Vernacular architecture in the Czech villages in Serbian Banat: historical development and the present day
Abstract
This paper focuses on the urban and historical development of Serbian Banat, especially in the context of the Austrian politics of colonization in the area of the Military Border. It describes the individual phases of Czech settlement in the district around the city Bela Cerkva.
The core of the study is the phenomenon of typical houses of the colonists from other parts of Austrian Empire who settled here. Authors compare the visual image of the colonists' houses in Bulgarian Vojvodovo, described by B.
Kňourek and L. Budilová (2015), with the houses in Serbian Banat.
The research took place during the fieldwork of students of the Department of Ethnology, Charles University. The paper describes contemporary relationship of Czechs to their own houses, the contemporary visual look of the colonists' houses, and individual architectural interferences.
It discusses urbanistic development of villages in Serbian Banat populated by Czechs (České Selo and Kruščice) and its possible prospects.