The town where the first vampire is said to have been born: the cemetery, the legends, and a garlic drink in every house

Although Romania is known as the land of Dracula , it is said that 300 years ago, the first vampire was seen in Serbia . The town of Kisiljevo is seeking to reclaim its title as the birthplace of these bloodsucking creatures , and especially the tourists attracted by these kinds of things.

To track down Petar Blagojevic, the first vampire , you have to go to a small cemetery located between three cornfields and a lake, about 100 km east of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia.

Legend has it that it was there, in the early summer of 1725, that villagers unearthed the body of Peter Blagojevic, whom they suspected of rising from the dead at night to kill innocent people.

"It was a day in June or July. They called a priest and opened the grave," explains Mirko Bogicevic, whose family has lived in Kisiljevo for eleven generations.

"They found a completely intact body . When they drove a hawthorn stake through his heart, fresh blood began to flow from his mouth and ears. Everyone there realized it was no joke," says the former mayor of the town and Petar Blagojevic's unofficial biographer.

"He was probably an ordinary man who had the good fortune—or misfortune—to become a vampire. All we know about him is that he came from Kisiljevo, and his name appears in records from around 1700," he continues, holding up a copy of the Wienerisches Diarium, the Viennese court gazette, dated July 21, 1725.

The article marks the beginning of the myth of the Kisiljevo vampire .

Based on accounts from Austrian doctors and military personnel , the story likely arose from a translation error, says Clemens Ruthner, director of the Centre for European Studies at Trinity College Dublin.

"There's an old Bulgarian word, Upior, which means 'bad person.' In my opinion, the villagers whispered it, and the doctors misinterpreted it, writing 'vampire' in their report," Ruthner explains.

Three hundred years later, no one knows that Serbia saw the emergence of the first vampire, but several residents of Kisiljevo are determined to put it right. They are the ones who discovered Blagojevic's grave, the location of which had been kept secret due to forgetfulness and superstition.

"The potential is immense ," says Dajana Stojanovic, director of the tourist office.

"There are many myths and legends associated with our region. And I'm not just talking about the story of Petar Blagojevic, but also about Wallachian magic. Every village has its own traditions," he adds, referring to the rituals, sometimes considered black magic , that still exist in this region bordering Romania.

"I think there are things that can't be explained ," agrees Mirko Bogicevic. "Our souls aren't just inside us. And if we believe in life after death, in Jesus, why wouldn't we believe in all that?"

"Vampirism, like witchcraft, is a very common model for explaining what we can't explain. Especially collective phenomena like epidemics," says Ruthner, citing the theory that an anthrax epidemic in Serbia in the early 18th century was responsible for the deaths attributed to Blagojevic.

"The vampirism narrative is magical thinking . Instead of assuming an unknown cause, like bacteria, a culprit is found: an evil person dies and takes others with them to the grave," he adds.

In Kisiljevo, just in case, people keep bottles of Rakia , the Serbian spirit infused with chili and... garlic, the most famous vampire scarecrow .

Ognjen ZORIC and Camille BOUISSOU / AFP