The story of Rakovac

The very first people

About 7,000 years ago, long before there were towns or roads, farmers built their homes in Rakovac. Archaeologists found their traces at a place called Gradina. They grew grain and made pots from clay.

Romans with warm floors

Much later, about 1,700 years ago, the Romans ruled this land. A rich Roman family built a villa at Gradina with a clever trick: hot air flowed under the floor, so the rooms stayed warm in winter. It was underfloor heating, long before electricity!

An abbey that became a castle

In the Middle Ages monks built a big stone church and an abbey at the same spot, called Dombó. Later, when enemies came, the abbey was turned into a castle with walls, gates and a moat. In 1526 a large Ottoman army came and the castle fell. Today you can still see the old walls.

Raka and the deer

There is a legend about how the monastery got its name. More than 500 years ago a nobleman named Raka was hunting in the forest and killed a deer. For the people of that time the deer was a sign of purity, and Raka felt he had done something wrong. To make up for it, he promised to build a church on that very spot. The church grew into Rakovac Monastery, “Raka’s place”.

Monks who wrote books by hand

There were no printing machines here back then. The monks of Rakovac copied books by hand, letter by letter, with ink and a feather pen. More than 300 years ago they copied the famous law book of Tsar Dušan and wrote a book of songs about Serbian saints.

The stone cutters

Above the monastery, workers cut white stone out of the hill for many years. They left big stone pillars standing to hold up the roof. That is why Beli Majdan looks like a cave today, a cave made by people!

Hard times

During the Second World War, more than 80 years ago, there was fighting on Fruška Gora. The old village and the monastery were burned and destroyed, and many people lost their lives. The monuments at Kamenolom and Stručica remind us of them.

Rakovac today

After the war people built a new village further down the valley, Novi Rakovac. The nuns rebuilt the monastery. Today about 2,000 people live here.