Serbia's small village of Kisiljevo is seeking to reclaim its title as the cradle of vampires and attract tourists intrigued by mysterious tales. Located about 100 kilometers east of Belgrade, the villagers hope that reviving the legend of Petar Blagojevic, considered by some as the first documented vampire, will bring new attention and visitors to their community.
In recent years, local residents have been working to promote the folklore. "Our area is rich in myths and legends—not only in the story of Petar Blagojević, but also in the charms of the Vlachs and the unique local customs," said Dajana Stojanović, the director of the tourism office in Kisiljevo. She believes that promoting local folklore has "huge potential" for attracting tourists and investors to the area.
The legend dates back to the summer of 1725, when the villagers of Kisiljevo were gripped by fear after a series of unexplained deaths. According to historical accounts, they suspected that a recently deceased resident, Petar Blagojevic, had risen from the grave at night to harm the living. "Villagers suspected that Petar Blagojevic had risen from the grave at night to suck blood and kill local residents," reports Clarín.
Frightened by the mysterious deaths, the community decided to exhume Blagojevic's body under the supervision of a priest. Upon opening the grave, they found his corpse in an unusually preserved state. "At that time, the corpse of Petar Blagojevic was found in perfect condition," said Mirko Bogićević, a former mayor of the village and unofficial biographer of Blagojevic. Bogićević's family has lived in Kisiljevo for eleven generations, and he holds a copy of the Wienerische Diarium from July 21, 1725, which reported on the events, indicating how quickly the story spread.
"When they drove a hawthorn stake into him, fresh red blood flowed from his mouth and his ears," Bogićević recounted, according to Kosmo. For those present, this was seen as confirmation that the vampire legend was more than mere myth.
The term vampire was reportedly documented for the first time in official records by Austrian doctors and soldiers stationed in the region. "Austrian doctors arrived in Kisiljevo and recorded the term vampire for the first time, although its etymology remains unclear," notes HotNews. Some scholars believe that a misunderstanding might have contributed to the birth of the vampire myth. Clemens Ruthner, director of the Centre for European Studies at Trinity College Dublin, suggests that a translation error could be at the root of the legend. "There is an old Bulgarian word, upior, meaning evil person. I believe the villagers used that word, and the doctors misunderstood and wrote vampire in their reports," Ruthner explained.
Ruthner also speculated that the unexplained deaths could have been the result of an anthrax epidemic. "Vampirism, like witchcraft, is a very common pattern to explain what cannot be explained. Especially collective phenomena, such as epidemics," he said, as reported by Clarín. Instead of recognizing a disease outbreak, the villagers may have sought a scapegoat in the form of a supernatural entity.
Local historian Nenad Mihajlović has been instrumental in uncovering and promoting the legend within Kisiljevo. Using a method called dowsing, he and others sought to locate Blagojevic's grave. "I led the investigation a few years ago together with seekers—people who locate energy nodes in the earth," Mihajlović told HotNews. According to him, something unusual occurred during their search. "Right next to where we are standing, something very strange happened—the dowsing rod literally fell into the ground. It had never happened like that before," he said.
While the physical remains of Blagojevic are no longer present—his body was reportedly burned and the ashes scattered in a nearby lake—the villagers are keen to keep his story alive. "Probably he was an ordinary man who had the luck—or the misfortune—to become a vampire. All that is known about him is that he came from Kisiljevo; his name appears in registers starting around 1700," Bogićević said, holding the historical newspaper that chronicled the events of 1725.
Written with the help of a news-analysis system.