Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
stretching roughly from Hungary to Greece. Despite its current, somewhat sinister connota-
tions, the word “Balkan” probably comes from a Turkish term meaning, simply, “wooded
mountains.” The Balkan Peninsula has always been a crossroads of cultures. The Illyrians,
Greeks,Celts,andRomanshadsettlementsherebeforetheSlavsmovedintotheregionfrom
the north around the seventh century. During the next millennium and a half, the western
part of the peninsula—which would become Yugoslavia—was divided by a series of cultur-
al, ethnic, and religious fault lines.
The most important religious influences were
Western Christianity
(i.e., Roman Cath-
olicism, first brought to the western part of the region by Charlemagne and later reinforced
by the Austrian Habsburgs),
Eastern Orthodox Christianity
(brought to the east from the
Byzantine Empire), and
Islam
(brought to the south by the Ottomans).
