2. Serbia is a small
country in the
heart of Europe,
but its cultural
heritage is big.
3. The territory of modern
Serbia is rich in traces of the
past and of ancient
civilisations. The remaining
of the oldest civilizations in
this part of Europe are
found on the banks of the
river Danube-
Lepenski Vir (6500-5500BC)
and Vincha (5500-3500 BC)
4. The most abundant examples of
classical cultural heritage on the
territory of Serbia are those left
behind by the great Roman
Empire.
5. Serbia was at the crossroads of the Eastern and Western
cultures which influenced the unique cultural heritage of
this region. The influence of the Byzantine Empire is visible
in numerous monuments, churches and monasteries from
the 12th century and later.
6. Ottoman's 500-year-long ruling had a great influence on the
Serbian culture, customs, cuisine and the language. Several
thousands words in the Serbian language come
from Turkish. A lot of literature was inspired by the
period.
7. Serbian Cyrillic alphabet
The Serbian Cyrillic is an
adaptation of the Cyrillic
script for the Serbian
language, developed in 1818 by
Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić. It
is one of the two standard
modern alphabets used to write
the Serbian language, the other
being Latin. Karadžić based his
alphabet on the Cyrillic
script, following the principle of
"write as you speak and
read as it is written".
8. Miroslav Gospels, one
of the oldest surviving
documents written
in Serbian (1186)
The beginning of
Serbian literacy dates
back to the activity of
the brothers Cyril and
Methodius in the
Balkans. Monuments of
Serbian literacy from
the early 11th century
can be found, written in
Glagolitic. Starting with
the 12th century, books
were written in Cyrillic.
9. Art
Serbian monasteries, with their fresco and
icon paintings, are pinnacle of Serbian
medieval art. The most famous Serbian
medieval fresco is the Mironosnice na
Grobu (or the "White Angel") from
the Mileševa monastery
10. Pirot carpet
Pirot carpet refers to a variety of
flat tapestry-woven carpets or
rugs traditionally produced
in Pirot, a town in
southeastern Serbia. They are one
of the most important
traditional handcrafts in Serbia. In
the late 19th century and up to
the Second World War, Pirot kilims
have been frequently used as
insignia of Serbian and Yugoslav
royalty. This tradition was revived
in 2011 when Pirot kilims were
reintroduced for state ceremonies
in Serbia
