Eastern and Central Europe (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

32 EASTERN AND CENTRAL EUROPE AT A GLANCE

The History of Eastern and Central Europe

In this timeline of the history of Eastern and Central

Europe, important political and social events appear on
the upper half of the page, while the lower half charts
contemporary developments in art and architecture.
This lower section focuses on buildings and works of
art that illustrate major historical trends and can still be
seen today. They are de scribed in more detail in the
main sightseeing sections of the book.

4500 BC Start of

the Copper

Age in South

Eastern Europe

168 BC Romans conquer Illyria

(modern-day Croatia, Bosnia,

Serbia and Montenegro)

700 BC Greeks

establish colo-

nies in the

Adriatic Sea and

the Black Sea

ART AND ARCHITECTURE
South Eastern Europe enjoyed long contact with Greek,
Roman and Byzantine civilizations, which greatly enriched
its art and culture over the centuries. The Romans were
great admirers of the Greeks and the growth of the Roman
Empire spread Greek aesthetics throughout Eastern Europe.
North Eastern Europe, however, largely missed out on these
cultural links until the region’s gradual conversion to
Christianity, when Western art and architecture left an impact.

FROM PREHISTORY TO THE
EARLY MIDDLE AGES
Civilization in Europe started in the
southeast, with metalworking and clay-
firing techniques developing in the
Balkans before spreading to the rest of
the continent. Much of Central and South
Eastern Europe came under Roman rule,
while the northeast remained iso lated.
The collapse of Rome and the period of
great migrations changed the ethnic map
of Europe and hastened the emergence
of nation states such as Bulgaria, Serbia,
Croatia, Hungary and Poland.

NEOLITHIC HELLENISTIC AND ROMAN

PREHISTORY ROMAN EMPIRE

4500 BC 3000 BC 1500 BC AD 1 AD 200

AD 45 Rome takes over Thrace

(modern-day Bulgaria)

AD 101 Roman Emperor Trajan

completes the conquest of Dacia

(modern-day Romania)

AD 276 Goths

overrun Roman

territories in

the Balkans

4200 BC Gold and

copper jewellery

is made near

Varna, Bulgaria

(see p628)

AD 81 Construction of the Roman

Amphitheatre at Pula, Croatia com-

pleted (see p483)

2500 BC Sophisticated

earthenware is

produced in the

Danube valley, most

notably the Vučedol

Dove (see p493) in

present-day Croatia

300 BC Thracian gold-

smiths produce jewellery,

ceremonial goblets and

funeral masks (see p606)