Historiography of Sredačka Župa
Sredačka Župa, an oval basin enclosed by high and steep slopes, is located east of Prizren, in the upper course of the Bistrica river. It covers an area of about 42 km² and is elliptical in shape, a little over 17 km long and 2 - 2.5 km wide in a straight line, with a significant altitude difference of over 1000 meters, comparing the altitudes at the road near the bridge at drven potok in the duvi gorge (511 m) and the top point at Prevalac (1546 m). It has a very favorable geographical position compared to neighboring basins. For centuries, the caravan route Thessaloniki - Skadar - Prizren - Skopje passed through it. The highest population density is in Gornje Ljubinje, and the lowest in Sredska.
It got its name from Sredska, its central village, and not, as legends say, because two Turkish armies met here - one from Prizren, the other from Sirinićka Župa, with the aim of subjugating its people, who fought against the Turks for seven years after the fall of Prizren in 1455. Because of such resistance, the Albanians, as helpers of the Turkish army, called this župa "Little Serbia". The name Sredačka Župa is established, but in some studies from earlier periods, it can be found as Sretačka Župa or Stretečka Župa, as, for example, called by Dr. Milivoje Pavlović.
There are no records of a possible earlier name for this župa, but the names of certain settlements and areas - Manastirica, Kaluđerica, Kraljev dvor - suggest that it played an important role in medieval Serbia, and artifacts unearthed during the construction of the Prizren - Brezovica - Skopje road, pieces of bricks, remnants of an aqueduct, and coins, confirm this and give reason for further research, especially the Kovacnica caves.
The mineral wealth of this region, copper and iron, was exploited since the time of the Roman Empire and Byzantium, then in medieval Serbia and later, during Turkish rule. This is evidenced by primitive shafts in the Lokvički stream (Garišta), and surveys conducted on Prevalac, Bulec, and on Šara above Ljubinje have determined that, in addition to copper, there are also molybdenum, zinc, and chromium.
The first written mentions of Sredačka Župa are found in the chrysobull of King Dragutin from the 13th century, as well as in the chrysobulls of King Milutin and Emperor Dušan from the 14th century. In the charters, there are no villages Drajički, Manastirica, and Mušnikovo, but the mere name Manastirica suggests that it was a monastery property, and the village of Mušnikovo is found in 1465 in the Pomenik (memorial book) of the Holy Trinity Church in Mušutište, indicating that these villages existed.
Except for Gornje Selo, which is found in charters under the name 'village at Sredska', the other villages had the same names. Today, the village of Žeštane, mentioned in charters, no longer exists, but it is speculated that it was located between Živinjane and Planjane. It is also possible, considering the fact that it bordered the territory of the village of Rečane, that this village could be today's Stajkovce or Živinjane. The mere mention of these villages in the 13th century is a sign that they existed earlier, but all were monastic possessions – land, people, and other properties, and which of them belonged to the Monastery of St. Archangels or Hilandar depended on the ruler, who could donate several villages to the monasteries. As these possessions changed, disputes arose between the monasteries themselves. Thus, Emperor Dušan donated several villages to Hilandar only to later take some of them back and donate them to his monastery of St. Archangels near Prizren.
The process of liberating villages from taxes intended for monasteries occurred gradually during the second half of the 15th century, throughout the entire area of Old Serbia, including this region.
By the beginning of the 16th century, this process, a consequence of the weakening of the Serbian state before the Turkish invasion after the Battle of Kosovo, had favorable consequences for the rural population, whose households economically prospered. Thus, Sredačka Župa was temporarily autonomous by the end of the 15th century.
Village Layout
There are different opinions on the territorial extent of Sredačka Župa, namely which villages belong to it and which do not. Some authors include Jablanica and Vrbičane among the villages of this župa, Cvijić omitted the village of Lokvica, while Dr. Đorđe Mikić included the village of Sevce, based on the fact that it indeed once belonged to the Prizren district. Other authors, such as Mr. Pajkić, also include hamlets as villages. Without delving into the reasons for such differences in claims by respected researchers, today we can say that Sredačka Župa consists of thirteen villages. In the Bistrica valley are Rečane, Sredska, Mušnikovo, partially Gornje Selo, and the others on the slopes. If we consider Sredačka Bistrica as the axis, which in Rečan accepts Ljubinjska (Pobijenica) and Manastirička (Šijavica), then, besides the aforementioned four villages, the others are distributed on its left and right banks: the villages of Živinjane and Planjane are on the right, and on the left are Lokvica, Stružje, Manastirica, nebrgošte, Donje and Gornje Ljubinje, and Drajički. Within the villages are hamlets, which are not separated, except for Gornje Selo whose hamlet, Gornje ma’alo is further away from the village than others. In the middle of the župa is the village of Sredska, characterized by its ruggedness. It consists of seven hamlets, settlements, which are between 200 and 1500 meters apart from each other. Settlements are scattered on both banks of Bistrica, with Račojki (Račjići) and Bogošovce (Bogoševci) on the right bank, and Stajkovce, Milačiki (Milačići), and Krajći on the left. In the hamlet of Palička are the cultural center, post office, self-service store, police station, trading company "Sredačka Župa", Local Office, Local Community, and library, and across the river, more towards Milačika, is the clinic, building of the eight-grade primary school, and the church.
Since these settlements existed in the 13th century, from when they are mentioned in the charters of rulers, and probably even before that, it cannot be said in this case that they were formed by people fleeing the Turks and forming their settlements far from the roads, deep in the forests and along mountain streams, as is the case with other settlements, especially in Serbia. However, the villages of Manastirica and Donje Ljubinje were probably formed in this way, out of fear of some conquering hordes, but that was not the predominant way these settlements were formed.
It is certain that the attractiveness of this župa and the key motive for the population to persist in this area despite turbulent historical events lies in its geographical-climatic peculiarity. According to the average annual temperature, which is primarily determined by the altitude, Sredačka Župa can be divided into three belts: the first with 10 – 110C, the second with 5 – 60C, and the third with around 1.2 – 0.40C. The fact that Kođa Balkan, Ošljak, Bulec, and Tociv protect this basin from cold northern winds during winter. Snowcaps of Šara supply some lakes, so-called mountain eyes, in the area of Župa, and a large number of streams and small rivers. The most snowcaps are in Konjuške, below the black peak, Karanikolica, and Kobilica, all at an altitude of 19 – 25 km. During summer, they are particularly useful as they gradually melt and supply water to small streams and rivers. Sredačka Bistrica in its upper course is called Bukovačka River, and it springs on the eastern side of Mala Mountain (Micovo planinče). Its first tributary, Šartica, springs from Mušnjikovska and Sredačka Konjuška. Ljubinjska Bistrica (Pobijenica) springs at the foot of Vrtop and Karanikolica.
Once it was adorned with groves and meadows on the clearings and fields in the valleys, intersected by numerous small rivers and streams. Mountain sides were covered with oak and beech forests and conifers above which stretched the vast pastures of Šara. On them grazed flocks that in old times numbered up to 50,000 sheep, which today seems unbelievable, as according to the census of 1981, there were only 4,557 heads of small livestock in the entire župa.
During Turkish rule, the coniferous forests were destroyed by burning, so the forests on Ošljak, as well as those north of Mušnikovo and Gornje Selo, are actually just remnants. Burnings, clearings, and to a significant extent, the breeding of a large number of goats at one time, caused the slopes of Ošljak, and not only those, to be completely bare. Then came the torrents, which washed away both mud and stones and deposited them on the already small fields along the river. The villagers constantly cleared them, which is evident today by the large number of mounds, stones that are usually found on the borders between fields. Only in this way could some inches of arable land be preserved, which even at great heights yielded good crops thanks to regular fertilization with dung and stable manure.
Customs and Traditions
The customs of this region, most detailedly described by Vojislav Stanković, are very picturesque. Earth, water, and fire are characterized as taboos, and wood and stone as relics. Earth as a taboo is incorporated into beliefs that everything that enters it is reborn from it and that it is a link between the living and the dead. Therefore, during the first autumn sowing, earth from a crossroads is taken and thrown over oxen with the words: "Let it be hard for the earth, but easy for you." The cult of water was given great importance, and there was a deep belief in its power. Postpartum women were given water to drink in such a way that it was poured through the trouser leg of their husband's čakšir. The Serbian wedding custom in this region is that on Monday, the bride brings water from the spring and with it sprinkles the wedding guests, performing a series of established customary actions. In the village of Rečane, they believe in the healing power of water from the source of good water, and in Ljubinje, they consider and believe that the water from the Toplec – spring is medicinal. Fire is woven into beliefs and customs related to marriage. A matchmaker, when going to negotiate, approaches the hearth to stir the embers, so that his business and conversations go smoothly. During the wedding, the mother-in-law waits for the bride, the daughter-in-law, by the hearth, as the hearth and fire are a symbol of life. Beasts in the forest or on the threshing floor, as well as "evil spirits", are chased away with fire.
Every old solitary tree was especially respected, known as 'samodrvo'. During processions on Easter, Spasovdan, or Ilinjdan, a priest would drill into these trees during a certain part of the Liturgy, and the participants of the procession eagerly collected and preserved the sawdust. Such trees were present in every village or hamlet, at least one each, with the most famous being the oak in Polica, the oak in Bogoševci, the elm in Račojki, and others. In old times, it was forbidden to cut down a walnut tree, let alone plant it near a house, as it was the only fruit-bearing tree associated with the cult of the dead. Even when felled by the wind, samodrvo was not brought into the house for firewood. In the village of nebrgošte, the tree was considered a gathering place for spirits, and as the elders told, often there was such a crashing in that grove as if chains were breaking. The fruits of cultivated species, such as apples, were also used in various rituals. When a young mother was brought her swaddling gift, an apple was always included. An apple was also mandatory on the bayrak (banner), and the connection between birth and death is also seen in the customs of bringing fruit, primarily apples, on memorial days. In old times, the Ljubinci would predict the weather using leaves: if the leaves were denser in the middle of the tree, it meant that winter would be harsh in the middle of the season, calculated from Mitrovdan to Đurđevdan. There was also a belief that one should not sleep, sit, or even spit under certain trees, such as the ash above Mušnikovo, because anyone who fell asleep under that fairy tree would become paralyzed. A similar belief existed for the oak near the Račojki hamlet in Sredska. In old times, the stone at the end of Bogoševci, at a place called Arapin's Grave, was used to prevent or cure whooping cough (Pertusis) in children. This belief persisted until the end of the second decade of the 20th century. A mother whose infants died would stand on a stone near the old church in Mušnikovo while knitting socks for a child, or hand-sewing a shirt, believing that the child she carries this way would stay alive. Some household items were also used as fetishes. During hailstorms in the village of Krušec, the housewife would take a sieve and shout "Go to the mountains!" or take out to the yard a sofra, a table from which people eat, and place on it a terrifier, the first egg decorated for Easter, three lumps of lard, spoons, and a pitcher. If a storm, downpour, or hail was expected, an axe with its blade turned towards the sky would be placed under the house eaves, as it was believed to cut through the cloud. These beliefs persisted even in the first half of the 20th century. Besides apples, which are attributed magical properties among all Serbs, and more broadly, other fruits were also fetishes. For example, the first cob of corn was husked by hand and its grains thrown to the poultry for fertility. Bread from the first flour was placed in a sieve for a bountiful year. Among the Serbs, it was customary to slaughter a chicken, usually a rooster, and prepare it for eating for the first autumn sowing, to knead a pie, and to have lunch in the field with close people who happened to be there. The plowman had to bathe and dress in clean clothes in the evening so that the grain would later be clean from blight. The end of the harvest was marked by carrying a bogubrad, the last harvested ear of grain tied in a bundle, which was carried from the field to the house by one of the women – a reaper. On her way home, she was not allowed to speak or smile at anyone, even though those she met would try to make her laugh or provoke her to speak. The end of threshing was marked in such a way that on the stozher, a wooden post in the middle of the threshing floor for tying horses that tread the grain, or direk from ajat, a small room at the entrance to the pen, cow dung was glued and marked with grains of beans, corn, or another crop, indicating how many buckets of each grain there had been.
Đurđevdan was a holiday to which the Serbs attached special importance. On that day, they visited their fields and meadows and decorated them with willow – one, two, or three branches, depending on the size of the plot, which they stuck into the ground, and for lunch, lamb meat was eaten for the first time that year.
During the great summer heat, when there was no rain for a long time, a group of older girls and boys dressed in old clothes would gather in the village. They would go across the fields of wheat or corn, where the owners of those fields would wait for them with vessels full of water. When the group arrived, the owner would sprinkle them with water while the girls and boys sang dodo songs: "Mi idemo preko polja, a oblaci preko neba, oj dodole..." This archaic custom of calling for rain with a magical rite has not been seen for several decades, and there are fewer and fewer crops in the field.
The custom of marking the family slava among the Serbs is particularly widespread and deeply rooted from ancient times. In the appropriate way, the villages also celebrate their village slavas, such as: Lokvica celebrates St. Ilija, Živinjane celebrates St. Sunday, Planjane celebrates Spasovdan, Sredska celebrates Nikolovdan, with the exception of the hamlet of Paličkojka, which celebrates Đurđica, Krajići and Jakšići in Račojki celebrate Petkovdan, Drajčiki celebrate Aranđelovdan, and some villagers Nikolovdan, Gornje Selo celebrates Prečista, and in Mušnikovo some families celebrate Nikolovdan, and some Đurđic, the autumn Đurđevdan. Mušnikovo collectively celebrates Petkovdan, the day of Saint Petka, and earlier the day of Saints Peter and Paul.
In addition to village slavas, in some villages, processions were carried, and crosses were raised, as the people said, and this was in Gornje Selo on Đurđevdan, in Mušnikovo on the first day of Easter, in Sredska on Vasiljica and on the second day of Easter. The carrying of processions lasted the longest in Drajčiki, and in other villages, it stopped a few years ago. After the processions ended at the church, a so-called city was raised, and in Sredska, women danced and sang in their circle called 's'bor'.
The group of archaic and religious customs among the Serbs includes poklade, after which comes the Easter fast. On the eve of poklade, it was customary to tie a boiled egg with a thin thread, hang it in the middle of the room, and swing it while the children tried to catch it with their mouths. On the day of poklade itself, it was customary for the girls to be swung, so after lunch, they went out to the village green, pažić, tied a rope to a suitable tree, and swung the girls there.
Poklade was also traditionally the time when the largest number of seasonal workers, in groups, tajframs, left for seasonal work. Seasonal work in other regions, most often in the Principality of Serbia or Romania and Bulgaria, was an important source of income, practically a profession for many people from this region from the 19th century until today.
Lazarice are also an archaic religious custom that has survived to this day. For six weeks of the Great Lent in Sredačka Župa and in the Prizren district, no other songs can be heard, except Lazarice. Earlier, there was at least one group of Lazarice in each village, and often two or three, and now it happens that girls from two villages gather to form a group of Lazarice and learn to sing these songs. Under these conditions, this custom undergoes many changes, both in dress and in singing Lazarice songs.
Lazar's Saturday and the night before that day are joyful moments for girls preparing for Lazarice, and it is very rare for this custom to be omitted.