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Serbia is a country in the Balkans, famous for its rich history, cultural heritage, lovely nature, undiscovered tourist destinations, traditional cuisine and warm-hearted people.
I'll try and introduce at least one different trait of Serbia every week. I hope you will like it.
Serbia: a land of sports
Photo Courtesy: http://www.rts.rs/upload/storyBoxImageData/2013/12/21/15139771/Srbija%20navijaci.jpg
One of the things Serbia prides itself on are sports results. Both individual and team sports are very popular among the Serbs, and the medals won are celebrated all around the country.
When it comes to individual sports, Serbia has got wonderful sport shooters, athletes, swimmers and taekwondo fighters, but by far the most popular sportsman in Serbia is the World's no.1 tennis player, Novak Djokovic. Not only is he a great sportsman, but a wonderful ambassador of Serbia everywhere in the world. His humanitarian assistance, just like his sports results, is awe-inspiring.
The most popular team sports in Serbia are football, basketball, water polo and volleyball. Serbian national men's basketball team has won silver medal in this year's FIBA World Cup, having lost from the USA national team in the finals. Serbian national men's water polo team won the bronze medal in the Olympic Games in London 2012 and are the current European champions (Budapest 2014).
Serbia: a land of food and drinks
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Food plays a major role in lives of Serbian people. Both preparation and consumption of food is somewhat ritual, especially in time of holidays such as Christmas, Easter or Patron Saint's Day.
Lots of families prepare annual quantities of their own home-made delicatessen such as ham, bacon, sausages, cheese and pickles. Growing fruit and vegetables is also very common among Serbian people, and not as business but for personal consumption. People also prepare home-made fruit juice, wine and brandy.
Lots of women prepare home-made meals every day. Eating out is not that popular in Serbia, especially in small towns or villages. People staying with a Serbian family will notice in no time that guests are showered with food. Some foreigners even think Serbian meals are too large.
Some of the most popular Serbian dishes are: sarma (sour cabbage leaves stuffed with meat), pečenje (roast pork, lamb or kid), gibanica (a kind of cheese pie), štrudla (a kind of fruit cake), pihtije (a kind of galantine), ajvar (minced paprika, tomato and aubergine sauce), tašci (a kind of pasta stuffed with jam), knedle (a kind of noodles), ćevapi (a type of grill), proja (a type of cornbread) and many more. Dishes are accompanied with home-made wine or brandy (plum - šljivovica, apricot, apple and pear being the most popular ones).
Enjoy! I'm sure Anthony Bourdain would :)
Serbia: a land of customs
One of the most striking characteristics of Serbia and the Serbs is tradition. Every part of Serbia is recognized for its distinctive customs, that may vary from town to town, from village to village.
Serbian people belong to the group of South Slavic nationalities. The Slaves had been pagans before they adopted monotheistic religions, mainly Christianity, between the 6th and the 10th centuries. Even though the Serbs are mostly Orthodox Christians, a lot of traits of the old pagan religion are still evident in the customs.
Every important event in the lives of Serbian people, such as a birth of a child, a wedding, a funeral, traditional holidays, etc. is accompanied by characteristic customs. Today these customs are very much adapted to the modern way of life. Nevertheless, they still survive.
I'll just give a brief account of the wedding customs typical for Srem, the part of Serbia where I come from:
First of all, the bride's attire. In Serbia, as well as in lots of other countries, it is typical for a bride to wear a long white gown, a symbol of her chastity and virginity. Earlier the gown was accompanied with some typically Serbian folk clothing elements and jewelry (I will try to write about these in one of the future posts), but not any more. Nowadays brides tend to choose (rent, rather than buy) expensive designer gowns.
As for the location, not that long ago wedding parties were organised in tents specially set up for this purpose on a lawn nearby the bridegroom's house, or in the bridegroom's backyard if it were big enough. Some people still prefer this, while a great majority chooses hotels or restaurants as a site for the party.
There used to be a custom in Serbia for the bride's family and friends not to attend the wedding party (the explanation was that they were not supposed to be happy as the bride was leaving them to go and live with the groom's family). This is no longer the case, so the wedding ceremonies are attended by both the bride's and the groom's guests.
The wedding itself is usually done in the local municipal office, with a registrar performing the ceremony. Nowadays registrars are also willing to come to the site of the ceremony to perform the wedding. This is what is called a "civil wedding". Yet another wedding is possible, if the bride and the groom are willing to do it. That is what is called a "church wedding" and is performed in a church with a priest performing the ceremony. During these ceremonies the wedding rings are exchanged. Church wedding in an orthodox christian church is possible only if both the bride and the groom are of the same orthodox religion. This is not the case with roman catholic or other churches. Both in the civil and the church weddings, the bride and the groom are accompanied by their wedding witnesses – the best man and the maid of honour.
Photo Courtesy: http://www.korakdovencanja.rs/ceremonija/item/sve-sto-treba-da-znate-o-pravoslavnom-crkvenom-vencanju
All the above is more or less similar in lots of other countries as well. Now I will try to list a few customs typical of Serbia.
First, all the groom’s guests gather at the groom’s house whereas the bride’s guests gather at the bride’s house. The guests are ornamented by attaching rosemary branches to their lapels. This ornamentation is done by unmarried female cousins of the groom and the bride. The guests pay some money to get the rosemary branches. The money is taken by the girls.
The groom, accompanied by his guests and most importantly by his brother/cousin (the bride’s brother-in-law) and his best man, comes to the bride’s house to “buy“ the bride. And they literally buy her, paying her brother/cousin a sum of money. In some parts of Serbia there is also a custom of a groom shooting from a rifle in order to shoot down an apple put on a high pole. By this he proves to be worthy of the bride. The bride is then taken out by her brother and the groom’s brother and “presented“ to all the guests. During all this time, all the guests celebrate in front of the bride’s house dancing, singing, eating and drinking.
The bride and the groom are not paired until the wedding ceremony by the priest or the registrar is over. During all that time the bride is accompanied by the above mentioned brothers/cousins. Only after the church/civil wedding is over, the bride and the groom can kiss, hold hands and walk/drive together.
Upon exiting the church, the bride turns her back to the guests, the unmarried female guests gather in front of everybody else and the bride throws a bouquet of flowers over her head. The girl to catch the bouquet is believed to be the next to get married.
After the civil/church wedding the newly-weds are supposed to go back to the groom’s house where his family (most importantly parents) awaits. Before entering the house the groom’s mother serves them honey (for their lives to be sweet) and traditional bread and salt (always traditionally served to welcome anyone to your home)
What follows is a custom called “nakonče“. The bride is supposed to take the youngest chiled of a groom’s cousin (the youngest male child is chosen), lift it three times and give it a present she has prepared in advance. This is believed to bring the newly weds a lot of children in future.
The bride is then given a sieve filled with corn and wheat grains (symbol of fertility in Serbia). She has to throw the sieve over the groom’s house. If the sieve does not fall back to the groom’s yard this means the bride will stay in the groom’s house for the rest of her life...if it does fall back...well...the bride is given a few more tries :)
After that the groom’s mother presents the bride with pieces of jewelry, usually a bracelet. Then she gives her a bottle of wine and a loaf of traditional bread to carry in each hand. The groom takes the bride in his arms and takes her inside the house. This act is full of symbolism. The wine is a symbol of Christ’s blood, the bread is a symbol of Christ’s body. By holding these in her hands the bride won’t be able to touch the doorpost. The doorpost is a place where the souls of ancestors are believed to live. By touching the doorpost the bride would disturb these souls and would not be welcome in the groom’s house (that is also why the groom takes her in his arms over the doorstep – in order not to disturb the ancestors’ souls).
After all these customs the wedding suite can all go to the site of the party where the celebration is continued till early in the morning. Serbian weddings are well known for a lot of eating, drinking, singing and dancing. A traditional Serbian dance called “kolo“ is performed at least once. Everyone is happy to join in, hold hands and dance.
During the party a few more customs can appear. The most usual one is the bride's dance. Dancing music is played and the guests, both male and female, take turns to dance for a few seconds with the bride. After the dance they pay some money into a basket specially set for that purpose. The money is later taken by the bride. Apart from this one, another custom, called "the newly-weds' cake", can appear. A kind of cake or pie (in some parts of Serbia it is sweet, whereas in the others it is salty) is cut into pieces. All the guests pay some money to get a piece of the cake. The money goes to the newly-weds.
At midnight the bride changes from her wedding gown into a cocktail dress. It used to be a red dress symbolizing love and fertility but nowadays brides choose dresses of different colours (mine was gray :)).
Of course, these are just some of the customs that are most often performed at Serbian weddings. Earlier there used to be much more of them that are now forgotten. The ones that survive are highly adapted to the modern way of life.
Photo Courtesy: http://zena.blic.rs/data/images/2011-08-13/18831_shutterstock_69994105_iff.jpg?ver=1329205284
Enjoy! I'm sure Anthony Bourdain would :)
Serbia: a land of customs
One of the most striking characteristics of Serbia and the Serbs is tradition. Every part of Serbia is recognized for its distinctive customs, that may vary from town to town, from village to village.
Serbian people belong to the group of South Slavic nationalities. The Slaves had been pagans before they adopted monotheistic religions, mainly Christianity, between the 6th and the 10th centuries. Even though the Serbs are mostly Orthodox Christians, a lot of traits of the old pagan religion are still evident in the customs.
Every important event in the lives of Serbian people, such as a birth of a child, a wedding, a funeral, traditional holidays, etc. is accompanied by characteristic customs. Today these customs are very much adapted to the modern way of life. Nevertheless, they still survive.
I'll just give a brief account of the wedding customs typical for Srem, the part of Serbia where I come from:
First of all, the bride's attire. In Serbia, as well as in lots of other countries, it is typical for a bride to wear a long white gown, a symbol of her chastity and virginity. Earlier the gown was accompanied with some typically Serbian folk clothing elements and jewelry (I will try to write about these in one of the future posts), but not any more. Nowadays brides tend to choose (rent, rather than buy) expensive designer gowns.
As for the location, not that long ago wedding parties were organised in tents specially set up for this purpose on a lawn nearby the bridegroom's house, or in the bridegroom's backyard if it were big enough. Some people still prefer this, while a great majority chooses hotels or restaurants as a site for the party.
There used to be a custom in Serbia for the bride's family and friends not to attend the wedding party (the explanation was that they were not supposed to be happy as the bride was leaving them to go and live with the groom's family). This is no longer the case, so the wedding ceremonies are attended by both the bride's and the groom's guests.
The wedding itself is usually done in the local municipal office, with a registrar performing the ceremony. Nowadays registrars are also willing to come to the site of the ceremony to perform the wedding. This is what is called a "civil wedding". Yet another wedding is possible, if the bride and the groom are willing to do it. That is what is called a "church wedding" and is performed in a church with a priest performing the ceremony. During these ceremonies the wedding rings are exchanged. Church wedding in an orthodox christian church is possible only if both the bride and the groom are of the same orthodox religion. This is not the case with roman catholic or other churches. Both in the civil and the church weddings, the bride and the groom are accompanied by their wedding witnesses – the best man and the maid of honour.
 |
| church wedding |
All the above is more or less similar in lots of other countries as well. Now I will try to list a few customs typical of Serbia.
First, all the groom’s guests gather at the groom’s house whereas the bride’s guests gather at the bride’s house. The guests are ornamented by attaching rosemary branches to their lapels. This ornamentation is done by unmarried female cousins of the groom and the bride. The guests pay some money to get the rosemary branches. The money is taken by the girls.
The groom, accompanied by his guests and most importantly by his brother/cousin (the bride’s brother-in-law) and his best man, comes to the bride’s house to “buy“ the bride. And they literally buy her, paying her brother/cousin a sum of money. In some parts of Serbia there is also a custom of a groom shooting from a rifle in order to shoot down an apple put on a high pole. By this he proves to be worthy of the bride. The bride is then taken out by her brother and the groom’s brother and “presented“ to all the guests. During all this time, all the guests celebrate in front of the bride’s house dancing, singing, eating and drinking.
The bride and the groom are not paired until the wedding ceremony by the priest or the registrar is over. During all that time the bride is accompanied by the above mentioned brothers/cousins. Only after the church/civil wedding is over, the bride and the groom can kiss, hold hands and walk/drive together.
Upon exiting the church, the bride turns her back to the guests, the unmarried female guests gather in front of everybody else and the bride throws a bouquet of flowers over her head. The girl to catch the bouquet is believed to be the next to get married.
After the civil/church wedding the newly-weds are supposed to go back to the groom’s house where his family (most importantly parents) awaits. Before entering the house the groom’s mother serves them honey (for their lives to be sweet) and traditional bread and salt (always traditionally served to welcome anyone to your home)
What follows is a custom called “nakonče“. The bride is supposed to take the youngest chiled of a groom’s cousin (the youngest male child is chosen), lift it three times and give it a present she has prepared in advance. This is believed to bring the newly weds a lot of children in future.
The bride is then given a sieve filled with corn and wheat grains (symbol of fertility in Serbia). She has to throw the sieve over the groom’s house. If the sieve does not fall back to the groom’s yard this means the bride will stay in the groom’s house for the rest of her life...if it does fall back...well...the bride is given a few more tries :)
After that the groom’s mother presents the bride with pieces of jewelry, usually a bracelet. Then she gives her a bottle of wine and a loaf of traditional bread to carry in each hand. The groom takes the bride in his arms and takes her inside the house. This act is full of symbolism. The wine is a symbol of Christ’s blood, the bread is a symbol of Christ’s body. By holding these in her hands the bride won’t be able to touch the doorpost. The doorpost is a place where the souls of ancestors are believed to live. By touching the doorpost the bride would disturb these souls and would not be welcome in the groom’s house (that is also why the groom takes her in his arms over the doorstep – in order not to disturb the ancestors’ souls).
After all these customs the wedding suite can all go to the site of the party where the celebration is continued till early in the morning. Serbian weddings are well known for a lot of eating, drinking, singing and dancing. A traditional Serbian dance called “kolo“ is performed at least once. Everyone is happy to join in, hold hands and dance.
During the party a few more customs can appear. The most usual one is the bride's dance. Dancing music is played and the guests, both male and female, take turns to dance for a few seconds with the bride. After the dance they pay some money into a basket specially set for that purpose. The money is later taken by the bride. Apart from this one, another custom, called "the newly-weds' cake", can appear. A kind of cake or pie (in some parts of Serbia it is sweet, whereas in the others it is salty) is cut into pieces. All the guests pay some money to get a piece of the cake. The money goes to the newly-weds.
At midnight the bride changes from her wedding gown into a cocktail dress. It used to be a red dress symbolizing love and fertility but nowadays brides choose dresses of different colours (mine was gray :)).
Of course, these are just some of the customs that are most often performed at Serbian weddings. Earlier there used to be much more of them that are now forgotten. The ones that survive are highly adapted to the modern way of life.
Photo Courtesy: http://zena.blic.rs/data/images/2011-08-13/18831_shutterstock_69994105_iff.jpg?ver=1329205284
Hi Gordana,
ReplyDeleteFantastic page! I love it!
Thank you for sharing. There is no better way to learn about a country than from its citizens. I am still in the process of making my page regarding India. Do visit once its done.
Best wishes,
Sharmila
Thank you, Sharmila!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you like the page. As I said, I'll try and post about a different aspect of life in Serbia every week. Of course I'll visit your page on your home country, can't wait!
Best,
Gordana