Romania is known as the land of the legendary Dracula, but it was in Serbia 300 years ago that a vampire was first seen. The village of Kisiljevo now seeks to complain about the crib title of these creatures… and the tourists they bring.
To follow in the footsteps of the first vampire, it is necessary to explore a small cemetery located between three million and a lake, about 100 kilometers east of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia.
The story goes back to the summer of 1725, when the inhabitants of Kisiljevo dug up the body of Petar Blagojevicsuspecting that this resurrected at night To murder innocents, says the AFP agency.
Second account Mirko Bogicevicwhose family has lived in the village for eleven generations, as it diges the body of Blagojevic, the villagers “found a completely intact body. When they stuck a wooden stake in the heart of the corpse, started to drain fresh blood of the mouth and the ears ”.
The case was documented in the Viennese Court Journal Wienerisches Diarium of July 21, 1725, based on doctors and Austrian military. This article marks the official beginning of the Kisiljevo vampire myth.
However, Clemens Ruthnerdirector of the Trinity College European Studies Center, suggests that tudo will have resulted from a translation error.
“There is An old Bulgarian word, upiorwhich means ‘bad person’. The inhabitants muttered it and the doctors interpreted it badly, Writing ‘Vampire’ In your reports, ”Ruthner explains to AFP.
Three centuries later, the Kisiljevo inhabitants discovered the tomb Blagojevic – and now want to capitalize on this historical heritage.
Dajana Stojanovic, director of the local tourism office, considers that “the potential is huge”, referring not only to the history of Blagojevic, but also to the Traditions of Magic Valuquia from the border region with Romania.
According to the academics, Vampirism is a fanciful idea Used to explain inexplicable phenomena – possibly an anthrax epidemic in the eighteenth century.
But in Kisiljevo, for yes by no, the inhabitants still hold bottles of Rakia with Garlic, the famous “Afferenta-Vampiros”.
