The history of peoples on the Serbian soil has been turbulent from the start. Lepenski Vir in Djerdap gorge (Danube) had permanent settlements as early as 6th millenium B.C. Neolithic archeological sites have been known as the cultures of Starčevac and Vinča. There is unbroken continuity here: the Illiryans, the Tracians, the Greeks, the Romans… In Gomolava, on the bank of the river Sava (Srem - Vojvodina), there is evidence of the continuity of cultures, from about 5000 years BC till the 16th century. Most important are antiquities from the town of Sirmium, now Sremska Mitrovica. The Cultures of the East and West meet in ruins from the Middle Ages. The Orthodox monasteries (13 th -18 th century) in Fruska Gora keep rare examples of fine and applied arts, handwritten and printed books remaining from the Middle Ages.
The rise of the Nemanjić state is echoed in the flourishing of culture. Biographies of the Serbian rulers mark the beginning of the original Serbian literature. Our national heritage - temples adorned with fresco paintings and icons, are a triumph of engineering and arts in the Serbian medieval state.
Pilgrimage, worship, an interest in history and culture, touring a region - these are all reasons why of all cultural sites, the religious ones are the most visited. The aim of these pages is to help you explore sites within Serbia with an extraordinary architectural and artistic heritage and find places for retreats, justifying the new world’s perspective upon the heritage and the identity.
