Rakovac

Beli Majdan

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A quarried hall in the hillside above the monastery, its roof held up by pillars of stone the quarrymen left standing. Ten minutes on foot from the monastery.

Bike Park Rakovac

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A mountain bike park in Stari Rakovac run by a non-profit association: four trails from easy to downhill, free entry, a paid uplift shuttle.

Cheese and milk from Rakovac Monastery

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Hard matured cheese, young white cheese and fresh milk from the Rakovac Monastery farm. Order by phone or Viber, then collect at the monastery.

Fig Restaurant

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Seasonal Serbian cooking with ingredients from Srem, served in the Imperator & Salaxia winery below the monastery.

Gradina: the lost abbey of Dombó

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Seven thousand years in one place: a Neolithic village, a Roman villa, a medieval Benedictine abbey that became a fortress, and today an excavation site on the edge of Rakovac.

Invent d.o.o.

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A Rakovac manufacturer of instant water-heater taps and toilet cisterns, founded in 1986.

Na Vrhu

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A villa in Stošin Do, on the hillside above Stari Rakovac. “Na vrhu” means “at the top”.

Pekara Danica

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A bakery on the main road, right by the bus stop.

The story of Rakovac

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Farmers, Romans with heated floors, monks who copied books by hand, and a legend about a deer. The history of Rakovac, told simply.

Vrdnik spa and Fruške Terme

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A spa village on the other side of the mountain, with the large Fruške Terme thermal resort, the older Termal pools and traditional restaurants.

7pro8 d.o.o.

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A Rakovac company making bespoke luxury interiors.

Easy walks with children

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The quarry “cave” of Beli Majdan is ten minutes from the monastery. Older children can manage the walk to the waterfall.

Forrest Relax & Spa

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A holiday house on Cvetna street, near the forest edge and a few minutes from the monastery.

Hermitage of Isaija Parivodski

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A tiny monk’s cell cut into a limestone cliff deep in the forest, named after Isaija Parivodić, a hieromonk of Rakovac who carved his name here in 1771. The only rock hermitage in Vojvodina.

Imperator & Salaxia Winery

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A family winery founded in 2009, described as the first biodynamic winery in Serbia. Tastings and wine to take home.

Market Danica

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A small grocery on Železnička street, next to the bakery.

Med Drobnjak

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Honey from a local beekeeper in Novi Rakovac.

Šumska štala riding club

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Trail rides on horseback through the Fruška Gora forest from Stari Ledinci, beginners welcome; a riding school and a summer camp for children.

The story of Rakovac Monastery

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A hunter’s vow, a scriptorium that copied Serbia’s medieval law code, a baroque golden age, destruction in 1943 and a slow rebirth.

Vrdnik Tower

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The 18-metre keep of a medieval fortress first recorded in 1315, on a hill above Vrdnik spa. You can climb it by a steel staircase and look out over Srem.

"Gorska ruža" and the food festival

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The women’s association of Rakovac organises the food festival “Al’ se nekad dobro jelo baš!”, with home cooking, cakes, wine, rakija, cheese, honey and crafts.

Dumbovac Waterfall

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A five-metre waterfall hidden in dense forest on the Dumbovac stream. About an hour’s walk from the monastery.

Eko park Zmajevac: a wooden playground on the ridge

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A playground made entirely of wood at the Zmajevac picnic area above Rakovac: climbing logs and a climbing wall, swings, a wooden train, learning boards about animal tracks, leaves and the alphabet, and outdoor workout bars.

Lake Bešenovo

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A turquoise lake in an old marl quarry on the south side of Fruška Gora: the most popular swimming lake of the area, with gently sloping places for small children.

Lake Ledinci

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A deep turquoise lake in a flooded stone quarry in the forest near Stari Ledinci. Beautiful, but currently closed to visitors.

Mambo riding club

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A riding club on the edge of Beočin, mainly for children: a riding school, walks on horseback for the youngest and a café.

Persu market

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A supermarket on Mite Belića street, near the main crossroads.

Petrovaradin Fortress

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The “Gibraltar on the Danube”: an 18th-century Habsburg fortress on a rock above the river opposite Novi Sad, with a clock tower whose hands are swapped, 16 km of underground galleries and wide views over the city.

Playgrounds and picnic spots

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The wooden Eko park Zmajevac on the ridge, a small playground at the Kamenolom memorial and a picnic area with a playground at Brankovac.

Rakovac in the Second World War

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Quarry workers who swore the partisan oath, raids on the quarry’s dynamite store, the great offensive of August 1942, and a village burned in 1943.

Restoran Pećina

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A grill with a terrace on the road from the monastery towards Zmajevac, near the Kamenolom memorial: grilled meat and cooked dishes to eat in or take away.

Treasure hunt: five treasures of Rakovac

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Five things to find on the walks around the monastery. Tick them off on the phone, or print the page and draw what you found.

Vila Fruška Frajla

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A villa on Vojvode Putnika street in the eastern part of Novi Rakovac.

Ferry Beočin – Futog: timetable and prices

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The car ferry across the Danube between Beočin and Futog: from Beočin every hour on the hour, from Futog at half past, 10–15 minutes across, every day except 1 January and Orthodox Christmas. Call before you go: it does not always run.

Kamenolom memorial

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The memorial near the monastery where villagers and quarry workers took the partisan oath in 1941, with the names of the fallen and of the civilian victims.

Kesten Lookout

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A viewpoint above the village with a wide view over Novi Sad and the Danube plain.

Kvad Avantura quad rental

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Quad bike rental and rides through the forest, just over the Fruška Gora ridge on the road from Rakovac to Vrdnik.

Mikromarket

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A grocery shop in Novi Rakovac.

Restoran Zmajevac

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A restaurant in the former mountaineers’ hut at Zmajevac, in the forest high above Rakovac.

Spitzer Castle in Beočin: history and films

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The Secession castle of the Spitzer family, cement-works owners, built 1892–1898 in Beočin: its history, decline and the films shot there, from Kelly’s Heroes to Kusturica’s Black Cat, White Cat.

Villa Rakovčanka

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A villa between Novi Rakovac and Stari Rakovac.

Where to swim with children

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A shallow beach at Lake Bešenovo, the children’s pools at Fruške Terme, and which lake is not for children.

Wine from Rakovac

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Biodynamic wine made in Stari Rakovac, sold at the winery.

Rakovac Monastery: service times and opening hours

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Rakovac Monastery: Liturgy on weekdays and Saturdays at 7:00, Sundays and feast days at 8:00, Vespers at 16:00. Open 7–19:30 in summer, 7–17 in winter.

Stari Majdan Spring

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A stone-built spring beside the mountain road between Rakovac and Zmajevac.

Stručica memorial

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Three curved concrete pillars in Novi Rakovac for three partisan leaders killed here in August 1942.

Vikendica Šapica

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A holiday house on Ledinačka street, on the eastern side of the village towards Ledinci.

What Spitzer Castle looked like: a reconstruction and 3D model

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

What Spitzer Castle in Beočin may have looked like around 1900: a 3D model you can turn on every side, and what is known about its original appearance.

Apartman Nikola / Prenoćište Elena

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Two guest rooms/apartments listed together under the names “Nikola” and “Elena”.

Brankovac Picnic Area

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A picnic area on the ridge road with tables, shelters and a children’s playground, plus wide meadows with a view to the north.

Two Rakovacs: Stari and Novi

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Why the village has an old and a new part, and how it grew from 582 people in 1948 to more than 2,000 today.

Lookout with the Swing

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A meadow on the hill above Novi Rakovac with a swing on an old tree and one of the widest views in the area: Novi Sad, the Danube and the plain beyond.

Maraš vikendica

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A holiday house in the hills east of the monastery.

Old maps of Rakovac

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Rakovac on historical maps: the 1877 sheet “Neusatz und Peterwardein” from the author’s collection, the detailed Austro-Hungarian special map of 1915, a general map from about 1910 and the topographic maps of the Yugoslav People’s Army from the 1970s and 1980s, with more maps from archives and private collections to come.

Photo archive of Rakovac

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Rakovac in photos from every decade, shared by the people of the village and its friends: sorted by year, with the photographer and the person who sent each picture.

Stražilovo

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A wooded valley with the grave of the poet Branko Radičević and the start of the 160 km Fruška Gora transversal trail.

Novi Sad in photos

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Novi Sad, the city across the Danube from Rakovac, through the lens of our neighbour Peter Perlin: Žeželj Bridge in fog, the city centre on a festive evening and spring blossom on the Danube quay.

Raka Milošević

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Chamberlain of Despot Jovan Branković; according to legend the founder of Rakovac Monastery, which is named after him.

Abbot Teofan

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Abbot who rebuilt the monastery after a great fire and edited the Rakovac Srbljak of 1714.

Hieromonk Pahomije

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Scribe who made a copy of the medieval Serbian law code, Dušan’s Code, at Rakovac in 1700.

Fruška Gora National Park Information Centre, Iriški Venac

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The national park visitor centre at the Iriški Venac crossroads: exhibition, guides and the in-person payment point for the park fee. On 2 November 2026 it was closed and fenced off.

Metropolitan Vićentije Jovanović

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Metropolitan who paid for the baroque bell tower (1735). His remains were laid in the wall of the monastery chapel in 1893.

Hieromonk Silvestar

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Rakovac monk and painter who wrote an account of his pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

Eko park Zmajevac in photos

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The wooden Eko park Zmajevac playground on the Fruška Gora ridge above Rakovac: climbing logs, swings, a wooden train, learning boards and outdoor workout bars.

Vasa Ostojić

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Painter of the icons on the iconostasis of Rakovac Monastery (1763).

Isaija Parivodski

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Hieromonk and scribe of Rakovac. He copied the monastery chronicle in 1767 and carved the oldest dated inscription at the rock hermitage (1771), which is named after him.

Amvrosije Janković

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Painter of the monastery refectory (1768), remembered as the first painter of the Battle of Kosovo.

The "court monastery" bishops

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Pavle Nenadović, Mojsije Putnik, Danilo Jakšić, Josif Šakabenta, Pantelejmon Živković, Georgije Hranislav and others.

Đorđe Marković Đilas

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Commander of the staff of the partisan detachments of Srem, killed at Stručica in August 1942.

Festivals and feasts in Rakovac and around

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Badnjak at Rakovac Monastery, grape days in Banoštor and Irig, Vidovdan at Vrdnik, the Ruma fair, Čerevićvil, Grožđebal and the Fruška Gora Marathon: the yearly calendar of Rakovac and the villages on both sides of the mountain.

Fruška Gora National Park fee: prices, paying online, exemptions

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Fruška Gora National Park charges cars electronically from 5 November 2026: 100 dinars for up to an hour, 300 a day. Residents of 20 nearby municipalities, Rakovac among them, do not pay and need not register. Prices, exemptions, how to pay.

Petrovaradin Fortress in photos

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Petrovaradin Fortress on its rock above the Danube: views from the walls over Novi Sad and the Lower Town, the famous clock tower, and the fortress under storm clouds seen from across the river.

Stanko Paunović Veljko

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Partisan commissar and People’s Hero, killed at Stručica in Rakovac in August 1942.

Zencel Hunjadi, "Franja"

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Partisan courier known as “Franja”, killed at Stručica with the staff of the Srem detachments.

Hegumeness Gavrila Bedov

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Head of the sisterhood of Rakovac Monastery during three decades of rebuilding.

Spitzer Castle in photos

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Spitzer Castle in Beočin in autumn 2026: facades with iron dragons and the turul, the double-height hall with its gallery, stained-glass windows, painted pillars, patterned floors and the cast-iron gazebo in the park.

Lake Ledinci in photos

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Lake Ledinci in its flooded quarry above Stari Ledinci: turquoise water under high rock walls, drowned trees by the shore and the lake in summer and autumn light.

Views from Belegirska Street

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The same view in every season: from Belegirska Street in Novi Rakovac across the valley to the hills towards Stari Rakovac, with sheep in spring, storms in summer and autumn colours.

Morning above Stošin Do

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A November morning walk up the hill above Stošin Do: hoarfrost on the bramble leaves, autumn woods, Rakovac Monastery down in the valley and Novi Sad in the haze beyond.

Birds of Fruška Gora: birdwatching around Rakovac

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Birdwatching on Fruška Gora around Rakovac: more than 200 species, from eagles and black storks to woodpeckers, owls and buntings. When and where to watch birds.

Wildlife of Fruška Gora: animals you may meet around Rakovac

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Wild animals of Fruška Gora around Rakovac: roe deer, wild boar, mouflon, European bison, jackals, dormice, bats, fire salamanders and the venomous adder.

Plants and mushrooms of Fruška Gora: edible and poisonous mushrooms, trees and flowers

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Plants and mushrooms of Fruška Gora around Rakovac: linden and oak forests, steppe flowers and orchids, edible mushrooms and the deadly poisonous ones to know first.

Fruška Gora fee: do exempt residents have to register, and where do charges come from?

Mon, 09 Nov 2026 09:55:00 +0100

Since 5 November cameras in Fruška Gora National Park record every car. In recent days Russian-language Telegram channels about Serbia have been writing that the exemption for residents of the 20 nearby municipalities works only after registration, and that people with plates from those municipalities are receiving charges anyway. We checked what the park and the Serbian media say, as of 9 November 2026.

Is registration needed?

Officially, no. The park’s acting director told Intermagazin that people with prebivalište in the listed municipalities do not have to file a separate request, and that the right depends on the permanent address, not on the letters on the number plate. 021.rs and Sremske novine also write that residents are exempt automatically. The list of municipalities includes Beočin, and with it Rakovac.

Fruška Gora park fee from 5 November: residents of 20 nearby municipalities do not pay, no registration needed

Thu, 05 Nov 2026 08:40:00 +0100

Update, 9 November: officially no registration is needed, but nothing is sent by post either: check your plate on the portal yourself. What is known about charges.

Electronic recording and charging in Fruška Gora National Park started on Thursday, 5 November 2026. The payment portal enaplatafruskagora.co.rs is now working.

Who does not pay

People whose permanent address (prebivalište) is in one of these 20 municipalities do not pay for their car: Irig, Beočin, Sremski Karlovci, Novi Sad, Inđija, Ruma, Sremska Mitrovica, Šid, Bačka Palanka, Bač, Bački Petrovac, Bogatić, Odžaci, Stara Pazova, Šabac, Temerin, Titel, Vrbas, Zrenjanin, Žabalj. That includes Rakovac, which belongs to Beočin. Some Serbian media write “21 municipalities”: in the official table Ruma is listed twice.

Information Centre on Iriški Venac closed for reconstruction: do not drive there to pay

Mon, 02 Nov 2026 09:35:00 +0100

Update, 5 November: the portal is working; residents of 20 nearby municipalities, Beočin with Rakovac among them, do not pay, and a pass through the park costs 100 dinars for up to an hour. Details.

On Monday, 2 November 2026, we found the Information Centre on Iriški Venac closed and fenced off on all sides. By phone the park confirmed that it is closed for reconstruction. A park employee on site said there is no reopening date yet and that a temporary container office is promised here during the works, also without a date.

Fruška Gora: cars in the national park charged electronically from 5 November

Sun, 01 Nov 2026 16:45:00 +0100

The national park has charged a fee for visits and for driving inside it since 2009. Until now the park’s nature wardens collected it on the road, mostly at weekends; neighbours say they took the fee for the car and did not charge the passengers separately. From 5 November 2026 vehicles in the park are recorded electronically (021.rs).

Rakovac.rs is now on Instagram

Tue, 13 Oct 2026 13:30:00 +0200

The site now has its own Instagram account: @rakovac_rs.

What you will find there:

the best photos of Rakovac, the monastery and Fruška Gora: ours and those that neighbours share with us;
local news from the village and around it;
new pages and photo albums on this site.

Posts are in Serbian, Russian and English. The full stories, maps and practical details stay here on rakovac.rs; the link is in the profile.

A rare map from 1877: Rakovac on the sheet "Neusatz und Peterwardein"

Mon, 12 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0200

Photo: Konstantin Stein (scan, own collection), Map 1877: public domain

The author of this site bought an original sheet of the special map of the Kingdom of Hungary at 1:144,000, edition 1877, folded in a cloth cover labelled in calligraphy “Neusatz und Peterwardein”. It was engraved in copper by the Military Geographical Institute in Vienna and sold for 70 kreuzer.

The Beočin–Futog ferry is running again

Thu, 08 Oct 2026 17:44:00 +0200

In the summer and early autumn the Beočin–Futog ferry stopped several times: the Danube was low, and a sandbank formed at the landing. Now the riverbed by the ramp has been dug out, with heaps of sand left beside it, and the ferry is back in service.

On Thursday 8 October the local Facebook group “Sve i svašta Beočin” announced that the ferry would start running the next day, with the first morning crossing from Beočin at 7:00 (post). The carrier is “Neptun”; the ferry’s phone is 064 28 13 481.

"Gorska ruža" on Vojvodina television

Wed, 07 Oct 2026 17:00:00 +0200

Chairwoman Tanja Ajeti and members of “Gorska ruža” were guests of an RTV programme, together with the author of this site. They brought pies and cakes, embroidery, paintings, old dolls and souvenirs from Rakovac. We will add the broadcast date and a link once the episode is out.

Viewpoints around Rakovac

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The best views around Rakovac on Fruška Gora: the lookout with the swing above Novi Rakovac, the Kesten viewpoint and the Brankovac meadows on the ridge, and how to get there.

Voices of Rakovac: interviews coming soon

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Recorded conversations with residents: memories of the village, the monastery, the quarry and the war years.