The Rajac Wine Cellars
About the Rajac Wine Cellars
The Rajac wine cellars, or pimnice as they are also called, are located about two kilometres west of the Rajac village, on the Beli breg hill above the Timok valley. This unique complex of wine cellars represents a spatial, cultural, and historical whole of exceptional importance and is one of the most representative examples of traditional wine-growing architecture in Serbia. Together with the Rogljevo pimnice, they are candidates for inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The complex consists of around 270 stone houses – cellars, built from the mid-18th century to the 1930s. The cellars are grouped around a central square with a fountain and connected by a dense network of narrow, winding lanes that follow the terrain’s contours. They were built of dressed stone and logs, with walls up to 60 centimetres thick, usually partially dug into the ground to maintain the stable temperature necessary for the production and storage of wine. On the upper floor are rooms where the owners stayed during the harvest and the nurturing of young wine. All the buildings are roofed with traditional ćeramida tiles, giving the entire area an exceptional visual identity.
The cellars are known as “houses without chimneys”, because no one lives in them permanently. Wine “lives” in them. Within each one, there was a complete space for grape processing: an entry point for a wooden gutter (gurma) through which grapes were poured into the vat, the cellar space for fermentation and storage, and the upper floor for supervising the process and staying during the harvest. Today, these cellars still produce wines from autochthonous varieties such as Smederevka, Bagrina, White Tamjanika, Prokupac, Red Burgundac, and Gamay – wines that are traditionally believed to have a special aroma, healing properties, and to “encourage good cheer and even better song”.
The history of the Rajac wine cellars is closely linked to the development of viticulture in the Negotin region. At the end of the 19th century, phylloxera destroyed vineyards throughout Europe, but due to the sandy and rocky soil, this disease did not spread to the area around Rajac. This marked the beginning of the flourishing of production and export of Negotin wines, and the cellars acquired the appearance and scale that we recognise today as a unique heritage.
Adding to the complex’s special significance is the old village cemetery on the south-western edge of the cellars, with around 200 well-preserved 19th-century tombstones made of the same stone as the cellars. The area also features small squares, an old “sacred” mulberry tree, and numerous traditional details that bear witness to the life of winegrowers and the long history of Negotin wine.
Today, around sixty cellars are still active, and local winegrowers living in the village of Rajac continue the centuries-old tradition of producing the “Rajac treasure”, preserving one of the most valuable segments of the tangible and intangible heritage of eastern Serbia.
Restoration Project
Project title: “Construction of Basic Infrastructure at the Rajac Pimnice”
Municipality: Negotin
Total value of works: EUR 3.675.000
Implementation period: August 2023 – November 2024
Financiers: The European Union and the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany
In order to preserve, revitalise, and ensure the sustainable management of this exceptional cultural asset, a comprehensive infrastructure project was carried out, which included:
- Water supply infrastructure: construction of a well with hydraulic equipment; a reservoir and connection installations; a new water supply and hydrant network within the cellars; connection of the existing public toilet.
- Faecal sewage: installation of a network through the complex; construction of the main collector; installation of a wastewater treatment facility; connection of the public toilet.
- Stormwater drainage: construction of a new network along the alleys in the intervention zone and a collector towards the existing channel.
- Road infrastructure: final treatment of vehicular and pedestrian surfaces in accordance with the guidelines of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments; reconstruction of the access road from the Negotin–Brusnik direction to the complex, in cooperation with the Municipality of Negotin.
- Electrical infrastructure: new public lighting in accordance with protection requirements; replacement of the existing transformer station; construction of new power distribution lines.
These works have created the preconditions for the sustainable development of the Rajac wine cellars, raising the level of protection of this cultural asset and improving the conditions for presentation and visitor access.
Panorama – The Rajac Wine Cellars
Video