Ruma: History, Culture and Borkovac

Ruma brings together a clearly dated history, named cultural festivals and an excursion area nearby. For planning your trip, you can consider these topics separately: the development of the settlement, historical cultural landmarks, organized music and theatre festivals, and trails and activities at Borkovac. If you’re looking for a hotel in Ruma, this overview can help you first decide what to focus on during your trip and then compare offers according to your own criteria.

A chronological look at the city’s history

In 1746, the development of a new urban settlement began at the site of present-day Ruma, with wide streets laid out at right angles. This year marks the beginning of that development. A year later, Empress Maria Theresa granted Ruma the status of a free market town in a charter dated 20 July 1747. The first fair in Ruma was held on 10 October 1747. Both dates fall in the same year but mark different events: the charter dates the granting of market-town status, while the October date marks the first fair. Another cultural milestone followed in 1861, when Ruma’s first Serbian reading room began operating. There are 115 years between the start of the settlement’s development in 1746 and the reading room in 1861. This makes it possible to distinguish the early development of the city from a later cultural institution as separate milestones in the town’s history.

Culture and festivals

The Kulturni centar Ruma organizes the Festival of Vojvodina Music Societies, the Festival of Serbian Tambura Orchestras and the Trema fest theatre festival. Trema fest is organized in cooperation with the Ruma City Theatre. The names make it easy to distinguish their themes: music societies in Vojvodina, tambura orchestras in Serbia and theatre. If one of these fields is of particular interest to you, you can make it the focus of your cultural trip. For a specific festival visit, please check the event dates; the historical fair of 1747 should be considered separately as a part of the city’s history.

Activities in nearby Borkovac

The Borkovac excursion area near Ruma is about two kilometres from the centre. It has designated fitness trails and walking paths lined with trees. Depending on your interests, you can plan to exercise on the fitness trails or take a walk along the tree-lined paths. Kayaking is also possible on Lake Borkovac, in addition to fishing.

Plan your stay around your interests

To help you decide, consider whether a particular festival or the city’s history is the main reason for your visit, or whether you would also like to spend time in nearby Borkovac. Each focus leads to different planning questions: if you’re attending a festival, check your travel dates against the event dates; if you’re visiting Borkovac, choose the activity that interests you. In chronological order, you can distinguish the start of the settlement’s development, its market-town status and the reading room. Then compare hotels in Ruma using the specific offer details for your stay.

Discover more destinations: Surduk, Morović, Šid, Ležimir, Inđija, Zasavica I, Nikinci, Pećinci.

For the broader travel overview: Srem District.