Padina (KovaÄica)
Padina (Cyrillic Падина ) is a municipality of the district Kovačica in County Southern Banat in the autonomous Serbian province of Vojvodina, with about 7,000 inhabitants, of which 99% are ethnic Slovak. Padina was settled in 1806 by Slovak families from central Slovakia, the name Padina but Serbian origin ( Padina = slope ).
Even before the founding of Padina was located in this area, a settlement of the same name, which was inhabited by Romanians and later by Serbs, but wandered all the inhabitants of the settlement on the basis of the harsh living conditions.
At this time the Vojvodina still belonged to Austria -Hungary and in this area there was the limit to the Ottoman Empire. Padina was founded as a border village to secure the military frontier. The situation in this area is increasingly destabilized by the first Serbian uprising in 1804. The military leaders of the Habsburg Monarchy decided to control the border better and secure. Padina should be settled by Slovaks and Samoš of Serbs.
The military surveyed 83 land and let it build simple clay houses. For public buildings better material was used. Under difficult conditions, Padina was able to welcome the new residents after two years of construction. The Slovaks were divided into two groups according to Padina. The first group arrived in 1806, the second group in the year 1808. Each group consisted of 80 families who came mainly from the counties Neograd, plague and Gemer. Some families also came from the counties Liptau and Neutra.
Because the number of the settlers of 1806 was not enough for the area, suggested the first priest, Martin Hamaliar, the Archduke Ludwig to bring a second group of settlers into the country. The Archduke promised to dig new wells in Padina. In gratitude, should be renamed to the proposal of Hamaliar, the place in Ludwig village, resulting in Hungarian Lajošfalva and, with the growth of the place, Nadlajošfalva ( Nagylajosfalva ) was. However, the inhabitants continued to use the name of Padina.
The life of the first Slovak families was not easy. They suffered from lack of water and the frequent sand winds that developed in the dunes of Deliblatska Pescara. In the first years after the establishment of local water supplies in Padina was difficult. The fountain was not enough water here, so that the inhabitants had to fetch water from the village Kovačica. In 1814 there were still no further wells, therefore envisaged the settlers to leave the country, which did not allow the military leadership. At the request of Jan Stehlo five wells were dug in 1817 in Padina.
- Place in Okrug South Banat