Tomance is a small rural settlement in the Kosovo Pomoravlje region, located in the municipality of Kosovska Kamenica, 12 kilometers from the town center and 17 kilometers from Gnjilane. Tomance is an old Serbian village, though the exact year of its founding cannot be determined. The first written record of the village was left in 1434 by Mihailo Lukarević, a merchant from Novo Brdo and Dubrovnik, who mentioned a certain Radovan “de Altomanci” in his debtor’s ledger. This indicates that the village existed much earlier, most likely formed in the early Middle Ages during the first permanent Serbian settlements or later as the estate of the noble Altomanović–Vojinović family. From that comes the old name “Altomance,” which gradually evolved into today’s Tomance.
Panorama of the village
Nikola Altomanović–Vojinović, a Serbian nobleman, warrior, and military leader from the second half of the 14th century, controlled territories not only in Kosovo but also large parts of Herzegovina, the hinterland of Dubrovnik, northern Montenegro, Podrinje, Polimlje, Užice, Zvečan, and the Mačva region.
Tomance is also mentioned in a letter written by the famous Serbian poet and vice-consul in Priština, Milan Rakić, to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Milovan Milovanović, on June 6, 1910. In it, he described the Albanian uprising against the Turks and the disarmament of Serbs in the Gnjilane area:
“For now, we cannot speak of even a temporary pacification of the Albanians. Large groups are still gathered southwest of Đakovica, while the Lab and Gnjilane districts continue to trouble the authorities, who fear new unrest… In the Gnjilane district, the (Turkish) army committed unspeakable violence against the Serbs during the disarmament. Panic spread, while both civil and military authorities used every means to seize as many weapons as possible from the Serbs.”
Rakić listed the places where weapons were confiscated. Alongside Vitina, Koretište, Glogovac, Petrovac, and Ropotovo, he recorded that in Tomanac they seized “5 flintlocks, 1 primer, 7 revolvers, and beat the village elder Toma Simić.”
Today, Tomanac has around 170 residents. Children attend lower grades at the local branch of “Trajko Perić” Elementary School, while older students go to the main school in Veliko Ropotovo, 2 kilometers away. The village also has a kindergarten called “Little Bee Maja.”
Elementary school “Trajko Peric”
Unlike many surrounding villages that are losing families, the people of Tomance are staying, and in recent years the village has even seen a small baby boom – five babies were born in just a short period.
What makes Tomance especially interesting is the spirit of its youth – ambitious, resilient, and eager for change. A perfect example is the creation of a street they named “The Street of Happy People.” As the locals say, it truly lives up to its name. There, children play, families gather, young people meet, and even visitors from other villages come together.
