Krćevac (Cyrillic: Крћевац) is a village in the

Topola Topola ( sr-cyrl, Топола, ) is a town and municipality located in the Šumadija District of central Serbia. It was the place where Karađorđe, a Serbian revolutionary, was chosen as the leader of the First Serbian Uprising against the Ottom ...

municipality of the

Šumadija District The Šumadija District ( sr, / , ) is one of eight administrative districts of Šumadija and Western Serbia. It is located in the central parts of the country. According to the 2011 census results, it has a population of 293,308 inhabitants, a ...

in Central

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

, located 3.9 km from Zagorica and 5.2 km from Topola.

Etymology

The name "Krćevac" stems from "krčanje" which translates to "burning/clearing of forest". The region of

Šumadija Šumadija (, sr-Cyrl, Шумадија) is a geographical region in the central part of Serbia. The area used to be heavily covered with forests, hence the name (from ''šuma'' 'forest'). The city of Kragujevac is the administrative center of the ...

was/is densely wooded and so the village owes its name to the intense forest clearing effort that was undertaken when the area was settled. Local lore holds that the area of today's Krćevac burned for three months before the land became clear for farming.

Demographics

According to the 1991 census data, the population was 794. According to the 2002 census, this had declined slightly to 775, composed of 636 adults, with an average age of 42.9 years (41.9 years among males and 43.8 years among females). There were 216 households in the village with an average of 3.59 members per household. In 2002,

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 ...

constituted 98.7% of the population,

Montenegrins Montenegrins ( cnr, Црногорци, Crnogorci, or ; lit. "Black Mountain People") are a South Slavic ethnic group that share a common Montenegrin culture, history, and language, identified with the country of Montenegro. Genetics Accordin ...

1.03%,

Croats The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, G ...

0.12%, and

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

0.12%.

Historic Sites

Krćevac is home to a fountain built by Alexander Karađorđević on 29 September 1858. Karađorđević built the fountain on the land that he had known, and tended to, since childhood. The land was the same location of

Karađorđe Petrović Đorđe Petrović ( sr-Cyrl, Ђорђе Петровић, ), better known by the sobriquet Karađorđe ( sr-Cyrl, Карађорђе, lit=Black George, ; – ), was a Serbian revolutionary who led the struggle for his country's independ ...

's farm fields. The land was sold by the

House of Obrenović A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condit ...

during the 1868-1883 period. The

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

referred to Krćevac as Karađorđe's House of

Hajduk A hajduk ( hu, hajdúk, plural of ) is a type of irregular infantry found in Central and parts of Southeast Europe from the late 16th to mid 19th centuries. They have reputations ranging from bandits to freedom fighters depending on time, p ...

s (ajdučka kuća'') due to the wooded areas of Krćevac serving as a safe haven for those who fought to abolish Turkish rule during the

First Serbian Uprising The First Serbian Uprising ( sr, Prvi srpski ustanak, italics=yes, sr-Cyrl, Први српски устанак; tr, Birinci Sırp Ayaklanması) was an uprising of Serbs in the Sanjak of Smederevo against the Ottoman Empire from 14 February 18 ...

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Gallery

Image:Karađorđe's Fountain in Krćevac, Serbia.JPG, commonly referred to as ''Karađorđeva Česma'' Image:Karađorđe's Fountain close-up.JPG, Close-up of the inscription on the fountain Image:Krcevac farming village.JPG, A road-side house and garden in Krćevac with the Zagorica church visible on the distant hilltop

References

* Knjiga 9, Stanovništvo, uporedni pregled broja stanovnika 1948, 1953, 1961, 1971, 1981, 1991, 2002, podaci po naseljima, Republički zavod za statistiku, Beograd, maj 2004, (Government census data) * Knjiga 1, Stanovništvo, nacionalna ili etnička pripadnost, podaci po naseljima, Republički zavod za statistiku, Beograd, februar 2003, (Government census data) * Knjiga 2, Stanovništvo, pol i starost, podaci po naseljima, Republički zavod za statistiku, Beograd, februar 2003, (Government census data) * * * {{Šumadija District Populated places in Šumadija District