KIKINDA World Owl Capital T here were ancient settlements at Kikinda, according to archae-
ological findings, and in 1423, the place Nagkeken (Nađ Kekenj) is mentioned as the property of the Hungarian kings. Kewkend is mentioned in 1462 as well. Numerous hypothetical discussions and claims surround the origin of the city’s name. The Hungarian name of the weed plant in the uninhabited plain “kőkény,” the Turkish word “incindija” (second prayer), and the name of the nearby large mound “Kinđa” are the most commonly used explanations. Today’s name first appears on a geographical map in 1718 in the German variant “GrossKikinda,” and it did not denote a settlement at the time, but rather an uninhabited area - wasteland. In 1947, the city was given its current name, Kikinda. Kikinda was founded 260 years ago, in 1751. In about twenty years, Banat’s neglected land with large swamps was transformed into a prosperous economic area. Wastelands have been converted
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into arable land by cutting canals, regulating river flows, and building roads. A few decades later, Germans, Hungarians, and Jews settled the city, first planned, then spontaneously, and the French arrived in the area of today’s Kikind municipality, i.e. the village. The population began to become heavily involved in agriculture. Empress Maria Theresa established the Veliko Kikinda Privileged District as a special organizational unit with its headquarters in Kikinda about twenty years after the town’s settlement, in 1774. As a result, the populace received certain benefits, primarily in the fields of economy, judiciary, and politics. The city’s current identity was formed in the latter half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The most beautiful buildings of stylish civil architecture were constructed at that time, and they were concentrated in the city center. The Serbian Orthodox Church, built in 1769, and the Magistrate of the Privileged District of Veliko-Kikinda’s building are the oldest.
