folk textiles

Књажевац – Knjaževac

| aleksstosich

The Timok region is one of mountains, rich forests, and abundant water, especially mountain springs and streams. It is these waters that in many ways define which hills and valleys belong to Timok. Settlements always arise where there is abundant water, and Knjaževac is one of these. It is located in the valley of the Beli Timok (White Timok), which together with the waters of the rivulets Svrljiški Timok and Trgoviški Timok join the Crni Timok (Black Timok) river at Zaječar, forming the Great Timok (Veliki Timok, or simply Timok).  The valley of the Beli Timok is conducive to agriculture and viticulture, while the surrounding mountains are ideal for the farming of sheep and goats, as well as for walnut groves. The mountains offered protection, but also created isolation.

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Косово – Kosovo

| aleksstosich

What can I say that has not been said about Kosovo? The cradle of Serbian statehood, faith and identity since the arrival of the Slavs, who encountered Romanized populations, remnants of the tribes and colonies of the Roman Empire. Kosovo, which emerged as part of Raška, alongside Zahumlje and Travunija (Hercegovina), Duklja and Zeta (Montenegro) as one of the earliest Serbian principalities, and which became part of the first Serbian Kingdom of Stefan Nemanjić “Prvovenčani” (The First Crowned). Kosovo became the jewel of the Serbian state, with fortresses and monasteries constructed under the order of kings, emperors and patriarchs: Bogorodica Ljeviška, Gračanica, Banjska, Dečani, so many more… prime among them, the Peć Patriarchate, nucleus of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Kosovo was the turning point for Serbian history, too, as Serbian and Ottoman armies met once again, this time on the Field of Blackbirds (kos, Kosovo Polje) and set in motion the events of future centuries, peonies sprouting from the blood of the fallen.

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Босанска Крајина – Bosanska Krajina

| aleksstosich

Bosanska Krajina is a term referring to the northern portion of Bosnia, bounded by the rivers Vrbas and Sava, and the Dinaric alps in the west. It was a region that for centuries represented the frontier of the Ottoman Empire, abutting directly against the Austro-Hungarian Military Frontier (Vojna Krajina). The word kraj means the end of something, or a region, and “Krajina” is used to designate a number of districts and micro-regions historically inhabited by Serbs (Timočka Krajina, Bela Krajina, Kninska Krajina etc). It is found in other Slavic languages as well; for example, Ukraine is a toponym derived from the Russian v’krajina, “in the outskirts”. Krajina, when applied to any area, has that connotation of being the outskirts, an outlying or remote area. The mountainous terrain of Bosanska Krajina certainly made it difficult to traverse and settle, and in that sense remained remote for a very long time. Continue reading →