Gornje Vodičevo ( sr-cyrl, Горње Водичево) is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

of Novi Grad,

Republika Srpska Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, ; also referred to as the Republic of Srpska or Serb Republic) is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities within Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other bein ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

. 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

Babonić family The Babonić family ( or ''Vodicsai'') was an old and powerful Croatian noble family from the medieval Slavonia whose most notable members were Bans (viceroys) of Slavonia and Croatia. History The first known member of this family who appea ...

, who was awarded the estate of Vodičevo in Bosnia for his successful defence of the border in

White Carniola White Carniola (; ; 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, although with distinctive cultural, l ...

, 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 a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...

of Bosnian Krajina believe that

hazel Hazels are plants of the genus ''Corylus'' 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 ...

protects men against

lightning Lightning is a natural phenomenon consisting of electrostatic discharges occurring through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions. One or both regions are within the atmosphere, with the second region sometimes occurring on ...

strike and that this tree belongs to

Perun In Slavic paganism, Slavic mythology, Perun () is the highest god of the Pantheon (religion), pantheon and the god of sky, thunder, lightning, storms, rain, law, war, fertility and oak trees. His other attributes were fire, mountains, wind, ir ...

, 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