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108-484: Vršac ( Serbian Cyrillic : Вршац , pronounced [ʋr̩̂ʃat͡s] ; Hungarian : Versec ; Romanian : Vârșeț ) is a city in the autonomous province of Vojvodina , Serbia . As of 2022, the city urban area had a population of 31,946, while the city administrative area had 45,462 inhabitants. It is located in the geographical region of Banat . The name Vršac is of Serbian origin, ultimately deriving from Proto-Slavic *vьrxъ , meaning "summit". In Serbian,

216-859: A Hungarian ethnic majority (Székelys colonised from Bukovina during the World War I), while Orešac is an ethnically mixed settlement with a Romanian plurality. Vršac is the seat of the Serb Orthodox Eparchy of Banat . Some notable Serb cultural-artistic societies in Vršac are "Laza Nančić", "Penzioner" and "Grozd". The city's Romanian minority has a Romanian-language theater, schools and a museum. Romanian-language instruction takes place in some kindergartens, elementary schools, high schools and one teachers' university. The cultural organization and folklore group "Luceafarul" hold many cultural events in Vršac and nearby Romanian-populated villages. In 2005, Romania opened

324-425: A Byzantine monastery at Morisena, but still kept 7 wives and worshiped Pagan gods at his Court. His vassal Csanád defeated him by the will of King Stephen I of Hungary. The territory of the modern Banat did not form a separate territorial unit in medieval Kingdom of Hungary , it was an integral part of it. The territory was shared by Krassó , Keve , Temes , Csanád , Arad and Torontál counties . In 1233, under

432-528: A challenge in Unicode modeling, as the glyphs differ only in italic versions, and historically non-italic letters have been used in the same code positions. Serbian professional typography uses fonts specially crafted for the language to overcome the problem, but texts printed from common computers contain East Slavic rather than Serbian italic glyphs. Cyrillic fonts from Adobe, Microsoft (Windows Vista and later) and

540-463: A consulate in Vršac. The population of the city (52,026 people) is composed of the following ethnic groups (2011 census): Vršac is a city famous for well-developed industry, especially pharmaceuticals, wine and beer, confectioneries and textiles. The leading pharmaceutical company in Vršac (and nationwide) is the Hemofarm , which helped start the city's Technology Park. Vršac is considered to be one of

648-507: A few other font houses include the Serbian variations (both regular and italic). If the underlying font and Web technology provides support, the proper glyphs can be obtained by marking the text with appropriate language codes. Thus, in non-italic mode: whereas: Since Unicode unifies different glyphs in same characters, font support must be present to display the correct variant. The standard Serbian keyboard layout for personal computers

756-607: A lower-level act, for national minorities). It is also an official script in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro , along with Gaj's Latin alphabet . Serbian Cyrillic is in official use in Serbia , Montenegro , and Bosnia and Herzegovina . Although Bosnia "officially accept[s] both alphabets", the Latin script is almost always used in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina , whereas Cyrillic

864-612: A revenge to the Serbs . Eventually, the uprising was crushed and most of the Serbs from the region escaped to Transylvania fearing the Ottoman retaliation. However, since the Banat region became deserted after this, which alarmed the Ottoman authorities who needed people in this fertile land, the authorities promised to spare everyone who came back. The Serb population came back, but the amnesty did not apply to

972-516: A revolt of Romanians. Also governor of the province was not given the title of "ban", the region became known as the Banate of Temes or Banat of Temeswar. It remained a separate province within the Habsburg monarchy and under military administration until 1751, when Empress Maria Theresa of Austria reorganized the province, dividing it between military and civil administration. The Banat of Temeswar province

1080-586: A short schwa , e.g. /fə/).: Summary tables According to tradition, Glagolitic was invented by the Byzantine Christian missionaries and brothers Saints Cyril and Methodius in the 860s, amid the Christianization of the Slavs . Glagolitic alphabet appears to be older, predating the introduction of Christianity, only formalized by Cyril and expanded to cover non-Greek sounds. The Glagolitic alphabet

1188-549: A six hundred villages arose, everybody pointed his gun against the emperor"). The Serb rebels bore flags with the image of Saint Sava , thus the rebellion had a character of a holy war . The Sinan-paša that lead the Ottoman army ordered that green flag of Muhammad should be brought from Damascus to confront this flag with image of Saint Sava. Furthermore, the Sinan-paša also burned the mortal remains of Saint Sava in Belgrade , as

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1296-580: A small northern part of the region, which is part of the Csongrád-Csanád County of Hungary and is made up of seven villages and the district of Szeged , Újszeged. The Hungarian part of Banat used to be the northernmost region of the Torontál County in the Kingdom of Hungary . In Romania, Banat includes all of Timiș and Caraș-Severin counties (with the exception of Băuțar ), Arad County (only

1404-472: Is as follows: Banat Banat ( UK : / ˈ b æ n ɪ t , ˈ b ɑː n -/ BAN -it, BAHN - , US : / b ə ˈ n ɑː t , b ɑː -/ bə- NAHT , bah- ; Romanian : Banat ; Hungarian : Bánság ; Serbian : Банат , romanized :  Banat ) is a geographical and historical region located in the Pannonian Basin that straddles Central and Eastern Europe . It

1512-562: Is composed of four counties: Arad, Timiș, Hunedoara and Caraș-Severin; thus it has almost same borders as the Timiș Province ( ținutul Timiș ) of 1938. The Vest development region is also a part of the Danube-Criș-Mureș-Tisa Euroregion . The region was claimed by the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes between 1918 and 1922 (as the province of Banat, Bačka and Baranja between 1918 and 1919) and from 1922 to 1929 it

1620-613: Is defined as the part of the Pannonian Basin bordered by the Danube to the south, the Tisza to the west, the Mureș to the north and the Southern Carpathians to the east. The historical Banat totals an area of 28,526 km . Various sources indicate figures slightly different from this. When the province was divided in 1920, Romania was assigned an area of 18,966 km (approximately ⅔ of the total),

1728-579: Is divided among three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania (the counties of Timiș , Caraș-Severin , Arad south of the Mureș river , and the western part of Mehedinți ); the western part of Banat is in northeastern Serbia (mostly included in Vojvodina , except for a small part included in the Belgrade Region ); and a small northern part lies within southeastern Hungary ( Csongrád-Csanád County ). The region's historical ethnic diversity

1836-575: Is in everyday use in Republika Srpska . The Serbian language in Croatia is officially recognized as a minority language; however, the use of Cyrillic in bilingual signs has sparked protests and vandalism . Serbian Cyrillic is an important symbol of Serbian identity. In Serbia, official documents are printed in Cyrillic only even though, according to a 2014 survey, 47% of the Serbian population write in

1944-676: Is monotonous, except for a few morphological units: the Vršac Mountains , the Bela Crkva basin and the east Banat alluvium. The largest stretch of sand in Europe, today stabilized and covered with vegetation, Deliblatska Peščara , also lies in Serbian Banat. The climate of Banat is predominantly temperate ( Cfb , according to Köppen classification ), with a northeastward increase of continental and orographic effects ( Dfb ). Frequent cyclones from

2052-549: Is part of European route E70 ) connects Vršac to Belgrade and to the nearby border with Romania . Vršac is also connected to Belgrade by the Srbija voz railway line 44. Trains to Timișoara are available from Moravița . The Millennium sport center , opened in early-April 2001, is located in Vršac. The region around Vršac is famed for its vineyards . The symbol of the town is the Vršac Castle (Vršačka kula), which dates back to

2160-477: Is the only one in official use. The ligatures : were developed specially for the Serbian alphabet. Serbian Cyrillic does not use several letters encountered in other Slavic Cyrillic alphabets. It does not use hard sign ( ъ ) and soft sign ( ь ), particularly due to a lack of distinction between iotated consonants and non-iotated consonants, but the aforementioned soft-sign ligatures instead. It does not have Russian/Belarusian Э , Ukrainian/Belarusian І ,

2268-504: The Volksdeutsche , people of ethnic German descent. They established the political entity known as Banat in 1941. It included only the western part of the historical Banat region, which was formerly part of Yugoslavia. It was formally under the control of the Serbian puppet Government of National Salvation in Belgrade led by Milan Nedić . It theoretically had limited jurisdiction over all of

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2376-504: The Avar Khaganate , Bayan I . These views are contradicted by those who believe that ban comes from an old Proto-Indo-European root, bha , which means 'to speak'. At the time of the medieval Hungarian kingdom, the territory of modern Banat appeared in written sources as Temesköz (first mentioned in 1374). The Hungarian name mainly referred to the lowland areas between the Mureș , Tisza and Danube rivers. Its Ottoman name

2484-689: The Axis occupation (1941–1944), Vršac was part of autonomous Banat region within the area governed by the Military Administration in Serbia . Many Danube Swabians collaborated with the Nazi authorities and many men were conscripted into the Waffen SS . Letters were sent to German men requesting their "voluntary service" or they would face court martial. In 1944, one part of Vršac citizens of German ethnicity left from

2592-464: The Banate of Lugoj and Caransebeș in the 16th–17th centuries and the Banate of Temeswar in the 18th–19th centuries. The word Banat without any other qualification typically refers to the historical Banate of Temeswar , which acquired this title after the 1718 Treaty of Passarowitz . The name was also used from 1941 to 1944, during Axis occupation, for the short-lived political entity (see: Banat (1941–44) ), which covered only today's Serbian part of

2700-554: The Celts ). The Agathyrsi (people of mixed Scythian - Thracian origin) are the first people known to have lived in this region. Later, the region was inhabited by Getae and Dacians . It belonged to the Dacian kingdoms of Burebista and Decebalus , and then to the Roman Empire from 102 to 271 AD. Archaeologists have found traces of ancient Dacian and Roman settlements in the city. Later,

2808-462: The Danube River , and were encouraged to restore farming in the area. They cleared the marshes near the Danube and Tisa rivers, helped build roads and canals, and re-established agriculture. Trade was also encouraged. Maria Theresa also took a direct interest in Banat; she colonized the region with large numbers of German farmers, who were admired for their agricultural skills. She encouraged

2916-652: The Great People's Assembly of Serbs, Bunjevci and other Slavs in Banat, Bačka and Baranja ; while the Hungarian minority remained loyal to the government in Budapest. Besides these declarations, no other plebiscite was held. In 1938, the counties of Timiș-Torontal , Caraș , Severin , Arad and Hunedoara were joined to form ținutul Timiș , which roughly encompassed the area typically called Banat in Romania. On 6 September 1950,

3024-532: The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes 9,276 km (approximately ⅓ of the total), and Hungary 284 km (approximately 1% of the total). The Romanian Banat is mountainous in the south and southeast, while in the north, west and southwest it is flat and in some places marshy. Some Banat mountain massifs constitute the western branch of the Southern Carpathians, i.e., Țarcu Mountains and Cerna Mountains. The Poiana Ruscă Mountains and Banat Mountains with

3132-614: The Kingdom of Yugoslavia and later in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia . Due to the shared cultural area, Gaj's Latin alphabet saw a gradual adoption in the Socialist Republic of Serbia since, and both scripts are used to write modern standard Serbian. In Serbia , Cyrillic is seen as being more traditional, and has the official status (designated in the constitution as the " official script ", compared to Latin's status of "script in official use" designated by

3240-640: The Latin alphabet whereas 36% write in Cyrillic. The following table provides the upper and lower case forms of the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, along with the equivalent forms in the Serbian Latin alphabet and the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) value for each letter. The letters do not have names, and consonants are normally pronounced as such when spelling is necessary (or followed by

3348-777: The May Assembly , the western Banat became part of the Serbian Vojvodina , a Serbian autonomous region within the Habsburg Monarchy. During the Revolutions of 1848–1849 , Banat was respectively held by Serbian and Hungarian troops. After the Revolution of 1848–1849, Banat (together with Syrmia and Bačka ) was designated as a separate Austrian crownland known as the Voivodeship of Serbia and Temes Banat . In 1860 this province

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3456-506: The Nazi puppet Independent State of Croatia banned the use of Cyrillic, having regulated it on 25 April 1941, and in June 1941 began eliminating " Eastern " (Serbian) words from Croatian, and shut down Serbian schools. The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet was used as a basis for the Macedonian alphabet with the work of Krste Misirkov and Venko Markovski . The Serbian Cyrillic script was one of

3564-655: The Neolithic populations. In the 4th century BC, Celtic tribes settled in this area. Various Hallstatt and La Tène objects were found in this area. The most important tribes were the Scordisci and the Taurisci . The Scordisci, who formed a powerful state even minted their own coins, imitating the Macedonian tetradrachm. The Scordisci subdued as all the other tribes in the region to the getic ruler Burebista , therefore their region

3672-487: The djerv (Ꙉꙉ) for the Serbian reflexes of Pre-Slavic *tj and *dj (* t͡ɕ , * d͡ʑ , * d͡ʒ , and * tɕ ), later the letter evolved to dje (Ђђ) and tshe (Ћћ) letters . Vuk Stefanović Karadžić fled Serbia during the Serbian Revolution in 1813, to Vienna. There he met Jernej Kopitar , a linguist with interest in slavistics. Kopitar and Sava Mrkalj helped Vuk to reform Serbian and its orthography. He finalized

3780-497: The 3 and 13 October 1914 banned the use of Serbian Cyrillic in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia , limiting it for use in religious instruction. A decree was passed on January 3, 1915, that banned Serbian Cyrillic completely from public use. An imperial order on October 25, 1915, banned the use of Serbian Cyrillic in the Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina , except "within the scope of Serbian Orthodox Church authorities". In 1941,

3888-539: The Banat from the Hungarian areas to the west and divides the current Vojvodina into two parts. A wide river that meanders through the plain that bears its name. The Timiș/Tamiš is the largest inland river of Banat, which has its sources on the eastern slopes of the Semenic Mountains, in Caraș-Severin County . The river is formed at the confluence of three branches: Semenic, Grădiște and Brebu. It crosses

3996-675: The Byzantine-Bulgarian war as allies of Byzantium, and defeated the Bulgars. Because of this, the Bulgarians allied with the Pechenegs , who attacked the Hungarian settlements. This led to the process of what is known as the Hungarian conquest of the Pannonian basin, referred to by them as "hometaking" ( honfoglalás ) in Hungarian. This also resulted in the loss of part of the territories north of

4104-612: The Danube for the Bulgarian Empire. According to Gesta Hungarorum chronicle, a local ruler known as Glad ruled over Banat and his army was formed by Vlachs, Bulgarians, and Cumans. Ahtum was another early-11th-century ruler in the territory now known as Banat. His primary source is the Long Life of Saint Gerard, a 14th-century hagiography. Chanadinus, Ahtum's former commander-in-chief, defeated and killed Ahtum, occupying his realm. Banat

4212-502: The Habsburg rule, its population numbered 75 houses. Soon, German colonists started to settle here. They founded a new settlement known as Werschetz, which was located near the old (Serbian) Vršac. Serbian Vršac was governed by a knez , and German Werschetz was governed by a Schultheiß (mayor). The name of the first Serbian knez in Vršac in 1717 was Jovan Crni. In 1795, the two towns, Serbian Vršac and German Werschetz, were officially joined into one single settlement, in which

4320-470: The Kingdom of Hungary administration, the Banate of Severin , a military frontier area was formed, including some eastern parts of the modern Banat. In the 14th century, the region became of priority concern to the Kingdom, as the southern border of Banat was the most important defensive line against Ottoman expansion from the southeast. The Ottoman Empire took over the area and incorporated Banat in 1552. It

4428-505: The Mediterranean cause positive precipitation anomalies especially in the western parts and, due to the maritime influence, winters are mild and short, but when northeastern conditions prevail, harsh frosts may occur. Mean annual temperatures range between 12 °C (with average summer temperatures above 22 °C in July) and 6 °C towards the eastern highlands. Besides, temperature inversions occur in

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4536-655: The Roman Army from Dacia. The area fell into the hands of foederati such as the Sarmatians ( Iazyges , Roxolani , Limigantes ) and later the Goths , who also took control of other parts of Dacia. The Goths were forced out by the Huns , who organized their ruling center in the Pannonian Basin (the Pannonian Plain ), an area that included the northwestern part of today's Banat. After

4644-570: The Semenic, Anina, Dognecea, Almăj and Locva divisions are part of the Western Romanian Carpathians . The western pre-mountainous hills make up about a third of the historical Banat territory. Their altitude varies between 200 and 400 meters. The high plain (with altitudes of over 100 meters, up to 140 meters) is represented by the plains of Vinga, Buziaș, Gătaia and Fizeș. The plains with intermediate altitudes, between 100 and 130 meters, are

4752-399: The Serbs in the Banat started large uprising against Ottoman rule, and Vršac region was centre of this uprising. The leader of the uprising was Teodor Nestorović , the bishop of Vršac . The size of this uprising is illustrated by the verse from one Serbian national song: "Sva se butum zemlja pobunila, Šest stotina podiglo se sela, Svak na cara pušku podigao!" ("The whole land has rebelled,

4860-458: The Tisza, and Timiș with its tributaries, such as Pogăniș , Bârzava/Brzava , Caraș/Karaš and Nera , flow into the Danube. There are no large natural lakes . In the past, there were many lakes, ponds and swamps in Banat, which were drained by land reclamation carried out at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century. There are bigger lakes only south of Zrenjanin . The first known inhabitants of present-day Banat were

4968-432: The alphabet in 1818 with the Serbian Dictionary . Karadžić reformed standard Serbian and standardised the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet by following strict phonemic principles on the Johann Christoph Adelung ' model and Jan Hus ' Czech alphabet . Karadžić's reforms of standard Serbian modernised it and distanced it from Serbian and Russian Church Slavonic , instead bringing it closer to common folk speech, specifically, to

5076-474: The area had reverted to nearly uninhabited marsh, heath and forest. Count Claudius Mercy (1666–1734), who was appointed governor of the Banat of Temeswar in 1720, took numerous measures for the regeneration of Banat. He recruited German artisans and especially farmers from Bavaria and other southern areas as colonists, allowing them privileges such as keeping their language and religion in their settlements. Farmers brought their families and belongings on rafts down

5184-417: The area lasted until the 9th century, until Charlemagne 's campaigns. Banat region became part of the First Bulgarian Empire a few decades later. Archaeological evidence shows the Avars and Gepids lived here until the middle of the 10th century. The Avar rule had triggered considerable Slavic migration to the southern Pannonian plain and to the Balkans. In 895, the Hungarians living in Etelköz entered

5292-415: The area: an older one, known as the Starčevo culture , and a more recent one, known as the Vinča culture . Near Vršac there are Vatin circles that were estimated to belong to the Vinča culture . From the Bronze Age , there are traces of the Vatin culture and Vršac culture , while from the Iron Age , there are traces of the Hallstatt culture and La Tène culture (which is largely associated with

5400-447: The authority was shared between Serbs and Germans. It was occupied by Ottomans between 1787 and 1788 during Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792) . The 1848/1849 revolution disrupted the good relations between Serbs and Germans, since Serbs fought on the side of the Austrian authorities and Germans fought on the side of the Hungarian revolutionaries. In 1848–1849, the town was part of autonomous Serbian Vojvodina , and from 1849 to 1860, it

5508-480: The beginning of the next Austro-Turkish War (1716–1718) , Prince Eugene of Savoy took the Banat region from the Turks . After the Treaty of Passarowitz (1718), the region became a province of the Habsburg Monarchy. It was not incorporated into the Kingdom of Hungary. Special provincial administration was established, centered in Temesvár. In 1738, over 50 Romanian villages from Serbia and Banat were destroyed and dwellers murdered by Austrians and Serb militia during

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5616-449: The city is known as Вршац or Vršac , in Romanian as Vârșeț or Vîrșeț, in Hungarian as Versec or Versecz , in German as Werschetz , and in Turkish as Virşac or Verşe . The uniqueness of Vršac is reflected in the fact that it has been inhabited since the dawn of the first cultures. Thus, the oldest traces of human presence in Banat originate precisely from Vršac , since individual finds of Paleolithic flint tools from

5724-547: The city of Vršac and various other towns in Banat and started negotiations with Prince of Transylvania. One of the leaders of the uprising was local Serbian Orthodox Bishop Theodore . In the middle of the 17th century, the territory of Banate of Lugoj and Caransebeș finally fell under Turkish rule and was incorporated into Eyalet of Temeşvar . During Austro-Turkish War (1683–1699) , local Serbian uprisings broke out in various parts of Eyalet of Temeşvar . Austrian armies and Serbian militia tried to drive out sultans army from

5832-436: The city, together with defeated German army. Those who remained in Vršac were sent to local communist prison camps, where some of them died from disease and malnutrition. According to some claims, some were tortured or killed by the partisans . Since 1944 when it was liberated by the Red Army 's 46th Army , the town was part of the new Socialist Yugoslavia . After prison camps were dissolved (in 1948) and Yugoslav citizenship

5940-550: The concerned ethnic group. According to the 2011 census, the total population of the city of Vršac was 52,026 inhabitants. Within the city, the settlements with a Serb ethnic majority are: Vršac (the city itself), Vatin , Veliko Središte , Vlajkovac , Vršački Ritovi , Gudurica , Zagajica , Izbište , Pavliš , Parta , Potporanj , and Uljma . The settlements with a Romanian ethnic majority are: Vojvodinci , Jablanka , Kuštilj , Mali Žam , Malo Središte , Markovac , Mesić , Ritiševo , Sočica , and Straža . Šušara has

6048-429: The current Zrenjanin . In 1867, after the Austro-Hungarian compromise the territory returned again to Hungarian administration. After 1871, the former Military Frontier , located in southern parts of Banat, came under civil administration and was incorporated into Banat's counties. Krassó and Szörény were united into Krassó-Szörény in 1881. In 1918, the Banat Republic was proclaimed in Timișoara in October, and

6156-528: The death of Attila , the Hunnic empire disintegrated in days. The previously subjected Gepids formed a new kingdom in the area, only to be defeated 100 years later by the Avars . One governing center of the Avars was formed in the region, which played an important role in the Avar–Byzantine wars. An inscription on one of the vessels from the Treasure of Sânnicolau Mare (which origin is disputed) recorded names of two local rulers, Butaul and Buyla , who bore Slavic ruling titles of župan . The Avar rule over

6264-423: The dialect of Eastern Herzegovina which he spoke. Karadžić was, together with Đuro Daničić , the main Serbian signatory to the Vienna Literary Agreement of 1850 which, encouraged by Austrian authorities, laid the foundation for Serbian, various forms of which are used by Serbs in Serbia , Montenegro , Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia today. Karadžić also translated the New Testament into Serbian, which

6372-431: The entire Timiș County , then passes into Serbia, where it flows into the Danube, at Pančevo . The most important cities through which Timiș passes are Caransebeș , Lugoj and Pančevo . The Bega/Begej springs from the Poiana Ruscă Mountains , crosses the area of Făget and Lugoj , passes through Timișoara , then descends through a channel , flowing into the Tisza, at Titel . Bega and Aranca/Zlatica flow into

6480-407: The etymological origin of the regionym "Banat". A first theory claims that it comes from the root of a verb found in several Germanic peoples , namely ban . This term means 'to proclaim' or 'to announce'. From there it passed into medieval Latin, under the form bannum , which means – among the Frankish peoples , for example – 'proclamation', but also the district on which the said proclamation

6588-514: The exploitation of the mineral wealth of the country, and generally developed the measures that were introduced by Count Mercy. German settlers arrived from Swabia , Alsace and Bavaria , as did German-speaking colonists from Austria. Many settlements in the eastern Banat were developed by Germans and had ethnic-German majorities. The ethnic Germans in the Banat region became known as the Danube Swabians , or Donauschwaben . After years of separation from their original German provinces, their language

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6696-414: The fall of Smederevo. The Ottomans destroyed the town in the 16th century, but it was soon rebuilt under Ottoman administration. In 1590/91, the Ottoman garrison in Vršac fortress was composed of one aga, two Ottoman officers and 20 Serb mercenaries. The town was seat of the local Ottoman authorities and of the Serbian bishop. In this time, its population was composed of Muslims and Serbs . In 1594,

6804-445: The fortress of Smederevo or in the fortress around monastery Manasija . The other theory claim that Vršac Castle is a remain of the medieval fortress known as Erdesumulu (Hungarian: Érdsomlyó or Érsomlyó , Serbian: Erd-Šomljo / Ерд-Шомљо or Šomljo / Шомљо). However, the other sources do not identify Erdesumulu with Vršac, but claim that these two were separate settlements and that location of town and fortress of Erdesumulu

6912-425: The government of Hungary recognized its independence. However, it was short-lived. After just two weeks, Serbian troops invaded the region and took control . From November 1918 to March 1919, western and central parts of Banat were governed by Serbian administration from Novi Sad , as part of the Banat, Bačka and Baranja province of the Kingdom of Serbia and newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (which

7020-496: The historical Banat. The name "Banat" is similar in different languages of the region; Romanian : Banat , Serbo-Croatian : Банат / Banat , Hungarian : Bánság or Bánát , Bulgarian : Банат , Czech : Banát , German : Banat , Greek : Βανάτο / Vanáto , Slovak : Banát , Turkish : Banat , Ukrainian : Банат . Some of these languages would also have other terms, from their own frame of reference, to describe this historical and geographic region. Banat

7128-411: The leader of the rebellion, Bishop Teodor Nestorović, who was flayed as a punishment. The Banat uprising was one of the three largest uprisings in Serbian history and the largest before the First Serbian Uprising led by Karađorđe . In 1716, Vršac passed from Ottoman to Habsburg control, and the Muslim population fled the town. In this time, Vršac was mostly populated by Serbs, and in the beginning of

7236-454: The local Germans fled from the region together with defeated German army in 1944. Most of its territory was included in the Vojvodina, one of the two autonomous provinces of Serbia within the new SFR Yugoslavia. Following WWII, most ethnic Germans were expelled from Banat and eastern Europe. Those Germans who remained in the country were sent to prison camps run by the new communist authorities. After prison camps were dissolved (in 1948), most of

7344-433: The mid 15th century. It stands at the top of the hill (399m) overlooking Vršac. There are two theories about origin of this fortress. According to the Turkish traveller, Evliya Çelebi , the fortress was built by the Serbian despot Đurađ Branković. The historians consider that Branković built the fortress after the fall of Smederevo in 1439. The fortress in its construction had some architectural elements similar to those in

7452-410: The middle and younger Paleolithic, Mousterian and Aurignacian cultures were found on the slopes of the Vršac Mountains. The collection of over 5,000 finds from this period constitutes the largest collection of Paleolithic material in the Balkans. There are traces of human settlement from the Palaeolithic and Neolithic periods. Remains from two types of Neolithic cultures have been discovered in

7560-403: The most significant centres of agriculture in the region of southern Banat, which is the southern part of the province of Vojvodina. It is mainly because it has 54,000 hectares of arable and extremely fertile land in its possession. The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity (as of 2022):  State Road 10 (which

7668-567: The other parts of the Empire. Roman rule had a significant impact: castra and guard stations were established and roads and public buildings built. The public bath establishments of Ad Aquas Herculis, modern-day Băile Herculane were also established. Some of the important Roman settlements in Banat were: Arcidava (today Vărădia ), Centum Putea , Berzobis (today Berzovia ), Tibiscum (today Jupa ), Agnaviae (today Zăvoi ), Ad Pannonios (today Teregova ), Praetorium (today Mehadia ), and Dierna (today Orșova ). In 273 AD Emperor Aurelian withdrew

7776-449: The other side, the Diocese of Vršac numbered 260.000 Romanians in 1847. From 1918, the town was part of the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later renamed Yugoslavia ). According to the 1921 census, speakers of German language were most numerous in the town, while the 1931 census recorded 13,425 speakers of Yugoslav languages and 11,926 speakers of German language. During

7884-517: The part south of the Mureș ), the Mehedinți panhandle (several localities from the traditional Banat area disappeared under the waters of the Porțile de Fier reservoir ) and Hunedoara County (only the villages of Pojoga and Sălciva ). The Serbian Banat includes the part located east of the Tisza in Vojvodina : North Banat District , Central Banat District and South Banat District , as well as

7992-530: The plains of Hodoni, Duboz, Tormac, Jamu Mare, Arad and Sânnicolau Mare, and the low plain (with altitudes below 100 meters) is represented by the river meadows, the floodplains before the extensive regularization works. These plains, components of the Pannonian Plain, represent another third of the Banat area. Worth mentioning are the two extinct volcanoes from Lucareț and Gătaia: Piatra Roșie (211 m) and Șumigu (200 m), respectively. The relief of Serbian Banat

8100-409: The principle of "write as you speak and read as it is written", removing obsolete letters and letters representing iotated vowels , introducing ⟨J⟩ from the Latin alphabet instead, and adding several consonant letters for sounds specific to Serbian phonology . During the same period, linguists led by Ljudevit Gaj adapted the Latin alphabet, in use in western South Slavic areas, using

8208-757: The province was replaced by the Timișoara Region (formed by the present-day counties of Timiș and Caraș-Severin ). In 1956, the southern half of the existing Arad Region was incorporated to the Timișoara Region. In December 1960, the Timișoara Region was renamed the Banat Region. On 17 February 1968, a new territorial division was made and today's Timiș, Caraș-Severin and Arad counties were formed. Since 1998, Romania has been divided into eight development regions , acting as divisions that coordinate and implement regional development. The Vest development region

8316-599: The province, but Turks succeeded in holding the fort of Temesvár. In 1689, Serbian patriarch Arsenije III sided with Austrians. His jurisdiction (including the province) was officially recognized by the charters of emperor Leopold I in 1690, 1691 and 1695. Under the Treaty of Karlowitz (1699), northern parts of the Eyalet of Temeşvar were incorporated into the Habsburg monarchy , but the territory of Banat remained under Turkish rule. At

8424-674: The region belonged to the Empire of the Huns , the Gepid and Avar kingdoms, and the Bulgarian Empire . The Slavs settled in this region in the 6th century, and the Slavic tribe known as the Abodrites (Bodriči) was recorded as living in the area. The Slavs from the region were Christianized during the rule of the duke Ahtum in the 11th century. When duke Ahtum was defeated by the Kingdom of Hungary ,

8532-446: The region was included in the latter state. Information about the early history of the town is scant. According to Serbian historians, medieval Vršac was founded and inhabited by Serbs in 1425, although it was under administration of the Kingdom of Hungary. The original name of the town is unknown. There are several theories that its first name was Vers , Verbeč , Veršet or Vegenje , but these theories are not confirmed. The name of

8640-714: The remaining German population left Serbia because of economic reasons. Many went to Germany; others emigrated to western Europe and the United States. Since 1944–1945, the Serbian Banat (together with Bačka and Syrmia ), has been part of the Serbian Autonomous Province of Vojvodina , first as part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and then as part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro . Since 2006, it has been part of an independent Serbia. The Hungarian Banat consists of

8748-512: The rest of the territories are Mureș , Tisza and Danube . With the exception of some small local tributaries, the Mureș does not have a very large area. The other rivers that have their source in Banat are direct or indirect tributaries of the Tisza and the Danube. The Danube forms between Baziaș and Porțile de Fier , over a distance of 140 km, the so-called Iron Gates . Tisza is the river that separates

8856-477: The rule of Princes of Transylvania. In that area, a new banate was formed, known as the Banate of Lugoj and Caransebeș . In the spring of 1594, shortly after the beginning of the Austro-Turkish War (1593-1606) , local Serbian Christians, in the Eyalet of Temeşvar , started an uprising against Turkish rule. The local Romanians also participated in this uprising. At first, rebels were successful. They took

8964-464: The same principles. As a result of this joint effort, Serbian Cyrillic and Gaj's Latin alphabets have a complete one-to-one congruence, with the Latin digraphs Lj, Nj, and Dž counting as single letters. The updated Serbian Cyrillic alphabet was officially adopted in the Principality of Serbia in 1868, and was in exclusive use in the country up to the interwar period . Both alphabets were official in

9072-768: The semi-vowels Й or Ў , nor the iotated letters Я (Russian/Bulgarian ya ), Є (Ukrainian ye ), Ї ( yi ), Ё (Russian yo ) or Ю ( yu ), which are instead written as two separate letters: Ја, Је, Ји, Јо, Ју . Ј can also be used as a semi-vowel, in place of й . The letter Щ is not used. When necessary, it is transliterated as either ШЧ , ШЋ or ШТ . Serbian italic and cursive forms of lowercase letters б , г , д , п , and т (Russian Cyrillic alphabet) differ from those used in other Cyrillic alphabets: б , г , д , п , and т (Serbian Cyrillic alphabet). The regular (upright) shapes are generally standardized among languages and there are no officially recognized variations. That presents

9180-403: The territory under German Military Administration in Serbia, but in practice the local minority of ethnic Germans ( Danube Swabians or Shwoveh ) held the political power within Banat. The regional civilian commissioner was Josef Lapp. The head of the ethnic German group was Sepp Janko . Following the ousting of Axis forces in 1944, this German-ruled region was dissolved. As a consequence, much of

9288-449: The town appears for the first time in 1427 in the form Podvršan . The Hungarian 12th century chronicle known as Gesta Hungarorum mention the castle of Vrscia in Banat , which belonged to Romanian duke Glad in the 9th century. According to some interpretations, Vrscia is identified with modern Vršac, while according to other opinions, it is identified with Orşova . According to some claims,

9396-466: The town was at first in the possession of the Hungarian kings, and later became property of a Hungarian aristocrat, Miklós Peréyi, ban of Severin . In the 15th century, the town was in the possession of the Serbian despot Đurađ Branković . According to some claims, it was donated to the despot by Hungarian king Sigismund in 1411. According to other sources, Vršac fortress was built by Đurađ Branković after

9504-533: The two official scripts used to write Serbo-Croatian in Yugoslavia since its establishment in 1918, the other being Gaj's Latin alphabet ( latinica ). Following the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, Serbian Cyrillic is no longer used in Croatia on national level, while in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro it remained an official script. Under the Constitution of Serbia of 2006, Cyrillic script

9612-453: The valleys and in the depressions of the Banat Hills, the bottom being colder than the slopes. The thermal and dynamic convection produced on the slopes causes greater cloudiness throughout the year; humidity and precipitation are higher. Considering the low and undesiccated land, there is a relatively large number of watercourses in Banat. The rivers bordering the area and delimiting it from

9720-451: Was " Eyalet of Temeşvar " (later "Eyalet of Yanova"). During the Turkish occupation, the territory of Temesköz (Banat) was also called Rascia ('the country of the Serbs', 1577). For Romanians, the region was also known as Temișana . In the early modern period , there were two banates that partially or entirely included the territory of what is referred to in the current era as Banat:

9828-514: Was abolished and most of its territory was incorporated into the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary. The Serbian Banat (Western Banat) was part of Serbian Vojvodina (1848–1849) and part of the Voivodeship of Serbia and Temes Banat (1849–1860). After 1860, later Serbian Banat was part of Torontal and Temes counties of Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary . The center of Torontal county was Großbetschkerek (Hungarian: Nagybecskerek, Serbian: Veliki Bečkerek),

9936-582: Was abolished in 1778, when civilian part of the region was incorporated into the Kingdom of Hungary and divided into counties. The southern part of the Banat region remained within the Military Frontier ( Banat Krajina ) until the Frontier was abolished in 1871. During the Ottoman rule, parts of Banat had a low population density due to years of warfare, and some local residents also died during Habsburg-Ottoman wars and Prince Eugene of Savoy's conquest. Much of

10044-545: Was absorbed as an Ottoman eyalet (province) named the Eyalet of Temeşvar . The Banat region was mainly populated by Rascians ( Serbs ) in the west, and Vlachs ( Romanians ) in the east. Thus, in some historical sources, the region of Banat was referred to as Rascia , while in others as Wallachia . Numerous Ottoman Muslims settled in the area, living mostly in the cities and associated with trade and administration. Not all of Banat fell immediately under Turkish rule. Eastern regions around Lugoj and Caransebeș came under

10152-585: Was administered by the First Bulgarian Empire from the 9th to the 11th century, but that control gradually migrated to the Kingdom of Hungary which administered it from the 11th century up until 1552, when the region of Temesvár (today Timișoara) was captured by the Ottoman Empire . The area of the Timiș river was not the land of the Hungarian royal tribe. When nomadic Hungarians came to Transylvania there

10260-586: Was assigned to the newly independent Hungary. These borders were confirmed by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles and the 1920 Treaty of Trianon . At the dissolution of Austria-Hungary , the delegates of the Romanian and some German communities voted for union with Romania during the Great National Assembly of Alba Iulia ; the delegates of the Serbian, Bunjevac and other Slavic and non-Slavic communities (including some Germans) voted for union with Serbia during

10368-559: Was based on the Slavic dialect of Thessaloniki . Part of the Serbian literary heritage of the Middle Ages are works such as Miroslav Gospel , Vukan Gospels , St. Sava's Nomocanon , Dušan's Code , Munich Serbian Psalter , and others. The first printed book in Serbian was the Cetinje Octoechos (1494). It's notable extensive use of diacritical signs by the Resava dialect and use of

10476-557: Was divided between Belgrade oblast and Podunavlje oblast. In 1929, most of the region was incorporated into the Danube Banovina (Danubian Banat), a province of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia , while the city of Pančevo was incorporated into self-governed Belgrade district. During World War II, the Axis Powers occupied this area and partitioned it. Nazi Germany had been intent on expanding into eastern Europe to incorporate what it called

10584-555: Was further to the east, on the Karaš River , in present-day Romanian Banat . There are two Serbian Orthodox monasteries in the city: Mesić monastery from the 13th century and Središte monastery , which is currently under construction. There are three museums in Vršac: Vršac is twinned with: Serbian Cyrillic alphabet Reformed Serbian based its alphabet on the previous 18th century Slavonic-Serbian script, following

10692-611: Was gradually superseded in later centuries by the Cyrillic script, developed around by Cyril's disciples, perhaps at the Preslav Literary School at the end of the 9th century. The earliest form of Cyrillic was the ustav , based on Greek uncial script, augmented by ligatures and letters from the Glagolitic alphabet for consonants not found in Greek. There was no distinction between capital and lowercase letters. The standard language

10800-544: Was later renamed as Yugoslavia ). In the wake of the Declaration of Union of Transylvania with Romania on December 1, 1918, and the Declaration of Unification of Banat, Bačka and Baranja with Serbia on November 25, 1918, most of Banat was (on July 26, 1919) divided between Romania ( Krassó-Szörény completely, two-thirds of Temes, and a small part of Torontál ) and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (most of Torontál , and one-third of Temes). A small area near Szeged

10908-639: Was markedly different, preserving historic characteristics. Similarly, a minority coming from French-speaking or linguistically mixed communes in Lorraine maintained the French language for several generations, and developed a specific ethnic identity, later known as Banat French, Français du Banat . In 1779, the Banat region was incorporated into the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary , and the three counties of Torontal , Temes and Karasch were created. In 1848, after

11016-531: Was no direct Bulgarian political rule there. In the eastern part of the Carpathian basin the Byzantine rite became more influential after Ajtony's ( Latin : Ahtum ) conversion to Christianity. This was halted with the establishment of the Kingdom of Hungary . István I reasserted dominance over the last local leader, Ajtony. He was a semi-independent ruler of Banat and a formally baptized Christian who constructed

11124-501: Was part of the Dacian kingdom under Burebista in the first century BC, but the balance of power in the area partially changed during the campaigns of Augustus . At the beginning of the 2nd century AD, Trajan led two wars against the Dacians: the campaigns of 101–102, and 105–106. Eventually, the territory of Banat fell under Roman rule. It became an important link between Dacia province and

11232-534: Was part of the Voivodeship of Serbia and Temes Banat , a separate Austrian province. After the abolition of the voivodship, Vršac was included in Temes County of the Kingdom of Hungary , which became one of two autonomous parts of Austria-Hungary in 1867. The town was also a district seat. In 1910, the population of the town numbered 27,370 inhabitants, of whom 13,556 spoke German language , 8,602 spoke Serbian , 3,890 spoke Hungarian and 879 spoke Romanian . On

11340-576: Was published in 1868. He wrote several books; Mala prostonarodna slaveno-serbska pesnarica and Pismenica serbskoga jezika in 1814, and two more in 1815 and 1818, all with the alphabet still in progress. In his letters from 1815 to 1818 he used: Ю, Я, Ы and Ѳ. In his 1815 song book he dropped the Ѣ. The alphabet was officially adopted in 1868, four years after his death. From the Old Slavic script Vuk retained these 24 letters: He added one Latin letter: And 5 new ones: He removed: Orders issued on

11448-510: Was returned to the Germans, the remaining German population left Yugoslavia. Homes that had been in their families for decades were simply taken over by the Serbs. Vršac was granted city status in February 2016. The city of Vršac includes the settlement of Vršac and the following villages: Note: For the places with Romanian and Hungarian ethnic majorities, the names are also given in the language of

11556-756: Was severely affected by the events of World War II . Today, Banat is mostly populated by ethnic Romanians , Serbs and Hungarians , but small populations of other ethnic groups also live in the region. Nearly all are citizens of either Serbia, Romania or Hungary. During the Middle Ages, the term " banate " designated a frontier province led by a military governor who was called a ban . Such provinces existed mainly in South Slavic, Hungarian and Romanian lands. In South Slavic and other regional languages, terms for banate were: Serbian бановина / banovina , Hungarian bánsag , Romanian banat and Latin banatus . Several theories have been proposed for

11664-564: Was to have effects. Another theory puts forward the Persian origin of the word ban ; in Persian ban ( بان ) means 'master'. From this language, it would have been taken over by the Avars and brought to Pannonia , where they ruled in the 6th–8th centuries. Another interpretation is also related to Avars, according to which the origin of the word ban would come from the name of the first khagan of

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