Raška

Raška and other geographical regions in Serbia

Raška (Serbian Cyrillic: Рашка) is a region in south-western Serbia and northern Montenegro. In wider sense, the region includes most of Raška, Zlatibor, and Moravica districts, while in narrower sense, it is mostly situated in the Raška District. The southern part of Raška is also known as Sandžak and is divided between Serbia and Montenegro.

In the Middle Ages, the region was the center of the Serbian Principality (Raška, Rascia) and of the Serbian Kingdom whose capital was the city of Ras (a World Heritage Site) until 1265.

History

The state(s) anachronistically called Raška were first known collectively as Serbia.

The name Rascia (Serbian: Рашка; Raška) is used by modern historiography to refer to the mainland region (known in Serbian as the hinterlands, in contrast to the maritime fiefs of the Adriatic coast) of the Principality of Serbia inhabited and ruled by Serbs; the seat of the early medieval state of Serbia. It is used to describe Serbia up to Stefan Nemanja (1166–1196) or the forming of the Kingdom of Serbia in 1217. "Rascia" continued to serve as an exonym for Serbia in Western European sources since late 12th century, along with other names such as Servia and Slavonia.

The name is derived from the name of the region's most important fort, Ras which first appears in the work de aedificiis of Byzantine Procopius as Arsa prior to the forming of Serbia.^[1] Ras eventually became the capital district and seat of the first bishopric of Serbia (Bishopric of Ras, Raška episkopija). The name of the bishopric eventually started to denote the entire area under jurisdiction and later, under Stefan Nemanja, Ras was re-generated as state capital and the name spread to the entire land. The first attested appearance of the name Raška is in a charter from Kotor dated to 1186, in which Stefan Nemanja is mentioned as župan of Rascia (Prince of Serbia). Soon after Rascia became one of the common names for Serbia in western sources (Papacy, German, Italian, French etc.) often in conjunction with, Serbia (Servia et Rascia). However, Rascia appears scarcely in Serbian and never in Byzantine works to denote the state.

Modern

Between 1918 and 1922, Raška District was one of the administrative units of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Its seat was in Novi Pazar. In 1922, a new administrative unit known as the Raška Oblast was formed with its seat in Čačak. In 1929, this administrative unit was abolished and its territory was divided among three newly formed provinces (banovinas). The region is a part of the greater "Old Serbia"-region used in historical terms.

See also

• List of regions of Serbia
• Raška District

References

External links

• Tourist Information About Raška region

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