Bukovac Буковац
—  Village  —
View of the church in Bukovac from a hill
Bukovac Location in Serbia
Coordinates: 45°11′28″N 19°53′41″E / 45.19111°N 19.89472°E / 45.19111; 19.89472Coordinates: 45°11′28″N 19°53′41″E / 45.19111°N 19.89472°E / 45.19111; 19.89472
Country	Serbia
District	South Bačka
Municipality	Petrovaradin
Population (2002)	3,595
Time zone	UTC+1
Area code(s)	+ 381(0)21

Novi Sad

Petrovaradin

Budisava

Kać

Čenej

Kisač

Rumenka

Veternik

Futog

Begeč

Stepanovićevo

Sremska
Kamenica

Bukovac

Ledinci

Stari
Ledinci

Kovilj

City of Novi Sad
●●●●●

Municipality of
Novi Sad

Municipality of
Petrovaradin

Bukovac (Cyrillic: Буковац) is a village in Serbia. It is situated in the Petrovaradin urban municipality (one of two municipalities of the City of Novi Sad), in the Vojvodina province. The village has a Serb ethnic majority and its population is 3,595 (2002 census).

  The name

The name Bukovac is thought to be derived from the word for a tree - 'bukva' ('beech'). The legend says when first settlers settled where now village's center is, there was an old beech so they named the place Bukovac upon that tree. There are also villages named Bukovac in central Serbia and in former Yugoslav republics.

  Geography

Bukovac is geographically located in Syrmia, but it is part of South Bačka District. The village is situated on the brows of Fruška Gora mountain, and it is part of the metropolitan area of Novi Sad. It takes 9 kilometers from Novi Sad city center to reach the village. The City bus number 64 drives to the village once every hour or more frequently during rush hours. Bukovački potok (Bukovac Stream) flows through the village.

  History, culture and education

Illyrian tumuli and necropolis have been unearthed in the town.

Bukovac was founded during the Ottoman rule in the 16th century by the Serb settlers. There is a Serbian Orthodox church from 1808 in the village.

There is one elementary school (grades 1-8) and kindergarten.

  Historical population

• 1961: 1,329
• 1971: 2,012
• 1981: 2,641
• 1991: 3,040

Village's population was boosted throughout late 1950s, '60s and early '70s when settlers from Bosnia came to Vojvodina. With negative natality across Vojvodina and people emigrating to Western Europe, during the Balkan conflicts Serb refugees from former Yugoslav republics Bosnia and Croatia helped boost village's population in the 1990s.

  Sports

Most of the village's sports life revolves around its football club, Fruškogorski Partizan. The field is situated in the center of the village.

  Attractions in and around Bukovac

There is a famous Fruska Gora's spring Vilina Vodica (Fairy's Water) nearby the village mentioned in poems of one of the greatest Serb poets Jovan Jovanović Zmaj as he used to visit the spring with his wife. Today it's a place where trailers and mountaineers stop by for refreshment while hiking across Fruska Gora. Village's mountaineering society is named 'Vilina Vodica'.

  Famous people

• dr Pavle Bugarčić, а professor at the Faculty of Sciences in Novi Sad
• Boris Kovač, a musician from Bukovac
• Milica Stojadinović-Srpkinja (1830–1878), a writer born in Bukovac

  See also

• List of places in Serbia
• List of cities, towns and villages in Vojvodina

  References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bukovac

• Slobodan Ćurčić, Broj stanovnika Vojvodine, Novi Sad, 1996.