Kisiljevo Cemetery

Next to the Danube River and its scenic Silver Lake in a cemetery of Kisiljevo village, lies a body of Petar Blagojevic, one of the first alleged vampires who died in 1725.

Days after his funeral, several deaths occurred in the village fueling a rumor that Blagojevic had risen from the dead as a vampire. Disturbed villagers exhumed the body, which was not as decomposed as one would expect, and speared his heart with a stake. Afterward, his remains were burned and left under an unmarked tombstone. 

This event was witnessed by the officials of Austrian authorities, who retook Serbia from the Ottoman Empire in 1714. A detailed report on the case of Blagojevic (Peter Plogojowitz) reached Vienna, where it was published by Wienerisches Diarium. This triggered a debate about how real vampires were. 

That debate lasted throughout the 18th century, bringing the Serbian word вампир (vampire) into global circulation. This history and the story of Blagojevic brings occasional visitors to the Kisiljevo Cemetery, in search of the unmarked grave.