European Museum Night

The program of the European Museums Night at the National Museum Kraljevo in 2024 is called “In vino veritas” and is motivated by the fact that the “Kraljevo Wine Festival” prepared by the Tourist Organization of Kraljevo is being held at the same time in the city park, opposite the Museum. Given that wine and viticulture is one of the great themes of heritage, from ancient times to the present day, we decided to present it during the Museum Night. The program is implemented in cooperation with the Museum of Spoonswets – Cvetić House from Kraljevo and the Museum of Winemaking and Viticulture from Aleksandrovac.

Wine Saga of Serbia

7:00-8:30 pm

Depiction of Bacchus, Cvetić house, first decade of the 20th century, Kraljevo, wall painted decoration, Documentation of the National Museum Kraljevo.

Museum of Spoonswets – Cvetić House, through the lecture of Marina Lukić Cvetić and Lidija Cvetić Vučković, PhD, brings a gastro-heritological story about wine and winemaking in Serbian culture, conceived through three segments: the history of growing vines and the establishment of vineyards from Rome to Nemanjićs, wine and symbolism in spirituality and art of medieval Serbia, all the way to the most beautiful representations of wine and winemakers in modern Serbian painting and inspiration in poetry.

The saga begins in the 3rd century AD with the vineyards of Marcus Aurelius Probus on Fruška Gora and continues through the Slavic acceptance of Christianity and the cultivation of vines, Nemanjić Župa and Hilandar, through the introduction of quality control by King Stephen the First-Crowned and the plantations of Jelena of Anjou. King Milutin had his vineyards in Kosovo and Metohija, while Emperor Dušan passed laws on the protection of the geographical origin of Serbian wine, transport, and imperial cellars.

After Lazar and Đurađ Branković, and after the strict Ottoman prohibitions, Serbian wine easily found its way to the Habsburg Monarchy via Sremski Karlovac, finding its way into the first encyclopedia of Zaharij Orfelin called “Experienced Cellar Owner”) published in Vienna. You will find out who the “Perfect Winemaker” was, what the path of the autochthonous vine was from Vršac all the way to the soil of America, and finally how King Peter I renewed the tradition of royal vineyards and cellars on Oplenac in Topola.

After the block about the most beautiful medieval frescoes depicting Serbian wines, we will make a leap to Serbian romanticism and inspiration from this divine drink, and find the wine inspired by modern Serbian painters: Katarina Ivanović, Uroš Predić, Stevan Aleksić and the unforgettable story of the creation of the famous painting by Đura Jakšić “Girl in Blue”.

Viticulture and Winemaking of the Župa Aleksandrovačka throughout the Centuries

21:00-23:00 p.m.

Winery with equipment for processing grapes from the interwar period at the Permanent exhibition of the Museum of Winemaking and Viticulture in Aleksandrovac.

In the first part of the program, through a short presentation by MA Đorđe Živadinović, an agricultural engineer from the Museum of Winemaking and Viticulture, the audience will get an insight into the story of the development of this branch of the economy in the Župa area, from the 12th century to the present day. It is also connected with the monasteries in our immediate surroundings. The first written document in which the Župa vineyard is mentioned dates back to 1196, it is the Studenica Charter of the founder of the Serbian Medieval State, Stefan Nemanja. And so throughout the Middle Ages, Studenica, Hilandar and Žiča had their vineyards in Župa. In addition to medieval history, the story includes the period under Turkish rule and after liberation from it, the formation of meadows in Župa, the fight against the phylloxera vine disease, the period between the two world wars, and the period of socialism during the second half of the 20th century.

The second part of the program consists of a smaller exhibition, prepared for this occasion, where the audience will have the opportunity to see 35 selected exhibits from the rich winemaking collection of the Museum of Winemaking and Viticulture, as well as the story of seasonal winegrowing settlements – fields, created during the 19th century. On the free space in the middle of the vineyard where, often due to the poor quality of the land, the plot was left unplanted, buildings were built that were used for the workers’ stay in the vineyard, but also for storing tools and wine.

In the third part of the program, the audience will have the opportunity to see the documentary film “Gifts of the Župa Aleksandrovačka”, which was produced by Snežana Ašanin Šaponjić, the museum advisor of the National Museum in Čačak, as part of a project supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia.