South - Eastern Serbia

South - Eastern Serbia

Southeastern Serbia represents a geographic space southern from the river Nišava, eastern from the river Južna Morava, towards the border with Bulgaria and Macedonia. It contains the municipalities of Surdulica, Babušnica, Vlasotince, Crna Trava, Bosilegrad, Trgovište, Vladičin Han, which, according to the last cansus, represented 3,0 % of the total number of population. According to the gross income, these municipalities belong to the poorest Serbia.

The current situation is such that process of migration of population from village to city chronically (constantly) continues, there are less and less villages which have any vitality, some of the villages, beside the fact that they are present on geographic maps, do not have a single inhabitant, the infrasructure is very bad, economy is generally also bad.

There are natural and anthropogenic geographic elements which also have a good basis to become the Serbia's tourist offers as natural geographic tourist values and cultural inheritance. The forms of tourism which could contribute revitalization of the space are: eco, rural, transit, sport-recreational and holiday weekend tourism. Natural and anthropogenic localities of South-eastern Serbia belong to the realms of turist region of Vlasina and Krajište. And as natural tourist values we can mention: Grdelička gorge, mountains Čemernik, Kukavica, Besna Kobila, Vardenik, Vlasina and Kozjak.

Folk cotumes of the Central Balkan Region

Could be found in central, eastern and southern parts of Serbia, Kosovo and Metohija and Raška. Throughout that wide region, folk costumes were characterized by a blend of farmers' and cattlebreeders' garments and a combination of eastern and western cultural influences. Here, we can notice not only traces of Old Slavic, Balkan and ancient cultures, but also Byzantine and Serbian medieval elements, as well as Turkish - Oriental and, later, West European cultural layers.

Up to the first decades of the 20th century, some common characteristics of clothing were presents: almost the same home-made materials like: hemp, linen and cotton cloth, white and, later, brown stuff, wollen and cotton fabrics, often with stripes woven in and small geometrical ornaments, as well as raw and tanned leather. Among various  male and especially female costumes typical of this area, there are some which were present in the wider Balkan region (although they had some special features), and some which could be found only in this Serb-populated area. For example, some parts of the female costume: the hairpiece (trvelji), a widespread open skirt ( zaprega, bojče, futa, vutara), as well as the uncut dress of Old Slavic origin (sukno).

In all parts of The Central Balkan Region both male and female costume included a linnen shirt in the shape of a straight cut tunic with sleeves, which was used both as an undergarment and overgarment. Its width was usually average with one or two wedge-shaped expansions at the sides, expect in the areas of Raška, Kosovo and Metohija where it developed into a wide, bell-shaped garment with several, or, in bridal clothes, as many as twenty wedges.