Corridor: Diagonal Road, Danube Road
Country: Serbia, Negotin
Type: Vernacular Architecture, Cultural Landscape
Epoch: Modern Times
Theme: Vernacular Architecture
World Heritage:

A number of vine-growing settlements, called “pivnice” or “pimnice”, appeared in the 19th century in Negotinska Krajina – a traditional vine-growing region by the Danube. Normally erased in or around the inhabited areas, “pivnice” grew on the site of earlier seasonal settlements that emerged spontaneously in periods of intensive work in vineyards. In these small complexes every family built its own wine cellar (pivnice). The wine cellars were used for processing grapes and storing wine, as well as for living in times of intensive works in the vineyard. The buildings in the “pivnice” areas were one-spaced and partially dug-in. Some of the more-developed examples are possessing also rooms above the cellars. Erased in stone and covered with tiles, some with impressive entrances under arches, “pivnice” rural areas are impressing with their simplicity.
Today we can enjoy three villages and their “pivnice” as separate complexes, located near the town of Negotin – in the North-West part of the country. We are finding there representative examples of vernacular architecture on the hill slopes above the villages of Rajac and Rogljevo, the “pivnice” of Stubik – 15 kilometers from the village, near the monastery Bukovo.

Council of Europe, RPSEE