Gornje Vodičevo ( sr-cyrl, Горње Водичево) is a
village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
in the
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
of
Novi Grad,
Republika Srpska
Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, lit=Serb Republic, also known as Republic of Srpska, ) is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Feder ...
,
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...
. It consists of twenty hamlets; among them are Kukavice, Vukovići, Kestenova Dolina, Bundale, Rekići, Potok, Žljeba, Šurlani (Stanići), Kolundžije, and Đurđevići-Zecovi.
History
County Vodice and village Vodičevo were mentioned for the first time in 1197 and, after that, in 1200. This county belonged to the Babonici princes.
Count Stephen of Gorica of the Babonici family, who was awarded the estate of Vodičevo in Bosnia for his successful defence of the border in
White Carniola
White Carniola ( sl, Bela krajina; german: Weißkrain or ''Weiße Mark'') is a traditional region in southeastern Slovenia on the border with Croatia. Due to its smallness, it is often considered a subunit of the broader Lower Carniola region, alth ...
, ceded part of this estate to the Templars before 1210.
During the Turkish rule, Gornje Vodičevo was mentioned as a village in Kostajnica nahija (sub-district) in 1604. A sign of the Turkish rule over this region are ruins of a fortress which was 4m long, 2m wide (inner dimensions) and 7m high made of stone. The fortress walls were 65–70 cm thick. The fortress was located on the north side of hamlets Bundale and Rekići and on the right bank of the water stream called Vodičevo River.
In the time of Bosnia uprising 1875-1877 a great repression of the Turks on the villagers was reported. Two of Vodičevo villagers, Jovan Gligić and Simo Kolundžija, were killed by Turks and a great number of Serbs from Vodičevo and other villages escaped to Austria-Hungary.
During the second World War this village was known by their organized resistance to foreign occupation.
20th century censuses of the village population
According to a Yugoslav federal census as of 1948, this village had 142 homes and 750 inhabitants. In 1953 there were 725 inhabitants living in the village, in 1961 - 705, in 1971 - 646 and in 1981 - 499. Out of 499 inhabitants in 1981 there was one Croat, no Muslims, 414 Serbs, 82 Yugoslavs and 2 of unknown ethnicity.
Geography
A geological study of Gornje Vodičevo was commissioned by Austro-Hungarian government in 1902. It was discovered that the village has large deposits of coal.
Customs and beliefs
Serbs
The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language.
The majority of Serbs live in their na ...
of Bosnian Krajina believe that
hazel
The hazel (''Corylus'') is a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae,Germplasmgobills Information Network''Corylus''Rushforth, K. (1999). ...
protects men against
lightning
Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electric charge, electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the land, ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous ...
strike and that this tree belongs to
Perun, the god of thunder and lightning. In this village, on account of this belief, people, after receiving
Communion, eat hazelnuts that must be cracked only by stone.
[Шпиро Кулишић: ''О светковању четвртка (De la celebration du jeudi)'', Glasnik: Bulletin, Volume 14, Etnografski muzej u Beogradu, 1939 page 95]
References
Sources
*Borislav P. Đukić, Milivoj Rodić: Vodičevo: vijekovima na granici imperija; Viktorija, 2007
External links
Holocaust list of victims from Gornje Vodičevo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gornje Vodicevo
Populated places in Novi Grad, Bosnia and Herzegovina