Smederevo – Town on the Danube river

GEOGRAPHIC POSITION

Smederevo is located on the south coast of the Panonian see and on the north – east slopes of Šumadija hills. It is surrounded by the Danube in the north and by the Velika Morava in the east. This area is under the influence of mild continental climate, the average annual temperature is 11 – 12 C°. Dominant wind is Košava. The town consists of 27 rural and 11 urban local communities. The total area is 480,5 km2 and it has about 110000 inhabitants of which about 65000 live in the central town area.

 
TRAFFIC CONNECTIONS

Diversified town traffic net enables good connectivity of Smederevo with its road, railway and water lines. Smederevo is 45 km away from Belgrade. The town is connected to Belgrade and to the north of the country by its railway and to the south parts of the country through Mala Krsna. There is a highway that runs through Smederevo, it is 30 km long (exits are Vodanj, Kolari and Ralja).

 
TOWN HISTORY

Smederevo is one of the oldest settlements in the Serbian District Podunavlje. The settlement which was located on the current position of Smederevo was mentioned for the first time in 1019 in the charter of Byzantine emperor, Vasilije II, and the present name of Smederevo is mentioned in 1381 in the charter of Ravanica. In the 15th century Despot Đurađ Branković chose this very place on the Danube to be the capital of the Serbian state. In the period between 1428-1430  ” Mali grad “ was built as a rulers castle at the lower end of the river Jezava into the Danube, and then looking up to the Fortress of Carigrad the construction of ” Veliki grad “ on an area of 10,5 ha was continued in the period between 1430 – 1439. During the time of Despots reign Smederevo was the centre of political, economical and cultural life of Medieval Serbia. On November 8th 1805 Smederevo was liberated by uprising forces under Karađorđe Petrović. Nevertheless, Smederevo was completely liberated from Turkish rule in 1867 when the town keys were handed over to Knez Miloš Obrenović.
In the beginning of the 20th Smederevo s opulent agricultural area with significant production of fruits and vines with the famous ” Smederevo’s vineyard “, its excellent geographic position on the Danube and growing trade made the basis of its further development.

 
TOURISM OFFERS

If you are visiting Smederevo, don’ t miss the following tourist destinations and historical and cultural monuments :

 
SMEDEREVO’ s FORTRESS

Smederevo’ s Fortress is a Serbian capital from 15th century, the biggest plain fortress in Europe.
By order of Despot Đurađ Branković began in 1428, at the mouth of the rivers Jezava and Danube, at the very north of the country, the building of the Smederevo fortress, which became the seat of Serbian secular and clerical authorities of the time. Enormous quantities of stone necessary for the construction were dragged from ancient sites: Viminacium, Margum and Kulič, and Serbian medieval burial grounds were also sacrified.

 
MONUMENT OF VICTIMS OF TRAGEDY ON JUN 5th 1941.

The monument is near the Fortress and the Museum and reminds us on people killed in explosion of the ammunition in the Fortress.

 
MUSEUM IN SMEDEREVO

Learn about Smederevo’ s history from ancient times until today.

 
THE MAIN CITY SQUARE

Square represents the central part of the contemporary town fabric of Smederevo. With its historical continuity, triangular urban form and representative heritage, it shows the identity of the town itself and together with the Fortress expresses its recognizable profile.
It was established in the first half of the 19th century, aftre the Second Serbian uprising, on the place where the Big Market conected the Serbian and Turkish part of the town.

 
MONUMENT OF FALLEN SOLDIERS IN FIRST WORLD WAR 1914 – 1918

The monument is near the Orthodox temple of St. George on city square.

 
ORTHODOX TEMPLE OF St. GEORGE

1850 – 1854, the third biggest temple In Serbia, built as a Monastery Manasija.

 
COMMUNITY COURT BUILDING

The building of the former Regional Prefecture, today the Regional Court, is one of the greatest accomplishments of the renowned Serbian architect Aleksandar Burgarski who also projected the National Theatre and the King’ s Court buildings in Belgrade. It was raised between 1886 and 1888. It has stylistic characteristics of the academism at that time was dominating, with elements of Neorenaissance and Neoclassicsm. The characteristic thing about this building is the use of metal pillars in the interior as a new construction option in architectural work.
It was among the first public buildings in Serbia on which the newly – established state coat – of -arms was placed : a two – headed eagle with a shield with a cross and four tinders on its chest – which from the Second World War and to 2005 was substituted by a five – pointed star.

 
FORMER COMMUNITY HOUSE BUILDING

Building is built in 1926, wiork of the Russian architect Nikola Krasnov represents valuable architectural achievement.

 
HIGH SCHOOL GYMNASIUM

 The High School in Smederevo was established in 1871, but did not move into the building of the elementary school – which was raised in 1904 according to a project by the architect Milorad Ruvidić – till after the First World War. This building was given its current look, through the building of annexes and adaption in 1933 / 34, and has a ground plan in the form of the Cyrilic letter for ‘p’ ( П ).

” ASSUMPTION OF HOLY MOTHER OF GOD”  CHURCH

The curch is built in 15th century, is on Smederevo’ s old cemetery, and it is believed that it was the family tomb and the church of despot Đurađ Branković.

KARAĐORĐE’ S MULBERRY TREE

Karađorđe’ s mulberry tree is authentic monument from the First Serbian  uprising under which Turkish commander Dizdar Muharem Guša gave the keys of the city to Lord Karađorđe Petrović in November 8th 1805.