Sava Savanović

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Sava Savanović ( Serbian - Cyrillic Сава Савановић ) is one of the most famous vampire figures of the Serbian folk belief .

legend

There are numerous versions of the events surrounding the legendary figure Sava Savanović. They were only passed down orally and differ in terms of location and the actors involved, but all have a common core story: all stories are about a man from the village of Zarožje , who was a very successful and wealthy cattle dealer. He also enjoyed a good reputation as a brave Hajducke and was a well-known and valued member of society. He was unmarried and lived in the same house with his brother and his family.

At some point he fell in love with the daughter of a local trader whose family also lived in the countryside near Zarožje. There are numerous dramatic stories about the further course. What they all have in common is that he was denied the young woman due to the large age difference. Despite all attempts, it stayed that way and Sava gradually began to change. He became bitter, malicious, and argumentative. People avoided him and began to fear him. He was an extremely capable and battle-hardened man who was gradually losing his mind. One day an event angered him (this is where the various narratives differ particularly). One morning, after waiting outside all night, he went to see the longed-for young woman. When he arrived she was driving the cattle to pasture. After a brief exchange of words, he shot the woman and possibly others involved. In the act he, too, lost his own life in a dramatic way (in some tales to suicide, in others to strangulation by involved villagers).

Because of its fame and the tragedy, the whole village was soon gathered. As the custom dictated, Sava, who was a murderer, could not be buried at the church. He was buried near the crime scene that same day. Traumatized by this event, the villagers soon reported that they had sighted Sava at night or were even persecuted by him. As is customary in the mountain villages, the farmers worked and slept in the water mills when they were grinding their grain. However, after Müller was repeatedly found dead in the water mills on the Rogačica River , all of which had bite marks on their necks, it quickly became clear to the residents: Sava had become a vampire .

Living in constant fear, the residents soon decided to do something. In some stories, the grave was relocated in vain and reburied by relatives, taking into account the rituals. All versions have the same thing, that the grave of Sava Savanović was opened and an indestructible body was found in it. To break the curse, a sharp stake was struck through the heart of the vampire.

Together with Jure Grando , Peter Plogojowitz and Arnold Paole, he is one of the first known cases of a popular belief in vampires in the Balkans . In contrast to the three other historically established people, Sava Savanović lacks such literary documentation. The interest in vampirism in Western Europe at the time that could be observed in such records was probably related to contemporary medical questions and theological discussions. For this reason, the time when the saga of Savanović was created is roughly, but with some justification, the 17th or 18th century. In Serbian popular belief, Sava Savanović is usually considered the first vampire.

Reports of vampires and other mystical beings were not uncommon in these regions. There were reports of vampires until the late 19th century. Oral accounts of encounters with unknown beings also exist up to the first half of the 20th century.

In view of the poor conditions, wars, hunger and the most difficult physical work that people had to do in the very isolated and natural village, various experiences can be explained as hallucinations. With the achievement of a higher standard of living from the 1960s, reports of supernatural events also ceased.

The watermill

Legendary watermill on the Rogačica River

Oral records indicate that the events of Sava Savanović took place shortly before the arrival of the local Jagodić family in the Zarožje valley . In the first half of the 18th century she settled under the rocks near the watermill. From this it can be concluded that the legendary water mill was also built and used during this period. Today only the remains of the neat stone foundation of the original water mill are left.

Today there are still remnants of a watermill built around a hundred years later, which is right next to the original watermill. Today this is often mistaken for the legendary water mill. This newer water mill was built by Kmet Simo Jagodić in around the 1840s and was in operation until the late 1950s. The name for the water mill as Simić'a vodenica (the water mill of Simeun) or later Jagodić'a vodenica is derived from the builder.

The watermill is located by a small bridge ( location ), about four kilometers and 340 meters in altitude from Gnjila Priseka . You drive through the small settlement Jagodići with a small church.

tourism

The watermill is not actively offered as a tourist attraction. She gained her fame mainly through oral tradition. Despite the lack of marketing, numerous urban adventurers, historians , archaeologists and esotericists find their way to the Jagodići Valley.

In the fall of 2012, the vampire Sava Savanović first achieved international fame when the neglected water mill finally collapsed in the fall. The angry villagers in the valley, concerned about the impending disaster, hung crucifixes and garlic on their front doors. The municipal administration of Bajina Bašta warned in a message , presumably to be understood as a PR campaign , against Sava Savanović, because it was feared that the vampire, now deprived of his home and now restless, was up to mischief in the area again.

The vampire last received media attention in December 2012, when a poster by Sava Savanović was exhibited at a tourism fair in the neighboring municipality of Valjevo . The villagers of Zarožje then reported to the police in Bajina Bašta that they had “kidnapped their vampire”. The campaign is to be understood as a PR gag, but the two communities are actually arguing about the marketing rights.

Reception in literature and film

Sava Savanović appears in:

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Obrad Dodić: Zarožje pod Povlenom . Ed .: Kulturno-prosvetna zajednica Srbija. Bratis Užice, Bajina Bašta 2013, ISBN 978-86-7596-143-7 .
  2. ↑ Information on the saga of Sava Savanović ( memento of the original from June 11, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Serbian) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.zarozje.com
  3. ↑ a b Borisav S. Jagodić: from collected oral traditions of the villagers of Zarožje
  4. ↑ 'Put garlic in your windows and crosses in your homes': Serbian council warns residents vampire is on the loose after his 'house' collapses. In: Daily Mail. November 27, 2012, accessed September 1, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Срушила се воденица вампира Саве. In: Politika. November 27, 2012, accessed September 1, 2018 (Serbian).
  6. ↑ J. Trijić, P. Vujanac: STRANCI OPSEDAJU ZAROŽANE. In: alo.rs. December 7, 2012, accessed August 27, 2018 (Serbian).