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General
Architecture And Building Construction
Two Types of Serbian Village Houses
by Nenad Krstivojevic
Village House in Šumadija
Sumadia is the central region of Serbia, with rolling hills and valleys. Villages have large areas of fields, meadows and orchards with houses all over hill sides. The climate is continental with hot, humid, rainy summers and cold winters with snow.
Houses are concentated in a few parts of the village. The church, school, purchase room and shop with barroom make the cetral part of the village.
Farm buildings include a house with outside buildings such as cow shed, pigsty, chicken coop, dairy store, sleeping outbuilding and store houses. A farmyard is usually in a place sheltered from the prevailing wind.
The house walls are made of brick and the basement of stone. The roof has a timber and tile structure, and the ceiling is made of timber with cane and earth. The entrance has a long canopy of timber and tile.
The house has a big room named ''odjaklija'' for guests, a kitchen and one or two bedrooms. The oldest houses have an outside toilet in the farmyard. ''Odjaklija'' has a big table for many guests who come for the family saint's day. The hosts prepare large amounts of food for anyone who visits their home. One of traditions is to serve these guests a spoonful of ''zito'', a mush made of wheat, sugar and nuts.
Village House in Mountains
In the mountains houses are very rare. The climate is rather severe with short dry summer and long winter periods, and with a lot of snow and cold winds. So, the houses are made of timber and stone. The roof is made of timber and wooden tiles. The house has two rooms. The one with entrance has a big fire place. Food is prepared here. In this room there is a door for the other room with beds. Near the house there is a shed for sheep and a dairy store. Next to it are the haystacks. The farmyard doesn't have a fence.