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 = M ...

. It has a population of 6,852 (2011 census). It is situated in the

Danilovgrad Municipality Danilovgrad Municipality is one of the municipalities of Montenegro. The administrative center is town of Danilovgrad. The municipality is located in the central region of Montenegro in the valley of Zeta river, sometimes called also the Bjelopavli ...

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 Bjelopavlići ( cyrl, Бјелопавлићи; sq, Palabardhi), ) is a historical tribe (pleme) of Albanian origin and a valley in the Brda region of Montenegro, around the city of Danilovgrad. Geography The ''Bjelopavlići'' valley (also kn ...

, after the name of the local clan. It is the centre of the Danilovgrad

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

, 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 ruler

Petar Gojniković Petar Gojniković or Peter of Serbia ( sr-cyr, Петар Гојниковић, gr, Πέτρος; ca. 870 – 917) was List of Serbian monarchs, Prince of the Serbs from 892 to 917. He ruled and expanded the Principality of Serbia (early m ...

, from the Vlastimirović dynasty. The court was built by another member of the dynasty, prince

Mutimir Mutimir ( sr, Мутимир, el, Μουντιμῆρος) was prince of Serbia from ca. 850 until 891. He defeated the Bulgar army, allied himself with the Byzantine emperor and ruled the first Serbian Principality when the Christianization of ...

, 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 Saint Sava ( sr, Свети Сава, Sveti Sava, ; Old Church Slavonic: ; gr, Άγιος Σάββας; 1169 or 1174 – 14 January 1236), known as the Enlightener, was a Serbian prince and Orthodox monk, the first Archbishop of the autocephalou ...

, also known as Saint Sava, the founder 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 ...

. 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 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.

World War II

On May 31, 1944, a

USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air 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 of the United States Army Sign ...

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 des ...

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 , SKOJ mk, Сојуз на комунистичката младина на Југославија, СКМЈ sl, Zveza komunistične mladine Jugoslavije, ZKMJ , colorcode = red , founded = 1919 , dissolved = 1948 , succeeded by = League of S ...

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 nationa ...

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 Russia ...

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 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° ...

(''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, notabl ...

) 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 The Prva A liga, for sponsorships reasons named the Erste Liga, is the top-tier professional basketball league in Montenegro. It is the highest basketball division organized by the Basketball Association of Montenegro (KSCG). It was established in ...

and

RK Danilovgrad Rukometni klub Danilovgrad is a handball club from Danilovgrad. The club has a rich history and tradition and is a member of Montenegrin Men's Handball First League. History For the most of the past, Danilovgrad played in the Montenegrin Republ ...

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.

Podgorica Airport Podgorica Airport ( cnr, Аеродром Подгорица, Aerodrom Podgorica, ) is an international airport serving the Montenegrin capital of Podgorica and the surrounding region. It is one of two international airports in Montenegro, the ...

is away, and has regular flights 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 ...

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 Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

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; r ...

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

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 na ...

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 ar ...

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. S ...

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 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: Names of European cities in different languages (C–D), cities' alternat ...

, 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 Warszawa Voivodeship but since 1999 it has been situated in the Masovian Voivodesh ...

, Poland *

Roosendaal Roosendaal () is both a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, 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, ...

, 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— T ...

, Russia

References

External links

Official site

{{Authority control Populated places in Danilovgrad Municipality