Vushtrri Castle ( sq, Kalaja e Vushtrrisë; ) or Old Tower ( sq, Kulla e Vjetër; ) is a city fortifications in Vushtrri, Kosovo. It was the seat of despot Đurađ Branković (1427–1456). Later chroniclers (

Ami Boué Ami Boué (16 March 179421 November 1881) was a geologist of French Huguenot origin. Born at Hamburg he trained in Edinburgh and across Europe. He travelled across Europe, studying geology, as well as ethnology, and is considered to be among th ...

, Aleksandar Giljferding) are noted that the fort itself is derived from the times of

Dušan Dušan ( sr-Cyrl, Душан) is a Slavic given name primarily used in countries of Yugoslavia; and among Slovaks and Czechs. The name is derived from the Slavic noun ''duša'' "soul". Occurrence In Serbia, it was the 29th most popular name ...

, and that ''it is an old fortress with a tower in the middle of the town''.

History

The building of the fortress is traditionally attributed to the Vojinović brothers, to whom is also attributed the nearby

Vojinović Bridge The Stone Bridge ( sq, Ura e Vjetër e Gurit - Ura me Nëntë Harqe; sr, Војиновића мост-''Vojinovića most'') is located in Vushtrri, Kosovo. It dates from the end of the 14th or early 15th century, and, according to popular legen ...

, while its style places it at the end of the 14th or early 15th century. The Vojinovići existed as nobility in the first half of 14th century, and according to epic poetry were nephews of Emperor Dušan. However Vučitrn itself was outside their area of control, which was expanding to the nearby Zvečan, even at the time of their greatest power under the

Vojislav Vojinović Vojislav Vojinović ( sr, Војислав Војиновић, d. 1363) was a 14th-century Medieval Serbia, Serbian nobleman, and one of the leading members of Serbian noble House of Vojinović. He held prominent offices during the reigns of Serb ...

(around 1355 - 1363) and Nikola Altomanović (1366–1373). However, in Vučitrn in the early 15th century, the court of the

house of Branković A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condit ...

is mentioned, who were related to the Vojinović family: Ratoslava, the sister of

Branko Mladenović Branko ( sr-cyr, Бранко; 1331–65) was a Serbian magnate who served to king and Serbian Empire, emperor Stefan Dušan (r. 1331–55), and emperor Stefan Uroš V (r. 1355–71), with the titles of ''sluga'' and later ''sevastokrator''. A me ...

(father of Vuk Branković) was married to

Altoman Vojinović Altoman Vojinović ( sr, Алтоман Војиновић; 1335–59) was a Serbian magnate ('' velikaš'') who served Emperor Stefan Dušan (r. 1331–55) as ''župan'' ("count") and Emperor Uroš V (r. 1355–71) as '' veliki župan'' ("gran ...

(father of Nikola Altomanović).

Vojinović Tower

Today, of the entire fort survived only Donjon Tower that the people called ''Vojinović Tower'' with part of wall in the form of a square. On that walls (thick about 3 m), the remains of

Machicolation A machicolation (french: mâchicoulis) is a floor opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement, through which stones or other material, such as boiling water, hot sand, quicklime or boiling cooking oil, could be dropped on attackers at t ...

Putlog hole Putlog holes or putlock holes are small holes made in the walls of structures to receive the ends of poles (small round logs) or beams, called putlogs or putlocks, to support a scaffolding. Putlog holes may extend through a wall to provide staging ...

s or Hoardings can be seen, and in addition to the closed ground, had the floor, over which there was an open top of the tower with battlement on. As all Donjon, Vojinović Tower also had no entrance in the basement, but only on the floor with the southern side and it is approached by wooden stairs that in a case of emergency could be easily removed.

Remains

Most of the former

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

of Đurađ Branković disappeared during Ottoman period when the space fortress became the seat of government and administrative Bey, while the ground floor of the tower used as a warehouse for the

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...

( barley,

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

, wheat) that are collected on behalf of Bey taxes. Former entrance gates, located next to the tower (at a distance of 1m) in North wall and has semicircle shape, was embowered and immured, and instead of that one, new was opened on the East wall. Today, of the whole former fortress survived only Donjon Tower with walls around it to form a square courtyard base. Their height is 4 m - 5 m, with the exception of southern wall that faces the main street with the bottom of the slope (height 1.2m - 1.5m, sally 0.35m - 0.4 m) whose height is 6 m - 7 m. Vojinović Tower was declared

Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance Immovable Cultural Heritage of Exceptional Importance ( sr, Непокретна културна добра од изузетног значаја/) are those objects of Immovable cultural heritage that enjoy the highest level of state protection ...

in 1990, and it is protected by the Republic of Serbia.

History

Vojinović Tower

Remains

References

See also