Zvecan Fortress
Encyclopedia
The Fortress of Zvečan
, located in the north-west of the city of Kosovska Mitrovica
, in North Kosovo
, is an enormous castle
and one of the oldest fortresses in South Eastern Europe. It was built on the top of the extinct volcano vent, overlooking the Ibar river
.
Zvečan Fortress was declared Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance
in 1990, and it is protected by the Republic of Serbia.
medieval fortresses, although its exact date of construction is unknown. The underlying construction dates from the period of Classical antiquity
, and it is not unlikely that the location was fortified in prehistoric times
. As a border fort of the Raška state
, the site gained importance in 1093, when the Serbia
n ruler Vukan Vukanović, launched his conquest of Kosovo (then part of the Byzantine Empire
) from there.
Part of the fortress was designated as one of the courts of the Serbian House of Nemanjić
, and it was the place where Stefan Uroš III
died in 1331. In 1389, it was captured by the Ottoman Turks
after the Battle of Kosovo
, and it remained an active military site well into the 18th century, after which it was abandoned.
According to some data from the Roman times, the medieval town Zvečan, just as all the towns of the time, was built on a barely accessible hill in the base of which was the architecture of the early Byzantine period
. The archeological data up to the 9th century are rather scanty as well as the written documents about it. Only by the beginning of the 10th century was the fortress on the hill mentioned for the first time, its reconstruction being ascribed to the Bulgaria
n Czar Simeon
. By the end of the 10th century it was referred to as the Serbian fortress of some princes from Raška
who used it in their struggle against Byzantine
.
The town gradually grew gaining its importance at the time of spreading of the Serbian state southwards in the conflicts with Byzantine. As a strategic fortress, Zvečan was mentioned in 1092 and 1093 since in its area the roads from the north and south intersected playing a significant role in military and trading sense. During the reign of Grand Prince
Vukan of Raška (by the end of the 11th century), the area of Kosovska Mitrovica
was the battlefield in Vukan’s campaing against Byzantine and his brother Tihomir
winning at last near the village of Pantina.
Thick and high walls of Zvečan fortress at the Nemanjić
’s time, served not only for protection against the enemy’s assaults but also as a shelter for the merchants from Dubrovnik
as well as a dungeon for the overthrown rulers of the Nemanjić’s lineage. Thus Konstantin Nemanić, Stefan Dečanski’s stepbrother, was buried here in 1322. King Stefan Dečanski himself was imprisoned and ended his life there (1311) after having been caught in Petrič
according to his son Dušan’s order. For some time, the ruler of Zvečan was Grand Prince Lazar’s son-in-law, the chieftain Musa, at the time of Czar Uroš
. By the end of 14th century Zvečan was under the rule of Vuk Branković and after his fall from power, the Turks appeared in Zvečan.
Zvečan finally fell into Turkish power
in 1455, when the Turkish population
colonized these areas. Among whom Feriz Ćefalija was mentioned to have an authorization from the Sultan and Pasha from Skoplje to make trading connections with Dubrovnik
.
By its subjection to Turkish rule, Zvečan lost its importance as a military fort and the authors of the travel books from the 16th century, Benedicte Kuripešić and Evlija Čelebija referred to its as a deserted town on the hill to the north of Kosovska Mitrovica
. Under the Turkish rule, Zvečan was neglected and was in the possession of the Bosnian Vilayet
. Eventually, Kosovska Mitrovica
became a kadiluk (district) of the Bosnian vilazet and Zvečan, along with Kosovska Mitrovica, remained in that administrative until 1877, and it, as it too was a part of Kosovska Mitrovica, belonged to the Priština region
(Sandžak) until the region's liberation in the First Balkan War
, in 1912.
From 1912 to 1945 little was done on the research and restoration of Zvečan; it was only after 1945 when many archeological excavations were carried out in the town which was put under the protection
of the state
. There is a need for complete reconstruction of the fortress in order to prevent it from further ruining.
Zvecan
Zvečan is a town and municipality in the Kosovska Mitrovica district of Kosovo. It is a part of North Kosovo, a region with an ethnic Serb majority that functions largely autonomously from the remainder of the ethnic-Albanian-majority Kosovo and Metohija. The municipality covers an area of , and...
, located in the north-west of the city of Kosovska Mitrovica
Kosovska Mitrovica
Kosovska Mitrovica , is a city and municipality in northern Kosovo. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous district....
, in North Kosovo
North Kosovo
North or Northern Kosovo refers to a region in the northern part of Kosovo with an ethnic Serb majority that functions largely autonomously from the remainder of the disputed territory, which has an ethnic Albanian majority. Ibarian Kolashin , a toponym that pre-dates the political partition, is...
, is an enormous castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
and one of the oldest fortresses in South Eastern Europe. It was built on the top of the extinct volcano vent, overlooking the Ibar river
Ibar River
The Ibar is a river that flows through eastern Montenegro and Serbia, with a total length of . The river begins in the Hajla mountain, eastern Montenegro, passes through Kosovo and flows into the West Morava river, Central Serbia, near Kraljevo....
.
Zvečan Fortress was declared Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance
Monuments of Culture of Exceptional Importance (Serbia)
Cultural Monuments of Exceptional Importance are the monuments in the Republic of Serbia that have the highest level of the State protection, and some of them are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites....
in 1990, and it is protected by the Republic of Serbia.
History
It represents one of the oldest BalkanBalkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
medieval fortresses, although its exact date of construction is unknown. The underlying construction dates from the period of Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
, and it is not unlikely that the location was fortified in prehistoric times
Prehistory
Prehistory is the span of time before recorded history. Prehistory can refer to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it refers to all the time preceding human existence and the invention of writing...
. As a border fort of the Raška state
Raška (state)
Principality of Serbia or Serbian Principality was an early medieval state of the Serbs ruled by the Vlastimirović dynasty, that existed from ca 768 to 969 in Southeastern Europe. It was established through an unification of several provincial chiefs under the supreme rule of a certain Višeslav,...
, the site gained importance in 1093, when the Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
n ruler Vukan Vukanović, launched his conquest of Kosovo (then part of the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
) from there.
Part of the fortress was designated as one of the courts of the Serbian House of Nemanjić
House of Nemanjic
The Nemanjić was the most important dynasty of Serbia in the Middle Ages, and one of the most important in Southeastern Europe. The royal house produced eleven Serbian monarchs between 1166 and 1371. It's progenitor was Stephen Nemanja, who descended from a cadet line of the Vukanović dynasty...
, and it was the place where Stefan Uroš III
Stefan Uroš III Decanski of Serbia
Stephen Uroš III of Dečani was King of Serbia from January 6, 1322 to 8 September 1331. He defeated and killed several of his family members who wanted to take the throne from him. He took his epithet Dečanski from the great monastery he built at Dečani.-Early:He was the son of King Stefan Uroš II...
died in 1331. In 1389, it was captured by the Ottoman Turks
Ottoman Turks
The Ottoman Turks were the Turkish-speaking population of the Ottoman Empire who formed the base of the state's military and ruling classes. Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks is scarce, but they take their Turkish name, Osmanlı , from the house of Osman I The Ottoman...
after the Battle of Kosovo
Battle of Kosovo
The Battle of Kosovo took place on St. Vitus' Day, June 15, 1389, between the army led by Serbian Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović, and the invading army of the Ottoman Empire under the leadership of Sultan Murad I...
, and it remained an active military site well into the 18th century, after which it was abandoned.
According to some data from the Roman times, the medieval town Zvečan, just as all the towns of the time, was built on a barely accessible hill in the base of which was the architecture of the early Byzantine period
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
. The archeological data up to the 9th century are rather scanty as well as the written documents about it. Only by the beginning of the 10th century was the fortress on the hill mentioned for the first time, its reconstruction being ascribed to the Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n Czar Simeon
Simeon I of Bulgaria
Simeon I the Great ruled over Bulgaria from 893 to 927, during the First Bulgarian Empire. Simeon's successful campaigns against the Byzantines, Magyars and Serbs led Bulgaria to its greatest territorial expansion ever, making it the most powerful state in contemporary Eastern Europe...
. By the end of the 10th century it was referred to as the Serbian fortress of some princes from Raška
Raška (state)
Principality of Serbia or Serbian Principality was an early medieval state of the Serbs ruled by the Vlastimirović dynasty, that existed from ca 768 to 969 in Southeastern Europe. It was established through an unification of several provincial chiefs under the supreme rule of a certain Višeslav,...
who used it in their struggle against Byzantine
Byzantine
Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
.
The town gradually grew gaining its importance at the time of spreading of the Serbian state southwards in the conflicts with Byzantine. As a strategic fortress, Zvečan was mentioned in 1092 and 1093 since in its area the roads from the north and south intersected playing a significant role in military and trading sense. During the reign of Grand Prince
Grand Prince
The title grand prince or great prince ranked in honour below emperor and tsar and above a sovereign prince .Grand duke is the usual and established, though not literal, translation of these terms in English and Romance languages, which do not normally use separate words for a "prince" who reigns...
Vukan of Raška (by the end of the 11th century), the area of Kosovska Mitrovica
Kosovska Mitrovica
Kosovska Mitrovica , is a city and municipality in northern Kosovo. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous district....
was the battlefield in Vukan’s campaing against Byzantine and his brother Tihomir
Tihomir
Tihomir is a South Slavic male given name which means "quiet" and "peace"...
winning at last near the village of Pantina.
Thick and high walls of Zvečan fortress at the Nemanjić
House of Nemanjic
The Nemanjić was the most important dynasty of Serbia in the Middle Ages, and one of the most important in Southeastern Europe. The royal house produced eleven Serbian monarchs between 1166 and 1371. It's progenitor was Stephen Nemanja, who descended from a cadet line of the Vukanović dynasty...
’s time, served not only for protection against the enemy’s assaults but also as a shelter for the merchants from Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its total population is 42,641...
as well as a dungeon for the overthrown rulers of the Nemanjić’s lineage. Thus Konstantin Nemanić, Stefan Dečanski’s stepbrother, was buried here in 1322. King Stefan Dečanski himself was imprisoned and ended his life there (1311) after having been caught in Petrič
Petric
Petric may refer to:*Veliki Petrič, fortress in Serbia*Mali Petrič, fortress in Serbia*Petrich, a town in Bulgaria- People :*Gordan Petrić, a Yugoslav football player*Ivo Petrić, a Slovenian composer*Luka Petric, a Slovenian badminton player...
according to his son Dušan’s order. For some time, the ruler of Zvečan was Grand Prince Lazar’s son-in-law, the chieftain Musa, at the time of Czar Uroš
Uroš I of Rascia
Uroš I Vukanović was the Grand Prince of the Grand Principality of Serbia from ca 1112 to 1145.-Origin:Uroš I was the son of Marko, the brother of Grand Prince Vukan, who had swore an oath of loyalty to Constantine Bodin, the Grand Prince of Duklja, becoming his vassals...
. By the end of 14th century Zvečan was under the rule of Vuk Branković and after his fall from power, the Turks appeared in Zvečan.
Zvečan finally fell into Turkish power
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
in 1455, when the Turkish population
Ottoman Turks
The Ottoman Turks were the Turkish-speaking population of the Ottoman Empire who formed the base of the state's military and ruling classes. Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks is scarce, but they take their Turkish name, Osmanlı , from the house of Osman I The Ottoman...
colonized these areas. Among whom Feriz Ćefalija was mentioned to have an authorization from the Sultan and Pasha from Skoplje to make trading connections with Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its total population is 42,641...
.
By its subjection to Turkish rule, Zvečan lost its importance as a military fort and the authors of the travel books from the 16th century, Benedicte Kuripešić and Evlija Čelebija referred to its as a deserted town on the hill to the north of Kosovska Mitrovica
Kosovska Mitrovica
Kosovska Mitrovica , is a city and municipality in northern Kosovo. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous district....
. Under the Turkish rule, Zvečan was neglected and was in the possession of the Bosnian Vilayet
Bosnia Province, Ottoman Empire
The Bosnia Vilayet was an Ottoman vilayet, mostly based on the territory of the present-day state of Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as most of Slavonia, Lika and Dalmatia in present-day Croatia. It bordered Kosovo Vilayet to the south. Before the administrative reform in 1864, it was called the...
. Eventually, Kosovska Mitrovica
Kosovska Mitrovica
Kosovska Mitrovica , is a city and municipality in northern Kosovo. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous district....
became a kadiluk (district) of the Bosnian vilazet and Zvečan, along with Kosovska Mitrovica, remained in that administrative until 1877, and it, as it too was a part of Kosovska Mitrovica, belonged to the Priština region
Pristina
Pristina, also spelled Prishtina and Priština is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous municipality and district....
(Sandžak) until the region's liberation in the First Balkan War
First Balkan War
The First Balkan War, which lasted from October 1912 to May 1913, pitted the Balkan League against the Ottoman Empire. The combined armies of the Balkan states overcame the numerically inferior and strategically disadvantaged Ottoman armies and achieved rapid success...
, in 1912.
From 1912 to 1945 little was done on the research and restoration of Zvečan; it was only after 1945 when many archeological excavations were carried out in the town which was put under the protection
Monuments of Culture of Exceptional Importance (Serbia)
Cultural Monuments of Exceptional Importance are the monuments in the Republic of Serbia that have the highest level of the State protection, and some of them are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites....
of the state
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
. There is a need for complete reconstruction of the fortress in order to prevent it from further ruining.
See also
- Monument of Culture of Exceptional ImportanceMonuments of Culture of Exceptional Importance (Serbia)Cultural Monuments of Exceptional Importance are the monuments in the Republic of Serbia that have the highest level of the State protection, and some of them are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites....
- Tourism in SerbiaTourism in SerbiaSerbia stretches across two geographic and cultural regions of Europe: Central Europe and Southeast Europe. This boundary splits Serbia roughly in a ratio of 1:2 alongside the Danube and Sava rivers. The northern parts of the country are Central-European lowlands while the southern and central...
- List of castles in Kosovo
- List of fortresses in Serbia