Kragujevac ( sr-Cyrl, Крагујевац, ) is the
fourth largest city in
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
and the administrative centre of the
Šumadija District
The Šumadija District ( sr, / , ) is one of eight administrative districts of Šumadija and Western Serbia. It is located in the central parts of the country. According to the 2011 census results, it has a population of 293,308 inhabitants, a ...
. It is the historical centre of 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 ...
in central Serbia, and is situated on the banks of the
Lepenica River. , the city proper has a population of 150,835, while its administrative area comprises a total of 179,417 inhabitants.
Kragujevac was the first capital of modern Serbia and the first constitution 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 ...
, the
Sretenje Constitution
The Constitution of the Principality of Serbia (Slavonic-Serbian: ) known as the Sretenje Constitution (" Candlemas Constitution"), was the first constitution of the Principality of Serbia, adopted in Kragujevac in 1835. The Constitution was writt ...
, was proclaimed in the city in 1838. A unit of the
Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Service
The Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Services (SWH) was founded in 1914. It was led by Dr. Elsie Inglis and provided nurses, doctors, ambulance drivers, cooks and orderlies. By the end of World War I, 14 medical units had been outfitted and ...
was located there in World War I. During the Second World War, Kragujevac was the site of a
massacre by the Nazis in which 2,778 Serb men and boys were killed.
Modern Kragujevac is known for its large munitions (
Zastava Arms
Zastava Arms ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Застава oружје, Zastava oružje) is a Serbian manufacturer of firearms and artillery, based in Kragujevac, Serbia. It was founded in 1853 when it cast its first cannon. It is the leading producer of firear ...
) and automobile (
FCA Srbija
Fiat Serbia., name=FS — formerly "FIAT Automobiles Serbia"., name=FAS (FAS) from 2008 to 2014, then
"FCA Serbia"., name=FCAS (FCAS) until 2021 — is a Serbian automotive manufacturing company based in Kragujevac, Serbia. It is a joint ve ...
) industries, as well as its status as an education centre housing the
University of Kragujevac
The University of Kragujevac ( sr, Универзитет у Крагујевцу, Univerzitet u Kragujevcu) is a public university in Kragujevac, Serbia. It is the oldest and the largest higher education institution in Šumadija and Western Ser ...
, one of the region's largest higher education institutions.
Etymology
The name ''Kragujevac'' comes from 'kraguj' the Serbian name for
cinereous vulture
The cinereous vulture (''Aegypius monachus'') is a large raptor in the family Accipitridae and distributed through much of temperate Eurasia. It is also known as the black vulture, monk vulture and Eurasian black vulture. With a body length of , ...
. In the Middle Ages, this bird was common in the woods of the area, and was used for hunting. The city's name means 'kraguj's tower', and the bird is represented on the city's coat of arms.
History
Early and medieval
Over 200 archaeological sites in Šumadija confirm that the region's first human settlement took place around 40,000 years ago during the
Paleolithic
The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...
era. The Jerina cave, located near the village of
Gradac in the direction of
Batočina
Batočina ( sr, Баточина, ) is a town and municipality located in the Šumadija District of central Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a lan ...
, is dated to have been inhabited from around 37,000
BP to 27,000 BP.
Dugouts
Dugout may refer to:
* Dugout (shelter), an underground shelter
* Dugout (boat), a logboat
* Dugout (smoking), a marijuana container
Sports
* In bat-and-ball sports, a dugout is one of two areas where players of the home or opposing teams sit whe ...
dated to 5,000 BC have been found in the city's vicinity, in the localities of
Grivac,
Kusovac
Kusovac is a village situated in Knić municipality in Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and ...
,
Divostin
Divostin () is a village of the city of Kragujevac in the Šumadija district of Serbia. According to the 2011 census, there were 422 inhabitants.
Over 100,000 Neolithic objects from Starčevo culture and Vinča culture were extracted in a number o ...
,
Donje Grbice and
Dobrovodica
Dobrovodica ( sr, Доброводица) is a village in the municipality of Batočina, Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in ...
.
These remains belong to the
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
Starčevo culture
The Starčevo culture is an archaeological culture of Southeastern Europe, dating to the Neolithic period between ''c.'' 6200 and 4500 BCE. It originates in the spread of the Neolithic package of peoples and technological innovations including far ...
, which, in this area, spread along the river valleys of Lepenica and
Gruža. The best known artifacts are the fertility figurines called ''Divostinke'' ("Girls from Divostin").
At the time of
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
conquest in 9 AD, the territory of the present-day city was largely inhabited by
Illyrians
The Illyrians ( grc, Ἰλλυριοί, ''Illyrioi''; la, Illyrii) were a group of Indo-European languages, Indo-European-speaking peoples who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo ...
(mainly the
Dardani
The Dardani (; grc, Δαρδάνιοι, Δάρδανοι; la, Dardani) or Dardanians were a Paleo-Balkan people, who lived in a region that was named Dardania after their settlement there. They were among the oldest Balkan peoples, and their ...
) and
Celts
The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancien ...
(the
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 ...
).
By the late 6th and early 7th centuries, large-scale Slavic raids and settlement began, along with invasions from
Hunnic and
Germanic tribes. Later, the area would become part of 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 ...
. With the weakening of both the Bulgarian and
Eastern Roman
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
empires,
Stefan Nemanja
Stefan Nemanja (Serbian Cyrillic: , ; – 13 February 1199) was the Grand Prince ( Veliki Župan) of the Serbian Grand Principality (also known as Raška, lat. ) from 1166 to 1196. A member of the Vukanović dynasty, Nemanja founded the Nemanji ...
, Grand Prince of the consolidated
medieval Serbian state
Serbia in the Middle Ages refers to the medieval period in the history of Serbia. The period begins in the 6th century with the Slavic migrations to Southeastern Europe, and lasts until the Ottoman conquest of Serbian lands in the second half ...
, captured the territory between 1198 and 1199. Although it is hypothesized that the current area of the city was densely settled by the time of Stefan Nemanja's conquest, it does not appear in medieval Serbian documents.
The first written mention of the city was in an
Ottoman cadastral survey
Cadastral surveying is the sub-field of cadastre and surveying that specialises in the establishment and re-establishment of real property boundaries. It involves the physical delineation of property boundaries and determination of dimensions, a ...
(''
defter
A ''defter'' (plural: ''defterler'') was a type of tax register and land cadastre in the Ottoman Empire.
Description
The information collected could vary, but ''tahrir defterleri'' typically included details of villages, dwellings, household ...
'') in 1476 after the city's incorporation into the
Sanjak of Smederevo
The Sanjak of Smederevo ( tr, Semendire Sancağı; sr, / ), also known in historiography as the Pashalik of Belgrade ( tr, Belgrad Paşalığı; sr, / ), was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman administrative unit (sanjak), that existed between the 1 ...
. Referred to as 'Kraguyfoça', the settlement, after Ottoman conquest, consisted of a square formerly used as a market with 32 houses. The surrounding region was largely empty; even the forests that once dominated the region had been burned. By the end of the same century, however, the Ottoman administration began to slowly resettle the city's area; by the 1536 cadastral survey, the town had 7 Muslim neighborhoods (
''mahalas'') with 56 houses in total, along with a Christian community of 29 houses. On the left bank of the Lepenica, a mosque was erected.
Habsburg-Ottoman conflict and major revolts
In spite of its newfound consolidation under Turkish rule, the town's location in strategic borderland between the
Habsburg monarchy
The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...
and the Ottoman Empire made it an area of frequent conflict in the modern era. During the
Great Turkish War
The Great Turkish War (german: Großer Türkenkrieg), also called the Wars of the Holy League ( tr, Kutsal İttifak Savaşları), was a series of conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League consisting of the Holy Roman Empire, Pola ...
, the Austrians, under
Louis of Baden
Louis William, Margrave of Baden-Baden (german: links=no, Ludwig Wilhelm von Baden-Baden; 8 April 1655 – 4 January 1707) was the ruling Margrave of Baden-Baden in Germany and chief commander of the Imperial army. He was also known as ''Türkenl ...
, pushed the Turks far to the south of the city. Although this occupation was short-lived, it spelled an end to consolidated Ottoman rule in the region. Soon after, in 1718, Kragujevac became a part of the
Habsburg Kingdom of Serbia following conquest by
Prince Eugene of Savoy
Prince Eugene Francis of Savoy–Carignano, (18 October 1663 – 21 April 1736) better known as Prince Eugene, was a Generalfeldmarschall, field marshal in the army of the Holy Roman Empire and of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty during the 17th a ...
and the signing of
Treaty of Passarowitz
The Treaty of Passarowitz, or Treaty of Požarevac, was the peace treaty signed in Požarevac ( sr-cyr, Пожаревац, german: Passarowitz), a town that was in the Ottoman Empire but is now in Serbia, on 21 July 1718 between the Ottoman ...
. Under Austrian occupation, the area around the city was fortified, and the Muslim population driven out. In 1725 the first officially recorded cases of vampirism occurred in Kragujevac, in which two alleged vampires were accused of murdering 42 people. In other parts of Habsburg ruled Kingdom of Serbia similar cases followed after which the Serbian word vampir entered German and later other world languages. As the Ottomans retook the town in 1739, and lost it again in 1789 to the same enemy, the town was ripe for new rule—this time under Serbian rebels.
![Wiki Šumadija XVI National Museum of Kragujevac 843](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Wiki_%C5%A0umadija_XVI_National_Museum_of_Kragujevac_843.jpg)
As a settlement central to the
Sanjak of Smederevo
The Sanjak of Smederevo ( tr, Semendire Sancağı; sr, / ), also known in historiography as the Pashalik of Belgrade ( tr, Belgrad Paşalığı; sr, / ), was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman administrative unit (sanjak), that existed between the 1 ...
under Ottoman rule, Kragujevac was of utmost strategic importance to its agitating, largely rural Serb inhabitants. Therefore, it became a centre of the
Serbian Revolution
The Serbian Revolution ( sr, Српска револуција / ''Srpska revolucija'') was a national uprising and constitutional change in Serbia that took place between 1804 and 1835, during which this territory evolved from an Ottoman prov ...
, a national awakening of Serbs led by their ''
vojvoda,''
Karađorđe
Đorđe Petrović ( sr-Cyrl, Ђорђе Петровић, ), better known by the sobriquet Karađorđe ( sr-Cyrl, Карађорђе, lit=Black George, ; – ), was a Serbian revolutionary who led the struggle for his country's independ ...
. First liberated on 5 April 1804 during the
First Serbian Uprising
The First Serbian Uprising ( sr, Prvi srpski ustanak, italics=yes, sr-Cyrl, Први српски устанак; tr, Birinci Sırp Ayaklanması) was an uprising of Serbs in the Sanjak of Smederevo against the Ottoman Empire from 14 February 18 ...
, the city was finally freed from imperial rule during 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 ...
in 1815.
In 1818, Kragujevac, though largely depopulated following the conflicts of the preceding centuries, was proclaimed capital of the
Principality of Serbia
The Principality of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl, Књажество Србија, Knjažestvo Srbija) was an autonomous state in the Balkans that came into existence as a result of the Serbian Revolution, which lasted between 1804 and 1817. Its creation was ...
on 6 May 1818 by
Miloš Obrenović
Miloš, Milos, Miłosz or spelling variations thereof is a masculine given name and a surname. It may refer to:
Given name
Sportsmen
* Miłosz Bernatajtys, Polish rower
* Miloš Bogunović, Serbian footballer
* Miloš Budaković, Serbian f ...
in the medieval
Vraćevšnica monastery
The Vraćevšnica Monastery ( sr, Манастир Враћевшница, Manastir Vraćevšnica, ) is a Serbian Orthodox monastery in Vraćevšnica, Gornji Milanovac, Serbia, built in 1428–29 on the orders of Radič ( fl. 1389–1441), a mag ...
. To mark the occasion, he built the
Amidža Konak, perhaps ironically a lone cultural souvenir of Ottoman rule. The first Serbian constitution, the
Sretenje Constitution
The Constitution of the Principality of Serbia (Slavonic-Serbian: ) known as the Sretenje Constitution (" Candlemas Constitution"), was the first constitution of the Principality of Serbia, adopted in Kragujevac in 1835. The Constitution was writt ...
, was proclaimed in the city on 15 September 1835. It was one of the most liberal constitutions in Europe had ever seen.
Industrial development
Although Kragujevac lost its capital status to
Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
in 1841, its importance only increased during the remainder of the 19th century as it grew into a city marked by its industry. Following centuries of economic underdevelopment, the underpinnings of the city's modernization—and Serbia's main munitions manufacturer,
Zastava Arms
Zastava Arms ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Застава oружје, Zastava oružje) is a Serbian manufacturer of firearms and artillery, based in Kragujevac, Serbia. It was founded in 1853 when it cast its first cannon. It is the leading producer of firear ...
—were laid in the commissioning of the city's foundry complex in 1835. Known under its Serbian acronym VTZ, the complex was completed in 1850, and the first cannon was cast in 1853. Colloquially styled the 'Knez's arsenal', its first director, Charles Loubry, was a French engineer authorized to take over this duty by a significantly larger figure than the Serbian ''
knez''—the Emperor of France, Napoleon III.
![Topolivnica_1856](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Topolivnica_1856.jpg)
Following the creation of the VTZ, industrial development continued at an unprecedented pace. The first
telephone exchange
A telephone exchange, telephone switch, or central office is a telecommunications system used in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or in large enterprises. It interconnects telephone subscriber lines or virtual circuits of digital syst ...
was installed in 1858, and in 1868 the first industrial brewery was opened by Nikola Mesarović. The first printing press was founded in 1870. To connect the city's burgeoning military industry as well as its production of iron ploughs to the rest of Serbia's regions, the
Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
–
Niš
Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names in other languages) is the third largest city in Serbia and the administrative center of the Nišava District. It is located in southern part of Serbia. , the city proper has a population of 183,164, while ...
railroad was built in 1886. To serve its industrial population, Serbia's first grammar school (''gimnazija)'', the city's first pharmacy, and its first cinema, located in a local ''kafana'', were all built during the remainder of the 19th century, along with Kragujevac's Great (or Upper) Park and, in 1891, its first regulatory urban plan.
The city's industrialism characterized it among its European peers, along with its workers' demonstrations, known as the ''Crveni barjak'' ('Red flag') demonstrations, first held on 27 February 1876.
Today, the beginnings of the town's industry, the now-defunct VTZ, have been recognized by the Serbian government as vital to Serbia's cultural heritage and, as of 2017, consists of 151 individual objects, of which 31 are protected as unique heritage, including the old foundry, the machine workshop, the chimney, the
fire lookout tower
A fire lookout tower, fire tower or lookout tower, provides housing and protection for a person known as a "fire lookout" whose duty it is to search for wildfires in the wilderness. It is a small building, usually on the summit of a mountain or ...
, the railroad bridge over the Lepenica River, and the
cartridge
Cartridge may refer to:
Objects
* Cartridge (firearms), a type of modern ammunition
* ROM cartridge, a removable component in an electronic device
* Cartridge (respirator), a type of filter used in respirators
Other uses
* Cartridge (surname) Ca ...
factory. Once known by its non-industrial residents as the 'Forbidden City' (''Zabranjeni Grad),'' the complex is now open to the public.
World War I
During
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 ...
, Kragujevac again became the capital of Serbia (1914–1915), and the seat of many state institutions—the Supreme Army Command was housed within the court house building.
A unit of the Scottish Women's Hospital for Women's Service was based there from December 1914 to November 1915. A list of those working in the hospital can be viewed on the website "Imperial War Museum: Lives of the First World War " and more information on these units is below.
During the war, Kragujevac lost around 15% of its population. On the night of 2 June 1918, a group of occupying Slovak soldiers from the Austro-Hungarian 71st infantry regiment mutinied in the city centre. The soldiers, led by Viktor Kolibík, had recently returned from captivity in Russia and were to be immediately deployed to the Italian Front. The mutiny failed, and 44 mutineers were executed.
Yugoslavia
Following World War I, Kragujevac became a part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, later renamed the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 unt ...
. In the period before the Second World War, the city continued its cultural and economic development with the founding of the Gundulić Theatre and the Kragujevac Academic Theatre as well as a number of new factories.
![King-Peter's-street](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/King-Peter%27s-street.jpg)
Following the Nazi
invasion of Yugoslavia
The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, or ''Projekt 25'' was a German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was p ...
, the city came under
direct Nazi occupation. After a joint
Partisan
Partisan may refer to:
Military
* Partisan (weapon), a pole weapon
* Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line
Films
* ''Partisan'' (film), a 2015 Australian film
* ''Hell River'', a 1974 Yugoslavian film also know ...
-
Chetnik
The Chetniks ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Четници, Četnici, ; sl, Četniki), formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland and the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationa ...
attack on German forces in nearby
Gornji Milanovac
Gornji Milanovac ( sr-Cyrl, Гoрњи Милановац, ) is a town and municipality located in the Moravica District of central Serbia. The population of the town is 24,216, while the population of the municipality is 44,406.
The town was foun ...
, ''Generalfeldmarschall''
Wilhelm Keitel
Wilhelm Bodewin Johann Gustav Keitel (; 22 September 188216 October 1946) was a German field marshal and war criminal who held office as chief of the '' Oberkommando der Wehrmacht'' (OKW), the high command of Nazi Germany's Armed Forces, duri ...
calculated that 50 people were to be shot for every German soldier wounded and 100 people were to be shot for every German soldier killed.
Franz Böhme
Franz Friedrich Böhme (15 April 1885 – 29 May 1947) was an Army officer who served in succession with the Austro-Hungarian Arny, the Austrian Army and the German Wehrmacht. He rose to the rank of general during World War II, serving as Comm ...
therefore ordered the deaths of nearly 2,800 men and boys between 19 and 21 October 1941 in the
Kragujevac massacre
The Kragujevac massacre was the mass murder of between 2,778 and 2,794 mostly Serb men and boys in Kragujevac, by German soldiers on 21 October 1941. It occurred in the German-occupied territory of Serbia during World War II, and came as a r ...
. The dead included a class from the city's First Gymnasium; today, a monument to the executed pupils is the symbol of the city. The massacre inspired a poem titled ''Krvava Bajka'' (''A Bloody Fairy Tale'') by
Desanka Maksimović
Desanka Maksimović ( sr-Cyrl, Десанка Максимовић; 16 May 1898 – 11 February 1993) was a Serbian poet, writer and translator. Her first works were published in the literary journal ''Misao'' in 1920, while she was studying at t ...
.
The city was liberated from Nazi Germany on 21 October 1944.
In the post-war period, Kragujevac continued to develop its industry. Its main products were passenger cars, trucks and industrial vehicles, hunting arms, industrial chains, leather, and textiles. The biggest industry was
Zastava Automobiles
Zastava Automobiles ( sr, Застава Аутомобили/''Zastava Automobili'') was a Serbian international car manufacturer, a subsidiary of Group Zastava Vehicles which went bankrupt in May 2017.
After many decades of producing different ...
, which at one point employed tens of thousands people.
The first product of the
Zastava Automobiles
Zastava Automobiles ( sr, Застава Аутомобили/''Zastava Automobili'') was a Serbian international car manufacturer, a subsidiary of Group Zastava Vehicles which went bankrupt in May 2017.
After many decades of producing different ...
car company, the FIAT 750, was manufactured in 1955 under a licence to
Fiat Automobiles (now FCA). In the following three decades, more than five million passenger cars (FIAT 750, Zastava 1300, Zastava 101, Zastava 128, Zastava Yugo, Yugo Florida,
Fiat 500L
The Fiat 500L is a car manufactured by Fiat under the FCA Serbia joint venture and marketed globally since its debut at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show. It is classified as a Mini MPV.
Based on a variant of the GM Fiat Small platform, ''FCA Sma ...
) were manufactured and marketed in 74 countries worldwide.
Perhaps most infamous among the automobiles produced is the
Yugo
The Yugo (), also marketed as the Zastava Koral (, sr-Cyrl, Застава Корал) and Yugo Koral, is a subcompact hatchback formerly manufactured by Zastava Automobiles, at the time a Yugoslav corporation.
Originally designed in It ...
, also marketed as the Zastava Korral.
The city's industry greatly suffered under
international economic sanctions during the
Milošević era in the 1990s, and some parts were reduced to rubble by the 1999
NATO bombing of Yugoslavia
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The air strikes lasted from 24 March 1999 to 10 June 1999. The bombings continued until an a ...
.
Kragujevac today
The city today remains an industrial heart of Serbia, and has grown with the influx of students and refugees from the Yugoslav wars. In 2010, the city government signed a memorandum with the German development agency
GIZ and in 2012 city hall adopted a strategy of urban development of the central city zone to be completed by 2030. As of December 2017, many objects within the complex deteriorated and the right bank of the Lepenica is urbanistically neglected. The authenticity and representative values of the complex must be preserved, but where it is allowed, the industrial and workers quarters will be transformed into the residential and commercial areas, traffic corridors and used for the numerous educational and cultural institutions Serbia's industrial city continues to cherish.
[
]
Geography and infrastructure
Kragujevac lies above sea level
Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''.
The comb ...
. The coordinates of the city are 44°00'36.3 N and 20°55'01.9 E. It is located in the valley of the river Lepenica. The city covers an area of , surrounded by the slopes of the Rudnik, Crni Vrh, and Gledić mountains. Kragujevac is the traditional centre 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 ...
, a region characterized by its rolling hills and fertile orchards.
File:Image-of-Sumadija-2.jpg, ''Kragujevac is centre 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 ...
region''
File:Strogi prirodni rezervat Veliki Sturac, planina Rudnik 01.jpg, ''National Reserve Veliki Sturac, Mountain Rudnik''
Cityscape
The architecture of Kragujevac displays a fusion of many different styles. Historically, Ottoman (nowadays almost completely gone) and 19th century 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 architecture have played an important role in the city's landscape.
Newer architecture dominates the city's panorama. A blend of Viennese, Balkan as well as Brutalism
Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by Minimalism (art), minimalist constructions th ...
is present, as showcased in the monuments to the Kragujevac massacre. Post-war concrete apartment blocks built during the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...
period are prominent. Today, glass office buildings reflect the ambitious business aspirations of the city. Some important buildings in Kragujevac include:
* The "old" (or "Pridvorina") church of Descent of the Holy Spirit, built in 1818 as a part of Prince Miloš's court
* The Old Parliament, built in the court of the church where the first parliamentary meeting was held in 1859
* The Amidža Konak, built by Prince Miloš as a residential house (now exhibition) and an example of regional Serbian architecture
* The Prince Mihailo Konak, built in 1860 to blend local tradition with European architectural concepts and now the National Museum
* The grammar school (''gimnazija''), built between 1885 and 1887 in European style to serve as the first educational institution of its kind in Serbia, educating prominent Serbian figures such as Svetozar Marković
Svetozar Marković ( sr-Cyrl, Светозар Марковић, ; 9 September 1846 – 26 February 1875) was a Serbian political activist, literary critic and socialist philosopher. He developed an activistic anthropological philosophy w ...
, Nikola Pašić
Nikola Pašić ( sr-Cyrl, Никола Пашић, ; 18 December 1845 – 10 December 1926) was a Serbian and Yugoslav politician and diplomat who was a leading political figure for almost 40 years. He was the leader of the People's Radical P ...
, and Radomir Putnik
Radomir Putnik ( sr, Радомир Путник; ; 24 January 1847 – 17 May 1917) was the first Serbian Field Marshal and Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian army in the Balkan Wars and in the First World War. He served in every war in ...
The Upper (Great) Park is the largest park in Kragujevac. It was established in 1898. It is covered with more than of greenery, and a dense canopy of century-old trees, renovated walkways and benches are the right place for rest, walk and relaxation. In the park and its immediate vicinity there are sports facilities for basketball, football, volleyball, tennis, and indoor and outdoor swimming pools. Lower (Small) Park is located in the city centre, within the Milos Wreath complex. At its centre there is a monument to the Fallen People 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 Ilina Voda park, a legacy of Svetozar Andrejević, was established in 1900. It covers an area of .
There is a fountain with a small waterfall, five mini lakes connected by a small stream, and a small zoo with about 100 animals and a garden with various types of trees characteristic of Šumadija. The curiosity in the park is the largest sculpture of Easter eggs ( high) in Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
and the second in the world
In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...
; made from recycled metal, set in 2004. Scenic attractions nearby include the Aranđelovac
Aranđelovac ( sr-cyr, Аранђеловац, ) is a town and a municipality located in the Šumadija District of central Serbia. , the municipality has a population of 46,225 inhabitants, while the town has 24,797 inhabitants.
It is situated be ...
, Gornji Milanovac
Gornji Milanovac ( sr-Cyrl, Гoрњи Милановац, ) is a town and municipality located in the Moravica District of central Serbia. The population of the town is 24,216, while the population of the municipality is 44,406.
The town was foun ...
, Vrnjačka Banja
Vrnjačka Banja ( sr-cyr, Врњачка Бања) is a town and municipality located in the Raška District of central Serbia. The population of the town is 10,065 inhabitants, while the population of the municipality is 27,527 inhabitants.
Vrnja ...
, and Mataruška Banja
Mataruška Banja (, lit. "Crithmum Spa") is a spa town located in the City of Kraljevo, Central Serbia. It is located at the Ibar river, 9 km from Kraljevo. As of 2011 census, it has a population of 2,950 inhabitants.
See also
* List of s ...
, Karađorđe's castle, the Church of Saint George in Topola
Topola ( sr-cyrl, Топола, ) is a town and municipality located in the Šumadija District of central Serbia. It was the place where Karađorđe, a Serbian revolutionary, was chosen as the leader of the First Serbian Uprising against the Ottom ...
away, the Old Kalenić monastery away, the resorts of Rogot () and Stragari () with the old Blagoveštenje and Voljavča monasteries.
File:View_on_the_city.JPG, ''View of Kragujevac''
File:Konak-kneza-Mihaila.jpg, '' House of prince Mihailo Obrenović III''
File:Saborni_Hram.jpg, ''Kragujevac Cathedral''
File:The city square1.jpg, ''Pedestrian zone''
File:La_Résidence_Amidža_à_Kragujevac.jpg, ''Amidžin Konak''
Transportation
Kragujevac has developed transportation infrastructure, with a variety of road connections to the Serbian capital, Belgrade. It can be reached using Serbian IB-class roads 24 (an expressway) and 25. In the coming years, the city will also be accessible via Pan-European Corridor X or, in Serbia, the A1 motorway
A1, A-1, A01 or A.1. may refer to:
Education
* A1, the Basic Language Certificate of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
* Language A1, the former name for "Language A: literature", one of the IB Group 1 subjects
* A1, a ...
. The town is also connected to nearby Jagodina and Gornji Milanovac via class IIA road numbers 170 and 176 (via Bar, Montenegro), respectively.
Kragujevac is connected by bus lines with almost all cities in the country. The most frequent departures (every half-hour) are to Belgrade. The central bus station is about a kilometre away from the city centre. Kragujevac can also be reached by train. The central train station is located close to the central bus station.
The company responsible for public transportation
Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...
in Kragujevac is the City Traffic Agency (GSA). The integrated public transport is performed by two companies: Arriva Litas and Vulović Transport. There are 22 urban bus lines and 14 lines that connect nearby rural areas operating according to established timetable. There are also 7 taxi
A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...
and 3 rent-a-car companies operating in Kragujevac. Car parking
Parking is the act of stopping and disengaging a vehicle and leaving it unoccupied. Parking on one or both sides of a road is often permitted, though sometimes with restrictions. Some buildings have parking facilities for use of the buildings' ...
system with 10 parking lots and zoned street parking (three zones with 4,244 parking spaces) is operated by public service company A public service company (or public utility company) is a corporation or other non-governmental business entity (i.e. limited partnership) which delivers public services - certain services considered essential to the public interest. The ranks of su ...
Parking Service Kragujevac.
Climate
Kragujevac has a humid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...
(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 ...
: ''Cfa''), and with a July mean temperature of . Winds most often blow from southwest and northwest, while they often blow from southeast in January, February and March.
Municipalities and settlements
;Defunct city municipalities
From May 2002 until March 2008, the city of Kragujevac was divided into the following city municipalities:
* Aerodrom
* Pivara
Pivara () was one of five city municipalities which constituted the City of Kragujevac. The municipality was formed in May 2002, only to be dissolved in March 2008.
Inhabited places
The Municipality of Pivara comprised the following settlemen ...
* Stanovo
* Stari Grad
* Stragari
Stragari ( sr-cyr, Страгари) is a rural settlement within the City of Kragujevac.
Geography
Located at 250 m above sea level, it lies 30 km northwest of Kragujevac and about 120 km south of state capital, Belgrade. It lie ...
; Settlements
List of settlements in the city of Kragujevac:
Demographics
According to the 2011 census results, the city's administrative area has a population of 179,417 inhabitants.
Around 70% (126,312 inhabitants) are of working age (aged 15 to 64). The employed population in 2014 was 42,148 (47.0% of whom were women), most of whom work in metalworking
Metalworking is the process of shaping and reshaping metals to create useful objects, parts, assemblies, and large scale structures. As a term it covers a wide and diverse range of processes, skills, and tools for producing objects on every scale ...
(22%) and medical and social services
Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or administe ...
(13%). 54.6% of persons older than 15 have only secondary education, while 17.7%% hold a college or university degree.
Around 93% of total city area is covered with water supply system, 78% with sewage system, 72% with natural gas supply network, and 92% with cell phone networks.
Ethnic groups
Politics
Results of the 2012 local elections (there are 87 seats in local assembly) are the following:
* Together for Šumadija
Together for Šumadija ( sr, Заједно за Шумадијy / Zajedno za Šumadiju) is a minor liberal-conservative political party in Serbia. Founded on May 2, 2009 by the ''Together for Kragujevac'' movement and by a series of citizen adv ...
-United Regions of Serbia
The United Regions of Serbia ( sr, Уједињени региони Србије, Ujedinjeni regioni Srbije; abbr. УРС, URS) was a regionalist, liberal-conservative political party in Serbia. It was founded on 16 May 2010 as a political coa ...
(37)
* Let's Get Kragujevac Moving (18)
* Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
-Social Democratic Party of Serbia
The Social Democratic Party of Serbia ( sr, Социјалдемократска партија Србије, Socijaldemokratska partija Srbije, SDPS) is a centre-left political party in Serbia. It is orientated towards social democracy.
His ...
(12)
* SPS
SPS may refer to:
Law and government
* Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures of the WTO
* NATO Science for Peace and Security
* Single Payment Scheme, an EU agricultural subsidy
* The Standard Procurement System, fo ...
- PUPS- JS (10)
* Liberal Democratic Party-Serbian Renewal Movement
The Serbian Renewal Movement ( sr-cyrl, Српски покрет обнове, Srpski pokret obnove, SPO) is a liberal and monarchist political party in Serbia.
History
The Serbian Renewal Movement party was founded in 1990 through the merger ...
(5)
* Democratic Party of Serbia
The New Democratic Party of Serbia ( sr, Нова демократска странка Србије, Nova demokratska stranka Srbije, , NDSS or New DSS) is a national-conservative political party in Serbia.
Initially known and formed as Democ ...
(5)
Economy
Kragujevac has been an important industrial and trading centre of Serbia for more than two centuries, known for its automotive and firearms industries. The former state-owned Zastava Automobiles
Zastava Automobiles ( sr, Застава Аутомобили/''Zastava Automobili'') was a Serbian international car manufacturer, a subsidiary of Group Zastava Vehicles which went bankrupt in May 2017.
After many decades of producing different ...
company was purchased by Fiat
Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...
in 2008, and new company, FCA Srbija
Fiat Serbia., name=FS — formerly "FIAT Automobiles Serbia"., name=FAS (FAS) from 2008 to 2014, then
"FCA Serbia"., name=FCAS (FCAS) until 2021 — is a Serbian automotive manufacturing company based in Kragujevac, Serbia. It is a joint ve ...
, was established. Fiat was joined by partners Magneti Marelli
Magneti Marelli S.p.A. () is an Italian developer and manufacturer of components for the automotive industry. The firm is headquartered in Corbetta, Italy, and includes 86 manufacturing plants, 12 R&D centres, and 26 application centers in 19 c ...
(exhaust systems
An exhaust system is used to guide reaction exhaust gases away from a controlled combustion inside an engine or stove. The entire system conveys burnt gases from the engine and includes one or more exhaust pipes. Depending on the overall system ...
and control panels), Johnson Controls
Johnson Controls International is an American
Irish-domiciled multinational conglomerate headquartered in Cork, Ireland, that produces fire, HVAC, and security equipment for buildings. As of mid-2019, it employed 105,000 people in around 2,0 ...
(car seats and interiors), Sigit (thermoplastic and rubber components) and HTL (wheels
A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction with axles, allow heavy objects to be ...
).
Weapons manufacturing in Kragujevac began with foundation of the VTZ in 1853 and has since grown to become Serbia's primary supplier of firearms
A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions).
The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes c ...
through the Zastava Arms
Zastava Arms ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Застава oружје, Zastava oružje) is a Serbian manufacturer of firearms and artillery, based in Kragujevac, Serbia. It was founded in 1853 when it cast its first cannon. It is the leading producer of firear ...
corporation. Today, Zastava Arms exports more than 95% of its products to over forty countries in the world. By the decisions of the Ministry of Defence of Serbia, Zastava Arms became a part of the Defense Industry of Serbia in 2003. The most important partners of Zastava Arms are Yugoimport SDPR
Yugoimport–SDPR ( sr, Југоимпорт–СДПР, Jugoimport–SDPR) is a Serbian state-owned weapons manufacturer as well as intermediary company for the import and export of defense-related equipment. It is headquartered in Belgrade, w ...
, Army and Police of Serbia, Century Arms
Century International Arms is an importer and manufacturer of firearms that is based in the United States. The company was founded in 1961 in St. Albans, Vermont,
with offices in Montreal. In 1995, the company headquarters and sales staff moved to ...
, and International Golden Group.
Rapp Marine Group (components for ships, oil platforms and machines), Meggle AG
Meggle is a milk and whey processing company based in Wasserburg am Inn, Germany.
History
In 1882 Josef Anton Meggle founded a dairy in Wasserburg am Inn. In order to expand, Josef's brother Jakob opened a sales office in Dresden in 1886 – ...
(dairy products
Dairy products or milk products, also known as lacticinia, are Food product, food products made from (or containing) milk. The most common dairy animals are cow, water buffalo, dairy goat, nanny goat, and Sheep, ewe. Dairy products include commo ...
), Unior Components ( broaches, welded construction, thermal treatment
Thermal treatment is any waste treatment technology that involves high temperatures in the processing of the waste feedstock. Commonly this involves the combustion of waste materials.
Systems that are generally considered to be thermal treatment ...
), Metro Cash and Carry
Metro AG is a German multinational company based in Düsseldorf which operates business membership only cash and carry stores primarily under the Metro brand. Until 2020 it was also active in general retail business through Real division, wh ...
, Mercator __NOTOC__
Mercator (Latin for "merchant") may refer to:
People
* Marius Mercator (c. 390–451), a Catholic ecclesiastical writer
* Arnold Mercator, a 16th-century cartographer
* Gerardus Mercator, a 16th-century cartographer
** Mercator 1569 ...
and Plaza centres (retail
Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and t ...
) established their operations in Kragujevac. Many other local companies provide key manufacturing and production establishments.
According to the National Bank of Serbia, there were 30 commercial banks operating in Serbia as of December 2016, of which Direktna Banka
Direktna Banka ( sr, Директна Банка) was a Serbian bank based in Kragujevac. It ceased with operations in December 2021, after it was merged with the Serbian branch of the Eurobank Ergasias, forming Eurobank Direktna.
History
The or ...
has its headquarters in Kragujevac.
The Kragujevac Fair was established in 2005. It comprises of area dedicated to trade and exhibitions and of area for other activities (administration, Media centre, restaurant etc.).
As of September 2017, Kragujevac contains one of 14 free economic zone
Free economic zones (FEZ), free economic territories (FETs) or free zones (FZ) are a class of special economic zone (SEZ) designated by the trade and commerce administrations of various countries. The term is used to designate areas in which co ...
s established in Serbia.
The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity (as of 2019):
Society and culture
Education
There are 22 primary and 8 secondary schools in Kragujevac. There are also 3 special schools: a school for hearing impaired children, the music school "Dr Miloje Milojević", and the school for children with disabilities "Vukašin Marković".
The University of Kragujevac
The University of Kragujevac ( sr, Универзитет у Крагујевцу, Univerzitet u Kragujevcu) is a public university in Kragujevac, Serbia. It is the oldest and the largest higher education institution in Šumadija and Western Ser ...
was established on 21 May 1976. It is the fourth largest university in Serbia and is organized into 12 faculties and two institutes which are spread over six nearby cities (Kragujevac, 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 within the geographical region of Šumadija. , the city proper has 73,331 inhabitants, wh ...
, Kraljevo
Kraljevo ( sr-cyr, Краљево, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Raška District in central Serbia. It is situated on the confluence of West Morava and Ibar, in the geographical region of Šumadija, between the mountains of K ...
, Užice
Užice ( sr-cyr, Ужице, ) is a city and the administrative centre of the Zlatibor District in western Serbia. It is located on the banks of the river Đetinja. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 59,747. The Cit ...
, Jagodina )
, image_shield = Jagodina-grb.png
, image_flag = FLAG Jagodina.png
, image_skyline =
, image_caption =
, image_map = File:Municipalities of Serbia Jagodina.png
, map_caption = Location of Jagodina w ...
and Vrnjačka Banja
Vrnjačka Banja ( sr-cyr, Врњачка Бања) is a town and municipality located in the Raška District of central Serbia. The population of the town is 10,065 inhabitants, while the population of the municipality is 27,527 inhabitants.
Vrnja ...
). Around 16,000 students are currently enrolled at the university. It has around 1,350 employees, out of which 900 are teaching and research staff.
The University Library in Kragujevac is of a generally scientific character, and its primary users are university teaching staff and students. Its area is and includes several storage rooms, a reading area and the university gallery. The library keeps around 100,000 copies of books, 2,500 doctoral and master thesis, 450 titles of domestic journals and 105 titles of foreign journals.
Culture
There are many cultural institutions in Kragujevac that have gained regional and national significance in the arts. These institutions include:
* Knjaževsko-srpsko pozorište (founded in 1835)
* the National Library "Vuk Karadžić
Vuk Stefanović Karadžić ( sr-Cyrl, Вук Стефановић Караџић, ; 6 November 1787 (26 October OS)7 February 1864) was a Serbian philologist, anthropologist and linguist. He was one of the most important reformers of the mode ...
" (founded in 1866)
* the cultural and artistic group "Abrasević" (founded in 1904)
* The "October in Kragujevac Memorial Park", located in Šumarice, commemorating the tragic events of 21 October 1941
* The National Museum, with various displays including those pertaining to archaeology, ethnic diversity, the history of Kragujevac and Šumadija, and many paintings (the archaeology department has a rich collection of 10,000 display items and over 100,000 study items, while the painting department has over 1,000 pieces of prominent Serbian art of extraordinary value)
* The "Old Foundry Museum", located within the old gun foundry, presents the industrial development of Kragujevac and Serbia using a collection of 5,800 pieces: weapons and equipment, machines and tools, archive material, photos, paintings, trophies and medals.
* The Historical Archives of Šumadija, collecting and filing the archives and issues of the seven municipalities of Šumadija and has at its disposal of archive issues with 780 registries and hundreds of thousands of original historical documents
There are three fine and applied arts associations in Kragujevac: the Art KG, the branch of the Serbian Association of Painters ULUS and the Association of Painters of Kragujevac, the ULUK. The most important annual and biannual cultural events include:
* the International Festival of Chamber Choir Music
* the International Festival of Chamber Music
* the International Small Forms Theatre Festival
*Arsenal Fest
Arsenal Fest ( sr-cyr, Арсенал Фест) is a summer music festival held in Kragujevac, Serbia. It is staged annually since 2011 and occurs for three days every late June.
History
When it started in 2011, the festival had only a single stag ...
* the International Saloon of Antiwar Cartoons
* the International Art Workshop "Balkan Bridges"
* the International Jazz Festival
* the International Puppet Theatre Festival
Sports
Kragujevac is home to Čika Dača Stadium
Čika Dača Stadium ( sr, Стадион Чика Дача) is a multi-use stadium in Kragujevac, Serbia. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of FK Radnički 1923. The stadium was named in memory of Danilo ...
, the third largest stadium in Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
by seat capacity. The largest and most important sports association in Kragujevac is Radnički, which brings together 19 clubs: football, athletics, volleyball, handball, boxing, wrestling etc. FK Radnički 1923
Fudbalski klub Radnički 1923 (), commonly known as Radnički Kragujevac (), is a professional football club from Kragujevac, Serbia and the major part of the Radnički Kragujevac Sports Society. The name Radnički means "Labourers'" in Serbian a ...
is the city's most successful 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 ...
club and competes in the Serbian SuperLiga
The Serbian Super League ( sr, Супер лига Србије / Super liga Srbije), referred to as the Mozzart Bet Super League ( sr, Моцарт Бет Супер лига / Mozzart Bet Super liga) for sponsorship reasons, is a Serbian profes ...
. Kragujevac is also known for having the oldest Serbian football club founded in the Kingdom of Serbia, FK Šumadija 1903
FK Šumadija 1903 (Serbian Cyrillic: ФК Шумадија 1903) is a football club in Kragujevac, Serbia. In 2009 was briefly merged with '' FK Radnički'' from Kragujevac and formed a new club named FK Šumadija Radnički 1923, but continued wi ...
.
KK Radnički is the city's premier basketball team. Besides the Basketball League of Serbia
The Basketball League of Serbia ( sr, Кошаркашка лига Србије, Košarkaška liga Srbije; abbr. КЛС or KLS), is a top-tier men's professional basketball league in Serbia. Founded in 2006, it is run by the Basketball Federatio ...
it also competes in the local Adriatic Basketball League. Radnički volleyball club is one of strongest volleyball teams in Serbia, and water polo club VK Radnički Kragujevac
Kragujevački vaterpolo klub Radnički ( sr-cyr, Крагујевачки ватерполо клуб Раднички Крагујевац) is a men's professional water polo club based in Kragujevac, Serbia. It's a part of the Radnički multi-s ...
competes in the Serbian Water polo League A
The Serbian Water polo League A ( sr, Прва А лига Србије у ватерполу, Prva A liga Srbije u vaterpolu) is the highest level of men's water polo in Serbia and it is organized by the Water polo Federation of Serbia.
History ...
and has won the domestic league and the LEN Trophy
The LEN Euro Cup is the second-tier European water polo club competition run by the Ligue Européenne de Natation for those clubs who did not qualify for the LEN Champions League. The cup was inaugurated in 1992.
History
Names of the competitio ...
in 2013. The city is home to the CROSS OVER Basketball Summer Camp, and the Bandy
Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two teams wearing ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The international governing body for bandy is ...
Federation of Serbia. The team of Kragujevac plays against the one from Subotica
Subotica ( sr-cyrl, Суботица, ; hu, Szabadka) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the North Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. Formerly the largest city of Vojvodina region, ...
.
The Faculty of Economics of the university in Kragujevac is the founder of the futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hardcourt, hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and Indoor soccer, indoor football.
Futsal is played between two teams of five players ...
club KMF Ekonomac
Klub malog fudbala Ekonomac ( sr-cyr, Клуб малог фудбала Економац), commonly known as Ekonomac Kragujevac ( sr-cyr, Економац Крагујевац), is a Serbian futsal club based in Kragujevac. Ekonomac is currently ...
. The club was founded by Professor Veroljub Dugalić, several teaching assistants
A teaching assistant or teacher's aide (TA) or education assistant (EA) or team teacher (TT) is an individual who assists a teacher with instructional responsibilities. TAs include ''graduate teaching assistants'' (GTAs), who are graduate stude ...
and a group of Faculty of Economics students on 7 November 2000. The club is playing in Serbia's Prva Futsal Liga
Prva Futsal Liga () is the premier futsal league in Serbia. It is governed by the Football Association of Serbia and it is played under UEFA and FIFA rules. It was founded in 1988 and as of 2019–20 season, the league consists of 10 teams.
2021 ...
and has won the Serbian championship eight times and Serbian Futsal Cup twice.
Local media
Gallery
File:Da.se.ne.zaboravi.jpg, '' Monument to the executed pupils and teachers''
File:Spomenik-palim-Sumadimcima.jpg, ''Description Monument to slain people from Šumadija in the wars''
File:Stone-lion-in-Sumarice.jpg, ''Stone lion in Šumarice park, World War I memorial''
File:Zastava main gate.jpg, '' Zastava main gate''
File:Kragujevac - Densely populated density (Centralna Radionica).jpg, ''Densely populated city quarters''
File:Night-view-on-city-hall1.jpg, ''City center''
File:Kragujevac_architecture.jpg, ''Main street''
Notable people
* Milan Obrenović II
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city has ...
, Prince of Serbia (1839)
* Mihailo Obrenović III
Mihailo ( sr-cyr, Михаило) or Mihajlo () is a Serbian masculine given name, a variant of the Hebrew name ''Michael''. Common as a given name among Serbs, it is an uncommon surname. It may refer to:
* Mihailo Vojislavljević ( fl. 1050–d. ...
, Prince of Serbia (1839–1842 and 1860–1868)
* Tomislav Nikolić
Tomislav Nikolić ( sr-Cyrl, Томислав Николић, ; born 15 February 1952) is a Serbian retired politician who served as the president of Serbia from 2012 to 2017. A former member of the far-right Serbian Radical Party (SRS), he d ...
, President of Serbia (2012–2017)
* Filip Kostić
Filip Kostić (, ; born 1 November 1992) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a left midfielder or left wing-back for Serie A club Juventus and the Serbia national team.
Club career
Radnički Kragujevac
Kostić made his senior ...
, Footballer
* Radomir Putnik
Radomir Putnik ( sr, Радомир Путник; ; 24 January 1847 – 17 May 1917) was the first Serbian Field Marshal and Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian army in the Balkan Wars and in the First World War. He served in every war in ...
, first Serbian Field Marshal (Voivoda), Chief of the General Staff (1890–1892, 1903–1905, 1908–1915), and Minister of Defense
A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...
(1904–1905, 1906–1908, 1912)
* Jovan Ristić
Jovan Ristić ( sr-Cyr, Јован Ристић; 16 January 1831 – 4 September 1899) was a Serbian politician, diplomat and historian.
Biography
Born at Kragujevac, he was educated at Belgrade, Heidelberg, Berlin and Paris. After failing to o ...
, President of the Ministry of Serbia (1867, 1873, 1878–1880, 1887–1888), Minister of Foreign Affairs
A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...
(1867, 1872–1873, 1875, 1876–1880, 1887), and President of Serbian Academy of Science and Arts
The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( la, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Serbica, sr-Cyr, Српска академија наука и уметности, САНУ, Srpska akademija nauka i umetnosti, SANU) is a national academy and the ...
(1899)
* Dušan Simović
Dušan Simović (; 28 October 1882 – 26 August 1962) was a Yugoslav Serb army general who served as Chief of the General Staff of the Royal Yugoslav Army and as the Prime Minister of Yugoslavia in 1940–1941.
Biography
Simović, born on 28 ...
, Chief of General Staff (1938–1940)
Nikola Koka Janković
sculptor and full member of Serbian Academy of Science and Arts
* Radoje Domanović
Radoje Domanović (Serbian Cyrillic: Радоје Домановић; February 16, 1873 – August 17, 1908) was a Serbian writer and teacher, most famous for his satirical short stories. His adult years were a constant fight against tuberculosis. ...
, writer and teacher
* Zoran Spasojević
Zoran Spasojević ( Serbian Cyrillic: Зоран Спасојевић; born January 22, 1949, in Kragujevac), is a Serbian writer.
Biography
He has had published fourteen books and one compact disc.
He is also the author of the screenplay for a ...
, writer
* Dragan Todorović
Dragan Todorović (Serbian Cyrillic: Драган Тодоровић; born September 1958 in Kragujevac, PR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia) is a6h ujwriter and multimedia artist. Until 1995 he lived in Yugoslavia, where he worked as a journalist, editor, ...
, writer and multimedia artist
* Milan Dedinac
Milan Dedinac ( Kragujevac, Kingdom of Serbia, 27 September 1902 – Opatija, Yugoslavia, 26 September 1966) was a Serbian poet, the most expressive lyricist among the Surrealists. Similar to Crnjanski, although in a different way, he was a ...
, poet
* Draginja Adamović
Draginja Adamović ( sr-cyr, Драгиња Адамовић; 1925–2000) was a Serbian poet.
Biography
She published three poetry books and was included in three anthologies of poems: "Poetesses of Kragujevac" (1991), "Lyrical humming of Sum ...
, poet
* Mille Marković, boxer, sex-club owner and convicted criminal and gangster[ Mille Marković]
* Dragiša Nedović
Dragiša Nedović ( sr-cyr, Драгиша Недовић; Kragujevac, Kingdom of Serbia, 20 July 1916 – 31 January 1966) was a Serbian folk songwriter, composer and musician. Having lived in Serbia, Bosnia and Dalmatia, he composed numerous ...
, songwriter, composer and musician
* Vidosav Stevanović
Vidosav Stevanović ( sr-cyr, Видосав Стевановић; born 27 June 1942) is a Serbian novelist, writer, poet, playwright, and publicist. He has written over thirty literary works, including a political biography of Slobodan Miloševi ...
, novelist, story writer, poet, playwright and publicist
* Dragoslav Srejović
Dragoslav Srejović ( sr-cyr, Драгослав Срејовић; Kragujevac, 8 October 1931 – 29 November 1996) was a Serbian archaeologist, cultural anthropologist and historian. He was the main contributor to the exploration of the Lepensk ...
, archaeologist and historian
* Nataša Kandić
Nataša Kandić ( sr-cyr, Наташа Кандић; born December 16, 1946) is a Serbian human rights activist and coordinator of the RECOM Reconciliation Network, founder and ex-executive director of the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC), an organi ...
, founder of the Humanitarian Law Center
Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) ( sr-Latn, Fond za Humanitarno pravo, sq, Fondi për të Drejtën Humanitare) is a non-governmental organisation with offices in Belgrade, Serbia, and Pristina, Kosovo.
Mirko Babić
actor
* Dragomir Bojanić Gidra, actor
* Branislav Jerinić
Branislav "Ciga" Jerinić (20 March 1932 – 27 June 2006) was a Serbian actor. He appeared in more than ninety films from 1958 to 2003.
Selected filmography
References
External links
*
1932 births
2006 deaths
Actors from Kraguje ...
, actor
* Gorica Popović
Gorica Popović ( sr-cyr, Горица Поповић; born 13 August 1952) is a Serbian theatre, television and film actress. She was also a former member of the rock band Suncokret
Suncokret ( sr-cyr, Сунцокрет; trans. ''Sunflower'') ...
, actor
* Nikola Rakočević
Nikola Rakočević ( sr-cyr, Никола Ракочевић; born 27 June 1983, Kragujevac, Serbia) is a Serbs, Serbian actor proclaimed as one of Europe’s leading young screen actors,. Rakočević has received numerous awards at major intern ...
, actor
* Milovan "Minimaks" Ilić, radio and television host
* Bora Dugić
Borislav "Bora" Dugić ( sr-Cyrl, Борислав Бора Дугић, ; born 10 June 1949) is a Serbian musician and flautist having released a number of CDs and records as well as having performed at countless concerts.
Early and professiona ...
, flautist
* Cune Gojković, singer
* Ljubica Marić
Ljubica Marić (Љубица Марић , 18 March 1909 – 17 September 2003) was a composer from Yugoslavia. She was a pupil of Josip Štolcer-Slavenski. She was known for being inspired by Byzantine Orthodox church music. She was professor at ...
, composer (1909-2003)
* Marija Šerifović
Marija Šerifović ( sr-cyr, Марија Шерифовић, ; born 14 November 1984) is a Serbian singer. Born in Kragujevac as the daughter of Verica Šerifović, she rose to prominence in 2003 with her debut album ''Naj, Najbolja''. Šerifo ...
, singer, Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...
winner of 2007
* Jelena Tomašević
Jelena Tomašević ( sr-cyr, Јелена Томашевић, ; born November 1, 1983) is a Serbian pop singer of international career famed for her strong vocal performances. She has won numerous awards for her songs and represented Serbia at 20 ...
, singer
* Vesna Despotović
Vesna Despotović (born 18 April 1961) is a Serbian basketball coach and former basketball player who competed for Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Ј ...
, Serbian basketball player, Olympic
Olympic or Olympics may refer to
Sports
Competitions
* Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896
** Summer Olympic Games
** Winter Olympic Games
* Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...
bronze medalist (1980), and EuroBasket
EuroBasket, also commonly referred to as the European Basketball Championship, is the main international basketball competition that is contested quadrennially, by the senior men's national teams that are governed by FIBA Europe, which is the E ...
bronze medalist (1980)
* Stevan Pletikosić
Stevan Pletikosić ( sr-cyrl, Стеван Плетикосић) (born 14 March 1972 in Kragujevac, Serbia, then SFR Yugoslavia) is a sport shooter from Serbia. While still a junior, he won a bronze medal in Men's 50 m Rifle Prone in the 1992 Su ...
, Serbian sport shooter
Shooting sports is a group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms (firearms and airguns, in forms such a ...
, six time Olympic participant, Olympic
Olympic or Olympics may refer to
Sports
Competitions
* Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896
** Summer Olympic Games
** Winter Olympic Games
* Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...
bronze medalist (1992), two time ISSF World Shooting Championships
The ISSF World Shooting Championships are governed by the International Shooting Sport Federation. World Shooting Championships began in 1897, after the successful 1896 Summer Olympics, and although the ISSF was not founded until 1907, these early ...
silver medalist (1994, 2006), and European Shooting Championship silver medalist (1995)
* Nikola Lončar
Nikola Lončar (Serbian Cyrillic: Никола Лончар; born May 31, 1972) is a Serbian former professional basketball player. He also holds Spanish citizenship.
Professional career
Lončar started his career at Partizan, making his professi ...
, Serbian basketball player, Olympic silver medalist (1996), FIBA World Championship
The FIBA Basketball World Cup, also known as the FIBA World Cup of Basketball or simply the FIBA World Cup, between 1950 and 2010 known as the FIBA World Championship, is an international basketball competition contested by the senior men's nat ...
gold medalist (1998), FIBA European Championship gold (1997) and bronze medalist (1999), and Euroleague champion with KK Partizan
Košarkaški klub Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Кошаркашки клуб Партизан, English: Partizan Basketball Club), commonly referred to as KK Partizan or simply Partizan, is a professional basketball team based in Belgrade, Serbia. It is ...
(1992)
* Katarina Bulatović
Katarina Bulatović (born 15 November 1984) is a retired
Montenegrin handball player that played the right back position.
Career
Internationally she represented Serbia and Montenegro and Serbia, before opting to play for Montenegro in 2011.
She ...
, Montenegrin handball player, Olympic silver medalist (2012) and European Women's Handball Championship
The European Women's Handball Championship is the official competition for senior women's national handball teams of Europe, and takes place every two years. In addition to crowning the European champions, the tournament also serves as a qualifyi ...
gold medalist (2012)
* Marija Lojpur, handball player, 2013 World Championship silver medalist
* Jelena Milovanović, basketball player, Olympic bronze medalist (2016) and EuroBasket Women 2015
The 2015 EuroBasket Women, European Women Basketball Championship, commonly called EuroBasket Women 2015, was the 35th edition of the continental tournament in women's basketball, sanctioned by the FIBA Europe. The tournament was co-held in Hunga ...
gold medalist (2015)
* Predrag Đorđević
Predrag Đorđević ( sr-cyr, Предраг Ђорђевић; also transliterated Predrag Djordjević; born 4 August 1972) is a Serbian former professional footballer.
Known for his set pieces, Đorđević played as a left midfielder for Greek ...
, footballer
* Danko Lazović
Danko Lazović ( sr-Cyrl, Данко Лазовић, ; born 17 May 1983) is a Serbian former footballer who played as a forward or winger. He represented the Serbia national team at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Club career
Partizan
Lazović sta ...
, footballer
* Stefan Ilić, footballer, World U-20 champion
* Ana Mihajlović, fashion model, winner of the 2002 Elite Model Look
Elite Model Look (formerly known as Look of the Year from 1983 to 1995) is a yearly fashion modeling event held by Elite Model Management, an international model management group. It is used to discover and launch female fashion models in the int ...
* Aleksa Ristić, basketball player Fiba 3x3 Debrecen masters
* Đorđe Kostić, basketball player Fiba 3x3 Debrecen masters
* Ivan Nedeljković, basketball player Fiba 3x3 Debrecen masters
* Filip Popović, basketball player Fiba 3x3 Debrecen masters
* Slavko Perović (footballer)
Slavko Perović ( sr-Cyrl, Славко Перовић; born 9 June 1989, in Kragujevac) is a Serbian footballer who plays as a striker.
Career
His senior first team debut occurred for FK Obilić towards the end of 2004–05 season, setting t ...
* Filip Holender
Filip Holender (; born 27 July 1994) is a Hungarian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Vasas.
Club career Budapest Honvéd
During his career at Budapest Honvéd Holender scored 30 goals in 159 matches.
Lugano
On 21 July 2019 ...
, Hungarian footballer
International relations
Twin towns – Sister cities
Kragujevac is twinned with:
Partnerships and cooperation
The town has other forms of cooperation and city friendship similar to the twin/sister city programmes with:
See also
* List of places in Serbia
This is the list of populated places in Serbia (excluding Kosovo), as recorded by the 2002 census, sorted alphabetically by municipalities. Settlements denoted as "urban" (towns and cities) are marked bold. Population for every settlement is giv ...
* University of Kragujevac
The University of Kragujevac ( sr, Универзитет у Крагујевцу, Univerzitet u Kragujevcu) is a public university in Kragujevac, Serbia. It is the oldest and the largest higher education institution in Šumadija and Western Ser ...
* First Kragujevac Gymnasium
The First Grammar School of Kragujevac ( sr, Прва крагујевачка гимназија, Prva kragujevačka gimnazija) is a high school located in Kragujevac, Serbia. Founded in 1833, the school is the oldest Serbian Secondary school, hi ...
* Šumarice Memorial Park
October in Kragujevac Memorial Park ( sr, italic=yes, Spomen-park „Kragujevački oktobar", Спомен-парк „Крагујевачки октобар"), also known as Šumarice Memorial Park (''Memorijalni park Šumarice'', Мемориј ...
* Kragujevac massacre
The Kragujevac massacre was the mass murder of between 2,778 and 2,794 mostly Serb men and boys in Kragujevac, by German soldiers on 21 October 1941. It occurred in the German-occupied territory of Serbia during World War II, and came as a r ...
* Knjaževsko-srpski teatar
The Princely Serbian Theatre ( sr-cyr, Књажевско-српски театар) is the oldest theatre in Central Serbia. It is based in City of Kragujevac, the fourth largest city of Serbia. The theatre was founded in 1835 by Miloš Obrenov ...
* Joakimfest
Joakimfest is an annual international theatre festival held in Kragujevac, Serbia, at the Princely Serbian Theatre in the second week of October each year.
About festival
The International Theatre Festival - JoakimInterFest, was named after on ...
* Arsenal Fest
Arsenal Fest ( sr-cyr, Арсенал Фест) is a summer music festival held in Kragujevac, Serbia. It is staged annually since 2011 and occurs for three days every late June.
History
When it started in 2011, the festival had only a single stag ...
* Šumadija fairground
* Gruža Lake
Gruža Lake ( sr, Гружанско језеро , translit=Gružansko jezero), is an artificial lake located to the southwest of Knić, Serbia. The lake was created in 1983 as a water reservoir for the city of Kragujevac and the surrounding set ...
Notes and references
Notes
* Spasić, Živomir. Prestonica Kragujevac: prilozi istoriji Kneževine Srbije: 1818–1841. Prizma, 1998.
References
External links
City of Kragujevac official website
{{Authority control
Populated places in Šumadija District
Municipalities and cities of Šumadija and Western Serbia
Šumadija
1476 establishments in Europe
Former capitals of Serbia
15th-century establishments in Serbia
Populated places established in the 1470s
Starčevo–Körös–Criș culture