Throughout history, many different nations have given different names to the settlement on the banks of the Great Morava river. One of those names was Ravanela, the name given by the crusaders for Ravno, founded on the remains of Roman Horreum Margi at the beginning of the 11th century.
The German chronicler Arnold from Lubeck also mentions the town by this name in his writing about Henry the Lion and his travel to the Holy Land, stating "that the Duke of Saxony with his glorious entourage, in the late March on 1172, arrived at the Ravanel, where Ravanica river meets Morava."
During the Nemanjić dynasty time, the name of the town was Ravno, and in 1660 Köprülü Mehmed Pasha constructed a wooden bridge across the Morava river, which is the first mention of the name Ćuprija. The city of Ćuprija cherishes its cultural tradition and proudly represents its heritage while creating a foundation and a legacy for future generations.
With its name, the Ravanelius festival evokes the sound of Byzantine Ravanel but also sends an echo to the future by creating a bridge (Ćuprija) among all the valuable elements of the town's identity.
The Institution of culture Ćuprija and the School for musical talents, with the support of theMunicipality of Ćuprija, are organizing the Ravanelius festival with the common goal - to offer exceptional musical performances to the local audience and also to promote the School for musical talents, affirm the students, and provide a firm foundation for the cultural education of the youngest audience.
The Ravanelius festival brings new and unique cultural content to Ćuprija in terms of a spectacular classical music festival. The first edition of the festival was in 2019. and it was devoted to classical music with a focus on stringed instruments because of the 45th anniversary of the School for musical talents, whose program is mainly based on that type of musical instruments.
Many renowned classical music artists perform during the festival along with the grand orchestra of the Ćuprija School for musical talents. Besides classical music evening concerts, there are also musical workshops for preschool and school children. During those workshops, the children can learn the process of creating music and the rules of classical music concert etiquette, and all that while performing with experts in this field.
The festival's main goal is to provide continuous work on the popularization of classical music and the education of the younger population.
To develop an international music festival that will become an important cultural manifestation in the region by actively contributing to the popularization of classical music and affirmation of young, talented musicians, and focus on the continuous development and nurturing of the cultural needs and habits of its audience.With the plan to improve the basic program with other musical genres, it is also important to improve the touristic offer of the municipality and region.
