The Hajduk Veljko Museum

In 1966, a decision was made to buy off the house and, considering its very characteristic architecture, to open an ethnographic department in it. The restoration and adaptation followed. The building was constructed of hard materials. The ground level walls were built of rough stone, arranged in straight horizontal rows with a thickness of 75 to 95 cm.

The upper level was made of bricks, and a special beauty was given to it by the arcaded balcony and the ingeniously triangle shaped wall surface over the entrance, i.e. full tympanum, decorated with a luxuriant garland of bricks arranged in a zigzag combination, modeled after church buildings of Byzantine origin.    

The Krajina Museum wanted to repay the duke of Negotin nahia appropriately, by displaying the material heritage exhibits from its collections. The permanent museum display, in addition to a historical and ethnological collections, also contains an art collection, which possesses, besides its artistic value, a significant documentary importance. 

The historical exhibition is quite heterogeneous, which increases its significance because it also covers a part of the ethnological heritage from the same epoch, which is directly or indirectly related to military equipment and weapons. The frameworks of  the collection are traditional Serbian arms - yataghans. Yataghans date back from the early to mid-19th century, and represent all major workshops of the Balkans - Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Metohija, Albania and the Bay of Kotor.

Practically equally represented two types of yataghans with white bone or black ivory grips, a significant portion of the blade with descriptions that indicate the time of preparation, owners and masters. Several swords from the same era were also collected. Basically it is a weapon with a handle in the form of a “gun” and a blade type “shamshir”.

As with yataghans, this type of weapon was a product of primarily Balkan workshops, although there were copies that were made in the important centres of the Ottoman Empire. Sabres were from the time of the late 18th century. The copy probably belonged to the Turkish cavalry from the time of the reforms of Mahmud II, so it could certainly be categorized as regulated weapon.

Guns that are now kept in the collections of Negotin Museum are typical examples of craft workshops of the Balkans used in the first half of the 19th century. On the arms there are almost equally represented mechanisms with a system of fire flint, local, “ Miquelet” variants, as well as modern French “mechanisms”. The collection includes guns made in Prizren and Debar and also weapons imported from workshops of North-Western Europe.

Finally, certainly the most important pieces in the collection are two cannons. In our collections there are rare pieces of artillery from the time of the First and Second Uprising, so these two cannons, with partly preserved gun-carriages, are rarities themselves. In addition, one tube is iron, which was in 1804–1813 Serbia quite rare. It is known that on the defensive line in 1813, there was a set of five cannons and it is quite possible that these specimens came from the bastion of one of the trenches.

On the ground floor of the Haiduk Veljko Museum there are traditional viticulture and winemaking ethnographic artefacts, and on the first floor, in “Odžaklija”, there are 19th century furniture  items. The goal of the Haiduk Veljko Museum ground floor exhibition (housed in Todorče’s Lodgings) is to present the traditional viticulture and winemaking. The exhibits were selected from existing ethnological collections in order to highlight important aspect of this production for Negotin economy.  

Museum items, such as barrel, water container (balon), two kinds of jugs-ewer and mug, and the like, illustrate traditional winemaking. Nowadays it is dying out, which made us want to remind people of this kind of production and usefulness and value of these  items. Ordinary people are skilled at making certain objects of different materials: wood, metal, clay, glass ... that in addition to prior mentioned values ​​ have a great importance, because they are used in wedding or funeral rituals.

By creating within traditional culture, a man remains in the spirit of conception prevailing in that particular society. His works were a reflection of the economic and social conditions, as well as customary and religious beliefs, which still live at home and are passed from generation to generation. These examples show the skill and talent of those who make them, most made freely, without a rigid frame, and that's the joy of living, because every item tells a story, and often is a work of art.

In Eastern Serbia and Negotin-Krajina viticulture was once a very important and lucrative industry. By selling good wine, one could gain good fortune, thus increasing one’s household. The containers used in wine making (casks, jugs, flasks, etc.) were decorated with symbols and motifs, which show a great breadth and rich ornamentation. They creators used what was around them. The exhibits show the achieved harmony between the useful and the beautiful.   

At the Museum of Hajduk Veljko there is “odžaklija”. It is the smallest room in the living quarters constructed in the middle of the magnificent 19th century, which the citizens call Todorče’s Lodgings. Odžaklija was a typical kitchen area, where food used to be prepared on the open hearth. Odžaklija, kitchen, house, hearth - these were the names of the space that was used for cooking and heating homes.

Appropriate Museum ethnological collection items from the second half of 19th and the first half of the 20th century were selected for this permanent exhibition. Hearth was the most important part of the house. Its position depended on several factors: the method of construction of the house, the family economic diversity and the number of family members.

When Haiduk Veljko liberated Krajina he left a deep mark in the constitution of national identity. The rich folk tradition has inspired many in the fine arts. Vuk and his contemporaries left a detailed description of Veljko, which facilitated his portraiture. His brother Milutin and contemporaries chose people who were most similar to Veljko in order to create his character.  Felix Kanitz wrote about one of them- a young Arnautin Duke Petar Vukotić.

He wrote that Čučuk Stana visited Prince Miloš in Bucharest after Veljko's death and on that occasion Miloš asked the Arnautin to dress as Hajduk Veljko and appear before her. The similarity was so strong that she became speechless upon seeing him and thought that he had risen from the dead. The portrait was later donated to the National Museum, and Pavle Čortanović had copy of the portrait sent to the Mayor of Negotin Mihail Lazarević.

Nikola Kusovac noted that the portrait of Raka, the son of Hajduk Veljko, was kept in the National Museum. It was done by Petar Palikruškić and also served as a model for future portraits of the famous duke. This museum exhibition is in some ways trying to bring Hajduk Veljko closer to visitors, to point out his courage and  dignity and bring the spirit of heroic pride. The museum is proud of the good concept of the exhibition, which is backed by a large number of visitors.