Smederevo

The city of Smederevo is located in central Serbia, and is the administrative center of the Podunavski district. It covers an area of 481.5 km² (out of which 38,817 ha is agricultural land, and 2617 ha is forest). It is bordered by the Danube on the north, the Velika Morava River on the east, and the Sumadija hills to the south and west.

There is a clear distinction in the landscape between the lower, eastern part, with an average altitude of 85.0 m (Pomoravlje) and the higher, western part with an average altitude of 169.2 m (Šumadija).

The climate is moderately continental.

There are 117,134 inhabitants living on the territory of Smederevo, 83,768 of which live within the city and its outskirts. The population density of the municipality in 2006 was 243 inhabitants per km². The main cause of the sudden population growth during 2002-2006 was the arrival of displaced persons from Kosovo and Metohija who arrived in this area following the year 1999. There are 28 different ethnic groups living in the Smederevo municipality. According to a 2002 population census, Serbs were most numerous (94.91%). 

The Smederevo municipality has an extremely favorable tourist geographic position within Serbia. It is:

• On the international E-75 highway, corridor 10 which connects Budapest, Belgrade, Niš, Thessalonici and Athens.
• On the most attractive part of the Danube riverbank in Serbia, with a shore that is suitable for constructing ports and marinas, with nearby industrially developed areas, on the international Corridor 7.
• 45 km from Belgrade, the administrative, economic and touristic center of Serbia.
• The „Nikola Tesla“ international airport is situated 60 km from Smederevo.

History

•  The roman settlements of Mons Aureus and Vincea use to be on the spot of modern-day Smederevo.
• Smederevo was first mentioned in the 1019 AD Charter by the Byzantine Emperor Basil II, under the name of “Sphenteromon”.
• The Small City of the Smederevo fortress was built between 1428 and 1430. The Great City was built during the following ten years.
• On January 12^th 1435, the relics of St. Luke the Apostol and Evangelist were brought to Smederevo.
• On Christmas Eve, December 24^th 1456, despot Đurađ Branković died.
• In 1459 the Turks conquered the Smederevo fortress. When it fell, the Serbian State fell as well. Smederevo remained under Ottoman rule until 1805.
• In 1805 Smederevo was freed from the Turks. Beneath the old mulberry tree, on November 8^th Dizdar Muharem Guša officially presented Karađorđe with the keys to the city. Smederevo became the capital city for the second time, because it was the seat of the government from 1805 until 1807.
• In 1806 the first Serbian elementary school opened in Smederevo
• The Smederevo Library was founded in 1846.
• 1850 -1854, the church of St. George was built.
• In 1871 the Grammar School opened.
• In 1888 the first Exhibition of Grapes was organized, the precursor of what is known today as the “Smederevo Autumns”.
• In 1904 the building of the Grammar School was erected.
• In 1913 the SARTID steel industry was founded, which is nowadays US Steel Serbia.
• On October 7^th 1915, after 65 hours of bombarding, the Austro-Hungarian army took over the city.
• On October 17^th 1918 Smederevo was liberated.
• On June 5^th 1941 there was a powerful explosion of stored ammunition in the Fortress. The city was completely destroyed.
• On October 16^th 1944, Smederevo was liberated

Cultural and historical monuments

The Smederevo fortress is a fortified medieval city in the shape of an irregular triangle, with 25 towers over 20 m high and 10m high battlements, 4 meters thick. It was built by the Serbian despot, Djuradj Brankovic  in 1430, at the confluence of the Jezava and the Danube, to be the seat of his power.

The despot Djuradj, spiritually tied to the Orthodox Church and the Byzantine tradition overall, was married to a Greek woman called Jerina, who came from the renouned Kantakuzin family, and was the daughter of Theodor, the ruler of Peloponnesus.

The fortress was built to resemble the fort of Constantinople, and the chief builder was Djordje Kantakuzen, the brother of the despot’s wife Jerina. The fortress is made up of the Small city (the court) and the Great city. It covers an area of almost 10.5 ha, which makes it one of the largest medieval lowland fortresses in all of Europe.

The great builder left a monumental inscription in Church Slavonic. The translation would be as follows:

“To Christ God, the faithful despot Djuradj, ruler of Serbs and the Zeta shore, by his will this city was erected in 6938 (1430).”

During its long and turbulent past, the Smederevo fortress was built and destroyed several times, assembled and disassembled, conquered and liberated, and it carries the sign of the times as a mark on its wall canvases and towers, as a testament of the unpredictability of history. It’s battlements are a symbol of the builders’ sacrifices, skill and artistic beauty.

Today, it is a cultural and historic commodity of exceptional value, a popular tourist destination, as well being an exclusive location for musical, theatrical and other cultural events.

The 15^th century Church of the Dormition of the Holy Mother of God: The medieval Church of the Dormition of the Holy Mother of God was erected in the 15^th century, in an older cult location and it belongs to the Moravian style of single-cupola churches, with a compressed three-nave base. The base of the cross is rectangular, with an added altar apsid to the east and two lateral naves, while in the west there is no narthex.

The wall paintings were produced nearly two centuries after the church was built, and are dated as 16^th and early 17^th century. The compositions on the west wall above the entrance are especially valued, as well as those on the arch of the west trave, which depict psalms 148 and 149.

The icons on the altar partition were done by Nikola Apostolovic in 1808 and 1827. They are important for studying the art of the period of the Uprisings, considering that they were produced soon after Karadjordje liberated the city from the Turks.

The grave of Dimitrije Davidovic, the “father of Serbian journalism”, is located near the church.

Karadjordje’s mulberry tree: The tree is monument of the First Serbian Uprising. Beneath it, on November 8^th the Turkish commander Dizdar Muharem Gusa gave up the keys to the city of Smederevo, to the leader of the First Serbian Uprising - Karadjordje Petrovic. The mulberry tree is over 300 years old and is under state protection. It is in the category of botanical monuments of nature.

The Church of St. George is one of the largest 19^th century churches in Serbia. It is located in the center of the city and was erected during 1850 – 1854, as a likeness of the Manasija monastery.  In the spirit of early romantic historicism, which reached its culmination here, there are combined Byzantine and western elements present. The rich plastic decoration of the church is a blend of Serbian medieval tradition, baroque and Islamic influences. The wall paintings and icons were produced between 1935 and 1937 by the Russian academic painter Anreja Bicenko, who introduced the academic style, contemporary seminary and Russian tradition into Serbian religious painting.

Above the gallery in the western part of the naos and on the ceiling there are the paintings “The transfer of the relics of St. Luke to Smederevo” and “The sermon on the mountain” which feature characters that are based on historic personalities. One can see King Aleksandar and Queen Marija with the princes, bishop Nikolaj, the Russian Emperor Nikolai, Smederevo’s philantropist Archpriest Milutin Banić and others.

In World War I it suffered damage that was repaired in 1935. The 150^th anniversary of the church was celebrated in 2005 as a religious and cultural event of the city.

The “Zlatni breg”  (“Golden Hill”) villa: On Plavinac, near Smederevo, prince Milos bought a property with a vineyard in 1829, and on it he built a wine cellar. At the request of queen Natalija, in 1897 the modest one-story summerhouse of prince Mihajlo was added onto, and reconstructed into an opulent, for that time, summer court by the court architect Jovan Ilikić. All the members of the ruling Obrenović family stayed there, from prince Mihajlo to King Aleksander, when they visited the traditional grape harvest in “The Kings Vineyard”.

The Obrenović family property, with its villa, woods and vineyards, covers an area of 36ha.

The tradition of building family vineyard villas in the Smederevo area dates back to 1865 when the summerhouse of prince Mihajlo was erected, but is also a distant echo of the ancient “villa rustica”, as well as of reverence for the cult of wine and the grape vine.

Natural resources

Five km from the city center, on the reight bank of the Danube (on the Belgrade-Smederevo road), is the “Jugovo” excursion site, with a swimming pool, tennis courts, sports courts, restaurants and children’s playgrounds. All of these offer opportunities for recreation and an active vacation.

The thermal waters of Jugovo, at a depth from 746m to 862m, and a temperature of 66 degrees Celsius, increased mineral content and high salinity that give it a flavor of seawater, represent a local potential for the development of spa tourism.

Source: www.smederevo.org.rs