Čačak ( sr-Cyrl, Чачак, ) is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

and the administrative center of the

Moravica District The Moravica District ( sr, / , ) is one of eight administrative districts of Šumadija and Western Serbia. It is located in the central and south-western parts of Serbia. The name ''Moravica'' derives from the river Moravica, which forms the W ...

in central Serbia. It is located in the

West Morava Valley The Morava Valley ( sr, Поморавље / ''Pomoravlje'', ), is a general term which in its widest sense marks valleys of any of three Morava rivers in Serbia: the West Morava ( West Morava Valley), the South Morava ( South Morava Valley) and ...

within the geographical region of

Šumadija Šumadija (, sr-Cyrl, Шумадија) is a geographical region in the central part of Serbia. The area used to be heavily covered with forests, hence the name (from ''šuma'' 'forest'). The city of Kragujevac is the administrative center of the ...

. , the city proper has 73,331 inhabitants, while the administrative area comprises a total of 115,337 inhabitants. Long known as a spa town, the city lies about 144 km south of the Serbian capital, Belgrade. It is also located near the

Ovčar-Kablar Gorge The Ovčar-Kablar Gorge ( sr-cyr, Овчарско-кабларска клисура, Ovčarsko-kablarska klisura) is a gorge in the western part of central Serbia, in the part of the composite valley of the West Morava river, within the geographi ...

("Serbian

Mount Athos Mount Athos (; el, Ἄθως, ) is a mountain in the distal part of the eponymous Athos peninsula and site of an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism in northeastern Greece. The mountain along with the respective part of the penins ...

"), with over 30 monasteries built in the gorge since the 14th century. :sr:Ovčarsko-kablarski manastiri

Geography

Čačak is located in the western part of central Serbia, within the region of

. Once densely forested, the region is today characterized by its rolling hills and its fruit trees. To the south, past the

, lie the mountains of the Dinaric Alps. These mountains incline in a gentle and wavy way toward the Čačak valley and the

West Morava West Morava ( sr, Западна Морава, Zapadna Morava, ) is a river in Central Serbia, a 184 km-long headstream of the Great Morava, which it forms with the South Morava. It was known as Brongus in antiquity. Origin The West Morav ...

River. The city administrative area covers and contains: * the Čačak valley, with an altitude between * hills between high * the mountains Jelica to the south, Vujan to the northeast, and

Ovčar Ovčar (Serbian Cyrillic: Овчар, ) is a mountain in western Serbia, near the city of Čačak. Its highest peak has an elevation of 985 meters above sea level. Along with Kablar, Ovčar forms the attractive Ovčar-Kablar Gorge of the West ...

and

Kablar Kablar (Serbian Cyrillic: Каблар, ) is a mountain in central Serbia. It has an elevation of 889 meters above sea level. It lies near the city of Čačak. With nearby Ovčar, it forms the Ovčar-Kablar Gorge of the West Morava West Morava ...

to the west

Climate

Čačak has an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

: ''Cfb'') bordering on a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(

: ''Dfb''). The average temperature of the city and its vicinity is with 74.1% humidity, and it is characterized by warm summers and cold winters.

Winds Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few hou ...

blow from the north and northeast and rarely from the west because of the mountains that block them. The average temperature in August is , while in January it is . There are on average 38 days with snow during the year. The average wind speed is . The usual number of foggy days is 54. The average yearly precipitation is . There are a few recorded instances of sandstorms originating in the

Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

arriving to the town.

History

Etymology

The original name of the town was Gradac (meaning "little town"), which developed around the Moravski Gradac monastery, built in the late 12th century. First mention of the name Čačak was in a document issued by the

Republic of Ragusa hr, Sloboda se ne prodaje za sve zlato svijeta it, La libertà non si vende nemmeno per tutto l'oro del mondo"Liberty is not sold for all the gold in the world" , population_estimate = 90 000 in the XVI Century , currency = ...

. Dated on 3 January 1409, it refers to the events from 18 December 1408, and this date is today the official Čačak Town Day. The origin of the name is obscured today. However, several dictionaries from the 19th and even from the 20th century, including works of major linguists Vuk Stefanović Karadžić and Đuro Daničić, mention words ''čačak'' and the corresponding adjective ''čačkovit'', meaning (lumps of) frozen or dried mud, or lumps of stone protruding from the ground. The widening along the West Morava where Čačak is located, was indeed regularly flooded until the 20th century. Daničić suggested that the origin of the word is the root ''skak'' (''skakati'' means jumping in Serbian). The word and its variants completely disappeared from Serbian language today, but some other toponymy of the same origin were preserved, like in the name of the mountain. In time, erroneous but widespread theory developed, claiming that the name indeed means "mud", but that it is of Turkish origin. At the time of the name's first mention this region wasn't occupied by the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

yet, mud is called differently in Turkish language, nor there is a Turkish word corresponding vocally to ''čačak''.

Prehistoric

The region has several archaeological sites, dating from prehistory to the present, the oldest from the 15th century BC. Princely tombs of an Illyrian type ( Glasinac culture) were found in two mounds of Atenica with

Ionia Ionia () was an ancient region on the western coast of Anatolia, to the south of present-day Izmir. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements. Never a unified state, it was named after the Ionian ...

n glass, glass-paste, an amber bead depicting a swan, and an

Attic An attic (sometimes referred to as a '' loft'') is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building; an attic may also be called a ''sky parlor'' or a garret. Because attics fill the space between the ceiling of the ...

plaque of a wild boar, all dating to the late 6th century BC. More ornithomorphic

fibulae The fibula or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. Its upper extremity is ...

of bronze swans were found in Mojsinje. Prehistoric tumuli have been unearthed in

Mrčajevci Mrčajevci ( sr-cyrl, Мрчајевци, ) is a village in the city of Čačak, Serbia. It is located in Central Serbian region of Šumadija. According to the 2011 census, the village has a population of 2,767 inhabitants. Excavations of pre-his ...

. The Triballi and

Scordisci The Scordisci ( el, Σκορδίσκοι) were a Celtic Iron Age cultural group centered in the territory of present-day Serbia, at the confluence of the Savus (Sava), Dravus (Drava), Margus (Morava) and Danube rivers. They were historically no ...

tribes lived in this area by the time of Roman conquest.

Roman era

Wiki Šumadija X Rimske terme u Čačku 194

The town was inhabited in Roman times, with traces of the Roman settlement still visible today, like Roman

Thermae In ancient Rome, (from Greek , "hot") and (from Greek ) were facilities for bathing. usually refers to the large Roman Empire, imperial public bath, bath complexes, while were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed i ...

built in the 2nd to 4th century period. These still stand behind a secondary school in the center of Čačak. Nearby, in the village of Gradina at the foot of the Jelica mountain, a Roman compound ( fort) with a

martyrium A martyrium (Latin) or martyrion (Greek), plural ''martyria'', sometimes anglicized martyry (pl. martyries), is a church or shrine built over the tomb of a Christian martyr. It is associated with a specific architectural form, centered on a cent ...

and

necropolis A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead". The term usually im ...

has been excavated, with three churches, one of which produced a pentanummion for the late Roman Emperor

Justinian Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...

in the 526–537 period. Justinian is also believed to have founded the fort in the 530s. The presence of burnt layers on the sight could be evidence that the settlement was destroyed in the conflict that characterized the region following the

barbarian invasions The Migration Period was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories by various tribes, and the establishment of the post-Roman ...

of the late Roman Empire. In the same region, in the 6th century, four other forts were built.

Middle Ages

Slavs Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...

settled the area during the reign of the

Byzantine Emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as le ...

Heraclius Heraclius ( grc-gre, Ἡράκλειος, Hērákleios; c. 575 – 11 February 641), was List of Byzantine emperors, Eastern Roman emperor from 610 to 641. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the Exa ...

(610–641). From 1168 to 1189, after incorporation into the

First Bulgarian Empire The First Bulgarian Empire ( cu, блъгарьско цѣсарьствиѥ, blagarysko tsesarystviye; bg, Първо българско царство) was a medieval Bulgar- Slavic and later Bulgarian state that existed in Southeastern Europ ...

and then various

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also

* * * Old Serbian (disambiguat ...

states, Stefan Nemanja's brother

Stracimir Zavidović Stracimir Zavidović ( sr-cyr, Страцимир Завидовић) was a 12th-century Serbian prince (Župan) of West Morava, an administrative division (appanage) of the Grand Principality of Serbia, from 1163–1166. He was a son of Zavida, ...

controlled the West Morava region, including the city, then known as Gradac. Stracimir, a Serbian '' župan,'' raised the Church of Our Lady of Moravian Gradac at the highest point of the town. In 1459, the Turks completed their conquest of the area, incorporating it into the Sanjak of Smederevo and converting Stracimir's church into a mosque. The town's name was changed from Gradac to the current Čačak.

16th century–present

Evliya Çelebi, an Ottoman explorer of the 16th and 17th centuries, described Čačak as the main place in the local ''

kadiluk A kadiluk, in some cases equivalent to a kaza, was a local administrative subdivision of the Ottoman empire, which was the territory of a kadı, or judge. There could be several kadiluks in a sanjak. The kadı's duties extended beyond those of ...

''. In 1717, Čačak became a part of the Habsburg Empire after the

Austrians , pop = 8–8.5 million , regions = 7,427,759 , region1 = , pop1 = 684,184 , ref1 = , region2 = , pop2 = 345,620 , ref2 = , region3 = , pop3 = 197,990 , ref3 ...

defeated

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

, signing the Treaty of Passarowitz. Austrian rule was short-lived, and 21 years later Čačak would again became a part of the

. Most of Čačak's Serb residents at the time of reconquest had deserted the town, migrating north safety in the Habsburg Empire. In their stead were settlers from

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

Bosnia and Hercegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...

and

Vlachs "Vlach" ( or ), also "Wallachian" (and many other variants), is a historical term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate mainly Romanians but also Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, Istro-Romanians and other Easter ...

from the countryside nearby. Čačak,_at_the_beginning_of_20th_century

Čačak has two years on its coat of arms. The first is 1408, in which

Ragusan Ragusan may refer to: * citizen of the Republic of Ragusa hr, Sloboda se ne prodaje za sve zlato svijeta it, La libertà non si vende nemmeno per tutto l'oro del mondo"Liberty is not sold for all the gold in the world" , population_estimate ...

archives first name the town. The second is 1815, the year the

Second Serbian Uprising The Second Serbian Uprising ( sr, Други српски устанак / ''Drugi srpski ustanak'', tr, İkinci Sırp Ayaklanması) was the second phase of the Serbian Revolution against the Ottoman Empire, which erupted shortly after the re ...

began and the year the

Battle of Ljubić The Battle of Ljubić ( sr, Битка на Љубићу, Бој на Љубићу) was a pitched battle between the Serbian revolutionary forces under Miloš Obrenović and the Ottoman troops commanded by Ćaja-paša, on the Ljubić hill near ...

was fought in the hills near Čačak. This battle is famous for one of the greatest Serbian rebel victories. Then a small group, the rebels defeated a much stronger Ottoman army numbering 5,000–12,000 men. Soon after, the Principality of Serbia, one of the first nations liberated from Ottoman rule, secured its independence. In 1837, one of the first Serbian grammar schools was completed. In the 1837–1941 period Čačak gradually modernized, with its town center modeled in a

Vienna Secession The Vienna Secession (german: Wiener Secession; also known as ''the Union of Austrian Artists'', or ''Vereinigung Bildender Künstler Österreichs'') is an art movement, closely related to Art Nouveau, that was formed in 1897 by a group of Austri ...

style popular at the time and standing to this day. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Čačak was part of the short-lived Republic of Užice, which, while the first liberated territory in Europe, was cut off by German forces shortly after it was founded. On 4 December 1944 Čačak was finally liberated by the

Yugoslav Partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene: , or the National Liberation Army, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska (NOV), Народноослободилачка војска (НОВ); mk, Народноослобод ...

. It has since evolved into a large town and a regional center, later being given the official status of a city within today's Republic of Serbia.

Settlements

Aside from the urban area of the city, the administrative area includes the following 58 settlements: * Atenica * Baluga (Ljubićska) * Baluga (Trnavska) * Banjica *

Beljina Beljina ( sr-cyr, Бељина) is a suburban settlement of Belgrade, Serbia. It is located in the municipality of Barajevo. Beljina is a small rural settlement with 775 inhabitants as of 2011, located on the northeastern tip of the Kosmaj mou ...

* Bečanj * Brezovica * Bresnica *

Vapa VAMP-Associated Protein A ( or Vesicle-Associated Membrane Protein-Associated Protein A) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''VAPA'' gene. Together with VAPB and VAPC it forms the VAP protein family. They are integral endoplasmic retic ...

* Vidova * Viljuša *

Vranići Vranići ( sr-cyr, Вранићи) is a village in the municipality of Čačak, Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast ...

* Vrnčani * Vujetinci * Goričani *

Gornja Gorevnica Gornja Gorevnica ( sr-cyrl, Горња Горевница) is a village in the Municipalities of Serbia, municipality of Čačak, Serbia. According to the 2011 census, the village had a population of 1,299 people.Popis stanovništva, domaćinstava ...

Gornja Trepča Gornja Trepča ( sr-cyr, Горња Трепча) is a village and spa located in the municipality of Čačak, Serbia. As of 2011 census, the village has a population of 556 inhabitants. The Atomska Banja spa center is located in the village; it ha ...

Donja Gorevnica Donja Gorevnica ( sr-cyrl, Доња Горевница) is a village in the municipality of Čačak, Serbia. According to the 2011 census, the village has a population of 877 people.Popis stanovništva, domaćinstava i Stanova 2002. Knjiga 1: Nacio ...

Donja Trepča Donja Trepča ( sr-cyrl, Доња Трепча) is a village in the municipality of Čačak, Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country ...

* Žaočani * Zablaće * Jančići *

Ježevica Ježevica is a Serbian Orthodox monastery dedicated to St. Nicholas, located at the foothills of the Jelica mountain in Ježevica near Čačak. It is registered as a Cultural Heritage of Serbia (1982). The Ježevica manuscript, claimed to date t ...

* Jezdina * Katrga *

Kačulice Kačulice ( sr-cyrl, Качулице) is a village in the municipality of Čačak in the Moravica District of Serbia. The village is approximately 15 km east of the city of Čačak Čačak ( sr-Cyrl, Чачак, ) is a city and the admini ...

Konjevići Konjevići ( sr, Коњевићи) is a village located in the municipality of Čačak Čačak ( sr-Cyrl, Чачак, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Moravica District in central Serbia. It is located in the West Morava Valley ...

* Kukići * Kulinovci * Lipnica *

Loznica Loznica ( sr-cyrl, Лозница, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city located in the Mačva District of western Serbia. It lies on the right bank of the Drina river. In 2011 the city had a total population of 19,572, while the administrative ar ...

* Ljubić * Međuvršje * Milićevci * Miokovci * Mojsinje *

* Mršinci *

Ovčar Banja Ovčar Banja ( sr-cyr, Овчар Бања) is a village and a spa located in the city of Čačak, Serbia. Located near the Ovčar-Kablar Gorge in the valley of the West Morava, it is known as the "Serbian Mount Athos" because of the numerous mona ...

* Ostra * Pakovraće * Parmenac *

Petnica Petnica () is a small village near Valjevo, Serbia. According to the census of 2002, there were 614 inhabitants (according to the census of 1991, there were 483 inhabitants). History Petnica was founded at the beginning of the 15th century. The ...

Preljina Preljina ( sr, Прељина) is a village located in the municipality of Čačak Čačak ( sr-Cyrl, Чачак, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Moravica District in central Serbia. It is located in the West Morava Valley withi ...

* Premeća * Pridvorica *

Prijevor Prijevor may refer to: Bosnia and Herzegovina * Prijevor, Bileća, village in Bileća * Prijevor, Foča, plateau on the Maglić mountain * Prijevor, Kladanj, a village in Kladanj Croatia * Prijevor, Dubrovnik, village in Dubrovnik * Prijevo ...

Prislonica Prislonica is a small town in the municipality of Čačak, Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern ...

* Rajac * Rakova * Riđage * Rošci * Slatina * Sokolići * Stančići * Trbušani *

Trnava Trnava (, german: Tyrnau; hu, Nagyszombat, also known by other alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, to the northeast of Bratislava, on the Trnávka river. It is the capital of a ''kraj'' (Trnava Region) and of an '' okres'' (Trna ...

Demographics

The city's administrative area or municipality has 115,337 inhabitants, with 73,331 living in Čačak proper. The city of Čačak has 38,590 households with 2.99 members on average. The number of homes is 51,482. The city's religious structure is predominantly

Serbian Orthodox The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian churches. The majority of the population in ...

(110,281), with minorities including atheists (577),

Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

(168),

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

(73),

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

(21) and others. Virtually the entire population speaks the

Serbian language Serbian (, ) is the standardized variety of the Serbo-Croatian language mainly used by Serbs. It is the official and national language of Serbia, one of the three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina and co-official in Montenegro and Kos ...

(112,505). The composition of population by gender and average age: * Male – 55,995 (41.42 years) and * Female – 59,342 (43.95 years). A total of 53,543 citizens older than 15 have a

secondary education Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final pha ...

(54.01%), while 14,823 citizens have some sort of

tertiary education Tertiary education, also referred to as third-level, third-stage or post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank, for example, defines tertiary education as including univers ...

(14.95%). Of those with a tertiary education, 9,386 (9.47%) have university education.

Ethnic groups

The city is mostly inhabited by Serbs (95.3%), followed by minorities of

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

, Montenegrins and other ethnic groups. Being located on a crossroads between the

and

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

during the 19th century, Čačak was home even to people of ethnicities that were not common in Čačak's region. One such example was a small Armenian community which began to settle from 1885, fleeing the forcible draft into the Ottoman army and the general oppression against the Armenians in the empire. Most members of this community worked in the coffee business. By the 1950s most of them had emigrated as the new Communist authorities, in the massive process of nationalization after World War II, confiscated Armenian businesses. The ethnic composition of the city is given in the following table (as of 2011 census):

Society and culture

This city traversed a long and thorny road from an anonymous settlement to a modern city in the 21st century. The very face of the city, as seen in the facades, monuments, and cultural establishments, is the reflection of the artistic spirit of its inhabitants. During the theatrical season there are numerous theatrical ensembles on tour from all of Serbia at cultural centre

Dom kulture Čačak Dom kulture Čačak (Anglicized: Cultural Center Čačak) is a cultural center located in Čačak, Serbia. History It was founded on 1 July 1971, as the cultural center of the city of Čačak, located on the main city's square. Dom kulture Ča ...

. Centre is home to "Drama Studio" and schools of ballet, fine art and sculpture. The exhibitions and performances, cultural and literary evenings are held at numerous places such as: "City Library Čačak", "Nadežda Petrović" and "Risim" galleries, "National Museum" in Čačak, "Salon of Photography" and "Inter-Municipal Archive" among many others. The current artwork production in the city can be followed through the auspices of groups and associations, private galleries, colonies and numerous enthusiasts. Fine art and sculpture colonies are most often held at the

spa resort. There are numerous cultural, musical, entertainment and tourist manifestations within the city and close surroundings, which attract multitudes of followers of ethno-culture, original folk music, like the "Dis spring", Memorial to

Nadežda Petrović Nadežda Petrović ( sr-Cyrl, Надежда Петровић; 11/12 October 1873 – 3 April 1915) was a Serbian painter and one of the women war photography pioneers in the region. Considered Serbia's most famous expressionist and fauvist, ...

and the "Flute festival" in the nearby village of

. Also, newly established festivals "DUK Festival" and rock festival "Priča" attract younger population from the city and its region. Čačak is also home to events such as "Pitijada", "Kupusijada", "Fijakerijada" and other festivals that celebrate old traditions belonging to

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

. In

Guča Guča (Serbian Cyrillic: Гуча, pronounced ) is a small town located in the Lučani municipality, Moravica District, Serbia. As of 2011 census, it has a population of 3,710 inhabitants. It is famous for its annual Guča trumpet festival, which ...

, south from Čačak, every year the

Guča trumpet festival The Guča Trumpet Festival ( sr, Фестивал трубача у Гучи, Festival trubača u Guči), also known as the Dragačevski Sabor ( sr, Драгачевски сабор or ''Dragačevo Fair (Fete, Gathering or Assembly)'', ), is an an ...

is held, one of the most popular festivals in the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

, alongside the Exit festival in (

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pan ...

Education

There are two faculties located in Čačak, which are a part of the University of Kragujevac: * Faculty of Agronomy * Faculty of Technical Sciences There are seven secondary schools: * Čačak's Grammar School (one of the oldest grammar schools in Serbia, 1837) * High School of Economics * Technical High School * Medicine High School * Machine High School * Musical High School * F&C School There are many primary schools and childcare centers. File:Tehnički_fakultet_Čačak.jpg, '' Faculty of Technical Sciences'' File:Čačak's high school.jpg, ''Čačak's Grammar School'' File:Economic school.jpg, ''High School of Economics'' File:Техничка школа у Чачку.JPG, ''Technical High School'' File:Музичка школа Чачак 30.jpg, ''Musical High School''

Sports

The "Mladost Sports Center" which is located on the coast of

River, next to the Čačak Stadium, two faculties and numerous other important buildings, offers many sports venues for locals. The whole area where the Sports Center is located is the town's most important entertainment area. Čačak is nationally famous for its clubs in various team sports; the most popular ones are

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

. The basketball club

Borac Čačak Borac may refer to: * FK Borac Banja Luka, a football club from Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina ** RK Borac Banja Luka, an affiliated team handball club ** OK Borac, an affiliated volleyball club * FK Borac Čačak, a football club from Čačak ...

and football club

have been participating in the top-tier leagues of Serbia for many consecutive years with much success. Women's handball is also very successful and popular.

Tourism

In the vicinity of Čačak there are more than 20 churches and monasteries, the largest number found on such a small area in Serbia. They represent cultural and historic monuments of great significance. The most important ones are the Church of the Ascension of Jesus, a church on Ljubić hill dedicated to Saint

Tsar Lazar Lazar Hrebeljanović ( sr-cyr, Лазар Хребељановић; ca. 1329 – 15 June 1389) was a medieval Serbian ruler who created the largest and most powerful state on the territory of the disintegrated Serbian Empire. Lazar's state, ...

, as well as the Vujan Monastery located on a nearby mountain of the same name. Special value is attributed to the monasteries of the

, which as a cultural and historic whole date back to the Middle Ages and represent the particularity of the region's cultural and artistic heritage created over the centuries. There are 12 monasteries and churches in the gorge: * Uspenje * Vavedenje * Jovanje * Nikolje * Blagoveštenje * Vaznesenje * Preobraženje * Sretenje * Sveta Trojica * Ilinje * Savinje * Kadjenica Thermal and mineral springs with medicinal properties provide the basis for the development of recreational tourism. There are three spa resorts within the territory of the city of Čačak:

and Slatinska Banja. There are also picnic sites: Gradina and the "Battle and victory" park (also called "Spomen" (remembrance) park) on the Jelica mountain, the Memorial complex on Ljubić hill, Grujine fields, rafts on West Morava river in

, Parmenac, Međuvršje and Ovčar Banja, and picnic sites on the tiny rivers called Dičina, Kamenica, Čemernica and Banja.

Image gallery

File:Church of Ascencion of Jesus.jpg, ''Crkva Uzašašća Isusova'' File:National museum in Čačak.jpg, ''Nacionalni muzej u Podgrađu'' File:Church of Saint Tsar Lazar on Ljubić hill.jpg, ''Crkva Svetog

na Kljaić brdu'' File:Bridges on Zapadna morava river and Borac hall.jpg, ''Most na

rijeci i Šimunić jezeru'' File:Stepa Stepanović monument in Čačak.jpg, Monument to Stepa Stepanović File:Zimska panorama - panoramio (1).jpg, ''View on Ljubić from West Morava in winter'' File:Meandri Zapadne Morave, Pogled sa Ovčara 01.jpg, ''West Morava meanders in Ovčar-Kablar Gorge'' File:Meandri Zapadne Morave, Pogled sa Ovčara 02.jpg, ''West Morava meanders in Ovčar-Kablar Gorge'' File:Хала КК "Борац" Чачак.JPG, ''KK Borac Sports Hall'' File:Wiki Šumadija X Spomen kosturnica u Čačku 180.jpg, ''The monument to the fallen soldiers of the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...

and

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Economy

The structure of the economy of the city of Čačak is composed of services and

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...

, industry and

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

. The main

processing Processing is a free graphical library and integrated development environment (IDE) built for the electronic arts, new media art, and visual design communities with the purpose of teaching non-programmers the fundamentals of computer programming ...

industries are paper production, electric home appliances, blade tools for the processing of metal, non-metals, chemical industry products, thermal technical appliances, metal and combined carpentry, parts and kits for the pharmaceutical industry and products for medical needs. Also, well developed are wood, lumber industry and agriculture. Many companies with more than 250 employees have deteriorated due to the sanctions in the 1990s. Since 2000, more than 40 government-owned companies have gone through the privatization process. Private enterprise, which has its tradition from back in the 19th century, is the primary characteristic of the economy of the city. As of January 2017, 98.65% of all business enterprises are small and micro companies. A large number of private companies grew into middle-size companies with 80 to 270 employees offering a wide variety of products. Today, on the territory of the city of Čačak, among the largest employers are

Sloboda A sloboda ( rus, слобода́, p=sləbɐˈda) was a kind of settlement in the history of the Old Russian regions Povolzhye, Central Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. The name is derived from the early Slavic word for "freedom" and may be loosely ...

, Technical Overhaul Military Institute (Remont), Hospital Čačak, Fabrika reznog alata and P.S. Fashion. Čačak also has the prestigious and country's unique ''Fruit Research Institute'' located in city center zone. For the 2017 calendar year, business enterprises in Čačak imported the goods in value of 269 million euros, and exported goods in value of 171 million euros. The coverage of imports by exports was 64%. ;Economic preview The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity (as of 2019):

Transportation

Due to its geographical position, Čačak is the main road transportation center in Western Serbia. As of August 2019, Miloš the Great motorway, which is projected to run from Belgrade to border with

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

, is in service from Belgrade bypass to Čačak with several other sections currently under construction. Also, the A5 motorway is planned and it will run from Čačak to

Pojate Pojate ( sr-cyr, Појате) is a village located in the municipality of Ćićevac, Serbia. According to the 2011 census, the village has a population of 846 inhabitants. References Populated places in Rasina District {{RasinaRS-geo-s ...

, thus connecting two main motorways in Serbia. Čačak also lies on State Road 22 and State Road 23, two main highways in Western Serbia. A railway from Kraljevo to Požega passes through Čačak, thus connecting the city with Belgrade–Bar railway (one of country's main railways). The Morava Airport, one of country's three international airports, was opened in 2019 for civil airplanes and is located between Čačak and Kraljevo. File:High Road Ljig Preljina.jpg, A2 motorway section near Čačak File:Srbija Voz Train Arriving at Čačak Railway Station.jpg,

Srbija Voz Srbija Voz ( sr-Cyrl, Србија Воз; English: ''Serbia Train'') is the national passenger railway company of Serbia. Srbija Voz is an associate member of the International Union of Railways (UIC) since 2016. History In March 2015, the Gov ...

train arriving at Čačak railway station File:Aerodrom Morava.jpg, Nearby Morava Airport

Notable people

Boban Dmitrović Boban Dmitrović (; born 2 April 1972) is a Serbian Association football, football manager and former player. Club career Born in Konarevo, a village near Kraljevo, Dmitrović started out at local club Budućnost Konarevo, before joining FK Slog ...

, football player * Bora Đorđević, rock musician * Branko Jelić, football player *

Darko Lazović Darko Lazović ( sr-Cyrl, Дарко Лазовић, ; born 15 September 1990) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Serie A club Hellas Verona and the Serbia national team. At the age of 21, Lazović was recognized a ...

, football player * Dragan Kićanović, former basketball player and coach, Olympic, World and European champion *

Dragomir Čumić Dragomir "Drago" Čumić (Serbian Cyrillic: Драгомир "Драго" Чумић; 8 May 1937 in Sirač near Daruvar, Kingdom of Yugoslavia – 10 November 2013 in Belgrade, Serbia) was a Serbian actor. His credits includes roles in the TV s ...

, actor *

Dragutin Gavrilović Dragutin Gavrilović ( sr-cyr, Драгутин Гавриловић; 25 May 1882 – 19 July 1945) was a Serbian and Yugoslav military officer, best known for his heroic defense of Belgrade during the First World War. Biography Dragutin Gavri ...

, military officer († 1945) *

Dušan Markešević Dušan Markešević (born 13 February 1986) is a Serbian long-distance runner who specialized in the various long-distance track and cross country disciplines. Running career Youth career At the age of 15, Markešević set the 3000-meter national ...

, athlete * Hadži Prodan Gligorijević, leader of the

Hadži Prodan's Revolt Hagi, Hadži, or Hadzhi (Хаджи) is a name derived from hajji, an honorific title given to a Muslim person who has successfully completed the Hajj to Mecca, which was later adopted by Christian peoples as a word for ''pilgrim''. People Surname ...

(† 1825) * Ivan Stambolić, politician († 2000) * Ivan Stevanović, football player *

Ivica Dragutinović Ivica Dragutinović (Serbian Cyrillic: Ивица Драгутиновић, ; born 13 November 1975) is a Serbian former professional footballer. Mainly a central defender, he could also operate as a defensive left back. After nearly one decade ...

, football player * Filip Filipović, mathematician, revolutionary, first secretary of Communist party of Yugoslavia *

Filip Mladenović Filip Mladenović (; born 15 August 1991) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Ekstraklasa side Legia Warsaw. Mladenović made his debut for the Serbia national team in 2012. Club career Borac Čačak He became a ...

, football player *

Lazar Marković Lazar Marković ( sr-Cyrl, Лазар Марковић, ; born 2 March 1994) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Turkish Süper Lig club Trabzonspor on loan from Gaziantep. He started his career at Partizan before m ...

, football player *

Luke Black Luka Ivanović (Serbian cyrillic: Лука Ивановић; born 18 May 1992), better known by his stage name Luke Black, is a Serbian singer-songwriter, producer and performer. In early 2015 he signed a recording deal with Universal Music Gro ...

, pop singer *

Marko Lomić Marko Lomić (Serbian Cyrillic: Марко Ломић; born 13 September 1983) is a Serbian former professional footballer who played as a left-back. Club career Lomić started out at his hometown club Borac Čačak, before transferring to Že ...

, football player * Marko Marinović, basketball player * Milan Jovanović, Montenegrin football player *

Milan Stojadinović Milan Stojadinović ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Стојадиновић; 4 August 1888 – 26 October 1961) was a Serbian and Yugoslav politician and economist who served as the Prime Minister of Yugoslavia from 1935 to 1939. He also served as Forei ...

, politician († 1961) * Milivoje Vitakić, football player *

Miloš Minić Miloš Minić (Милош Минић) (August 28, 1914, Preljina, Čačak, Kingdom of Serbia – September 5, 2003, Belgrade, Serbia-Montenegro) was a Yugoslav Serbian communist politician. Biography Minić graduated from secondary school in Ča ...

, politician († 2003) * Miloš Ristanović, Serbian professional footballer *

Milovan Destil Marković Milovan DeStil Marković ( sr-cyr, Милован ДеСтил Марковић; born 9 November 1957 in Čačak, Yugoslavia, today Serbia) is Serbian visual artist, who began his career in the early 1980s. Active for over two decades, he is recen ...

, artist * Milovan Rajevac, football coach *

Miroslav Ilić Miroslav Ilić ( sh-Cyrl, Мирослав Илић; born 10 December 1950) is a popular Serbian folk singer-songwriter and philanthropist. He is known for his powerful vocals and emotional lyrics. With 25 albums, he is one of the best-selling ...

, folk singer * Mladomir Puriša Đorđević, film director and screenwriter * Momčilo Perišić, general *

, painter († 1915) * Nemanja Kojić, athlete *

Serbian Patriarch Irinej Irinej ( sr-cyr, Иринеј, , en, Irenaeus; born Miroslav Gavrilović; 28 August 193020 November 2020) was the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church from 2010 until his death in 2020. He had first been the bishop of Niš between 1975 and 2010, ...

, head of the

Serbian Orthodox Church The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches. The majori ...

(† 2020) * Petar Stambolić, politician († 2007) *

Predrag Koraksić Corax Predrag Koraksić Corax ( sr, Предраг Кораксић Коракс; born 15 June 1933) is a Serbian political caricaturist. Name signature He writes his signature Corax using Latin characters and spelling. Biography Koraksić was born on ...

, caricaturist *

Radisav Ćurčić Radisav Ćurčić ( sr, Радисав Ћурчић, , he, ראדיסאב צ'ורצ'יץ'; born September 26, 1965) is a Serbian-Israeli former professional basketball player. Standing at and weighing , he played center position. He represented ...

, Serbian-Israeli basketball player, 1999 Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP * Radmila Bakočević, soprano * Radojko Avramović, football coach * Radomir Mihailović Točak, rock guitarist *

Robert Kišerlovski Robert Kišerlovski (born 9 August 1986) is a Croatian former professional road bicycle racer, who competed professionally between 2005 and 2018 for the , , , , , , and squads. Career At the 2011 Paris–Nice, Kišerlovski crashed on a slipper ...

, road bicycle racer *

Sonja Savić Sonja Savić ( sr-Cyrl, Соња Савић; 15 September 1961 – 23 September 2008) was a Serbian actress, famous for her husky voice and series of impressive roles in some of the more memorable 1980s Yugoslav films. Sonja appeared in Miroslav ...

, actress († 2008) * Stepa Stepanović, general from Balkan Wars and World War I († 1929) *

, 12th-century Serbian noble who ruled West Morava († after 1189) * Tadija Dragićević, basketball player *

Tanasko Rajić Atanasije Rajić ( sr-cyr, Атанасије Рајић; 31 January 1754 – 6 June 1815), known by his nickname Tanasko (Танаско), was a Serbian ''vojvoda'' (commander) and revolutionary, the ''barjaktar'' (flag-bearer) in the First Serbi ...

, captain in Second Serbian Uprising († 1815) *

Tatomir Anđelić Tatomir P. Anđelić (Serbian Cyrillic Татомир П. Анђелић ) was a Serbian mathematician, academic and an expert in mechanics. Biography Tatomir P. Anđelić was born on November 11, 1903 in a small village Bukovica, near Mrcajevci be ...

, mathematician († 1993) *

Uroš Tripković Uroš Tripković ( sr-cyr, Урош Трипковић; born September 11, 1986) is a Serbian former professional basketball player. He represented the Serbian national basketball team internationally. Standing at , he played as a shooting guard a ...

, basketball player *

Velimir Ilić Velimir "Velja" Ilić ( sr-cyr, Велимир "Веља" Илић, ; born 28 May 1951) is a Serbian politician. He is the founder and president of party New Serbia. He served as the Minister without portfolio in charge of Emergency Situations f ...

, politician *

Vera Matović Vera Matović ( sr-cyr, Вера Матовић, born 3 June 1946 in Čačak) is a Serbian folk singer. Her career started in 1974 with the release of her first album, ''Pomiri se sudbinom''; she has since released 26 albums and 13 singles. She ...

, folk singer * Vlada Jovanović, basketball coach *

Vladan Vasilijević Vladan Vasilijević was one of the most prominent Yugoslav specialists in criminal law in the 1980s. Throughout the 1990s he was engaged as a human rights lawyer promoting a democratic civil society and the rule of law in Serbia. In December 1989 ...

, politician and specialist in criminal law *

Vladislav Petković Dis Vladislav Petković Dis ( sr-cyr, Владислав Петковић Дис; 10 March 1880 – 30 May 1917) was a Serbian impressionist poet. He died in 1917 on a boat on the Ionian Sea after being hit by a German torpedo making him also remembe ...

, poet († 1917) *

Željko Obradović Želimir "Željko" Obradović ( sr-cyr, Желимир "Жељко" Обрадовић, ; born 9 March 1960) is a Serbian professional basketball coach and former player who is currently the head coach for KK Partizan, Partizan of the ABA League, ...

, former basketball player and coach, Olympic silver medalist, World, European and nine-time Euroleague champion * Zoran Kostić (footballer), football player *

Petar Krsmanović Petar Krsmanović ( sr-cyrl, Петар Крсмановић; born 1 June 1990) is a Serbian professional volleyball player who plays as a middle blocker for Vojvodina Novi Sad and the Serbia national team. Honours Club * Domestic ** 2014/2015 ...

, volleyball player, European champion

International relations

Twin towns and sister cities

Čačak is twinned with:

References

External links

City of Čačak official website

Basic information of Čačak
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cacak Populated places in Moravica District Municipalities and cities of Šumadija and Western Serbia