Babina Greda is a place of harmonious appearance and atmosphere. As a well-preserved example of an urban rustic environment, the Regional Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments in Osijek has declared Babina Greda a first-category heritage village.
The location of the present-day settlement of Babina Greda has been continuously inhabited for 8,000 years, spanning from prehistory, antiquity, and the Middle Ages to the present day. This makes it one of the richest cultural areas in Europe, where some of the continent’s oldest civilizations emerged.
So far, the remains of the earliest settlements have been discovered in the Dorovo-Klasno area, belonging to the Sopot culture from the Late Neolithic period. At Dorovo, remains of Late Bronze Age pottery have also been found, suggesting the existence of both a settlement and a cemetery from the same period (around 1300 to 750 BC). Additionally, fragments of La Tène pottery, indicating the presence of Celts in the area (around 300 BC to the 1st century AD), have been uncovered. With the conquest of Segestica (Sisak) around 35 AD, the Roman era began in continental Croatia (1st to late 4th century), bringing Slavonia under Roman rule. During their centuries-long governance, the Romans built cities, cemeteries, bridges, aqueducts, rural villa complexes, stone monuments, pottery, glass objects, household, agricultural, and medical items, as well as coins of Roman emperors. One of their most significant infrastructure projects was a 320-kilometer-long main road connecting the major urban centers of the Roman province—Siscia (Sisak) in the west and Sirmium (Sremska Mitrovica) in the east. A section of this main road passed south of Babina Greda. A branch road also connected Šamac to the medieval fortress of Kostroman (Castrum Romanum/Romanorum). This fortress was originally built by the Romans to oversee and secure the crossroads and the secondary road. According to local oral traditions, this old, now buried road was referred to as the “Roman Road,” “Turkish Road,” “Imperial Rampart,” and “Ancient Road” (Path of the Ancients).
There’s No Village Like Babina Greda
The feudal settlement of Gerenda, later known as Babina Greda, was mentioned as early as the year 1200, though initially only as “Greda.” This settlement was an estate owned by the Hungarian noble family Botoš. It was later recorded in 1506 as “Babagerenda,” as part of the estate of the Kostroman Castle, near present-day Slavonski Šamac.
The old settlement, originally located on the left bank of the Sava River, around the Saonica and Dubočica streams, was relocated around 1691 after the liberation from the Ottoman rule. The new settlement was established on higher ground, known as “grede,” alongside the Berava (“Garava”) stream.
Natural Features
The Municipality of Babina Greda is located in the western part of Vukovar-Syrmia County, along the Sava River. The average altitude of the area is 78 meters.
The entire area of Babina Greda consists of lowlands. The relief of Babina Greda’s surroundings was shaped during the Diluvium and Alluvium periods. Fine dust accumulated in the swamps, and small loess terraces—known in the Pannonian Plain as “grede”—formed. These terraces typically extend in crescent shapes from east to west. Watercourses transported accumulated loess, eroding the existing loess surfaces. Three kilometers north of the Sava River, a loess terrace known as “Beravačka greda” extends in a convex-crescent shape from east to west. It has an average altitude of 87 meters and a length of 7.5 km. This terrace serves as the backbone of the settlement and the main watershed of the area. North of Beravačka greda, towards the Merolino forest, the landscape alternates between terraces and marshlands. Within the village, the marshes Čevatovo, Jelas, and Jelaska-Mlaka are located north of Beravačka greda, while Dorovo, Klasno, Zmijno, Krusovica, Crna-Mlaka, Medveđa, and Ceršina-Mala are further north in the fields. (“Mlaka” is a local term for marshland.) North of Beravačka greda, the elevation decreases into the floodplain of Bicko Polje. These marshlands were mostly drained through the construction of embankments on the Sava River, land reclamation, and the regulation of Bicko Polje. The drained areas have been converted into arable land, and former marsh names have now become toponyms. Southwest of Beravačka greda, the land is approximately one meter lower. This is confirmed by toponyms referring to vegetation, such as Rit, Ritić, and Velike livade. This area remains partially waterlogged. Southeast of Beravačka greda, higher and lower land areas alternate, but higher elevations dominate, known locally as “Blata”. The term “Blata” refers to land where soil is more prevalent than water. Before the embankments were built, Blata were fed by high water levels from the Sava River. Today, they receive water from underground sources near the river.
Further southeast, there was once a marsh called “Bebrina”, and the toponym Jasinjice suggests that ash trees once thrived here due to the waterlogged soil. A similar case exists in the western part of the area, where Jasinje is at an altitude of 84 meters. In the east, a region known as “Laz” lies at the same elevation, indicating that a forest once stood here before being cleared long ago. The easternmost part of the area, “Lučica”, is a relatively elevated section of land, often used to describe a rise between bodies of water. Lučica is a peninsula in the meander of the Eastern Berava River, connected to the mainland from the north.
Lithological Composition
The surface layers of Vukovar-Syrmia County are composed of Quaternary sediments, which can be divided into older (Pleistocene) and younger (Holocene) deposits.
These sediments were formed over the last several hundred thousand years through deposition in aquatic environments (lakes, marshes, rivers, and streams) and on land. Their formation was strongly influenced by cycles of cold and dry glacial periods alternating with warm and humid interglacial periods, as well as intense tectonic activity.
In general, the predominant sediments are loosely bound or weakly consolidated fine-grained clastic materials, including:
- Clay (particle size < 0.004 mm)
- Silt (0.004 – 0.063 mm)
- Fine sand (0.063 – 0.25 mm)
These materials do not usually appear in pure form but rather as mixtures in various proportions.
Climate
The climate of the Municipality of Babina Greda has characteristics of a moderate continental climate. The average annual precipitation ranges between 750 and 800 mm. This is a transitional zone between the moderately semi-humid and steppe-arid Pannonian climatic zone. In addition to the general atmospheric circulation characteristic of these latitudes, this region experiences a strong modifying influence from the low Pannonian Plain and the large mountain systems of the Alps and the Dinaric Mountains. These geographical features somewhat reduce the influence of the Atlantic Ocean, and especially the Mediterranean Sea. During winter, cold air masses dominate, leading to a fresh, moderately continental climate with pronounced extremes in certain climatic elements. Precipitation occurs throughout the year. Winters often have few days with snow cover and low snowfall amounts. February is typically the driest month. Winds blow year-round, making this region mildly windy. The most common winds are northwest (NW), southwest (SW), and north (N) winds. During winter, the north wind dominates, while the east wind strengthens in the spring months. In terms of vegetation, this area represents a transitional zone between humid and arid climate-vegetation formations. These specific ecological conditions have contributed to the extensive spread of lowland forests of pedunculate oak (Quercus robur).
Get to Know Us
Renaissance for Some, War for Others
Let’s allow the Babina Greda time machine to take us back five centuries into the past. Columbus has just returned from a voyage that will change the world, da Vinci is entering his most productive years, and printing presses are spreading across Europe.
At the same time, the southern border of the Kingdom of Hungary, which then included Slavonia, is in serious danger. The Ottoman Empire (commonly referred to as Turkey) is advancing. In 1512, the defensive belt along the southern bank of the Sava River falls, making the Babina Greda area one of the most exposed regions.
However, let’s not panic more than the people who actually lived through these events. At the time, strictly defined national borders did not exist, and wars were not fought house by house. The local inhabitants lived in about ten small hamlets surrounded by swamps. A large portion of them probably never encountered the invaders, nor were they deeply concerned with major political events in the way that modern people might be.
The Birth of Slavonia
If you stand under the linden tree of Baba Keda, you’ll find yourself in the company of the only living being in Babina Greda that remembers the early autumn of 1683 and the days when Christian forces defeated the Ottomans under Vienna. With that victory, an avalanche was set in motion, and through a series of conflicts, known as the Great Turkish War, the Habsburg Monarchy (Austria) expanded by an area roughly equivalent to modern-day Croatia and Hungary combined. From the chaos of war, Slavonia emerged within its current borders. It was harder to create a modern Slavonian than to draw borders. The land needed to be settled. The largest influx of settlers came from Bosnia, and these people were called Šokci, a term still used today for the “older” Slavonians – those who settled earlier, not in the 20th century. By the early 18th century, Babina Greda was already quite populated, mostly with indigenous settlers, “where even at that time, some old families had branched out into several households” (S. Pavičić). Moreover, when Austria temporarily occupied Bosnian Posavina in 1718, a large number of settlers from Babina Greda and surrounding areas moved to the villages there, revitalizing places like Tolisa, Domaljevac, Donja Mahala, and others.
Events
In terms of the number of traditional events and cultural associations per capita, Babina Greda ranks among the top in Croatia. However, the difference compared to the tourist centers on the Adriatic coast, with which our village is on par by this criterion, is that events here are not held for the needs of mass tourism, but for the heart and soul. You will undoubtedly experience this for yourself if you visit one of the celebrations in Babina Greda throughout the year. Here, we present an overview of the biggest ones.
- Pokladni jahači u Babinoj Gredi
- “Nema sela nad Babine Grede”
- Stanarski susreti
- Večeri Matije Bačića