Paraćin

Paraćin ( sr-Cyrl, Параћин, ) is a town and municipality located in the Pomoravlje District of central Serbia. It is located in the valley of the Velika Morava river, north of Kruševac and southeast of Kragujevac. In 2011 the town had a population of 25,104. It also had a civil airport.

History

There is a Neolithic archaeological site in the village of Drenovac. 8th century BC Basarabi pottery was found with the depiction of domestic cock. The Roman fort at Momčilov Grad produced a great number of coins of Byzantine Emperor Justinian (525–565).

A medieval town of Petrus was granted by Emperor Dušan to the local župan Vukoslav. Petrus was a center of , one of the spiritual centers of Medieval Serbia. It comprised 14 monasteries and churches, all from the 14th century, along the rivers Crnica and Grza. As of 2017 several of the monasteries are being restored while there are plans to restore the town of Petrus, too, and to establish a touristic complex which would encompass both the town and the monasteries.

Paraćin was mentioned for the first time in 1375. That year, Prince Lazar of Serbia issued a charter to the Monastery of Great Lavra by which he granted to the monastery villages in the Petruš region, and ''Trg Parakinov brod'' ("Town of Parakin's river crossing"). It is believed that the name of the town originated from Parakin, name of a ferryman who ferried the people across the Crnica river, on which the town is located. In time, the name evolved into Paraćin.

In the 19th century, with the construction of the railway and its further branching, and already being located on the most important road route, Tsarigrad Road, Paraćin became a major traffic hub. The industry followed the traffic, so Paraćin was one of the largest industrial centers of Serbia in the 19th and 20th century, and the most densely populated town in country in the late 19th century.

From 1929 to 1941, Paraćin was part of the Morava Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

Folklore

Nickname for an inhabitant of Paraćin is ''Džigeran'', derived from the colloquial Serbian word for liver, ''džigerica'', and originating from the 19th century. There are couple of jovial stories how it came about and both stem from the popular local rivalry between the towns of Paraćin and Jagodina. According to one story, Serbian ruler Prince Miloš Obrenović, visited Paraćin. The hosts didn't know what to prepare for the prince, so the townsfolk from the neighboring Jagodina told them to prepare liver, as the prince adores it. Actually, it was quite the opposite, so when prince tasted the liver, which he couldn't stand, he said: Oh liver, are you meat? Oh, people of Paraćin, are you humans? Another story goes that a train hit a turkey in Jagodina (turkey is town's symbol) and dragged it all the way to Paraćin, with only liver remaining on the locomotive.

Settlements

Apart from the town of Paraćin, the municipality includes the following settlements, along with number of residents (2002 census):

Demographics

Economy

The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity (as of 2018):

Culture

The town has a Home Museum, a library and a "Pitagora" gallery.

Tourism

The Sisevac excursion place is the most popular excursion sites in the municipality. Located in the small village with only 15 inhabitants in 2011, it is located in the structural basin on the Kučaj mountains, at an altitude of . Sisevac is surrounded by forests and is the location of the Crnica river spring. Due to the favorable microclimate and the natural springs of the mineral water, it was known as the weather spa already in the 14th century.

Another excursion site is Grza, through which the river of the same name runs through. Popular attraction is the village of Gornja Mutnica and the river Suvara. Though it runs through the village only for a length of , there are 30 bridges over it.

Notable citizens

* Svetolik Dragačevac, retired police chief who sent a threatening letter to Adolf Hitler in March 1941
* Ana Nikolić, Serbian pop singer
* Bojan Krkić Sr., former Yugoslav and Serbian professional footballer
* Ivana Sert, Serbian-Turkish TV personality, model, and fashion designer.
* Marčelo, Serbian hip hop musician
* Nenad Đorđević, Serbian footballer
* Ivica Radosavljević, Serbian / Swiss basketball player
* Andrija Radovanović, Serbian footballer

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Paraćin is twinned with:
* Eleftherio-Kordelio, Greece
* Perdika, Greece
* Murska Sobota, Slovenia
* Jablanica, Bosnia and Herzegovina

References

External links

*

Populated places in Pomoravlje District
Municipalities and cities of Šumadija and Western Serbia

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