first time in 1970. Since 2006 it 

has again been successfully competing in that league. 

Football club ‘Borac’ (Fighter), Rakovac. Founded in 

1937 under the name ‘Yugoslavia’, the club enjoyed instant 

success in its very first game that year, demolishing the 

‘Vinogradara’ (Vine growers) of Ledinci 6-0. It received its 

current name after World War II. Nowadays the Borac first 

team and football school boast 70 players, while the club 

comprises 35 members. 

Football club ‘Proleter’ (Proletarian), Banoštor. Founded 

in 1931, the club played only friendly matches for the 

first five years of its existence. It was resurrected after 

World War II and successfully competed in the divisions of 

the Novi Sad league. By 1996 it had developed into a sporting 

society encompassing a few other sports in addition to 

the football team. Its greatest achievement to date has been 

its ability to bring the young people of Banoštor together. 

Chess Club ‘Cement’, Beočin. Founded in 1946, this 

club has recorded a number of successes over the years, 

not least of which were its promotion to the First Division 

and success at reaching the cup finals of the then SFR 

Yugoslavia. Club member Olgica Đurić has been a medal 

winner at the European Youth Championships and the 

championships of Serbia and Vojvodina, as well as being 

declared the top sporting figure in Beočin Municipality. 

Chess Club ‘Sremac’, Čerević. Founded in 1971, this 

club’s greatest success came in 2001 when it established the 

full continuity of its work. In 2005 and 2006 it advanced to 

the Vojvodina finals for seniors, also securing promotion to 

the Srem Group of the Vojvodina League. The club has 28 

registered players who all hail from the municipality. 

Table tennis club ‘Beočin’. Since being established in 

1994 some 150 players have passed through this club. Its 

members have won several medals at both national and 

international competitions, with the greatest successes 

achieved by the men’s team in the First Division in 1996, 

as well as consecutive national championships achieved by 

the younger cadets (the individual champion in the same 

category was club member Bojan Crepulja, now a professional 

table tennis player based in Hungary), third place in 

146 

1 

Old and new 

champions: Judo 

fighter Tamara 

Šešević and veteran 

Slavko Obadov 

Judo wonder 

Judo is by far the most 

successful sport in 

Beočin. And Beočin’s 

best club, sportsman 

and sportswoman of 

all time hail from this 

sport. Most telling 

is the fact that over 

the course of its 30 

years of existence the 

Beočin judo club has 

won 3,290 medals – an 

average of 110 medals 

a year or one every 

four days! As such, 

and considering the 

fact that the quality 

of work at the Beočin 

club was maintained 

during the most 

difficult years, the 

future promises that 

new medal harvests 

will not fail.

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the Women’s First Division for the season 2008/2009 and 

the regular participation of the club’s players in the socalled 

“Top 12” and “Top 24”. Today the men’s team competes 

in the Vojvodina league and the women’s team plays 

in the First Division of the Serbian League. 

1 

Geard Ajetović 

Kung Fu, Wushu and kick-boxing club ‘BFC Beo čin’. 

Founded in 1995, the club competes in three martial arts disciplines: 

kung fu, kick boxing and French Savate boxing. In 

2008 alone the club’s fighters won 46 medals at national and 

international competitions, while in total the club’s fighters 

have won several hundred competition medals. Club fighter 

Stojan Ivanović has competed in three World Cups and his 

results at the 1996 World Cup in Shanghai saw him receive 

the October Prize of Beočin Municipality. Club fighter 

Kristijan Ndur won a silver medal at the 2000 World Cup in 

Italy and has participated in multiple European and world 

championships. The club is also home to a number of other 

multiple champions of Yugoslavia, Serbia and Vojvodina. 

Karate Club ‘Cement’, Beočin. During the 28 years of 

its existence this club has had a total of 3,800 members – 

both at its main centre in Beočin town and at its centres in 

Lug, Susek and Čerević. It has earned awards and medals, 

both in team and individual categories, at all levels of competition. 

The club spawned a series of national champions 

in all categories, as well as winners of European and world 

Cups. Ten members of this club have represented Serbia at 

the national level, as well as representing their town and 

municipality. In 2008 the club took first place in every competition 

it participated in. 

Boxing club ‘Cement", Beočin. Founded in 1991, the 

club’s fighters have won individual medals at the Me di te rranean 

Games, as well as the European and world championships. 

The club’s biggest name is undoubtedly Geard Ajetović, 

while the club’s participants at the European Championships 

have included Marko Doknić, Igor Pejčić, Dejan Glišić, Mark 

Rajačić, Faruk Ajvazi, Daut Sulejmani and others. The club’s 

high quality coaches are led by Stevan Pašćan. Over the last 

ten years the club has constantly had at least one national 

team member. The club’s boxers compete in the regional 

league and regularly reach the top spots. 

Judo Club ‘Cement’, Beočin. Established on 10 th September 

1978, this is one of Serbia’s most successful clubs 

of any kind. Its members have won a total of 3,290 med- 

148 

Champion 

Geard Ajetović (born 

Beočin, 1981) has been 

boxing since his early 

days. The peak of his 

success was winning 

the junior European 

champion title in 

1999. He performed 

in the welterweight 

category at the 2000 

Sydney Olympics and 

won bronze at the 

2001 Mediterranean 

Games in Tunis. His 

last major bout in 

amateur boxing was in 

2002 at the European 

Championships in 

Perm, Russia. His 

first professional 

boxing match was 

on 8 th March 2003 in 

London and his first 

professional fight 

in his hometown 

took place on 18 th 

December 2009.

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als and since 1994 have competed in the top domestic 

league (also competing in the Super league since 2009). It 

has won some 239 medals at national championships, 70 

of which were winners’ medals. The greatest successes 

of the club’s members include the two-time participation 

of Mitra Milinković at the Olympic Games, seven participants 

of the World Championships (ranked seventh twice), 

30 appearances at the European Championships (one silver 

& two bronze medals) and a silver medal won at the 

Universiade World Student Games. Club fighters have 

also won two bronze medals at the Mediterranean Games 

and 18 golds, eights silvers and nine bronze medals at the 

Balkan Championships. 

This excellent, successful club has trained a total of 2,740 

members to date, with 39 becoming judo masters. Alongside 

Mitra Milinkovic, the club’s most successful fighter, the 

club’s top female competitor is Tamara Šešević. 

In passing, we will add the Tai Chi Chuan Centre, fitness 

club ‘Sport Up’ and Aero Club ‘Elkond’ to this list. 

Beočin’s best sporting pupils of 2008 

150 

1 

Mitar Milinković 

The best 

Mitar Milinković 

(born Beočin, 1971) 

has been practicing 

judo since the age of 

nine. A master of his 

Sport, 5 th Dan rank, 

he was a national 

representative (1989- 

2004) and winner 

of 11 gold medals, 

five silvers and six 

bronzes at the national 

championships. At 

international ‘A’ 

category tournaments 

he won seven medals, 

as well as five medals 

at world cups. 

He secured gold, 

silver and bronze 

at the European 

Championships 

respectively in 

Finland, Turkey 

and the Czech 

Republic. He won 

bronze at the 1991 

Mediterranean Games 

in Athens, came 

fifth at the World 

Championships in 

Barcelona that same 

year and secured silver 

at the Universiade 

World Student Games 

in Japan in 1995. He 

also competed at 

the 1992 Olympic 

Games in Barcelona 

and the 1996 Atlanta 

Olympics.

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152 

LAFARGE BEOČIN CEMENT FACTORY 

It was shortly before the first recorded use of Beočin cement, 

over in southeast France near the village of Teil, that 

one Joseph-Auguste Pava de Lafarge began extracting limestone 

from a mine on his estate. It was 1833. Lafarge, the 

name of this hamlet rich in limestone and part of Joseph’s 

family name, is French for ‘the forge’. His work was carried 

on by his sons Edouard and Léon and by 1848 the company 

was know as Lafarge Frères (Lafarge Brothers). In addition 

to the excellent quality limestone (successfully used 

to replace plaster) and close proximity of the River Rhone, 

the business also flourished because of the harmonious 

relations between the brothers, who lived and worked together 

for almost forty years. Their efforts were crowned 

in 1864 when the brothers won the “contract of the century” 

to produce and deliver 200,000 tonnes of hydraulic 

lime to Egypt for construction of the Suez Canal. At the 

end of the 19 th century the enterprising Edouard saw an opportunity 

in the development of shipping, which prompted 

him to invest in branches in Marseille, Algeria, Seta and 

Tunisia. Besides challenging Asia, the brothers also conquered 

the Mediterranean market. By 1870 they had already 

begun production of cement from limestone and 

Lafarge was the world’s first cement manufacturer to invest 

in research and development. Way back in 1887 the company 

established its central research laboratory to test and 

control the quality levels required by the building industry 

and buyers at the time. This customer & industry-focused 

orientation continues to this day. 

Today the Lafarge Group covers the markets of 78 countries, 

operates in three divisions (cement, concrete and 

aggregates, gypsum) and has over 78,000 employees. It 

has been ranked among the "Global 100 Most Sustainable 

Corporations in the World" for the past five years. Moreover, 

it has been an active partner of the World Fund for Nature 

Conservation since the year 2000. 

Basic principles of sustainable development provide 

the foundations for Lafarge’s successful and responsible 

operations, which are applied to all of its business units 

worldwide. After just a few years of operating in Beočin, 

the results of Lafarge’s business policies are plain to see. 

They include constant care for employees and their further 

development and training, coupled with a strict health and 

safety protection policy, environmental protection, indus- 

1 

2 

Flags fly at the 

entrance to the 

BFC complex 

The Lafarge BFC 

administrative 

building 

Standards 

The quality of 

Beočin cement is 

known to conform 

to all European and 

world standards. 

Now a similarly high 

level of quality has 

been achieved in its 

services, distribution 

and customer 

care. The product 

range of Lafarge BFC 

was extended in 2004 

with the introduction 

of “multibata”, 

a highly desired 

hydraulic binder 

for masonry and 

plastering. “Builders 

know that with it they 

can prepare a highquality 

plaster that is 

very elastic and has 

an extended setting 

time, allowing faster 

and easier application 

on all types of surfaces 

and with excellent 

characteristics in fresh 

and preserved state.”

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trial ecology, participation in the overall social life of the 

community in which it operates and co-operation with the 

local government. 

Investment, modernisation, purification 

1 

2 

A part of production 

capacity at BFC 

Quarrying at Filjala 

154 

The Lafarge Group took over the Beočin cement factory 

(BFC) at the beginning of the 21 st century, in 2002, along 

with two Austrian partners: Asamer and Vitersdrofer. Today 

Lafarge BFC is a leader in the manufacture of cement in 

Serbia, with annual production levels in excess of 1.3 million 

tonnes. Over the course of the past seven years it has 

invested €90 million in the reconstruction and modernisation 

of the Beočin factory – far exceeding the €35 million 

it was contractually obliged to invest. The direction of 

technical changes and the company’s biggest investments 

have seen reconstruction of the kiln and coal mill, improved 

preparation of raw materials, a genuine turnaround in raising 

the level of environmental protection and the optimisation 

of energy consumption. 

Lafarge made its first major investment in Beočin immediately, 

back in 2002, with the installing of latest generation 

bag filters. This type of filter guarantees against the 

emitting of solid particles greater than 20mg/Nm³, which 

is significantly below the level envisaged by Serbia’s regulations. 

A measuring station was also established in Beočin 

to continuously measure air quality and the corresponding 

data is available online any time via www.siepa.gov.rs. 

Next the company turned its attention to improving the 

use of clinker, which is the largest source of dust pollution. 

A new silo for clinker was built early in 2008 with a capacity 

of 50,000 tonnes, representing an investment worth around 

seven million Euros that will (apart from technological and 

production advancements) enable further significant reductions 

in dust emissions. The further modernisation of 

cement mills also continued with the installation of thirdgeneration 

separators and bag filters. Work is also underway 

on the modernisation of the jetty and dock in Beočin 

to ensure it soon becomes an important port on the map of 

Serbian and international traffic on the Danube. 

Much work has also been carried out to improve the 

look of the factory itself. Improved cleanliness and greenness, 

as well as the landscaping of facilities, roads and access 

points, all serve to ensure that the overall atmosphere 

in the company and the town is better and more positive. 

Health and safety 

Safety at work is 

absolutely the top 

priority of Lafarge 

BFC’s business 

policy. The result is 

that there have not 

been any injuries 

sustained at work 

by any of their 

employees, external 

contractors or 

visitors for over 1,100 

days. Since 2007 

the results of health 

protection and the 

safety of workers 

have been part of 

annual performance 

indicators and 

criteria for achieving 

bonuses. The Beočin 

cement factory is 

included in the Club 

of the safest cement 

plants of Lafarge 

Group and ranks 

among the five safest 

cement plants in 

competition between 

122 factories.

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People, care, social responsibility 

“Our advantage over the competition is not machines 

and technology, but people,” say management at Lafarge 

BFC. It is with this in mind that the company pays great 

attention to training staff and investing in providing them 

with new knowledge and further training. Management at 

the Beočin cement plant are particularly proud of their experts, 

who successfully perform the most demanding jobs 

at Lafarge Group factories worldwide. 

“We are aware of the fact that we cannot achieve longterm 

success if we are not part of the community; if we 

do not contribute to the development of our environment. 

Partnership with the local community is very important 

and we will endeavour to continue to develop this 

partnership in all areas. We have invested much more in 

the social programme than we were contractually obliged 

to (€20.6 million instead of the mandatory €16 million) 

and are fulfilling our obligations by financing, together 

with the Municipality of Beočin, the construction of a 

sports and business centre in Beočin, the construction and 

reconstruction of religious buildings and schools, the carrying 

out of cultural and sporting activities, but also by 

contributing to the development of the local community 

through direct donations. One such project is the construction 

of the Beočin business park, which is our non-profit 

project that provides potential investors with 25 hectares 

of available land near the factory, equipped with all infrastructure 

elements necessary for operations. In this way 

we are seeking to attract potential investors to join us and 

invest in Serbia, which would contribute to the creation 

of new jobs, thus reducing unemployment, increasing 

production and exports and, thereby, contributing to the 

overall economic development of the local community and 

the region.” 

It was on the basis of such business principles that Lafarge 

BFC became the first recipient of the Acknowledgement for 

corporate social responsibility in Serbia. 

1 

2 

Living beside 

and within the 

local community: 

images of BFC 

Support 

Lafarge BFC 

participated as 

a partner in the 

reconstruction of 

the regional road 

Beočin – Sremska 

Kamenica, completed 

early 2007. It has 

supported a number of 

projects and activities 

in the field of child 

and health protection, 

as well as the 

preservation of sports, 

cultural and historical 

traditions – not only 

in Beočin, but in the 

wider community as 

well. Great attention 

is also paid to cooperation 

with the 

university community 

and its “high-quality 

personnel”. 

156

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158 

BEOČIN: OUTLINE OF A 

DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY 

... Much has changed in Beočin, one of the five most developed 

municipalities in Serbia, since the arrival – in the town 

and the area – of world famous French cement manufacturer 

Lafarge. First and foremost was the return of nature: no 

more grey roofs, dusty streets or neglected fields. The town 

has had a facelift, peeled off the cement-covered shirt it wore 

for more than a century and opened up space for other forms 

of development. The vision of a more attractive future is now 

also based on the cultivation of new vineyards and orchards. 

Tourism has also once again become a very real and lucrative 

business option... 

“We stand by the saying ‘He who stands closer to the 

fire is warmer’,” says Beočin Municipality President Bogdan 

Cvejić, perhaps in jest. “Because the heart of South-Bačka 

County is Novi Sad, which itself is the most important centre 

of this part of Serbia, we had no objections to being classed 

in this county, even though we are actually Srem folk. After 

all, we are only fifteen kilometres from Novi Sad. On one side 

of our municipality is the Fruška Gora and on the other is the 

Danube. This fairly small area is home to 17,000 people. In 

one sense we are limited by the fact that 60 per cent of our territory 

belongs to the Fruška Gora National Park and, as such, 

we are unable to develop all the production capacities that 

we would like. However, in another sense we are privileged to 

have beautiful nature and an opportunity to develop tourism 

and agriculture. Once upon a time large swathes of this area 

were covered by vineyards, but this reduced massively when 

a large percentage of the population were engaged to work at 

the cement factory. With the arrival of Lafarge, however, and 

the introduction of new technologies that are incomparably 

cleaner but require much fewer workers, we are seeing more 

and more people returning to agriculture. 

The many orchards of Beočin cultivate various crops: 

most commonly peaches and pears, then apples, plums and 

apricots, while some growers also produce strawberries. 

There is also one village dealing purely with livestock, Susek, 

which has the highest cattle population per capita (three to 

four thousand head). 

Back in the 1980s Beočin municipality became the first 

in the former Yugoslavia to begin development of industrial 

parks. Small businesses were granted free plots, which marked 

1 

2 

3 

In order for Beočin 

to become a town of 

youth, abundance 

and the future, its 

development strategy 

is a way of taking 

responsibility for 

its children 

Funds 

Together with the 

designated ministry, 

Beočin folk launched 

an initiative to 

establish a local 

fund for agricultural 

development that 

would enable small 

producers, primarily 

workers who have 

lost their jobs but 

possess a hectare or 

two of land, to develop 

exclusively vineyards 

and orchards (not to 

be invested in other 

farming or animal 

husbandry). The aim is 

for each of these small 

areas to be able to feed 

a family. Many people 

are also accessing 

the resources of the 

Fund for Agriculture 

of the Province of 

Vojvodina. The results 

are visible.

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the beginning of development of the private sector. These 

businesses mostly dealt with the metal industry, while today 

wood processing is coming to the fore more and more. 

“We reduced construction land fees for investors employing 

a certain number of workers. This also relates to 

those who were already doing business in our area. A spatial 

plan is being developed and investors will be able to 

obtain a building permit in five days. Two industrial zones 

are planned. One covers 40 hectares and is located near the 

Danube, beside the canal and the main road, and is wellsuited 

for a harbour and marina. The second will cover an 

area of 30 hectares and we are currently going through the 

process of obtaining a license for an international port,” 

says the Beočin mayor. 

However, around 10 per cent of the population remain unemployed. 

This is below the national average, but that doesn’t 

make it less of a concern. Lafarge has consistently com plied 

with the social programme imposed as a condition of the sale 

of the Beočin cement factory and many former employees 

continue to work for the plant through their own businesses. 

Others have returned to the earth and launched their own 

agricultural production. The biggest problem, though, is presented 

by those who have spent their redundancy payments 

and failed to start anything that could earn them a living. 

“We have more and more ‘social cases’ and in today’s climate 

it is not easy to create new jobs,” adds Mayor Cvejić. “Our 

priority is securing work for qualified and highly skilled workers, 

mostly professionals from the metal industry who learnt 

their trade at the cement plant. They do not have any special 

qualifications, but they are good and diligent workers. We 

are expecting two or three investors. One, from Sweden, is 

coming to set up within the business park at Lafarge. This 

company will make parts for mobile phones, X-ray machines 

and biochemical analysers and has already employed fifty 

people. The other assured investor will open a plant for the 

recycling and disposal of motor oil through a cold (ecological) 

process. It will employ around 80 people and the collection of 

oil will involve numerous ‘secondary staff’.” 

And so much more is being prepared here, as is the case 

when opportunities exist and work is taken on by industrious, 

educated and creative people; when things function on 

the principle of action, not merely reaction to events and 

processes. 

(Serbia - National Review; issue #13, 

pp. 14-19, Belgrade, 2009) 

160 

1 

2 

3 

4 

Awaiting restoration: 

The Old Hall of the 

Schpitzer’s, exterior 

and interior detail 

Holiday and 

excursion resort 

on Osovlje 

Children’s holiday 

resort Testera 

Old Hall 

Formerly owned 

by the Schpitzer 

family, co-owners of 

the Beočin cement 

factory, the Stari 

Dvorac (Old Hall) 

was built from 1890 

to 1892 according 

to a project of Imre 

Stendala. Though 

nowadays it stands 

completely abandoned, 

it still maintains the 

outlines of its original 

beauty and nobility. 

It awaits a proper 

renewal and revival 

in a manner befitting 

this era of ours, which 

differs so totally from 

the era in which 

it was created.

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162 

JOVAN GRČIČ MILENKO (1846-1875) 

They called him “the Fruška Gora Nightingale” and “the 

unforgettable bright comet of Serbian Singing”. They wrote: 

“had he endured and reached golden maturity, he could have 

lit up an epoch and been a bridge between centuries.” 

He was born on 15 th November 1846 in Čerević to a family 

of Serbianised Greek traders by the surname of Grčki 

(Greek). His father, Teodor, died a young man on 8 th March 

1850, when Jovan was in just his fourth year. His mother 

Ana Grčki, born Ana Baroko, did not remarry despite being 

young, opting instead to devote her life to her children. In 

addition to Jovan, she also had Đorđe and Katica. Đorđe 

remained in Čerević while Jovan, after completing primary 

school in the village, embarked on his further education. He 

attended the German school in Petrovaradin, five years of 

grammar school in Novi Sad and the remaining three years 

in Szeged (Hungary) and Pozsony (Bratislava). Wherever he 

went he was an active member of Serbian creative youth societies, 

such as Sloga (Unity) and Sloboda (Freedom). In 1863, 

while in Szeged, Grčić sent his poem Ne boj mi se (Don’t be 

afraid) to the newspaper Danica, which promptly made the 

first publication of one of his literary compositions. 

While he was studying away at grammar school his Čerević 

sweetheart, Milena Stefanović, passed away. “They were friends 

since childhood, almost neighbours, very young. Meek and 

susceptible, they loved one another, it seems, long and gently, 

harmlessly. That love had a huge influence on him.” To mark 

Milena’s name, Jovan added the name Milenko to his. He’d previously 

converted his family name of Grchki to a Serbianised 

Grčić, to avoid confusion, and so from the beginning his poems 

were signed as such. The first poem he signed as Jovan Grčić 

Milenko was Zaplakaće (lit. ‘Will burst into tears’) in the collection 

anici (mixtures) 1865, following Milena’s death. 

In 1867 he moved from Pozsony to Vienna in order to 

study Medicine. That same year he received a scholarship 

from Matica Srpska and began earning additional income as a 

private tutor to the children of Đoko Miličević (his wife would 

dedicate a cycle of poems to him in her only collection). At the 

same time he worked intensively on his literary education and 

training, while for newspaper Danica he successfully translated 

poetry of greats like Heine and Goethe. He later transferred 

to magazine Matica, where he “writes a column for two years, 

publishing more works than all other poets combined”, and 

was also Secretary of the Zora (Dawn) Society. 

1 

Portrait of Jovan 

Grčić Milenko in the 

Čerević Homeland 

Museum (donated by 

the Cvejić family) 

On friendly terms 

with the River 

“Its streams and 

hawks, lindens and 

fountains, girls and 

boys, hills and rivers 

are all from our 

neighbourhood, but 

at the same time have 

a special, different 

symbolism. Nobody 

before Jovan Grčić 

Milenko ever 

addressed the river so 

intimately, so closeup, 

so informally. But, 

likewise, nobody was 

ever so flooded with 

as many dimensions 

of one true growth 

spate of enthusiasm 

for the so-called ‘little 

things of moments 

of silence’: the gentle 

hand, little stream, 

mount without 

a voice.” 

(D. Ređep)

PEOPLE, TIMES, DEEDS 

1 

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164 

In 1869 his poems Pesme were published in Vienna. 

Already by the beginning of 1870, as part of a subscription 

advert in the magazine Zastava, he announced the poems 

Sremska ruža (Srem rose) (“a great tale of Serbian peasant 

life"), Guslarevu Sreću (Minstrel’s Happiness) (“an allegorical 

tragedy”), Milkinu zvezdu (Milka’s Star) (“a fable from the 

village”) and others. 

Then followed a famous synchronised critical double attack 

on Grčić and his book. Both attacks came at the same 

time (during 1870), one from the pages of Mlade Srbadije 

and the second appearing in Danica. Both were signed with 

aliases (T. & Artemijev). Both had hostile and non-literary 

tones and both were published by editors he considered 

friends and whose publications he’d contributed so much 

to (Antonije Hadžić and Đorđe Popović). 

Grčić found it very difficult to handle the attacks and carried 

his feelings of resentment and disgust to the grave. He 

then fell silent. He never again signed his name to a single 

verse. He was praised by the Matica Srpska Chronicles 

(1873), encouraged by distinguished friends, particularly 

Laza Kostić and Jovan Jovanović Zmaj, and called by editors 

of a number of publications. But he did not waver. He 

wrote and stockpiled his works. 

“In the year 1873, whilst in Vienna, the disease he’d carried 

since childhood reappeared in acute form. By 1874 he 

was forced to return home to live with his mother. He did 

not stop writing. In order to receive more care, he moved to 

Beočin Monastery in the spring of 1875...” 

During that period the publication Srbadija published 

his collection of short poems entitled Mosaic, dedicated to 

Laza Kostić and published under a pseudonym. “Mosaic 

caused a sensation and he was even praised by the enemies 

of poets. However, this acknowledgement arrived too late.” 

He passed away at dawn on 10 th June 1875 in Beočin Mona 

stery, “in the hands of his mother and close relatives.” The 

Last journey of this poet, Zastava reported, marked a hitherto 

unprecedented high. The funeral was attended by Professor 

A. Sandić, while Jovan Jovanović Zmaj was among the pallbearers 

who carried the coffin into the temple. 

“His work was quiet, development gradual, life short and 

success disputed. However, when one takes a better look, 

then perhaps it follows that, with the exception of Laza 

Kostić, no one in the period between 1868 and 1875 had 

greater literary aspirations than he, nor did or could anyone 

have been so constant and determined to build their own 

1 

Front page of the 

publication ‘Srbadija’ 

Silk 

“The symbols of this 

lyric indicate more 

about life as a cradle 

of death then of death 

as a part of life. And 

precisely in that 

view, all kindness and 

warning, this poet is in 

front of us with a high 

view of Fruška Gora 

revealing the totality 

of life. In the ethereal 

world silk sways. Stop 

white silk, where have 

you been until now? 

Cancel the flight. Cancel 

the flight.” (D. Ređep)


1 

165


inner world, their own vocabulary and their own rhythm 

with their own style, as this sick young man of noble character,” 

wrote Milan Kašanin. 

His mother never recovered from the loss. She followed 

him the next year, succumbing on 22 nd January 1876. The 

poet’s voluminous handwritten legacy was kept by the family 

until 1914, when it was destroyed in the Great War. 

MILENKO ŠERBAN (1907-1979) 

1 

Milenko Šerban 

166 

He was among the most important artists of a generation 

that enabled – through their work between the two 

world wars – the birth of Serbian and Yugoslav modernity. 

Šerban completed primary school in his hometown of 

Čerević and immediately after World War I, in 1919, moved 

to Novi Sad to continue his education. As the pupil of his 

generation, Šerban received a Matica Srpska scholarship 

from a fund bequeathed in the 19 th century by fellow Čerević 

native Petar Kostić, a merchant. In 1923 he was first drawn 

to the magical world of fine art under the tutelage of Vasa 

Eškićević. After his first solo exhibition in Novi Sad in 1926, 

he left to continue his studies in Paris – first enrolling at the 

Académie Colarossi, then studying under the famous Andrea 

Lot. His works were first exhibited in Paris in 1928, as part 

of an exhibition of Yugoslav artists. That same year, chroniclers 

record, he exhibited in Novi Sad alongside Croatian 

artist Krsto Hegedušić. 

“In Novi Sad, during breaks from his schooling in Paris, 

he also worked as a scenographer, professor of drawing, restorer 

etc.” In the early 1930s he joined the art group Oblik 

(Form), “the most outstanding group of Belgrade artists”, with 

whom he exhibited in Belgrade, Sofia, Thessaloniki, Prague 

and elsewhere. Todor Manojlović and Boško Tokin, critics 

of the Matica Srpska Chronicles, closely monitored and critiqued 

his work. After World War II, in 1946, he became curator 

and director of the Matica Srpska Gallery. He continued 

his scenography work from the Serbian National Theatre 

and the National Theatre of the Danubian Banovina after 

the war, from 1948, at the Yugoslav Drama Theatre. Then, 

in 1954, he was among the founders of the famous art group 

Šestorica (Sextuplet). From 1963 onwards he lectured on scenography 

at the Belgrade Academy for Theatre, Film, Radio 

and Television. In recognition of his extraordinary theatrical 

work, Šerban received the country’s most prestigious awards, 

including the Sterija and Joakim Vujić awards. 

Legacy 

The legacy of 

Milenko Šerban (held 

within the Heritage 

Houses of Belgrade) 

includes, principally, 

a representative 

selection of 35 of his 

paintings: portraits, 

still life compositions, 

Vojvodina landscapes 

and pictures from 

Belgrade. Then there 

is a collection of the 

works of his friends 

and contemporaries 

(Nadežda Petrović, 

Zora Petrović, 

Petar Lubarda, Mila 

Milunović, Stojan 

Aralica, Marko 

Čelebonović, Milan 

Konjović, Ivan 

Tabaković, Nedeljko 

Gvozdenović, Ivan 

Radović, Peđa 

Milosavljević, Milivoj 

Nikolajević, Krsto 

Hegedušić, Petar 

Dobrović, Sreten 

Stojanović and Mihailo 

Tomić) and a selection 

of applied art works.


1 

167


Grand retrospective exhibitions of Milenko Šerban were 

staged at the Belgrade Museum of Contemporary Art in 1966, 

Novi Sad’s Matica Srpska Gallery in 1968 and 1997, the 

Sremska Mitrovica Lazar Vozarević Gallery in 1974 and Belgrade’s 

National Museum in 1974 and 1997. That same year, 

to mark the staging of his exhibition in Novi Sad, Dr Irina 

Subotić published her excellent monograph Milenko Šerban. 

Leposava Kljaić: “The origins of Milenko Šerban’s painting 

are linked to Eškićević’s lessons and his academicised expressionism. 

Under the influence of Paris and Lot’s influence, 

Šerban started to paint in the spirit of constructive expressionism, 

as he himself dubbed his style. At the start of the 1930s 

he freed his temperament, stepping aside to be led by his own 

nature. The result was remarkable landscapes and portraits 

of powerful strokes, thick coloured paste, unusual colouristic 

relations and bold compositional solutions. In the post-war 

period his painting took on the more moderate tone of lyrical 

intimacy and he most often painted interiors, still life compositions 

and landscapes... Poetically speaking, he was enriched 

by personal impulses.” He died in Belgrade in 1979. 

1 2 3 

Jovan Soldatović at work 

JOVAN SOLDATOVIĆ (1920-2005) 

“I think, no need to equivocate, that Jovan Soldatović 

is Vojvodina’s greatest sculptor, who remained to live and 

sculpt on the territory of his homeland. When, at the beginning 

of our modern post-war art movement, he found 

himself caught in a circle of Yugoslav fine art dreamers 

and fraudsters, Soldatović played it safe, true to himself. 

Of the members of that circle he remained one of the most 

serious, most responsible and most fruitful artists,” wrote 

academic Mića Popović, renowned painter, writer and director. 

“One cannot imagine Yugoslav post-war art without 

Soldatović’s contributions. That fact was confirmed by 

numerous awards and prizes, as well as his successful and 

visible participation in presentations of our art at major 

international art fairs. If one looks now at the roots and 

range of Soldatović’s sculptural works, after almost half a 

century of the secret life of this artist and the public life 

of this worker of our culture, one will note many similarities 

with the fate of his peers, then immediately afterwards 

some characteristics that define him as a separate personality, 

ingeniously stubborn in visual orientation, enduring 

on his chosen path...” 

168 

Fortress 

“In this environment 

Soldatović, like poet 

Miroslav Antić, was 

innovative in relation 

with the past. At 

Petrovaradin Fortress, 

then a neglected 

facility, he launched 

a core of creativity, 

transforming it 

into something 

like Montmartre 

in Paris. Today the 

fortress is home to 

one of the largest art 

colonies in the world 

of art, with as many 

as 70 studios.” 

(Andrej Tišma)


1 2 

3 

169


170 

A Miroslav Antić: “I learned by heart the story that artists 

born on the plains carry a need in their blood to stand up for 

their homeland. There is something serious about that, which 

has nothing to do with the plains but is rather to do with personal 

fate. Man is within himself more than he could imagine 

at the beginning of his journey through the inarticulate and 

the impossible. He carries steep questions and stretches his 

mind in vertical depths. This means that he carries the gravity 

of the universe, not the globe, under his skull. 

Jovan Soldatović is one such stand-up proof. He has 

that discomposure, that plant-like ability to germinate from 

his own seeds in the direction of light, eternally seeking in 

the contents of finality: the aspect in which dust forms are 

mounted...” 

This son of Čerević was only ten years old when his 

family resettled in Novi Sad in 1930. It was here that he 

completed the primary school studies he had started in 

his native village. Before the outbreak of World War II he 

enrolled to study architecture at the Belgrade Technical 

Faculty. He spent the war years in Novi Sad, before enrolling 

at the Sculpture Department of the Belgrade Academy 

of Fine Arts. He graduated in 1948 from the class of Toma 

Rosandić, then went on to become an associate professor at 

the State Craftsman’s Workshop until 1953. He joined the 

Association of Fine Artists of Serbia and staged his first solo 

exhibition in 1952. 

From 1953 he was again in Novi Sad, where he became 

the founder and first lecturer of the Sculpture 

Department of the Higher Training College. He was a key 

contributor to the transformation of Petrovaradin Fortress 

from an unsightly fortified structure to the “Pannonian 

Montmartre”. He authored over 30 solo and 100 group 

exhibitions, winning numerous awards. His most famous 

creations are certainly the Srem Front Memorial complex 

at Šid, the Monument to the victims of the Novi Sad raid of 

1942 and the Monument to Patriarch Arsenije III Čarnojević 

at Ibar Kolasin (1992). Novi Sad has been adorned with 

his works Doe, Deer, Fountain, Pair, Family etc. According 

to Leposava Klajić’s monograph Čerević, other monuments 

and sculptures he created stand today in Sremski Karlovci, 

Petrovaradin, Požarevac, Čelarevo, Corfu, Kulpin, Apatin, 

Sombor, Kragujevac, Belgrade, Tetovo, Aranđelovac, Vršac, 

Pirot and elsewhere. “Jovan Soldatović justified his leading 

role in creating our modern sculptural core.” 

He died in Novi Sad in 2005. 

1 

Detail of Paja 

Jovanović’s famous 

painting Seoba Srba 

(The Migration 

of the Serbs) 

Nikola Igić ‘Golub’ 

This Judge to whom 

the Kadijin march 

was dedicated and 

to whom journalist 

Triva Militar dedicated 

a novel (kept in 

the manuscript 

department of 

Matica Srpska), was 

a person trusted by 

patriarch Georgije 

Branković, as well as 

Croatian Ban Kuen 

Hedervarija. They 

apparently called 

him Golub (Pigeon) 

because of his 

kindness. However, he 

remains most reputed 

for his role as a model 

for the characteristic 

moustached leader, 

with the ramskin 

winter hat and 

traditional Turkish 

sabre tucked into his 

belt, depicted in Paja 

Jovanović’s famous 

painting Seoba Srba 

(The Migration of the 

Serbs). Biographers 

note that he donated 

his entire personal 

library to the 

school in Čerević.


1 

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Chrestomathy 

From the Beočin chronicles 

Orfelin, wine 

1782... 

The main Beočin lane towards the monastery was traversed 

by Zaharije Orfelin. He was 56 years old and, as his 

biographers would later write, at that time was one of the 

most notable Serbs of the period. Writer, teacher, scientist, 

engraver, calligrapher and historian, he was editor of the first 

magazine of Serbia and the southern Slavs (Slaveno-serbski 

(Slavic-Serbian) magazine, Venice, 1768). At one time he led 

administrative affairs at the court of Metropolitan Bishop 

Pavle Nenadović in Sremski Karlovci and spent short periods 

residing at the Grgeteg and Velika Remeta monasteries. 

Orfelin wrote the first Serbian book on viticulture and 

wines, Soveršen podrumar (Perfect vintner). It is rumoured 

that the manuscript was penned at Beočin Monastery, 

where Orfelin spent two years before travelling to Vienna 

and publishing his work there in 1783. 

Vineyards have always been present in little Beočin and 

as many as a hundred acres were recorded in the census of 

1702. Beočin wine enjoyed an excellent reputation among 

the best Fruška Gora wines, renowned and valued in Europe 

since the Middle Ages. Until an outbreak of phylloxera 

(1882), the most popular was a particular wine from Tancoš 

Hill known as Beočinska tancoš. Moreover, Beočin wine, 

along with other selected Fruška Gora wines, was used to 

bribe imperial officials in the services of Serbian interests 

in Austria-Hungary. 

Metropolitan Bishop Stevan Stratimirović sent this 

wine as a gift to important lords in Vienna and Budapest, 

along with other fine wines, and brandies, Ausbruch and 

Bermet. And he didn’t fail to emphasise that this was Beočin 

wine to those sent the gifts. And so Feldzeugmeister (Fieldtrain-marshal) 

Duka was sent two barrels of Beočin red 

wine, while Minister of State Metternich, Agent Shoh and 

Hoff-Secretary Kušević were each sent a barrel of Beočin 

wine (testifies Dimitrije Ruvarac). 

Brehm, Rudolf, Eagles 

1878... 

It was precisely during the Whitsun holiday that Beočin 

was visited by Archduke Rudolf, Crown Prince of 

172 

1 

“Archduke Rudolph 

with Brehm and 

Homeier in the hunt 

for eagles on Fruška 

Gora, 1878” 

Chronicles 

and effort 

“Take a record, 

brothers, both when 

your work drags you 

to the other side and 

when your other 

worries, nightmares 

or sweetnesses attract 

you. Steal some 

time, from yourself 

or others, and write 

whatever’s going on 

that’s important, 

how you feel about 

it and what your 

contemporaries 

think. Take notes 

when something 

happens for the first 

time and note how it 

happened, because 

otherwise it will be 

forgotten. At some 

point, on that basis, 

our descendants will 

judge what we were 

like in the time given 

to us and whether we 

wronged them. What 

would Beočin and its 

villages be like if we 

didn’t have all of these 

chronicles, books, 

diaries, travelogues 

and journals that 

we rely on today?” 

(Letopis, 1994)


1 

173


Austria, Hungary and Bohemia, and his entourage, which 

included famous zoologist Alfred Brehm. They arrived in 

the village in horse-drawn carriages and headed along the 

stream, passing the monastery and arriving at a ridge – 

wrote the crown prince himself about this famous hunt 

in the Beočin forests, all the way to the area of the Crveni 

Čot Peak. 

In the forest they found – a kingdom of eagles: in nests, 

on branches, in flight. The crown-prince and his court 

shot a veritable flock of eagles: four Lesser Spotted eagles, 

three White-Tailed eagles, a Short-toed Snake-eagle, a 

Booted eagle, a Speckled eagle and a Common buzzard. He 

also downed a Griffon Vulture. Too many of such celebrated 

species! 

We can see Brehm in the sketch opposite: the unfolded 

wings of the huge eagle corpse lying supine on a rock and 

being discussed by Brehm, Crown-Prince Rudolf and famous 

ornithologist Homeier. Newspapers reported that the 

Fruška Gora hunt at Kovilj had “yielded rich benefits for 

science” as they were “defeated eagles including very rare 

and important examples”. 

Laza, Lenka, Venice 

1 

One of the thirty old 

postcards portraying 

the church and 

residential quarters 

of Beočin Monastery 

174 

1900... 

It was before noon on a day in June when an elegant 

monastic carriage, drawn by trotting horses, journeyed up 

the Beočin lane carrying the most celebrated of poets: Laza 

Kostić. 

"I will most likely – God willing! – go after Whitsun in 

Novi Sad immediately to Grgeteg and then for several days 

in Beočin. There now is Abbot Dr Georgije Letić, an admirable 

young man. When could something and you be able 

to pop by for a bit? Ela, look!” So wrote Laza the great poet 

to his great friend Simo Matavulj. He wrote from Sombor, 

where he lived “in reality”, while “in dreams” he fantasised 

of a love he had not experienced: that of the beautiful, 

young Lenka Dunđerski. 

It was just at that time that Laza’s “heartfelt rendering” 

appeared: the magnificent Santa Maria della Salute – “the 

most powerful poem of love in Serbian literature,” as writer 

Isidora Sekulić believed. 

Forgive us, mother of the world, forgive 

that our mountain mourns its pines... 

Treasure 

The old Serbian 

Orthodox church in 

Čerević, from 1710, 

preserves an artistic 

collection of priceless 

religious icons that are 

protected by law as 

cultural assets. Three 

pictures kept in the 

village’s catholic 

church, built 1744, are 

also protected by law.


1 

175


In this way, through these first verses, he begged Ve nice’s 

Virgin Mary saviour “to forgive him for once writing to 

complain that the Venetians had felled “our” pine to erect 

their palaces and churches.” 

As Laza travelled through the streets of Beočin in his 

carriage he could never have imagined that those very 

streets, a century later, would be used to carry 50 centennial 

oaks of the Beočin Forest Community – to again be buried 

into the foundations of a sinking Venice. 

Bells, oxen 

1 

2 

Hands, wreath, 

bridge: “the language 

of good photography 

does not need to be 

translated into words, 

that is its power” 

1920... 

It was a chilly day. Beočin folk were gathered around 

the church, built back in 1726, when the village had a little 

over 50 homes. 

The great-grandfathers and grandfathers of today’s 

Beočin folk jostled in the courtyard. We can imagine them 

in warm coats, some already sporting winter hats, others 

with a mandatory hat, most with twirled moustaches. 

Beautiful people, Fruška Gora people! 

We can imagine them on their joyous day: three new 

bells for the church have just arrived. Shiny, large and 

heavy – they lay on a cart pulled by powerful oxen. 

They are ceremoniously decorated – both bells and 

oxen. And they could not be more beautiful: great-grandmothers 

and grandmothers have tied the finest threads to 

them – fine cotton towels as soft as the soul, which they 

saved since their childhood dreams of marriage. 

And we can see their priest, Vlada Bičanski, and how his 

words celebrate the new bells and the toil of the Beočin folk 

who’d hoisted them up to the belfry, already adorned with 

icons and frescoes. 

Let them resonate over their homes, lanes, hills, beside 

the stream and all the way to the forest. And, mostly 

and most beautifully, let them ring in their hearts. 

Ljuba Vukmanović 

(Naš Vek (Our Century), Beočin, 19 th April 2003, 

special jubilee publication marking the centenary 

of the Forest Community of Beočin, 1903-2003) 

Love 

The great love of the 

Fruška Gora poets for 

this mountain and this 

landscape is unusual; 

love from delight 

and infatuation, 

from the eye and soft 

sounds. They sang 

of the forests and 

streams, little bridges 

over the frozen river, 

vineyards and the 

hands that worked 

them, but mostly 

the arms of mothers 

and the Danube that 

shines silver from 

above. And they 

remained faithful to 

this mountain not only 

in their lives, but also 

in death. The greatest 

among them, Branko 

Radičević and Jovan 

Grčić Milenko, are 

even spending eternity 

on its slopes. 

176


1 

2 

177


Moje Selance 

(My Little Village) 

JOVAN GRČIĆ MILENKO 

Three poems 

MOJE SRCE (MY HEART) 

1 

The final resting 

place of Jovan Grčić 

Milenko at Beočin 

Monastery 

White bird beside the Danube 

Her wings broadly swept; 

That bird is – my village, 

By a fairy kept. 

A good fairy, like a sister, 

There I was nurtured; 

Nurtured, pampered,- 

In this way bemoaned: 

“My ‘brother’, worry of mine, 

My brow grows murky; 

Secret horror pains my chest, 

Because evil awaits you: 

Your youth will burst into song, 

But with a sad voice: 

Your happiness will spray 

Waves of life… 

Only sometimes songs will 

Rejoice your heart: 

Though also break her much, 

Like riverbank waves…” 

White bird, village of mine, 

Listen to what says the fairy; 

But don’t fear, - just spread 

Your white wings… 

My heart is weak, 

For it preys as it hopes; 

My heart is strong, 

For it’s hushed when it aches. 

Oh, hush, heart, endure! 

There are still those who love you! 

And who’s never hurt, 

For a lifetime – preys… 

BRIGA MATERINA 

(MOTHERS’ WORRY) 

Ignite, daughter, the thurible! 

Light the yellow incense! 

Tomorrow is precisely a year 

Since Damjan departed… 

Ignite, daughter, the thurible! 

Don’t spare the yellow incense! 

Prey to God with your mother 

For the soul of little Damjan… 

Spread, spread, and the Danube will 

Save your wings: 

So those wings will console me 

When I’m in despair… 

178


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179


ĐOKA SAVIĆ ČIČA 

Fruška Gora 

Whatever there is in the kingdom of Earth, 

Nowhere is like decorated Srem, 

Elevated on high mounts, 

Adorned with low valleys. – 

Every valley has fruit, 

Mostly apples and plums. 

Upon hills are divine vineyards, 

Worked by the hands of Srem folk. 

But when celebrations and holidays come, 

Fruška Gora folk start to enjoy, 

There they sing all sorts of songs, 

Mentioning all Serbian heroes, 

Even the piper won’t be lacking, 

For the playing to turn to dancing. 

That, brother, is how Fruška Gora folk live – 

Yet that’s why their voices lack, 

For them to feed on white bread. 

“Fruška Gora folk – say those by the Danube, 

What we have we enjoy! 

Black bread and red wine, 

Thus thwarting all Bačka folk.” 

And Bačka folk ice their water, 

Which is why they got jaundice. 

Something else on Fruška lies, 

A house where our prince comes, 

Right in the place Čerević a little, 

Which the Germans missed from afar. 

Even on Fruška are monasteries, 

Where many seek their peace, 

Where minstrels gather – with loots, 

To sing a song of heroes, 

To tell us of Dušan’s empire, 

To mention Marko Kraljević, 

And the hero Starina Novak! 

(1885) 

1 

The cover page of 

Čiča’s famous book 

‘Fruska Gora folk 

in song’, 1885 

Čiča 

“Loyal to the Orthodox 

faith and a guardian 

of the tradition of 

Saint Sava, Čiča 

(the old man) was a 

frequent prominent 

guest in Novi Sad as 

donor to the Matičini 

funds, a member of 

the Novi Sad Society 

of Benefactors, 

a friend of the 

leaders of Matica 

Srpska, many school 

teachers and his 

political interlocutor 

radicals. He usually 

socialised with his 

fellow Čerević native, 

Judge Nikola I. Igić, 

whose likeness 

Paja Jovanović 

immortalised in 

the painting Seoba 

Srba (The Migration 

of the Serbs). He 

was a member and 

subscriber of the 

publications of the 

Serbian Literary 

Society.” 

(Ljubica Popović 

Bjelica, 1999) 

180


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181


PUBLIC COMPANIES AND INSTITUTIONS 

Municipal Administration 

25 Svetosavska, Beočin 

(MUNICIPAL PRESIDENT; MUNICIPAL 

COUNCIL; DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS, 

DEVELOPMENT & INFORMATION; FINANCIAL 

SERVICES DEPARTMENT; DEPARTMENT OF 

GENERAL ADMINISTRATION & COMMON 

SERVICES; OPERATIONS & PLANNING 

INSPECTORATE) 

SWITCHBOARD: 870-260, 870-268 

www.beocin.org.rs 

Service centre 

1 Trg Cara Lazara, Beočin 

(CHILD WELFARE DEPARTMENT; LOCAL 

OFFICE OF THE BUSINESS REGISTRATION 

AGENCY; ONE-OFF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE 

SERVICE; DOCUMENT CERTIFICATION; 

REGISTRAR OF BIRTH, DEATH & MARRIAGE; 

CITIZENSHIP CERTIFICATION; DEATH 

REGISTRATION; CIVIL MARRIAGE SERVICE; 

PROBATE PROCEEDINGS; EMPLYOMENT 

BOOKLET ISSUANCE; COMPLETION OF 

DOCUMENTATON FOR PERSONAL 

RECORDS etc.) 

SWITCHBOARD: 872-111, 872-052 

Health Centre 

nn Svetosavska, Beočin 

EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE: 94; 870-124 

SWITCHBOARD: 870-055, 870-052 

CHEMISTS: 872-838 

PHYSIATRIST: 874-522 

FACTORY CLINIC: 874-210 

ČEREVIĆ CLINIC: 876-001 

RAKOVAC CLINIC: 6275-511 

Public Company ‘Construction 

Land & Road works’ 

54 Omladinska, Beočin 

(ADAPTATION, USAGE, ADVANCEMENT 

& PROTECTION OF CONSTRUCTION 

182 

LAND; MAINTENANCE, PROTECTION, 

DEVELOPMENT & MANAGEMENT OF LOCAL 

ROADS & STREETS, ORGANISATION OF THE 

CONSTRUCTION OF UTILITY FACILITIES etc.) 

SWITCHBOARD: 870-050, 870-570 

Public Utilities Company ‘Beočin’ 

54 Desanke Maksimović, Beočin 

(WATER COLLECTION, PURIFICATION & 

DISTRIBUTION; DISPOSAL OF COMMUNAL 

& MUNICIPAL WASTE; CLEANING OF 

FACILITIES; FUNERAL & RELATED 

ACTIVITIES; GREEN MARKET SERVICING & 

MAINTENANCE; CONSTRUCTION OF ROADS 

& SPORTS FACILITIES etc.) 

SWITCHBOARD: 871-245, 871-246 

WATER WORKS: 871-869 

WORKSHOP: 872-830 

Public Company ‘Toplana’ (Heating) 


(PRODUCTION & DISTRIBUTION OF HEATING 

ENERGY) 

SWITCHBOARD: 872-270 

PRODUCTION CENTRE: 870-126 

Public Company ‘Sport-Business 

Centre’ 


SWITCHBOARD: 871-950, 870-628 

The Culture Centre 

of Beočin Municipality 

1 Trg Cara Lazara 1, Beočin 

(ACTIVITIES IN THE EDUCATION DOMAIN; 

RADIO & TELEVISION ACTIVITIES; LIBRARY 

SERVICES, FILM SCREENING & CABLE 

NETWORKS’ MAINTENANCE SERVICES) 

SWITCHBOARD: 870-230; 870-231 

RADIO: 870-343 

The Ljuba Stanković Nursery School 

nn Dositeja Obradović, Beočin 

SWITCHBOARD: 870-394, 872-262 

www.pa-ljstankovic.edu.rs

SERVICE INFORMATION 

The Jovan Grčić Milenko 

Primary School, Beočin 

nn Miloš Crnjanskog, Beočin 

SWITCHBOARD: 871-341, 871-091, 872-922 

RAKOVAC SCHOOL: 6275-211 

jmilenko@ptt.rs; osgrcic@ptt.rs 

The Jovan Popović 

Primary School, Susek 

73 Nikole Tesle, Susek 


osjovanpopovis@gmail.com 

LOCAL COMMUNITY OFFICES 

LC Beočin town: 871-370 

LC Beočin: 871-455 

LC Rakovac: 6275-222 

LC Brazilija: 876-055 

LC Čerević: 876-021, 876-950 

LC Banoštor: 879-011 

LC Susek: 878-031 

LC Sviloš: 878-312 

LC Grabovo: 879-020 

LC Lug: 878-003 

OTHER IMPORTANT CONTACTS 

Social Work Centre, 

Beočin Department 



‘Red Cross’ 

2 Svetosavska, Beočin 

871-043 

Police Station 

(ID CARDS, ARRIVAL/DEPARTURE 

REGISTRATION, PASSPORT APPLICATIONS, 

REGISTRATION OF MOTOR VEHICLES, 

REGISTRATION OF WEAPONS) 

EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE: 92 

SWITCHBOARD: 870-073, 870-286, 870-029 

Fire Service 

EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE: 93 

SWITCHBOARD: 870-633, 872-755 

National Employment Service, 


Trg Cara Lazara, Beočin 

870-098, 871-991 

Municipal Court 


871-041 

Magistrate 


870-482; 870-125 

Land Registry 


870-353 

Tax Administration 


871-177, 871-836 

Payment Service 


870-176 

Bus station 

870-076 

Post Office 

BEOČIN: 870-127, 870-499 

RAKOVAC: 6275-111 

ČEREVIĆ: 876-074 

SUSEK: 878-000 

LUG: 878-002 

Petrol stations 

BEOČIN: 870-460 

BANOŠTOR: 879-006 

RAKOVAC: 6265-114 

183


Lafarge BFC 

1 Trg Beočinske fabrike 

cementa, Beočin 


Public Company ‘Elektrovojvodina’, 


Trg Cara Lazara, Beočin 

INFORMATION, DEFECT REPORT: 871-272 

BANKS 

Erste Bank 


871-498; 871-365 

zoran.radulovic@erstebank.rs 

Opening hours: Monday-Friday – 8am to 3:30pm; 

Saturday – 8am to 12pm 

Banca Intesa 


871-981 

Opening hours: Monday-Friday – 8am to 3:30pm; 

Saturday – 8am to 12pm 

HoReCa & TOURISM 

Pizzeria “Bolero”, Beočin 

Stambeni blok Kralja Petra I, b-1, 021 870 367 

Café Club ‘Bonik’ 

Beočin, 870-128 

Dancing bar ‘Pandora’ 

Beočin, 870-376 

Riverside fish inn 

‘Koruška’, Susek 

FISH SPECIALITIES, FOOD TO ORDER 

064/261-64-72 

Riverside inn ‘Kod Steva’ 

Danube Settlement, Beočin 

(Overnight accommodation with 

184 

14 beds, 50-seat restaurant, FISH 

SPECIALITIES & FOOD TO ORDER, BERTHS 

FOR VISITING BOATS) 

870-000; 063/811-68-73 

Riverside inn ‘Jole’, Banoštor 

nn Toza Marković, Banoštor 

(RESTAURANT SALON, TERRACE, PARKING 

LIVE TAMBURICA MUSIC, BERTHS FOR 

FERRIES & BOATS) 

063/562-390 

Restaurant ‘Karaš’ 

Danube Settlement, Beočin 

(RESTAURANT BOASTING THREE LARGE 

SALONS WITH A TOTAL OF 300 SEATS & A 

SUMMER GARDEN WITH A CAPACITY OF 350 

SEATS; ACCOMMODATION AVAILABLE IN 5 

ROOMS; PRIVATE BEACH; CATEGORISED AS A 

3-STAR VENUE) 

870-870, 870-424 

www.restoran-karas.co.rs 

‘Testera’ Children’s Resort 

RESERVATIONS: KOMPAS TRAVEL AGENCY, 

6611-299 

RESORT CENTRE: 876-037 

CePTOR – Centre for economic 

& technological development 

Potes Andrevlje, Banoštor 

(RESTAURANT, ACCOMMODATION 

CAPACITIES, TERRACE, HOSTING OF 

PRESENTATIONS, SYMPOSIA, SEMINARS etc.) 

RECEPTION: 4802-400 

www.andrevlje.vojvodina.gov.rs 

Ethno-Eco Club ‘Čerević’ 

RESTAURANT, WINE CELLAR, 

ACCOMMODATION 

RESERVATIONS: 064/2627-432 

simicljubomir@nadlanu.com 

www.seoskiturizam-Danube-fruskagora.Com 

Motel ‘Sunce’ 

1 Dunavska, Beočin 

410-300

SERVICE INFORMATION 

WINE CELLARS 

Wine Cellar “Bononia”, Banoštor 

5 Svetozara Markovića, tel: 063 669 203, 

e-mail: ims467414@e u net.rs 

Wine Cellar “Stojković”, Banoštor 

66 Svetozara Markovića, tel: 064 801 79 02, 

e-mail: po drum stoj ko vic@yahoo.com 

“Urošević” Vineyards, Banoštor 


e-mail: uro se vic_m@yahoo.com 

“Radošević” Vineyard, Banoštor 

60 Svetozara Markovića, tel: 063 688 019, 

e-mail: te a ne na @ne o bee.net 

Wine Cellar “Ačanski”, Banoštor 

96a Svetozara Markovića, tel: 064 173 68 79 

“Fruškogorski vinogradi” Vineyards, 

Banoštor 


e-mail: slo bo dan.spa sov ski @qu an tum.co.rs 

Pera Silbaški, Banoštor 

24 Svetozara Markovića, tel: 064 135 25 17 

Svetozar Stojković, Banoštor 

5 Crkvena, tel: 064 314 99 70 

Mile Popović, Banoštor 

28 Svetozara Markovića, tel: 064 274 55 32 

Dušan Radošević, Banoštor 

11 Fruškogorska, tel: 064 001 68 43 

Stevan Rakić, Banoštor 

8 Crkvena, tel: 064 126 15 20 

Đorđe Parlić, Banoštor 

2 Crkvena, tel: 021 879 058 

Slobodan Pupavac, Banoštor 

66 Svetozara Markovića, tel: 021 879 267 

Mita Pantelinac, Banoštor 

6 Dunavska, tel: 062 89 33 613 

Stevan Šipin, Banoštor 

7 Dunavska, tel: 064 185 30 44 

Nikola Šipin, Banoštor 

7 Dunavska, tel: 064 154 64 94 

Zoran Veličković, Banoštor 

6 Crkvena, tel: 021 879 067 

Milenko Kukić, Banoštor 

9 Crkvena, tel: 064 218 76 12 

Kuzmanović Wine Cellar, Čerević 

11 Vojvode Živojina Mišića, tel: 062 885 98 07, 

e-mail: lo le@ pan li ne.net 

Jovan Antonijević, Ledinci 

1 Fruškogorsko, tel: 060 142 02 11 

Wine Cellar “Salakcija”, Rakovac 

66 Manastirska, tel: 021 626 54 37, 

e-mail: ale xan dar.ta dic @gmail.com 

Vineyard “Prekogačić”, Beočin 

6 “16 th October” Street, tel: 021 870 518, 

e-mail: pet tar93@gmail.com 

Ljubomir Mirković, Beočin 

133a Stojana Vukosavljevića, tel: 021 870 459 

Milorad Svirčevic, Beočin 

58 Miroslava Antića, tel 021 870 378 

185


References & sources 

Branislav Bukurov, Živan Bogdanović: Opština Beočin, geographical monograph, Faculty of 

Natural-Mathematical Sciences, Institute of Geography, Novi Sad, 1981. 

Nađa Folić Kurtović, Predrag Medović, Branka Kulić, Mirjana Đekić: Kulturno nasleđe 

Vojvodine, Vojvodina Culture Department, Provincial Institute for the Protection of 

Cultural Monuments, Novi Sad, 2008. 

Dimitrije Ruvarac: Opis Fruškogorskih manastira 1753, Sremski Karlovci, 1903. 

Dimitrije Ruvarac: Manastir Beočin, Sremski Karlovci, 1924. 

L. Mirković: Starine Fruškogorskih manastira, Belgrade, 1931. 

V. Petrović, M. Kašanin: Srpska umetnost u Vojvodini, Novi Sad, 1927. 

A. Manojlović: Srpski manastiri u Fruškoj Gori, Sremski Karlovci, 1937. 

Vojislav Matić: Manastir Beočin, Matica Srpska, Novi Sad, 2006. 

Vojislav Matic: Litografije Fruskogorskih manastira, Belgrade, 1986. 

Branka Kulić: Manastir Rakovac, Draganić and the Provincial Institute for the Protection of 

Cultural Monuments, Belgrade – Novi Sad, 1999. 

N. Jovanović: Prilozi za povest manastira Rakovca u Fruškoj Gori, issue 4 of Duhovna straža, 

1931. 

Leposava Kljaić: Čerević, Artprint, Novi Sad, 2007. 

Branislav Petričević, Začetak javnog bibliotekarskog rada u Beočinu, the Bibliotekar journal of 

the Society of Serbian Librarians, Belgrade, 1975. 

Branislav Petričević, Osnivanje prvog fonda za finansiranje škole u selu Beočinu i prve školske 

biblioteke 1861, publication Pedagoška stvarnost, Novi Sad, 1977 

Danica, Publication for the year 1826, facsimile edition, Vukova Foundation, Belgrade, 

2005. 

186

References, sources 

Slavko Gavrilović: Srem od kraja XVII do sredine XVIII veka, Philosophy Faculty & Institute 

of History, Novi Sad, 1979. 

Znamenite ličnosti Srema od I do XXI veka, project author: Borislav Stojšić, Museum of 

Srem, Sremska Mitrovica, 2003. 

Književno delo Jovana Grčića Milenka, compilation, Beočin Culture Centre and Prometej, 

Novi Sad, 1998. 

Miloje R. Jovanović: Jovan Grčić Milenko – life and work, Grafosrem, Šid, 1994. 

Đoka Savić Čiča: Fruškogorci u pesmi, A. Pajevića Printers, Novi Sad, 1885. 

Irina Subotić: Milenko Šerban, monograph, Novi Sad – Sombor, 1997. 

Vjekoslav Ćetković: Milenko Serban. Poslednji Fruškogorski barbizonac, Prometej, Novi Sad, 

2003. 

Dragan Nedeljković: Izdaleka svetlost I-II, memoirs (marking 75 years of life and 50 years 

of academic and literary success), Draganić, Belgrade, 2000. 

Srbija – drumovima, prugama, rekama, compiled by Branislav Matić, Princip Pres, Belgrade, 

2007. 

Evropskim putevima kulture: Corridor 10, multiple contributors, Princip Pres, Belgrade, 

2006. 

Aleksandar Jovanović: Tlo Srbije – zavičaj rimskih careva, Princip Pres, Belgrade, 2006. 

Beli anđeo. Vodič kroz kulturno-istorijsku baštinu Srbije, multiple contributors, Princip Pres, 

Belgrade, 2004. 

Sekula Petrović: Beo-činovi. Pozorišni život u Beočinu 1908-2009, Srpska knjiga, Cultural- 

Artistic Society ‘Brile’, Ruma-Beočin, 2009. 

Dušan Životić: Moje uspomene, Serbian Museum of Theatrical Arts, Theatre Museum of 

Vojvodina, Belgrade - Novi Sad, 1992. 

Radosti i strepnje. Trideset susreta amaterskih pozorišnih društava Vojvodine 1960-1989, 

Theatre Museum of Vojvodina, Novi Sad, 1989. 

Naš vek. Sto godina Šumske zajednice u Beočinu, 1903-2003, editor: Ljuba Vukmanović, ABM 

ekonomika, Novi Sad, 2003. 

Arpad Lebl: Beočinska kaja, Progres, Novi Sad, 1959. 

187


Sto trideset godina Beočinske fabrike cementa, monograph, editor: Jakov Bilić, Dnevnik, Novi 

Sad, pp. 

Beočinska fabrika cementa, compiled by Zdenko Nenadić, Sremske novine, Sremska 

Mitrovica, 1989. 

Histories Make history. 1833-2005. Lafarge Cement, Supplement of Connection, issue #17, 

Editor-in-Chief & Managing Editor: Christelle Bitouzet. Paris, 2005. 

Veseli Srem, collection, Ruma Homeland Museum, 2007. 

Sources also included individual issues of the following newpapers and magazines 

and complete annual packages for relevant years: 

Cement, Beočin 

Sremske novine, Sremska Mitrovica 

Dnevnik, Novi Sad 

Novosadski nedeljnik, Novi Sad 

Srpske narodne novine, Budapest 

Politika, Belgrade 

Večernje novosti, Belgrade 

Pedagoška stvarnost, Novi Sad 

Naše vreme, Loznica 

Takovske novine, Gornji Milanovac 

Srbija – Nacionalna revija, Belgrade 

Online electronic archives of the following sites were also used: 

www.beocin.rs 

www.lafarge.com 

www.nbs.rs 

www.rastko.rs 

www.turistinfosrbija.com 


Archives & collections: 

Čerević Homeland Museum 

Museum of Srem, Sremska Mitrovica 

Archive of CAS Brile – Beočin 

Personal archive of Karlo Šetalo 

Personal archive of Sekula Petrović 

Collection of postcards of Boško Brzić 

Collection of Ivanka Konjević Ivanić 

188

Life is premium. 

DDOR Novi Sad insurance 

has gained the 

trust of more than 900,000 

customers and boasts experience of 

more than 60 years competing for the 

position of leading insurer in Serbia, 

with market participation of around 

26 per cent and calculated annual 

gross insurance premiums (2008) of 

around €140 million. 

DDOR Novi Sad deals with all types of insurance. 

In addition to traditional insurance of property, 

people, crops and animals, as well as liability 

of business, transport, credit and motor vehicles, 

DDOR’s offer increasingly includes life insurance. 

The company is among the very top insurers 

in Serbia in terms of level of funds allocated for 

preventing and combating financial risk, as well as 

its enviable technical reserves. 

On its domestic market, DDOR also founded 

the Society for Pension Fund Management – Voluntary 

pension fund DDOR pension plus. This 

is a separate legal entity tasked with providing 

customers in Serbia with high-quality pension 

insurance. 

DDOR Novi Sad additionally guarantees the 

security of its clients through its own reinsurance, 

by placing high-risks with the best foreign reinsurers. 

DDOR has been a member of the Fondiaria 

Sai Group for the last year. Ranked third on the 

Italian insurance market in terms of participation, 

Fondiaria Sai is a key player on the local financial 

market. The 

group participates 

on the Italian financial 

market through 

its own companies and strategic 

investments in the sectors of insurance, 

banking, telecommunications, 

real estate, health and agriculture. 

The group’s core activities on the 

Italian insurance market are related to non-life 

insurance. Motor vehicle liability insurance is 

particularly important to the company and sees it 

hold first place in the country, with a market share 

of 23%. Fondiaria Sai’s products and services are 

sold in Italy through a national network of 3,500 

agencies and 1,500 financial advisors. The total 

value of its managed finances exceeds €30 billion. 

Insurance premiums completed by the company 

in 2008 totalled around €11.6 billion. 

Joining this group has led to the creation of 

preconditions for the further improvement of 

DDOR’s operations and results. A number of strate 

gic opportunities have been created, with Fondiaria 

Sai rapidly spreading across the region of 

Southeast Europe. 

The goal of DDOR is to strengthen its position 

on the insurance market in Serbia and, along 

with the cultivation of existing products, place a 

whole range of new products fully tailored to suit 

clients and their needs. However, the most important 

task of DDOR Novi Sad is to ensure that the 

timely insurance payments remain a key factor for 

which the company is renowned. 

Customer Centre

Investment exceeding €75 million 

Alas Holding, a subsidiary of Austria’s 

Asamer Group, has been operating on 

the Serbian market since 2001 through its 

member companies Alas Rakovac, Zorka 

Alas Kamen, Zorka Keramika and Zorka Opeka. 

Since its arrival in Serbia, Alas Holding 

has invested in excess of €75 million in the 

production and processing of stone, as well 

as the building materials industry – production 

of bricks and ceramic tiles. Alas Holding 

marked its arrival in Serbia by participating 

in the privatisation of the Beočin Cement Factory 

alongside French partner Lafarge. 

This cement plant’s privatisation was assessed 

as one of the most successful in the 

country. Markus Bogdanović is president of 

Alas Holding for Serbia and also co-owner of 

Holding and the cement plant in Beočin. “We 

came to Serbia to stay. We have long-term 

plans and a clear business strategy. For us, 

the Serbian market is prospective, with an 

ever-improving business climate for foreign 

investments,” says Markus Bogdanović. 

Serbian stone at European standards 

The Holding’s basic activities are carried 

out in the spirit of the best tradition of the 

Asamer Group by companies Alas Rakovac 

and Zorka Alas Kamen, which produce and 

process stone. At the quarries these companies 

extract and process quality stone 

of all grades for the construction industry 

and road building, while Alas Holding is also 

known for the exploitation of high-quality 

limestone that has applications in the chemical 

industry, the production of animal fodder 

and sugar. 

Reclamation in Serbia 

– pride and commitment 

The quarries of Srebro and Kišnjeva 

Glava are located within the boundaries 

of Beočin municipality on Mount 

Fruška Gora. Company Alas Rakovac 

received authorisation from 

the Ministry of Environment of 

Markus Bogdanović, 

president of Alas Holding for Serbia

This is what the Srebro 

Quarry will look like 

after reclamation 

Asamer Group in Serbia 

Company Alas Holding is part of Austria’s 

Asamer Group, which has been operating 

successfully since 1959 on markets across 

Europe – from Austria, Poland, Hungary 

and Slovakia, through Russia, Ukraine, 

Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Romania, 

to Bosnia & Herzegovina and Croatia – 

and even Dubai. Asamer Holding has over 

5,000 employees worldwide and an annual 

turnover of half a billion Euros. 

the Republic of Serbia and the Ministry of 

Mining & Energy to carry out reclamation of 

both mines. 

Within Alas Holding they are proud of the 

fact that, after 80 successful quarry reclamations 

worldwide, they will be the company 

to carry out the first reclamations of opencast 

quarries in Serbia. To date Alas Holding 

has invested almost eight million Euros in 

the Rakovac quarries, which have been exploited 

for more than 70 years. 

This reclamation implies that existing 

quarries, through works that will last several 

years, will be closed, landscaped and 

incorporated into the natural environment 

of Fruška Gora. Upon completion of this 

project, the Srebro opencast quarry will be 

landscaped to include a lake with a picnic 

area and beach arranged according to the 

highest standards and including additional 

sanitary infrastructure and sports facilities. 

According to the plan for reclamation of 

the Kišnjeva Glava opencast quarry, all facilities 

and infrastructure within the mining complex 

will be redesigned. Following closure of 

the mine, the site will house a research-ecological 

camp and an industrial park. 

Leaders in the manufacture 

of building materials 

In accordance with long-term plans and 

a clear business and development strategy, 

investments have also been made in the 

companies Zorka Keramika and Zorka Opeka, 

which are respectively engaged in the production 

of ceramic tiles and bricks in Serbia. 

€14.5 million has been invested in the modernisation 

of production facilities at Zorka 

Keramika and Zorka Opeka.

СРБИЈА – НАЦИОНАЛНА РЕВИЈА srbija – national review 

EU 5 € ♦ GB 4,5 £ ♦ USA 7 $ ♦ CH 7 CHF ♦ 60 NOK ♦ 50 SEK ♦ 500 HUF ♦ HR 29 HRK ♦ MK 245 MKD ♦ BiH 8 KM ♦ CG 4 € 

број 20 · 2010. 

година IV 

Life is 

premium. 

број 20, 2010. цена 290 дин. 


Владимир Вујасиновић, 

ватерполиста 

ENIGME 

PRESUDNIH 

TRENUTAKA 

180 

GODINA 

GARDE 

· STAZE 

· LEGENDE 

· IGRE 

· JUBILEJI 

МилованВитезовић 

Песмеиожиљци 

ЂУРАЈАКШИЋ–БАРДСРПСКОГПЕСНИШТВА 

ИРОДОНАЧЕЛНИКСРПСКЕБОЕМИЈЕ 

ПРИНЦИП ПРЕС 

Customer center +381 21 480 2222 

T r a v e l 

health 

insurance 

with assistance 

In cooperation with the international organization CORIS International Paris, 

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The CORIS International Paris network and the representative office of CORIS 

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world. The coverage of the following costs is provided: costs of medical 

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accidents during a stay abroad. 

Travel health insurance, with assistance, encompasses the 

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medical assistance - services of necessary aid in organizing 

treatment of insureds abroad, due to sudden i lness or as a 

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travel assistance - in the event of loss or delay of luggage, 

theft or loss of documents, i.e. accident while traveling. 

legal assistance - in the event of an accident during the 

insured’s travel and stay outside of his/her resident country. 

A l persons aged up to 85 are eligible for insurance. 

Customer center: 

+381 21 480 2222 

MEMBER OF 

MEMBER OF 

No 20 · 2010. 

Life is premium. 

Vladimir Vujasinović, 

water polo player 

MYSTERY 

OF DECISIVE 

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THE MAGAZINE OF NOBLE SERBIA 


· paths 

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No 18 • 2010. 

Year IV No 20, 2010 



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MYSTERY 

OF DECISIVE 

MOMENTS 

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four world languages, with over 

2.000 extraordinary illustrations. 

Dimensions: 14.5x20.4 cm 


BAČKA 

SREM 

NOVI SAD 

BANAT 

BELGRADE 

WEST SERBIA 

SOUTHWEST SERBIA 

VALLEY OF KINGS 

ŠUMADIJA AND SMEDEREVO 

BRANIČEVO AND POMORAVLJE 

RASINA AND TOPLICA 

EAST SERBIA 

NIŠ 

SOUTHEAST SERBIA 

KOSOVO AND METOHIA 

CORRIDOR 10 – 

EUROPEAN ROADS OF CULTURE 

A tourist guide along the most important 

tho roughfare of Serbia today, presents 

to the traveler (in Serbian and 

English) the enor mous cultural and historical 

heritage available to him along 

this road. 

Dimensions: 13x21 cm 


TOURIST BIBLE TO SERBIA – WHITE ANGEL 

A supreme review of the cultural 

and spiritual heritage of Serbia, 

printed in both Serbian and English, 

this representative book 

has been one of the bookstore 

hits for a long time. 

Dimensions: 19x19 cm 


SILENT BELLS –CHRISTIAN HERITAGE OF KOSMET 

A book about the Christian heritage 

of Kosovo and Metohija, 

about the valuable spiritual, cultural 

and artistic legacy which 

the Serbs have left to the Christian 

Europe 

Dimensions: 20x20.6 cm 


100 GOOD REASONS TO VISIT SERBIA 

A book which, in Serbian-English and 

Serbian-German editions, represents 

Serbia in an unusual manner, its natural 

and other beauties, its heritage 

and tourism potentials. 

Dimensions: 29.5x21 cm 


SERBIA – HOMELAND OF ROMAN EMPERORS 

Sixteen Roman emperors were born 

and had their seat on the soil of present 

Serbia. This is a monograph about 

them, an extraordinary trilingual book 

Serbian culture has been waiting for. 

Dimensions: 20x20,6 cm 

Number of pages: 396 pages

Beocin - engleski - niska rezolucija

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