This volume deals with the relation between heritage, history and politics in the Balkans. Contributions examine diverse ways in which material and immaterial heritage has been articulated, negotiated and manipulated since the nineteenth century. The major question addressed here is how modern Balkan nations have voiced claims about their past by establishing ’proof’ of a long historical presence on their territories in order to legitimise national political narratives. Focusing on claims constructed in relation to tangible evidence of past presence, especially architecture and townscape, the contributors reveal the rich relations between material and immaterial conceptions of heritage. This comparative take on Balkan public uses of the past also reveals many common trends in social and political practices, ideas and fixations embedded in public and collective memories. Balkan Heritages revisits some general truths about the Balkans as a region and a category, in scholarship and in politics. Contributions to the volume adopt a transnational and trans-disciplinary perspective of Balkan identities and heritage(s), viewed here as symbolic resources deployed by diverse local actors with special emphasis on scholars and political leaders.

This volume deals with the relation between heritage, history and politics in the Balkans. Contributions examine diverse ways in which material and immaterial heritage has been articulated, negotiated and manipulated since the nineteenth century. The major question addressed here is how modern Balkan nations have voiced claims about their past by establishing ’proof’ of a long historical presence on their territories in order to legitimise national political narratives. Focusing on claims constructed in relation to tangible evidence of past presence, especially architecture and townscape, the contributors reveal the rich relations between material and immaterial conceptions of heritage. This comparative take on Balkan public uses of the past also reveals many common trends in social and political practices, ideas and fixations embedded in public and collective memories. Balkan Heritages revisits some general truths about the Balkans as a region and a category, in scholarship and in politics. Contributions to the volume adopt a transnational and trans-disciplinary perspective of Balkan identities and heritage(s), viewed here as symbolic resources deployed by diverse local actors with special emphasis on scholars and political leaders.

Where are the food and wine tasters and enthusiasts? This one is for you; this is right up your alley! Serbia is a beautiful place in the south of East Europe and part of Western Balkan. Balkan was a place of beauty, heritage, and culture. We had ancient warriors, and Roman Empire, Ottoman Empire, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and they all lived through this place, leaving their customs, traditions, backgrounds, experiences, involvements, conducts and behaviors. They left all these, and they left their skills for survival, and they left their love for food. This is what you get when you taste a Balkan food. You taste culture; rich culture. You taste the strength of mothers, you taste the passion of the youths, you taste the insurgency of the people, and you taste the beauty of their environs. You feel home and present, you feel like a part of something great and lovely. You experience paradise and defiance all at the same time. So the Balkans did not live a fairytale, but they lived amongst beauty and ashes, and their meals reflect exactly that! Try out this Balkan cookbook today, you will be amazed at how good these dishes are!

The present volume is the last in the Entangled Balkans series and marks the end of several years of research guided by the transnational, “entangled history” and histoire croisée approaches. The essays in this volume address theoretical and methodological issues of Balkan or Southeast European regional studies—not only questions of scholarly concepts, definitions, and approaches but also the extra-scholarly, ideological, political, and geopolitical motivations that underpin them. These issues are treated more systematically and by a presentation of their historical evolution in various national traditions and schools. Some of the essays deal with the articulation of certain forms of “Balkan heritage” in relation to the geographical spread and especially the cultural definition of the “Balkan area.” Concepts and definitions of the Balkans are thus complemented by (self-)representations that reflect on their cultural foundations.

The Balcans is a historical overview of the development of statehood of the countries of the Balcan peninsula. The book starts with a brief summary of the history of these lands from the 5th century BC to the 6th century AD and gives a more detailed and extended historical account by country starting from 6th century AD and forth up to the times of the creation of this work.