The purpose of the project is to attain clear knowledge about the historical conditions that influenced the development of viticulture, the production, consumption and culture of wine from the 15th to the 19th century. Throughout this period, the Central Balkans were part of the Ottoman Empire. These findings will bring us significantly closer to understanding the overall social and economic trends in this period, thus creating the conditions for a more objective insight into the status of the Christian population.

The period of Ottoman rule is so far the least studied period in the history of viticulture and winemaking in the Balkans. It is accompanied by numerous prejudices and myths that arose both from ignorance of the functioning of the Ottoman Empire and the social and economic conditions of that era, as well as from reducing the entire problem to religious and legal frameworks, such as Muslim’s relationship to alcohol. Viticulture was undoubtedly an extremely important economic branch, encouraged and regulated by the state.

The main objectives of the project are as follows: 1) to reexamine the hypothesis about the Ottoman era as a period of discontinuity in wine production; 2) to determine the main wine-growing regions; 3) to determine how the Ottoman political and legal system influenced the expansion or reduction of the area planted with vines, and the production and consumption of wine; 4) to examine different ways of using grapes and wine in food and everyday life; 5) to investigate the social role of wine, both in folk customs and in Christian rituals; 6) to investigate the role, symbolism and representations of vines, grapes and wine in folk tradition, literature, medicine and visual culture.

The main results of the project will be reflected in a collection of papers published in English, as part of the publications of the Institute for Balkan Studies SASA. The collection of papers will contain articles from the previously organized international scientific symposium.

The proposed project is expected to have multiple impacts. The collection of papers will provide new knowledge about viticulture and winemaking in the central Balkans accessible to everyone interested in understanding the way of life of the Christian and Muslim population of the Balkans. The more general contribution is reflected in the fact that the results will affect researchers from the field of natural sciences, primarily from the fields of agriculture, chemistry, genetics and technology, who are interested in putting their research into a precise historical context. Additionally, it will be possible, to a large extent, for experts in the field of tourism and hospitality to enrich wine tourism with modern interpretations of the past. The winemakers themselves will have the opportunity to present the story of their wines in a modern way, devoid of prejudices and myths. By highlighting the continuity in the cultivation of vines in certain wine-growing regions, it will spread awareness of the importance of autochthonous and regional varieties of vines.

This three-year project (2024–2026) is supported by the Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia within the frame of the PRISMA programme.