In August 1963, one month after an earthquake decimated the capital of Skopje, an open topped car zipped around the Socialist Republic of Macedonia carrying two powerful men who were dancing around a renewed relationship. Josip Broz Tito, whose fantastic response to Stalin’s constant dispatching of assassins ended Soviet/Yugoslav relations for many years, was showing …
On 6 August 1566, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent died in bed while the Battle of Szigetvar raged around him. The Commander of the Ottoman Army, Grand Vizier Sokollu Mehmed Pasha, immediately executed every witness to his death and had the word put about that Suleiman was merely ill and recuperating. He proclaimed Ottoman victory in …
Historical anachronisms can be fascinating, nowhere more than in the Balkans, a region which can itself be seen as a living historical anachronism. Named by German geographer August Zeune in 1808 after what he considered to be the dominant geographical feature in the area, the Balkan Mountain Range, the highest peak in the Balkans is …
Although most have since assimilated to their respective countries, for over a thousand years a non-Slav shepherd minority existed in the Balkans, speaking a Latin-based language and following their own traditions. The Vlachs, also known as the Choban in Romania, the Vlasi in Slavic areas, the Tsintsar in Serbia, and officially as the Arumani, first …
Vampires are from Serbia. They aren’t attractive, either. The question is – are vampires real? That is the question addressed in Kiss of the Butterfly by James Lyon. With the action taking place back and forth between centuries, the story follows grad student Stephen Roberts as he researches ancient folklore in a war-ravaged former Yugoslavia. …
Albanian sworn virgin, circa 1910 If you are looking for an in-depth examination of the history of the sworn virgin (or burnesha) phenomenon in the mountains of Northern Albania, Montenegro, and Kosovo, Sworn Virgin by Elvira Dones, is probably not where you want to start. But if you want to understand, to live a possibility …
Poets have the gift to speak for others, Vasko Popa had the very rare quality of hearing the others –Octavio Paz BLIND SUN Two blighted legs Holding a blind sun The morning rays – gone to work On the other side of the sky Rather than its threshold The noon is beyond the Pale Cavorting …
The only thing people really remember in the folklore about the Despotess Jerina is that she was a terrible and horrifying woman. She threw her lovers into the deep inner well of Maglič Fortress, near Kraljevo in Serbia. She threw children into the River Đetinja from the highest tower of the Užice Fortress. And she …
It’s hard to keep track of all the different names used in all the different regions of the Balkans. This makes history a bit more difficult, because when things like Thrace, Illyria, Dalmatia, Ragusa, Dubrovnik, Macedonia, North Macedonia, and all the names in between are being tossed about, keeping them straight becomes nearly impossible. And …
Getting ready for travel can be almost as much fun as the actual traveling. Actually, given the issues with airline seats, airborne infections, and jet lag, the travel part isn’t that great. Visiting is great, for sure. But traveling to the area to be visited? Maybe some people are masochists and enjoy the armrest struggle …
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