THE EXCURSION TO CER
The first excursion in October 2018 was spent by NUSANTARA on Cer and in the region of Posavina and Tamnava – on Saturday, October the 6th, the NUSANTARA Association of Serbian-Indonesian Friendship travelled to Mačva.
The most important landmark visited that Saturday was the Memorial Centre in Tekeriš, dedicated to heroes of the glorious Battle of Cer. The excursionists were welcomed by Mrs. Ana Pavlović, licenced tourist guide for Cer, who convincingly talked about the Memorial complex. Besides the Memorial Centre in Tekeriš, visitors also saw a museum exhibition, since 2003 enriched with busts of the four Serbian voivodas and general Pavle Jurišić Šturm. The group was accompanied by guests from the Embassy of Indonesia, for whom a lecture about the Battle of Cer and the Cer mountain itself was organized in English.
Members of the NUSANTARA Association of Serbian-Indonesian Friendship honoured the shades of the illustrious soldiers of voivoda Stepa Stepanović, which was NUSANTARA’s singular way to join the commemoration in honour of the Salonika front breakthrough and the end of the First World War.
The next monument visited by excursionists in Mačva that sunny day was a monument to love – the Tomb of Ašik. It was erected to the „Serbian Romeo and Juliette“, i.e. Pavle and Đula, protagonists of a tragic love story in Pocerina, first described by Janko Veselinović. The place has been reputed for a popular belief in its power to strengthen love; it is believed that there are few who visit the Tomb of Ašik without crowning their love before the altar in church.
Neither this Saturday lacked a tour of Orthodox sanctuaries, abundant in Mačva and Pocerina. The choice was the Kaona monastery. Kaona is a great sanctity and a real jewel among Serbian Orthodox monasteries – the first hospital in this area, the first school, the first theological seminary were inaugurated in this monastery. It has always been inhabited by monks; archimandrite Filimon talked to members of the NUSANTARA Association of Serbian-Indonesian Friendship that the monastery had also been renowned as the place where the first baptistry had been erected not solely in Pocerina, but also in Serbia nationwide. Voivoda Stepa led the Battle of Cer from Draginje – another datum that makes monks from Kaona proud with reason.
A selected spot for Saturday lunch of members of the NUSANTARA Association of Serbian-Indonesian Friendship was the „Kneževi konaci“ ethno complex in Belotić. A part of excursionists had lunch at the „Kneževa večera“ restaurant; others spent that time in a walk, touring the estate, chose to relax in nature and within the ambiance of an authentic household in Mačva…
A visit to Vladimirci marked the final spot of the Saturday’s itinerary. Excursionists visited the building of the old Prefecture of the county, known among locals as „Konak“. The construction of that important building, its architecture and relevance was explained to guests by Mrs. Jasmina Hojčić, director of the „Diša Atić“ city library. Members of the NUSANTARA Association of Serbian-Indonesian Friendship had a chance to see themselves the building about which they had read in Milovan Glišić’s short story „Glava šećera“, and which has stood as the biggest and most beautiful architectural object in the Tamnava region for decades.
Biljana Đorđević