WORSHIPPING THE DEAD IN 18TH CENTURY SERBIA. THE EXAMPLE OF BELA CRKVA
WORSHIPPING THE DEAD IN 18TH CENTURY SERBIA. THE EXAMPLE OF BELA CRKVA

Summary/Abstract: The 18th century was a century of changes in the Balkans. Due to the transfer of the Potiska i Pomoriska vojna granica at the end of the first half of the 18th century, the Habsburg’s military boarder went from the Croatian costal area via the Banat to Transylvania (the historical region Siebenbürgen). The Austrian empress Maria Theresia (1717-1780) had her own plans for this region: In the 1740s, plans for the settlement (or colonialisation) and therefore, the resettlement of the already existing population was translated into practice. The religious diversity of the Vojvodina became even more diverse. These changes are still visible today in many cities and towns throughout the province of Vojvodina. In Bela Crkva, a town founded in 1717 due to the inclusion of the Banat into the Habsburg monarchy. Until this very day, houses of worship are present and in use, the Serbian Orthodox church Sv. Petra I Pavla, the roman-catholic church Sv. Ana, the Russian Orthodox Church Sv. Jovana Bogoslova and the Romanian Orthodox church, except for the Protestant church (due to historical reasons, the former German population of the town is on the merge of existing, church services are not held anymore). In addition, there was also a synagogue (one of the two in the southern Banat), built in 1835 and destroyed in 1950. Did the coexistence of different faiths and ethnicities influence religious everyday rites, like worshipping the dead?

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