Vršac ( sr-Cyrl, Вршац, ) is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

in the autonomous province of

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. As of 2022, the city urban area had a population of 31,946, while the city administrative area had 45,462 inhabitants. It is located in the geographical region of

Banat Banat ( , ; ; ; ) is a geographical and Historical regions of Central Europe, historical region located in the Pannonian Basin that straddles Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. It is divided among three countries: the eastern part lie ...

Etymology

The name ''Vršac'' is of Serbian origin, ultimately deriving from Proto-Slavic *vьrxъ, meaning "summit". In Serbian, the city is known as Вршац or ''Vršac'', in

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

as ''Vârșeț'' or Vîrșeț, in Hungarian as ''Versec'' or ''Versecz'', in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

as ''Werschetz'', and in Turkish as ''Virşac'' or ''Verşe''.

History

The uniqueness of Vršac is reflected in the fact that it has been inhabited since the dawn of the first cultures. Thus, the oldest traces of human presence in

originate precisely from Vršac, since individual finds of Paleolithic flint tools from the middle and younger Paleolithic,

Mousterian The Mousterian (or Mode III) is an Industry (archaeology), archaeological industry of Lithic technology, stone tools, associated primarily with the Neanderthals in Europe, and with the earliest anatomically modern humans in North Africa and We ...

and

Aurignacian The Aurignacian () is an archaeological industry of the Upper Paleolithic associated with Cro-Magnon, Early European modern humans (EEMH) lasting from 43,000 to 26,000 years ago. The Upper Paleolithic developed in Europe some time after the L ...

cultures were found on the slopes of the Vršac Mountains. The collection of over 5,000 finds from this period constitutes the largest collection of Paleolithic material in the Balkans. There are traces of human settlement from the

Palaeolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...

and

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

periods. Remains from two types of Neolithic cultures have been discovered in the area: an older one, known as the Starčevo culture, and a more recent one, known as the

Vinča culture The Vinča culture , also known as Turdaș culture, Turdaș–Vinča culture or Vinča-Turdaș culture, is a Neolithic archaeological culture of Southeast Europe, dated to the period 5400–4500 BC. It is named for its type site, Vinča-Belo B ...

. Near Vršac there are Vatin circles that were estimated to belong to the

. From the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

, there are traces of the Vatin culture and Vršac culture, while from the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

, there are traces of the

Hallstatt culture The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Western Europe, Western and Central European archaeological culture of the Late Bronze Age Europe, Bronze Age (Hallstatt A, Hallstatt B) from the 12th to 8th centuries BC and Early Iron Age Europe (Hallst ...

and

La Tène culture The La Tène culture (; ) was a Iron Age Europe, European Iron Age culture. It developed and flourished during the late Iron Age (from about 450 BC to the Roman Republic, Roman conquest in the 1st century BC), succeeding the early Iron Age ...

(which is largely associated with the

Celts The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...

). The

Agathyrsi The Agathyrsi were an ancient people belonging to the Scythian cultures who lived Pryazovia before being later displaced by the Scythians into the Transylvanian Plateau, in the region that later became Dacia. The Agathyrsi are largely known fro ...

(people of mixed

Scythian The Scythians ( or ) or Scyths (, but note Scytho- () in composition) and sometimes also referred to as the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic people who had migrated during the 9th to 8th centuries BC fr ...

Thracian The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared between north-eastern Greece, ...

origin) are the first people known to have lived in this region. Later, the region was inhabited by

Getae The Getae or Getai ( or , also Getans) were a large nation who inhabited the regions to either side of the Lower Danube in what is today northern Bulgaria and southern Romania, throughout much of Classical Antiquity. The main source of informa ...

and

Dacians The Dacians (; ; ) were the ancient Indo-European inhabitants of the cultural region of Dacia, located in the area near the Carpathian Mountains and west of the Black Sea. They are often considered a subgroup of the Thracians. This area include ...

. It belonged to the Dacian kingdoms of

Burebista Burebista () was the king of the Getae and Dacian tribes from 82/61BC to 45/44BC. He was the first king who successfully unified the tribes of the Dacian kingdom, which comprised the area located between the Danube, Tisza, and Dniester rivers, ...

and

Decebalus Decebalus (; ), sometimes referred to as Diurpaneus, was the last Dacians, Dacian king. He is famous for fighting three wars, with varying success, against the Roman Empire under two emperors. After raiding south across the Danube, he defeated a R ...

, and then to the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

from 102 to 271 AD. Archaeologists have found traces of ancient Dacian and Roman settlements in the city. Later, the region belonged to the Empire of the

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th centuries AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was par ...

, the

Gepid The Gepids (; ) were an East Germanic tribe who lived in the area of modern Romania, Hungary, and Serbia, roughly between the Tisza, Sava, and Carpathian Mountains. They were said to share the religion and language of the Goths and Vandals. Th ...

and Avar kingdoms, and the

Bulgarian Empire Bulgarian Empire may refer to: * First Bulgarian Empire The First Bulgarian Empire (; was a medieval state that existed in Southeastern Europe between the 7th and 11th centuries AD. It was founded in 680–681 after part of the Bulgars, led b ...

. The

Slavs The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and ...

settled in this region in the 6th century, and the Slavic tribe known as the Abodrites (Bodriči) was recorded as living in the area. The Slavs from the region were

Christianized Christianization (or Christianisation) is a term for the specific type of change that occurs when someone or something has been or is being converted to Christianity. Christianization has, for the most part, spread through missions by individu ...

during the rule of the duke Ahtum in the 11th century. When duke Ahtum was defeated by the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

, the region was included in the latter state. Information about the early history of the town is scant. According to Serbian historians, medieval Vršac was founded and inhabited by

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 ...

in 1425, although it was under administration of the Kingdom of Hungary. The original name of the town is unknown. There are several theories that its first name was ''Vers'', ''Verbeč'', ''Veršet'' or ''Vegenje'', but these theories are not confirmed. The name of the town appears for the first time in 1427 in the form ''Podvršan''. The Hungarian 12th century chronicle known as

Gesta Hungarorum ''Gesta Hungarorum'', or ''The Deeds of the Hungarians'', is the earliest book about Kingdom of Hungary, Hungarian history which has survived for posterity. Its genre is not chronicle, but ''gesta'', meaning "deeds" or "acts", which is a medie ...

mention the castle of Vrscia in

, which belonged to

duke Glad in the 9th century. According to some interpretations, Vrscia is identified with modern Vršac, while according to other opinions, it is identified with Orşova. According to some claims, the town was at first in the possession of the Hungarian kings, and later became property of a Hungarian aristocrat, Miklós Peréyi, ban of Severin. In the 15th century, the town was in the possession of the

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

n despot

Đurađ Branković Đurađ Vuković Branković ( sr-Cyrl, Ђурађ Вуковић Бранковић, ; 1377 – 24 December 1456) served as the Serbian Despot from 1427 to 1456, making him one of the final rulers of medieval Serbia. In 1429, Branković was form ...

. According to some claims, it was donated to the despot by Hungarian king

Sigismund Sigismund (variants: Sigmund, Siegmund) is a German proper name, meaning "protection through victory", from Old High German ''sigu'' "victory" + ''munt'' "hand, protection". Tacitus latinises it ''Segimundus''. There appears to be an older form of ...

in 1411. According to other sources, Vršac fortress was built by Đurađ Branković after the fall of Smederevo. The

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

destroyed the town in the 16th century, but it was soon rebuilt under Ottoman administration. In 1590/91, the Ottoman garrison in Vršac fortress was composed of one aga, two Ottoman officers and 20 Serb mercenaries. The town was seat of the local Ottoman authorities and of the Serbian bishop. In this time, its population was composed of

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

and

. In 1594, the Serbs in the

started large uprising against Ottoman rule, and Vršac region was centre of this uprising. The leader of the uprising was Teodor Nestorović, the bishop of Vršac. Teodor organized the revolt with Sava Ban and voivode Velja Mironić. An important man was Janko Lugošan, called Halabura, who got control of the Vršac Castle after defeating Arslan Beg, the aga, in a duel. The size of this uprising is illustrated by the verse from one Serbian national song: "Sva se butum zemlja pobunila, Šest stotina podiglo se sela, Svak na cara pušku podigao!" ("The whole land has rebelled, a six hundred villages arose, everybody pointed his gun against the emperor"). The Serb rebels bore flags with the image of

Saint Sava Saint Sava (, ; Old Church Slavonic: ; Glagolitic: ; ; 1169 or 1174 – 14 January 1235/6), known as the Enlightener or the Illuminator, was a Serbs, Serbian prince and Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox monk, abbot of Studenica Monastery, Studeni ...

, thus the rebellion had a character of a

holy war A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war (), is a war and conflict which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion and beliefs. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent t ...

. The Grand Vizier

Koca Sinan Pasha Koca Sinan Pasha (, "Sinan the Great", ; c. 1506 – 3 April 1596) was an Albanian-born Ottoman Grand Vizier, military figure, and statesman. From 1580 until his death he served five times as Grand Vizier. Early life Sinan Pasha, also known ...

of Temeşvar Eyalet that lead the Ottoman army ordered that green flag of Muhammed should be brought from

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

to confront this flag with image of Saint Sava. Furthermore, the

also burned the mortal remains of Saint Sava in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

, as a revenge to the

. Eventually, the uprising was crushed and most of the Serbs from the region escaped to

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

fearing the Ottoman retaliation. However, since the Banat region became deserted after this, which alarmed the Ottoman authorities who needed people in this fertile land, the authorities promised to spare everyone who came back. The Serb population came back, but the amnesty did not apply to the leader of the rebellion, Bishop Teodor Nestorović, who was flayed as a punishment. The Banat uprising was one of the three largest uprisings in Serbian history and the largest before the

First Serbian Uprising The First Serbian Uprising (; sr-Cyrl, Први српски устанак; ) was an uprising of Serbs in Orašac (Aranđelovac), Orašac against the Ottoman Empire from 14 February 1804 to 7 October 1813. The uprising began as a local revolt ...

led by

Karađorđe Đorđe Petrović (; ; – ), known by the sobriquet Karađorđe (; ), was a Serbian revolutionary leader who led a struggle against the Ottoman Empire during the First Serbian Uprising. He held the title of Grand Vožd of Serbia from 14 ...

. In 1716, Vršac passed from Ottoman to

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

control, and the Muslim population fled the town. In this time, Vršac was mostly populated by Serbs, and in the beginning of the Habsburg rule, its population numbered 75 houses. Soon,

colonists started to settle here. They founded a new settlement known as Werschetz, which was located near the old (Serbian) Vršac. Serbian Vršac was governed by a , and German Werschetz was governed by a (mayor). The name of the first Serbian in Vršac in 1717 was Jovan Crni. In 1795, the two towns, Serbian Vršac and German Werschetz, were officially joined into one single settlement, in which the authority was shared between Serbs and Germans. It was occupied by

between 1787 and 1788 during

Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792) The Russo-Turkish War of 1787–1792 involved an unsuccessful attempt by the Ottoman Empire to regain lands lost to the Russian Empire in the course of the previous Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774). It took place concomitantly with the Austro-T ...

. The 1848/1849 revolution disrupted the good relations between Serbs and Germans, since Serbs fought on the side of the Austrian authorities and Germans fought on the side of the Hungarian revolutionaries. In 1848–1849, the town was part of autonomous

Serbian Vojvodina The Serbian Vojvodina () was a short-lived self-proclaimed autonomous province within the Austrian Empire during the Revolutions of 1848, which existed until 1849 when it was transformed into the new (official) Austrian province named Voivodes ...

, and from 1849 to 1860, it was part of the

Voivodeship of Serbia and Temes Banat The Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar, or Voivodeship of Serbia and Temes Banat (, , , ), was a crownland of the Austrian Empire that existed between 1849 and 1861, centered in Temeschwar. It was created by reorganization of admini ...

, a separate Austrian province. After the abolition of the voivodship, Vršac was included in Temes County of the

, which became one of two autonomous parts of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

in 1867. The town was also a district seat. In 1910, the population of the town numbered 27,370 inhabitants, of whom 13,556 spoke

German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...

, 8,602 spoke Serbian, 3,890 spoke Hungarian and 879 spoke

. On the other side, the Diocese of Vršac numbered 260.000 Romanians in 1847. From 1918, the town was part of the newly formed

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () has been its colloq ...

(later renamed

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

). According to the 1921 census, speakers of German language were most numerous in the town, while the 1931 census recorded 13,425 speakers of Yugoslav languages and 11,926 speakers of German language. During the

Axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...

occupation (1941–1944), Vršac was part of autonomous

region within the area governed by the Military Administration in Serbia. Many

Danube Swabians The Danube Swabians ( ) is a collective term for the ethnic German-speaking population who lived in the Kingdom of Hungary in east-central Europe, especially in the Danube River valley, first in the 12th century, and in greater numbers in the 17 ...

collaborated with the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

authorities and many men were conscripted into the

Waffen SS The (; ) was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both German-occupied Europe and unoccupied lands. ...

. Letters were sent to German men requesting their "voluntary service" or they would face court martial. In 1944, one part of Vršac citizens of German ethnicity left from the city, together with defeated German army. Those who remained in Vršac were sent to local

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

prison camps, where some of them died from disease and malnutrition. According to some claims, some were tortured or killed by the partisans. Since 1944 when it was liberated by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

's 46th Army, the town was part of the new

Socialist Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

. After prison camps were dissolved (in 1948) and Yugoslav citizenship was returned to the Germans, the remaining German population left Yugoslavia. Homes that had been in their families for decades were simply taken over by the Serbs. Vršac was granted city status in February 2016.

Inhabited places

The city of Vršac includes the settlement of Vršac and the following villages: *

Vatin Vatin (; ) is a village located in the municipality of Vršac, Serbia. A border crossing between Serbia and Romania is located in the village. The village has a Serb ethnic majority (53.2%) with a sizable Hungarian minority (26.8%) and its popu ...

* Veliko Središte *

Vlajkovac Vlajkovac (; ; ) is a village in Serbia. It is situated in the Vršac municipality, in the South Banat District, Vojvodina province. Name In Serbian language, Serbian, the village is known as ''Vlajkovac'' (Влајковац), in Romanian lan ...

* Vojvodinci (Romanian: ''Voivodinț'') * Vršački Ritovi * Gudurica * Zagajica *

Izbište Izbište ( sr-Cyrl, Избиште, ; ) is a village in Serbia. It is situated in the Vršac municipality, in the South Banat District, Vojvodina province. The village has a Serb ethnic majority (86.74%) and its population is 1,464 according to t ...

* Jablanka (Romanian: ''Iabuca'') * Kuštilj (Romanian: ''Coștei'') * Mali Žam (Romanian: ''Jamu Mic'') * Malo Središte (Romanian: ''Srediștea Mică'') * Markovac (Romanian: ''Mărcovăț, Mărculești)'') * Mesić (Romanian: ''Mesici'') * Orešac (Romanian: ''Oreșaț'') * Pavliš (Romanian: ''Păuliș'') * Parta (Romanian Parța) * Potporanj *

Ritiševo Ritiševo ( sr-cyr, Ритишево; ; ) is a village in Serbia. It is situated in the Vršac municipality, in the South Banat District, Vojvodina province. The village has a Romanian ethnic majority (72.10%) and its population numbering 496 p ...

(Romanian: ''Râtișor'') *

Sočica Sočica (; ; ) is a village in Serbia. It is situated in the Vršac municipality, in the South Banat District, Vojvodina province. The village has a Romanian ethnic majority (93.52%) and its population numbering 124 people (2011 census). See al ...

(Romanian: ''Sălcița'') * Straža (Romanian: ''Straja'') * Uljma * Šušara (Hungarian: ''Fejértelep'') Note: For the places with Romanian and Hungarian ethnic majorities, the names are also given in the language of the concerned ethnic group.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census, the total population of the city of Vršac was 52,026 inhabitants.

Ethnic groups

Within the city, the settlements with a

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history, and language. They primarily live in Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia ...

ethnic majority are: Vršac (the city itself),

, Veliko Središte,

, Vršački Ritovi, Gudurica, Zagajica,

, Pavliš, Parta, Potporanj, and Uljma. The settlements with a

ethnic majority are: Vojvodinci, Jablanka, Kuštilj, Mali Žam, Malo Središte, Markovac, Mesić,

, and Straža. Šušara has a Hungarian ethnic majority (Székelys colonised from Bukovina during the World War I), while Orešac is an ethnically mixed settlement with a Romanian plurality. Vršac is the seat of the Serb Orthodox Eparchy of Banat. Some notable Serb cultural-artistic societies in Vršac are "Laza Nančić", "Penzioner" and "Grozd". The city's Romanian minority has a Romanian-language theater, schools and a museum. Romanian-language instruction takes place in some kindergartens, elementary schools, high schools and one teachers' university. The cultural organization and folklore group "Luceafarul" hold many cultural events in Vršac and nearby Romanian-populated villages. In 2005, Romania opened a consulate in Vršac. The population of the city (52,026 people) is composed of the following ethnic groups (2011 census):

Economy and industry

Vršac is a city famous for well-developed industry, especially pharmaceuticals, wine and beer, confectioneries and textiles. The leading pharmaceutical company in Vršac (and nationwide) is the Hemofarm, which helped start the city's Technology Park. Vršac is considered to be one of the most significant centres of agriculture in the region of southern Banat, which is the southern part of the province of Vojvodina. It is mainly because it has 54,000 hectares of arable and extremely fertile land in its possession. The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity (as of 2022):

Transportation

State Road 10 (which is part of

European route E70 European route E70 is an A-Class West-East European route, extending from A Coruña in Spain in the west to the Georgia (country), Georgian city of Poti in the east. Itinerary The E 70 routes through ten European countries, and includes o ...

) connects Vršac to Belgrade and to the nearby border with

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. Vršac is also connected to Belgrade by the ''Srbija voz'' railway line 44. Trains to

Timișoara Timișoara (, , ; , also or ; ; ; see #Etymology, other names) is the capital city of Timiș County, Banat, and the main economic, social and cultural center in Western Romania. Located on the Bega (Tisza), Bega River, Timișoara is consider ...

are available from Moravița.

Tourist destinations

The Millennium sport center, opened in early-April 2001, is located in Vršac.

Vršac vineyards

The region around Vršac is famed for its

vineyards A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

. The "Dani berbe grožđa" ("Grape Ball") is held in Vršac every September.

Vršac Castle

The symbol of the town is the Vršac Castle (Vršačka kula), which dates back to the mid 15th century and was used until 1522. It stands at the top of the hill (399m) overlooking Vršac. There are two theories about origin of this fortress. According to the Turkish traveller,

Evliya Çelebi Dervish Mehmed Zillî (25 March 1611 – 1682), known as Evliya Çelebi (), was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman explorer who travelled through his home country during its cultural zenith as well as neighboring lands. He travelled for over 40 years, rec ...

, the fortress was built by the Serbian despot Đurađ Branković. The historians consider that Branković built the fortress after the fall of

Smederevo Smederevo ( sr-Cyrl, Смедерево, ) is a list of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Podunavlje District in eastern Serbia. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube, about downstream of the Serbian capital, ...

in 1439. The fortress in its construction had some architectural elements similar to those in the fortress of

or in the fortress around monastery Manasija. The other theory claim that Vršac Castle is a remain of the medieval fortress known as ''Erdesumulu'' (Hungarian: ''Érdsomlyó'' or ''Érsomlyó'', Serbian: ''Erd-Šomljo'' / Ерд-Шомљо or ''Šomljo'' / Шомљо). However, the other sources do not identify ''Erdesumulu'' with Vršac, but claim that these two were separate settlements and that location of town and fortress of ''Erdesumulu'' was further to the east, on the

Karaš River The Karaš (in Serbian language, Serbian, also Cyrillic: Караш) or Caraș (in Romanian language, Romanian) is a long river in the Banat region of Vojvodina, Serbia and Romania and a left tributary of the Danube. The Karaš drains an area o ...

, in present-day

Monasteries

There are two Serbian Orthodox monasteries in the city: * Mesić monastery from the 13th century * Središte monastery which was built in the late 15th century by Despot Jovan Brankovic

Churches

* The Serbian Orthodox Cathedral, completed in 1728. * Church of the Assumption of the Theotokos *The Romanian Orthodox Cathedral, completed in 1912. *The Roman Catholic Church, completed in 1863. *The Apostolic Christian Church of Nazarene, completed in the early 1900s.

Museums

There are three museums in Vršac: * Pharmacy on Stairs (Апотека На Степеницама)- The first and the oldest pharmacy in the town, founded in 1784. Other than a well-preserved collection of pharmaceutical equipment, there's a collection of stuffed animals, created at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. * Concordia Building- Originally a hotel, it was erected in 1847. It later served as a restaurant and today hosts the main museum of the town. * Vršac Castle- The interior of the castle was transformed into the museum, which is open for visitors on weekends, from April until October.

City Park

At the end of the 17th century, the famous Aga, to whom the attribute "good" was added, because he behaved culturally and did not mistreat the people of Vršac at that time, formed Aga's garden and laid the foundations of what is today the City Park. Aga loved nature and used his position to decorate his garden as much as possible. However, in the thirties of the 18th century, this area, as a noble estate with the right of inheritance, was awarded by the Palace Chamber to Siegfried von Scherübl, while the credit for the further development of the park as a whole is attributed to his son Johann, when the park became "Šeriblov majur" a kind of arboretum, of rare plants that could resist the microclimate of Vršac. After Siegfried's death (1795) due to outstanding debts, "Šeriblov majur" was bought at an auction on January 15, 1797 by the Municipality of Vršac, so that in 1817, when Vršac was declared a free royal city, the name "Gradski Majur" came into use, and immediately before the Hungarian Revolution (1848) it was changed to "City Park". The park is six hectares in size and is under state protection as a monument of garden architecture.

City Lake

On the edge of Vršac there is an artificial lake, which represents an oasis on hot summer days. The lake has an area of about 32,000 square meters

Notable residents

* Marie von Augustin (1807–1886), Austrian writer (de) * Dragiša Brašovan (1887 – 1965), Serbian modernist architect * Robert Hammerstiel (born 1933), painter, artist *

Ferenc Herczeg Ferenc Herczeg (born ''Franz Herzog'', 22 September 1863 in Versec, Kingdom of Hungary, Austrian Empire – 24 February 1954 in Budapest, Hungary) was a Hungarian playwright and author who promoted conservative nationalist opinion in his cou ...

(1863–1954), Hungarian writer *

Paja Jovanović Pavle "Paja" Jovanović ( sr-cyr, Павле "Паја" Јовановић; ; 16 June 1859 – 30 November 1957) was a Serbian realist painter who painted more than 1,100 works including: '' The Wounded Montenegrin'' (1882), '' Decorating of the ...

(1859–1957), famous Serbian painter * Ivan Radovi ć (1894–1973), painter and tennis player *

Boris Kostić Borislav Kostić (24 February 1887 – 3 November 1963) was a Serbs, Serbian chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster and a popularizer of the game. He was one of the best players in the world during the early part of the 20th century and in 1950 w ...

(1887–1963), chess player * Boban Marjanović (1988 -), Serbian basketball player, Actor in John Wick III * Felix Milleker, curator and first director of City Museum * Stefan Momirov (1999 -), Serbian basketball player * Dragan Mrđa, Serbian football player * Nikola Nešković (1739–1775), Serbian painter * Teodor Nestorović, the bishop of Vršac and leader of the Serb uprising in Banat in 1594 * Tamara Radočaj (1987-), Serbian basketball player, Olympic bronze medalist and European champion * Jovan Sterija Popović (1806–1856), Serbian playwright, dramatist, comediographer, and pedagogue of mixed Aromanian-

descent *

Döme Sztójay Döme Sztójay ( sr-cyr, Димитрије Стојаковић, 5 January 1883 – 22 August 1946) was a Hungarian soldier and diplomat of Serb origin, who served as Prime Minister of Hungary in 1944, during World War II. Biography Born in ...

(native name: Dimitrije Stojaković; 1883–1946), Hungarian Prime Minister and diplomat of Serb descent * Zorana Todorović (1989-), basketball player *

Jenő Vincze Jenő Vincze ''()'' (20 November 1908 – 20 November 1988) was a Hungarian footballer and a legend of Újpest FC, most famous for playing for the Hungary national team in the 1938 World Cup Final. Vincze started playing football for teams b ...

(1908–1988), Hungarian international football player, most famous for playing for the Hungarian national team in the 1938 World Cup Final *

Nenad Baroš Nenad Baroš ( sr-Cyrl, Ненад Барош; born 1986) is a politician in Serbia. He has served in the local government of Vršac and was elected to the National Assembly of Serbia in the 2020 Serbian parliamentary election. Baroš is a membe ...

(born 1986), politician

International relations

Consulate

* Romanian Consulate General, Vršac

Twin towns – sister cities

Vršac is twinned with: *

Lugoj Lugoj (; ; ; ; ; ) is a list of cities and towns in Romania, city in Timiș County, Romania. The Timiș, Timiș River divides the city into two halves: the "Romanian Lugoj" that spreads on the right bank, and the "German Lugoj" on the left bank. Th ...

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Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

Helvécia Helvécia is a village in Bács-Kiskun county, in the Southern Great Plain region of southern Hungary. History Helvécia was founded in 1892 by Swiss-born teacher . After the great phylloxera epidemic that had destroyed much of the historical ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

* Kriva Palanka,

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

Gallery

Image:Vršac City Park.jpg, Vršac City Park Image:VrsacTownHall2.jpg, Vršac townhall Image:Vrsac-Main Serbian Orthodox Church.jpg, Church of St. Nicholas, Vršac File:Wiki.Vojvodina VI Vršac 324.jpg, Romanian Orthodox Cathedral, Vršac Image:Vršac, hill with Orthodox and Catholic churches.jpg, The Chapel Hill with the new Orthodox church and the old Exaltation of the Holy Cross Catholic Church. Image:Wiki.Vojvodina VI Vršac 489.jpg, The St. Gerhard Bishop and Martyr Catholic Church Image:Vršac, The Ascension of the Holy Cross Catholic Church.jpg, The Exaltation of the Holy Cross Catholic Church by night. File:Wiki.Vojvodina VI Vršac 459.jpg, Vrsac tower File:Vrsac, Centar Milenjum.jpg, Millennium sport center Image:VinikWineryVrsac.jpg, Vinik winery in Vršac

Notes

External links

Govor slike - Vršački sajt

Official site

Site Of Vršac City

Vršac - Electronic Banat

Romanian organizations - Number of Romanians in Banat
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vrsac Populated places in Serbian Banat Populated places in South Banat District Municipalities and cities of Vojvodina Wine regions of Serbia Towns in Serbia Starčevo–Körös–Criș culture Populated places established in the 1420s