Have you ever made your family tree and how far back did you get in your research? š³
A few years ago, I was gathering information about my ancestors, some from stories, some from census records and some from church books. I created a tree starting from my direct ancestor Raja BabiÄ, who was born way back in 1798. He is my askurÄel, meaning the seventh male generation back. Isn't it interesting to know that? I loved trying to research even further, to reach earlier centuries, but I couldn't find anything beyond that information... Maybe, like most Balkan peoples, we moved from place to place over the centuries.
Anyway, this time we went to a village called MiliÄinica in search of information about my fiancĆ©'s distant ancestors. Some books say that about two centuries ago they most likely moved from that charming little hillside village above Valjevo. Sunday was a really beautiful spring day, so the two of us, together with his sister and aunt, headed out to that area.
We wandered around a bit at the beginning, but that turned out to be such an interesting part of the trip because along the way we met wonderful people who pointed us in the right direction. The man who gave us directions turned out to be a retired professor from the Faculty of Agriculture. He had spent the previous winter researching his ancestors with his wife, so he gave us better insight into how to look for information in historical archives. While we were chatting, he mentioned that in the place we were heading to, his roommate from his student days has vineyards and runs a winery, so we ended up bringing greetings to him as well. Just imagine how cool that is, after driving around some 20 kilometers to reach our destination, we were carrying greetings from one old man to another, without knowing either of them. š
While we were driving to that village, we were amazed by the view on both sides of the road. Such a cute little hills, mostly covered with orchards and the occasional vineyard, and here and there we could come across a flock of sheep, cows freely walking across the meadows, and we even saw a small deer that ran across the road in front of us. So adorablee.
There are not many houses, just like in any hilly village today, cause over time people have moved down to the gentler plains. So that village, which is actually the third largest in Serbia by area, now has a little under 500 inhabitants. It is about 40 kilometers from Valjevo and about 11 kilometers from Koceljeva.
The largest and oldest landmark of this village is a wooden church, dedicated to the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul.
It is located next to a four-year primary school, surrounded by beautiful dense forests and small hills. The villagers who were working on the yard there welcomed us warmly and shared the information they knew, that the foundation of the church was laid in 1791 and the builder who started the construction was Ignjat Petrovic. In 1792, the church was fully built and the interior decoration was completed in 1794.
The wooden church was in use throughout the entire 19th century. Over time, due to the increase in the number of believers and their economic strength, the construction of a new church began at the start of the 20th century. The new church is located in the same churchyard as the wooden one and is dedicated to Saint George.
They also said to us that the Services are no longer held in the wooden church, except on Petrovdan. Also, at the request of the locals, a priest can perform a wedding in the old church and it is a very beautiful event that in a way brings the wooden church back to life, as it is the pride of the village of MiliÄinica and its residents.
The interior decoration of the church was also made of wood. A wooden iconostasis, the choir area, a wooden false vault that beautifies the roof from the inside, everything made of wood, hand carved with great patience, faith and love.
The icon of the Mother of God with Jesus, as well as the icon of Jesus, which I think by rule always stand to the left and right of the entrance to the altar, especially amazed and enchanted me. I have never seen icons painted like this, not in any church, temple, in any book, on the internet, nowhere.
Beautiful, truly unique sacred works of art. ā¤ļø
This is what the wooden church looks like from the entrance to the churchyard, where on the right side is the new large church of Saint George, and the wooden one is on a slightly smaller hill above.
It is a wonderful feeling to walk along these old stone steps and to know how far back all of this dates. I hope its appearance and authenticity will never be changed, considering it is one of the rare wooden churches in such a well-preserved condition that have survived to this day. According to books, there used to be more of them, but over time they were demolished so that new churches could be built in the same places.
As for the reason we went there, guess what, we didn't find anything. But we had a really nice time talking to wonderful people, breathing in the fresher mountain air and enjoying the beauty of these cultural monuments and sacred places.
And then we of course went to the winery. We got a bit lost there too, because there are two of them, bigger one was closed and we didn't even know exactly what we were looking for, forgetting name of a man we were supposed to visit, the one we had been directed to by that man from the other village. š Anyway, another kind local helped us find our way to the lovely DragiÄ RankoviÄ, where we tried white and red wine, Tamjanika, bought a few liters, chatted a bit and said his old student friend sent greetings.
On the way back, we of course stopped to eat something, and again at RankoviÄ, though this was a place owned by a different man with the same surname. (: The restaurant is closer to Koceljeva, called RankoviÄ Winery, also in a beautiful location, surrounded by forest, a small vineyard and a few fig trees. Barbecue, mixed meat, a bit of everything, kajmak balls, cabbage salad, young red onion, everything was absolutely delicioooous!
The atmosphere was also lovely, although I only took a photo of this wall with the Kosovo Maiden and of course the icon of Saint Tryphon, the patron saint of all winemakers, which is celebrated here on February 14th.
I will also leave here one single slightly blurry photo of a landscape captured through the car window. I was so amazed by the view on both sides of the road on the way there and on the way back that I didn't take any more photos. Just this flock of sheep, and even they disappeared behind the bushes while I was reaching for my phone to snap a pic.
If you ever visit Western Serbia, specifically the Kolubara District and the surrounding area and have a few days to explore nearby villages, this route is my recommendation. Nature, kind and friendly people and delicious food. š An ideal Sunday trip.
Thank you very much for reading all of this, until the next Wordmapping blog, I'm sending you all sunny greetings and a rain of good mood!
[//]:# ([//]:# (!worldmappin 44.44113 lat 19.69059 long MiliÄinica, Srbija d3scr))
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I didn't do this, but a relative of mine did. It's on a slightly different line of descent, but I found it interestingāit took her three years. During Soviet times, many church books were burned, making it virtually impossible to find documents.
Unfortunately, throughout history, human cruelty has destroyed many valuable things. It is such a shame. A relative on your mother's side? That's great, it'ās equaly important! I've also expanded my family tree in that direction. <33
They're related on my grandmother's side, but they're not biological sisters, as my grandmother is adopted into the family. My grandmother lost her parents and was in an orphanage, where she was adopted from.
Ahaa, now I understand. But honestly, it doesn't matter that there is no blood relation. It's just as beautiful to know. The moment they adopted her and loved her as their own, I truly believe their ancestors, watching from above, were rejoicing over their new descendant.
that wooden church is a true gem; you can tell it has been preserved with much love by the villagers.
It really is. Since it was Sunday and the village is the kind of place where you rarely see anyone except people in front of the shop or at the church, it felt very quiet. They were tidying up the yard and even invited us to come to the the special service on Wednesday. They're preparing for about 100 people, but realistically they expect around 50 to show up. We would have loved to come, of course, but work commitments just don't allow it.
What a wonderful trip, this journey to find your future husband's ancestral roots sounds really exciting. That wooden church is truly a treasure trove of history, and the hand-painted woodwork inside is truly a feast for the eyes. Beautiful mountain views, meeting kind people, and finally ending the day with a delicious barbecue, all in all, it really is a perfect Sunday trip. Thank you for sharing the story of such a wonderful place in Serbia with us.
Thanks so much! I am glad you liked my blog. Sending you a sunny smile and a smiley sun! š
Your trip sounded like a lovely adventure, That sun and smile definitely made my day. Keep sharing such beautiful journeys šāļø
I'll do my best to make the next little trips like this just as interesting as this one was. Thank you once again. š¤
Damn!! I love these off the beat locations where you can chat with the "locals locals" and you locals can also learn so much from them. I'd love to travel to Serbia one day. Please keep sharing nice places
Thank you so much, luuut! When you like my blog and I see your comment, I know I've definitely written something good. <3 Looking forward to you coming whenever you're able to. There's a lot of beautiful things to see here; the system is bad and ugly and that's what takes away from it, but we hope that will be fixed one day too. (:
Hiya, @glecerioberto here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Honorable Mentions in Travel Digest #2908.
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What a beautiful and heartwarming story! Even though you didnāt find the information you were looking for, the journey itself sounds so meaningfulāfrom meeting kind people to exploring such a charming village and its history. The wooden church and the whole atmosphere feel truly special. And ending the day with wine and delicious food makes it even better š Thanks for sharing this lovely experience!
Thank you so much, Lara. Aaaand I see you've recently joined here, soooā¦ welcome! I wish you an amazing Hive journey filled with new friendships, great stories, beautiful photos and lots of staked HIVE in your wallet! š #welcome #newbie
Top class article @bibana friend!
!discovery
!PIZZA
Thank you so much, jlinaresp! I am really happy you enjoyed my story. The weather here is getting nicer and nicer so I hope there will be many more blogs like this to come. š¤
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Even though you didn't find what you're looking for but at least you have enjoyed your roaming around and it's cool every piece of the place. Thanks for sharing it.
Thank you so muNch! I really tried to capture our adventure as vividly as possible, even when it was just driving along narrow roads and chatting with random villagers. It was such a beautiful experience. š
Predivan post i joÅ” lepÅ”e fotografije. Ja volim ovakva skrivena mesta koja nisu puna turista, veÄ imaju svoj mir i autentiÄnu prirodnu lepotu. Posebno mi se dopalo kako si kroz slike i tekst prenela oseÄaj putovanja, kao da sam i ja sam bio tamo. Hvala ti Å”to si podelila ovu skrivenu destinaciju sa nama.
Hvala tebi, imenjaÄee, drago mi je da ti se dopao blog. Zanimljivo je, pravo skriveno brdovito seoce. Navela sam u tekstu zanimljivu informaciju da je po povrÅ”ini koju obuhvata treÄe po redu u Srbiji, a eto tako malo stanovnika ima. Å teta baÅ”, mada je razumljivo jer je priliÄno "zabaÄeno" u odnosu na okolna veÄa selabliža gradovima.
A very beautiful family story; the photos of the food are lovely and really make you want to have some on hand to eat.
Traduit du francais
trĆØs belle histoire familiale , les photos des mets sont trĆØs jolie et donnent vraiment envie d'en avoir sous la main pour manger