Vrà ¡ac (, ; ; ) is a city in the 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 Vrà ¡ac is of Serbian origin, ultimately deriving from Proto-Slavic , meaning "summit".
In Serbian, the city is known as ÃÂÃÂÃÂðàor Vrà ¡ac, in Romanian as VârÃÂeàor VîrÃÂeÃÂ, in Hungarian as Versec or Versecz, in German as Werschetz, and in Turkish as Virà Âac or Verà Âe.
The uniqueness of Vrà ¡ac 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 Vrà ¡ac, since individual finds of Paleolithic flint tools from the middle and younger Paleolithic, Mousterian and Aurignacian cultures were found on the slopes of the Vrà ¡ac 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 the area: an older one, known as the StarÃÂevo culture, and a more recent one, known as the VinÃÂa culture. Near Vrà ¡ac there are Vatin circles that were estimated to belong to the VinÃÂa culture. From the Bronze Age, there are traces of the Vatin culture and Vrà ¡ac culture, while from the Iron Age, there are traces of the Hallstatt culture and La Tène culture (which is largely associated with 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, 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 (BodriÃÂi) 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, the region was included in the latter state.
Information about the early history of the town is scant. According to Serbian historians, medieval Vrà ¡ac 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, VerbeÃÂ, Verà ¡et or Vegenje, but these theories are not confirmed. The name of the town appears for the first time in 1427 in the form Podvrà ¡an. 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 Vrà ¡ac, while according to other opinions, it is identified with Orà Âova. According to some claims, 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 ÃÂuraàBrankoviÃÂ. According to some claims, it was donated to the despot by Hungarian king Sigismund in 1411. According to other sources, Vrà ¡ac fortress was built by ÃÂuraàBrankoviàafter 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 Vrà ¡ac 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, the Serbs in the Banat started large uprising against Ottoman rule, and Vrà ¡ac region was centre of this uprising. The leader of the uprising was Teodor NestoroviÃÂ, the bishop of Vrà ¡ac. Teodor organized the revolt with Sava Ban and voivode Velja MironiÃÂ. An important man was Janko Lugoà ¡an, called Halabura, who got control of the Vrà ¡ac Castle after defeating Arslan Beg, the aga, in a duel. The size of this uprising is illustrated by the verse from one Serbian national song: "Sva se butum zemlja pobunila, à  est stotina podiglo se sela, Svak na cara puà ¡ku podigao!" ("The whole land has rebelled, 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 Grand Vizier Koca Sinan Pasha of Temeà Âvar Eyalet that lead the Ottoman army ordered that green flag of Muhammed should be brought from Damascus to confront this flag with image of Saint Sava. Furthermore, the Koca Sinan Pasha also burned the mortal remains of Saint Sava in Belgrade, as 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 the leader of the rebellion, Bishop Teodor NestoroviÃÂ, 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 KaraÃÂorÃÂe.
In 1716, Vrà ¡ac passed from Ottoman to Habsburg control, and the Muslim population fled the town. In this time, Vrà ¡ac was mostly populated by Serbs, and in the beginning of 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) Vrà ¡ac. Serbian Vrà ¡ac was governed by a , and German Werschetz was governed by a (mayor). The name of the first Serbian in Vrà ¡ac in 1717 was Jovan Crni. In 1795, the two towns, Serbian Vrà ¡ac and German Werschetz, were officially joined into one single settlement, in which the authority was shared between Serbs and Germans. It was occupied by Ottomans between 1787 and 1788 during Russo-Turkish War (1787âÂÂ1792).
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 1848âÂÂ1849, the town was part of autonomous Serbian Vojvodina, and from 1849 to 1860, it was part of the Voivodeship of Serbia and Temes Banat, a separate Austrian province. After the abolition of the voivodship, Vrà ¡ac 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 the other side, the Diocese of Vrà ¡ac 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 the Axis occupation (1941âÂÂ1944), Vrà ¡ac 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 Vrà ¡ac citizens of German ethnicity left from the city, together with defeated German army. Those who remained in Vrà ¡ac 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 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.
Vrà ¡ac was granted city status in February 2016.
The city of Vrà ¡ac includes the settlement of Vrà ¡ac and the following villages:
Note: For the places with Romanian and Hungarian ethnic majorities, the names are also given in the language of the concerned ethnic group.
According to the 2011 census, the total population of the city of Vrà ¡ac was 52,026 inhabitants.
Within the city, the settlements with a Serb ethnic majority are: Vrà ¡ac (the city itself), Vatin, Veliko Sredià ¡te, Vlajkovac, Vrà ¡aÃÂki Ritovi, Gudurica, Zagajica, Izbià ¡te, Pavlià ¡, Parta, Potporanj, and Uljma. The settlements with a Romanian ethnic majority are: Vojvodinci, Jablanka, Kuà ¡tilj, Mali à ½am, Malo Sredià ¡te, Markovac, MesiÃÂ, Ritià ¡evo, SoÃÂica, and Straà ¾a. à  uà ¡ara has a Hungarian ethnic majority (Székelys colonised from Bukovina during the World War I), while Oreà ¡ac is an ethnically mixed settlement with a Romanian plurality.
Vrà ¡ac is the seat of the Serb Orthodox Eparchy of Banat. Some notable Serb cultural-artistic societies in Vrà ¡ac are "Laza NanÃÂiÃÂ", "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 Vrà ¡ac and nearby Romanian-populated villages. In 2005, Romania opened a consulate in Vrà ¡ac.
The population of the city (52,026 people) is composed of the following ethnic groups (2011 census):
Vrà ¡ac is a city famous for well-developed industry, especially pharmaceuticals, wine and beer, confectioneries and textiles. The leading pharmaceutical company in Vrà ¡ac (and nationwide) is the Hemofarm, which helped start the city's Technology Park.
Vrà ¡ac is considered to be one of 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.
The following table gives a preview of the total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity (as of 2022):
State Road 10 (which is part of European route E70) connects Vrà ¡ac to Belgrade and to the nearby border with Romania.
Vrà ¡ac is also connected to Belgrade by the Srbija voz railway line 44. Trains to TimiÃÂoara are available from MoraviÃÂa.
The symbol of the town is the Vrà ¡ac Castle (Vrà ¡aÃÂka kula), which dates back to the mid-15th century and was used until 1522. It stands at the top of the hill (399m) overlooking Vrà ¡ac.
There are two theories about the origin of this fortress. According to the Turkish traveller, Evliya ÃÂelebi, the fortress was built by the Serbian despot ÃÂuraÃÂ BrankoviÃÂ. The historians consider that BrankoviÃÂ built the fortress after the fall of Smederevo in 1439. The fortress in its construction had some architectural elements similar to those in the fortress of Smederevo or in the fortress around monastery Manasija.
The other theory claim that Vrà ¡ac Castle is a remain of the medieval fortress known as Erdesumulu (Hungarian: ÃÂrdsomlyó or ÃÂrsomlyó, Serbian: Erd-à  omljo / ÃÂÃÂô-èþüÃÂþ or à  omljo / èþüÃÂþ). However, the other sources do not identify Erdesumulu with Vrà ¡ac, but claim that these two were separate settlements and that location of town and fortress of Erdesumulu was further to the east, on the Karaà ¡ River, in present-day Romanian Banat.
The palace is the official residence of the Bishop of the Eparchy of Banat of the Serbian Orthodox Church and was built between 1750 and 1757.
The birth house of Jovan Sterija Popoviàis located in Vrà ¡ac and it was built in 1868. He was a Serbian writer and one of the leading intellectuals of his time.
There are two Serbian Orthodox monasteries in the city:
There are three museums in Vrà ¡ac:
The region around Vrà ¡ac is famed for its vineyards. The "Dani berbe groà ¾ÃÂa" ("Grape Ball") is held in Vrà ¡ac every September.
At the end of the 17th century, the famous Aga, to whom the attribute "good" was added, because he behaved culturally and did not mistreat the people of Vrà ¡ac at that time, formed Aga's garden and laid the foundations of what is today the City Park. Aga loved nature and used his position to decorate his garden as much as possible. However, in the thirties of the 18th century, this area, as a noble estate with the right of inheritance, was awarded by the Palace Chamber to Siegfried von Scherübl, while the credit for the further development of the park as a whole is attributed to his son Johann, when the park became "à  eriblov majur" a kind of arboretum, of rare plants that could resist the microclimate of Vrà ¡ac. After Siegfried's death (1795) due to outstanding debts, "à  eriblov majur" was bought at an auction on January 15, 1797 by the Municipality of Vrà ¡ac, so that in 1817, when Vrà ¡ac was declared a free royal city, the name "Gradski Majur" came into use, and immediately before the Hungarian Revolution (1848) it was changed to "City Park". The park is six hectares in size and is under state protection as a monument of garden architecture.
On the edge of Vrà ¡ac there is an artificial lake, which represents an oasis on hot summer days. The lake has an area of about 32,000 square meters
Founded only in 2007, OFK Vrà ¡ac is the local football team that competes in Serbia's second tier.
Vrà ¡ac is twinned with: