Čečava

Čečava (Serbian Cyrillic: Чечава) is a village in the municipality of Teslić, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Čečava is one of the largest Serb villages in the municipality.

Demographics
According to the 2013 census, Čečava has a population of 1,653 inhabitants.

Geographic Location
Čečava is situated in the Northeast region of Teslić, located on the summit of the Javorova mountain and spans across the valley of the Mala Ukrina River. Mr Milenko Filipović writes: Up there on the mountain sides and valleys and the elbow that materialites by the Ukrina river are located residences of the Čečava village, one of the few Bosnian villages the existence of which was printed on the legal documents of the Middle Ages. The village spans across 7807 acre. It is neighbor to the villages Prnjavor, Gornji Vijačani, Kulaši. To the northwest, Čečava borders villages of the municipality of Teslić, Rastuša, Ukrinica, Osivica, Gornji Ranković, Donji Ranković, and Pribinić to the South, as well as Snjegotina Gornja to the West.

The village begins at the 12 km Junction of the river Osivica with the river M. Ukrina. The river is then directed southwest towards the summit of the Nedić Brdo Hill up to the Tisovac Hill, continuing through the Aliji Brezina Kosa mountainside, and finally ending at Miljkovac.

The village continues northwest towards the shall hills of Rovovi and Mala Hrastovača and the borders end at the Lipova Glava. From there, the borders turn north to the hill of Bogdanica and through the forest area of Krestelovac, emerging at the Šabanova Glavica Hill. The borders continue northwest at the Vuchicke Bare and over the hill of Puskarnica, reaching the Grualj Hill. From the Grualj, the borderline is directed from the Kraljicino Brdo to the Stupa read and continue to the vines (Veliki Vinogradi) and Prokop, then from the small hills of Velika and Mala Balabanovića and reaches the trigonometric spot 249.

The village continues southeast reaching up to the M. Ukrina river and through the river borders end up at the point where they started from, meaning the 12th km (dvanaesti kilometer). The administrative center of the village lies at the point were M. Ukrina river meets the smaller river Chechavica.

History and Tradition
The village of Čečava was first recorded in a decree by Prince Stjepan and his brother, Vladislav Kotromanić. The decree rewarded supervisor Grgur Stipanović for his obedience with the annexation of five villages from the territory of Usora to his kingdom. It is written: "Firstly Chechava, secondly Hrastusa, thirdly Unenovichi Uskrsh,..."

Because of his loyalty, Grgur was selected as the delegate representative of the Bosnian court to escort Prince Stjepan's matchmakings from the Hungarian King.

However, it is unknown how Čečava was named. There are no existing documents concerning the civilization of Čečava during this period. This is due to the great immigration of Serbs because of the violent invasion of the Turks. It is believed that the residents of the village moved North. Some documents refer that residents of Čečava had been transferred to the area now known as Slavonija.

In the settlement of Plane east of the Grualj hill (643 m/1,780 feet), a smaller hill lies, which is called "The Hill of the Queen" (Kraljichino Brdo). At its northwestern side, the hill is surrounded by woods, indicating that the treetops had been cleared for another purpose. Additionally, there is a crossroads of old paths used by caravans that lead in various directions. The paths lead to the way to Stupa and Osredak (Stupljanski put), through Miladić Brdo to Čečava, the Pope's Road (Popovski Put) to Kulaši, and extends to the Grualj Hill to Gornji Vijačani and Snjegotina.

According to tradition, villagers and official quests greeted the Queen on that hill many years ago as she entered their land to marry the Bosnian King. There are several local legends about the "Queen's Hill" (Kraljicino Brdo) that there was a cottage where she would stay occasionally.

There are also legends about some marks on the hill tops like "Glavica" that represented something to the Austrian Empire at that time. There are several "Glavica" hills there, too. Local legend explains that marks were either the bottle with a letter inside or rock pillars.

In 1691, the monks of the monasteries in Liplje and Stuplje were installed in the Orahovica monastery, which belonged to the Slavonska Pozega area. According to tradition, these monks reached Čečava through the mountains of Komusanska Brda where they met other monks from the Liplje monastery of who had crossed up the Snjegotina, and they all continued their way to the North. Their long journey ended to the river Sava by first crossing the river Ukrina, where met the Chechava's residents. The residents followed the monks and were installed to Slavonija. There are still villages in the area called "Čečavac" and "Čečavski vučinjak" which confirms this hypothesis of immigration. But, there was a portion of Čečava's residents who didn't cross Sava river. This is confirmed by the fact that in the city of Brod, individuals have the surname "Čečavac." Today, it is disputed whether residents returned during the 18th century or if other emigrants were installed in Čečava.

There are a few rocky, grave look like pillars with some strange writing that nobody exactly knows what they are and what they say. One is in "Brdjani" and the other is in "Prodanović" graveyard. One in "Prodanović" graveyard is the part of circular rock-formation that looks like either a building foundation or an altar.

Additionally, the Rastuša Cave may hold many clues about that region.