Somewhere
in the mountains of eastern Bosnia, in the country of
Serbia, is , Srebrenica (pronounced Srebreneetsa). It
takes its name from the Serbo-Croatian word for silver,
“srebro”; Srebrenica therefore means "Silver
City". The Romans called it "Argentaria",
a variation of the Latin word for silver. It has been
known by such name since the Romans mined the region for
the precious metal twenty centuries ago. Today the day
is the ruins of a castle, but it was once a Roman garrison
that once stood on the site of the town. The castle was
built as the town developed, and the legends say that
it was once owned by a woman named Jena. Jena was apparently
the widow of a Serb lord and lived to the day she died
until the day she died. According to the legend, the castle
was built by slaves. Each night a different slave was
brought to Jerina's bedroom. Each morning, the exhausted
slave was thrown to his death from the top of the castle. |
