Thematic route: The cultural heritage route

Name of the touristic attraction: The Story of Negotin’s Name

Description: Today, two legends are most frequently mentioned about the town Negotin getting its name. According to the first one, in Mali Selo, one of the oldest parts of Negotin, a man, Negota settled with a woman named Tina; a family with herds of sheep. The surroundings were rich in lush grazing, and around the valleys there were forests. Step-by-step, a settlement was created around the sheep flocks, and from the name Negota and Tina, the name Negotin was created.

According to another legend, in the ancient times, two great men built two cities. The first one, on the place where today is located Negotin, and the other one, on the hill near the village of Vidrovac, in the area where the ruins of the town of Vidrov are located. When the works were finished, the nobleman from the hills told the one in the valley: “I made a better city than you did!” From “than you” (nego ti) became the name Negotin.

There is also a third legend that talks about the presence over time, of various civilizations in today’s Krajina: Illyrian, Tracian, and Celta, as well as the Romans. They repelled the Dacians, in order to confront later in this region with others: Goths and Slovenes. Byzantine rulers, powerless in front of the attackers, allowed some Slavic tribes to settle in the areas between Morava and the Black Sea. On the territory of today’s Negotin Krajina and along Timok, the first inhabitants settled were the Slavic tribes NEGOCI and TIMACI. At that time, the history of the eastern part of Serbia began, and in the names of the aforementioned tribes, many found a motive to squeeze another legend about the emergence of a name for the city of Negotin.

Negotin is a city settlement in the Bor District, and it is located on the border of three states: Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria. The name of Negotin was first recorded in the 16th century, and it has been part of Serbia since 1833, after liberation from the Turks.