Paraćin, Pomoravlje District, Šumadija and Western Serbia Region, Serbia

🇷🇸 Paraćin is a town and municipality located in the Pomoravlje District of central Serbia. It is located in the valley of the Velika Morava river, north of Kruševac and south-east of Kragujevac. It also has a civil airport.

There is a Neolithic archaeological site in the village of Drenovac. 8th century BC Basarabi pottery was found with the depiction of domestic cock. The Roman fort at Momčilov Grad produced a great number of coins of Byzantine Emperor Justinian (525–565).

A medieval town of Petrus was granted by Emperor Dušan to the local župan Vukoslav. Petrus was a centre of Petruš region [sr], one of the spiritual centres of Medieval Serbia. It comprised 14 monasteries and churches, all from the 14th century, along the rivers Crnica and Grza. As of 2017 several of the monasteries are being restored while there are plans to restore the town of Petrus, too, and to establish a touristic complex which would encompass both the town and the monasteries.

Paraćin was mentioned for the first time in 1375. That year, Prince Lazar of Serbia issued a charter to the Monastery of Great Lavra by which he granted to the monastery villages in the Petruš region, and Trg Parakinov brod ("Town of Parakin's river crossing"). It is believed that the name of the town originated from Parakin, name of a ferryman who ferried the people across the Crnica river, on which the town is located. In time, the name evolved into Paraćin.

In the 19th century, with the construction of the railway and its further branching, and already being located on the most important road route, Tsarigrad Road, Paraćin became a major traffic hub. The industry followed the traffic, so Paraćin was one of the largest industrial centres of Serbia in the 19th and 20th century, and the most densely populated town in country in the late 19th century.

From 1929 to 1941, Paraćin was part of the Morava Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

Apart from the town of Paraćin, the municipality includes the following settlements, along with number of residents (2002 census): • Bošnjane (1012) • Buljane (1545) • Busilovac (1041) • Čepure (825) • Davidovac (461) • Donja Mutnica (1051) • Donje Vidovo (1932) • Drenovac (2009) • Glavica (1134) • Golubovac (267) • Gornja Mutnica (740) • Gornje Vidovo (855) • Izvor (929) • Klačevica (600) • Krežbinac (547) • Lebina (715) • Lešje (422) • Mirilovac (835) • Plana (1244) • Popovac (805) • Potočac (1309) • Raševica (1215) • Ratare (610) • Šaludovac (360) • Šavac (533) • Sikirica (1038) • Sinji Vir (251) • Sisevac (18) • Striža (1937) • Stubica (1784) • Svojnovo (1386) • Tekija (1251) • Trešnjevica (1137) • Zabrega (1211).

Tourist Industry The Sisevac excursion place is the most popular excursion sites in the municipality. Located in the small village with only 15 inhabitants in 2011, it is located in the structural basin on the Kučaj mountains, at an altitude of 360 m (1,180 ft). Sisevac is surrounded by forests and is the location of the Crnica river spring. Due to the favorable microclimate and the natural springs of the mineral water, it was known as the weather spa already in the 14th century.

Another excursion site is Grza, through which the river of the same name runs through. Popular attraction is the village of Gornja Mutnica and the river Suvara. Though it runs through the village only for a length of 500 m (1,600 ft), there are 30 bridges over it.