Danilovgrad ( cnr, Даниловград) is a town in central

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

. It has a population of 6,852 (2011 census). It is situated in the Danilovgrad Municipality which lies along the main route between Montenegro's two largest cities,

Podgorica Podgorica (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Подгорица, ; Literal translation, lit. 'under the hill') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Montenegro, largest city of Montenegro. The city was formerly known as Titograd ...

and

Nikšić Nikšić ( cnr, Никшић, italic=no, sr-cyrl, Никшић, italic=no; ), is the second largest city in Montenegro, with a total population of 56,970 located in the west of the country, in the centre of the spacious Nikšić field at the foot ...

. Via villages, Danilovgrad forms part of a conurbation with Podgorica. The town of Danilovgrad is located in the fertile valley of the

Zeta River The Zeta (Serbian Cyrillic: Зета, ) is a river in Montenegro. Its source is under the mountain of Vojnik. The river flows eastwards for until it empties into the river Morača just north of Podgorica. Its drainage basin area is .

, sometimes called also the Bjelopavlići plain, after the name of the local clan. It is the centre of the Danilovgrad

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality ...

, which has a population of 18,472.

History

In the surroundings of Danilovgrad, there are remains of Gradina (Martinići), dating back to the time of the

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 ...

ruler Petar Gojniković, from the Vlastimirović dynasty. The court was built by another member of the dynasty, prince Mutimir, who was also once buried in there. Gradina is also a prominent seat from the Nemanjić period, believed to be the birthplace of Rastko Nemanjić, also known as Saint Sava, the founder of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Danilovgrad was founded with the purpose of being the capital of Montenegro. Foundations for this

planned city A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

were first laid by

King Nikola I Nikola I Petrović-Njegoš ( sr-cyr, Никола I Петровић-Његош; – 1 March 1921) was the last monarch of Montenegro from 1860 to 1918, reigning as prince from 1860 to 1910 and as the country's first and only king from 1910 to 19 ...

in 1870. However, after the cities of

and

were liberated from Ottoman hands, during the Congress of Berlin its significance diminished. It got its name after Nicholas' predecessor

Prince Danilo Danilo I Petrović-Njegoš ( sr-cyr, Данило I Петровић-Његош; 25 May 1826 – 13 August 1860) was the ruling Prince of Montenegro from 1851 to 1860. The beginning of his reign marked the transition of Montenegro from an archai ...

World War II

On May 31, 1944, a

USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

Consolidated B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models ...

crashed in Danilovgrad. Although its entire crew of 10 ejected and survived, they were later caught and became

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

. On July 23, 1944, at least 48 members of the League of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia were killed in a mass execution by

Chetniks 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 nation ...

in the village of Lazine.

During the Yugoslav Wars

On April 14–15, 1995, a

pogrom A pogrom () is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe 19th- and 20th-century attacks on Jews in the Russian ...

drove out the Romani population in one of Danilovgrad's neighborhoods, Božova Glavica. On March 24, 1999, the ''Milovan Šaranović'' barracks in Danilovgrad were bombed by NATO aircraft, killing a soldier named Saša Stojić. He was the first victim of the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.

Climate

Like many parts of Montenegro, Danilovgrad has a humid subtropical climate (''Cfa'' according to the

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, nota ...

) with cool winters and hot, drier summers. On 8 August 2012, Danilovgrad recorded a temperature of , which is the highest temperature to have ever been recorded in Montenegro.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census, the population of the town was 5,156.

Sports

The local football team is FK Iskra, who have been playing in the country's top tier since 2015. They host their games at the

Braća Velašević Stadium Braća Velašević Stadium is a football stadium in Danilovgrad, Montenegro. It is situated near the Zeta riverbank, it is used for football matches. The stadium is the home ground of FK Iskra. History The stadium was built after World War II ...

. The town's basketball team is KK Danilovgrad and RK Danilovgrad is the handball club.

Transport

Danilovgrad is situated approximately halfway between two largest Montenegrin cities,

and Nikšić, on the main road that connects these two. It is also served by the

Nikšić–Podgorica railway The Nikšić–Podgorica railway is a railway connecting Montenegro's capital Podgorica and the country's second largest city, Nikšić. The line connects to the Belgrade–Bar railway and the Podgorica–Shkodër railway at Podgorica. It is op ...

. Podgorica Airport is away, and has regular flights to Belgrade,

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, Bari,

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Sl ...

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; ...

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich () i ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its ...

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the a ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

Danilovgrad is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: * Crvenka (Kula), Serbia *

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; uk, Донецьк, translit=Donets'k ; russian: Донецк ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin and Stalino (see also: cities' alternative names), is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine loc ...

, Ukraine *

Grodzisk Mazowiecki Grodzisk Mazowiecki is a town in central Poland with 29,363 inhabitants (2011). It is 30 km. southwest of Warsaw. Between 1975 and 1998 it was situated in the Warsaw Voivodeship (1975-1998), Warszawa Voivodeship but since 1999 it has been sit ...

, Poland *

Roosendaal Roosendaal () is both a city and a municipality in the southern Netherlands, in the province of North Brabant. Towns/villages of the municipality * Roosendaal (population: 66,760) * Wouw (4,920) * Heerle (1,900) * Nispen (1,440) * Wouwse ...

, Netherlands *

Serpukhov Serpukhov ( rus, Серпухов, p=ˈsʲɛrpʊxəf) is a city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Oka and the Nara Rivers, south from Moscow ( from Moscow Ring Road) on the Moscow—Simferopol highway. The Moscow— Tu ...

, Russia

References

External links

Official site

{{Authority control Populated places in Danilovgrad Municipality