Zvečan ( sr-Cyrl, Звечан) or Zveçan ( sq-definite, Zveçani) is a town and municipality located in the

Mitrovica District Mitrovica District ( sq, Rajoni i Mitrovicës, sr-cyrl, Косовскомитровачки округ, ''Kosovskomitrovački okrug'') is one of the unified seven districts of Kosovo. Its administrative center and the largest city is Mitrov ...

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

. As of 2015, it has a population of 16,650 inhabitants. It covers an area of , and consists of a town and 35 villages. Zvečan is a part of

North Kosovo North Kosovo ( sr, Северно Косово, Severno Kosovo; sq, Kosova Veriore), also known as the Ibar Kolašin ( sr, Ибарски Колашин, Ibarski Kolašin; sq, Koloshini i Ibrit or ''Kollashini i Ibrit''; earlier ''Old Kolašin ...

, a region with an ethnic Serb majority that functions largely autonomously from the remainder of

ethnic Albanian The Albanians (; sq, Shqiptarët ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbi ...

-majority Kosovo. According to the 2013 Brussels Agreement, the municipality should become a part of the

Community of Serb Municipalities The Community of Serb Municipalities ( sr, / ), or Association of Serb Municipalities ( sq, Asociacioni i Komunave Serbe, AKS), is a planned self-governing association of municipalities with a Serb majority population in Kosovo. The proposal f ...

once they are established.

History

The town of Zvečan is located near Mitrovica. It was mentioned for the first time in connection with the border clashes between the

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

and Byzantines between 1091 and 1094. There is also an inscription that Grand Prince

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 ...

, after the victory over the Byzantines in 1170, ordered that a prayer for the successful outcome of the battle be held in the church of St George at Zvečan. In the 13th and 14th centuries Zvečan was one of the royal residences of the Serbian court. Queen Theodora died there in December 1322, and nine years later her husband, Stefan Uroš III was imprisoned and strangled there. First, the Musić, then the

Vojinović noble family Vojinović (Serbian Cyrillic: Војиновић, Vojinovići / Војиновићи) was a medieval Serbian noble family which during the 14th century played an important role in the Serbian Empire, especially after the death of Emperor Dušan ...

, held the fortified city and region during the

Serbian Empire The Serbian Empire ( sr, / , ) was a medieval Serbian state that emerged from the Kingdom of Serbia. It was established in 1346 by Dušan the Mighty, who significantly expanded the state. Under Dušan's rule, Serbia was the major power in the ...

Uroš V __NOTOC__ Uroš ( sr-Cyrl, Урош) is a South Slavic given or last name primarily spread amongst Serbs, and Slovenians (mostly of Serbian descent). This noun has been interpreted as "lords", because it usually appears in conjunction with ''velmõ ...

(r. 1355–1371). As imperial power collapsed Zvečan was in a disputed zone being held by nobleman Miloš Pović in 1370 but claimed by

Nikola Altomanović Nikola Altomanović ( sr-Cyrl, Никола Алтомановић; died after 1395) was a 14th-century Serbian župan of the House of Vojinović. He ruled the areas from Rudnik, over Polimlje, Podrinje, east Herzegovina with Trebinje, reaching ...

. In 1389, after the

Battle of Kosovo The Battle of Kosovo ( tr, Kosova Savaşı; sr, Косовска битка) took place on 15 June 1389 between an army led by the Serbian Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović and an invading army of the Ottoman Empire under the command of Sultan ...

, it was integrated into the

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

and later became part of the

Sanjak of Novi Pazar The Sanjak of Novi Pazar ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Novopazarski sandžak, Новопазарски санџак; tr, Yeni Pazar sancağı) was an Ottoman sanjak (second-level administrative unit) that was created in 1865. It was reorganized in 1880 and ...

. From 1878 to 1908 it, along with the rest of the Sanjak, was administered by the

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

as a result of the Congress of Berlin. But in 1908 it was returned to Turkey. On the highest spot, i.e., the Upper Town, there are remains of St George's church, cistern and the main octagonal tower. The ramparts of this part of the fort are reinforced by massive towers. The main entrance to the town was on the western side.

Demographics

According to the 2011 estimations by the

Government of Kosovo sr, Влада Косова / Vlada Kosova , border = , image = , caption = , date = , polity = Kosovo , address = Government Building, Pristina , leader_title = Prime Min ...

, Zvečan has 1,838 households and 7,481 inhabitants. In 2015 report by

OSCE The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...

, the population of Zvečan municipality stands at 16,650 inhabitants.

Ethnic groups

The majority of Zvečan municipality is composed of

Kosovo Serbs Kosovo Serbs are one of the ethnic groups of Kosovo. There are around 100,000 Kosovo Serbs as of 2014 and about half of them live in North Kosovo. Other Serb communities live in southern Kosovo. After Albanians, they form the largest ethnic comm ...

with around 16,000 inhabitants (95.1%). Also, there are 500

Kosovo Albanians The Albanians of Kosovo ( sq, Shqiptarët e Kosovës, ), also commonly called Kosovo Albanians, Kosovar/Kosovan Albanians or Kosovars/Kosovans, constitute the largest ethnic group in Kosovo. Kosovo Albanians belong to the ethnic Albanian sub-gr ...

and 300 inhabitants of other ethnicity. About 3,750 Kosovo Serbs are located in the municipality as

Internally displaced person An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who is forced to leave their home but who remains within their country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the legal definitions of a refugee. A ...

s (IDPs) as well as 250 refugees from

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. Most of Kosovo Albanians live in the villages of Boletin (Boljetin), Lipë (Lipa) and Zhazhë (Žaža). The ethnic composition of the municipality of Zvečan, including IDPs:

Economy

The largest employer in Zvečan is the lead and zinc melting factory “ Trepča”. Its large smokestack is with 306 meters the tallest structure in Kosovo. Due to the serious environmental pollution from the factory, however, UN and KFOR shut it down and the only ongoing operation is alloy production for batteries and battery recycling. Once employing up to 4,000, the very low operations of "Trepča" has had a devastating effect on the local economy. Today, in the municipality only about 500 people are working at 60 small private companies and 150 shops.

Culture and education

The

Faculty of Arts A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In American usage such divisions are generally referred to as colleges ...

, part of the University of Priština at Mitrovica, is situated at Zvečan. Zvečan has hosted annually two international music festivals: The ''North City, Jazz & Blues

Festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...

'', and international

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

festival ''Overdrive'', as well as international art colony ''Sokolica''''Krstarica'', 22 August 2007
/ref> and children song festival ''Cvrkuti sa Ibra'' (''Chirrups from the

Ibar River The Ibar ( sr-cyrl, Ибар, ), also known as the Ibër and Ibri ( sq, Ibër, Ibri), is a river that flows through eastern Montenegro, northern Kosovo and central Serbia, with a total length of . The river begins in the Hajla mountain, in Roža ...

''). The

Zvečan Fortress The Fortress of Zvečan ( sr, / , ; sq, Kalaja e Zveçanit), also known as Zvečan/Zveçan medieval fortress and Fortress of Mitrovica ( sq, Kalaja e Mitrovicës), located in the north-west of the city of North Mitrovica, in Kosovo, is an enor ...

and Sokolica Monastery, both from the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, have been located in the Zvečan area.

Gallery

File:Banjska.jpg, '' Banjska monastery'' File:Rudnik Trepča Zvečan.jpg, ''

Trepča Mines The Trepča Mines ( al, Miniera e Trepçës, sr, Рудник Трепча / ''Rudnik Trepča'') is a large industrial complex in Kosovo, located northeast of Mitrovica. The mine is located on the southern slopes of the Kopaonik mountain, bet ...

'' File:Zitkovac.jpg, ''Zvečan landscape'' File:Zvečan Fortress overview.jpg, ''

'' File:Tvrdjava Zvecan.jpg, ''Zvečan Fortress'' File:Kulla e Isa Boletinit, Mitrovicë.JPG, ''Isa Boletini Complex'' File:29.09.13 Zvečan 711.005 (10101084894).jpg, ''Zvečan Railway Station''

Notes and references

;Notes: ;References:

External links

Official website

The Faculty of Arts Zvečan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zvecan Populated places in the District of Mitrovica North Kosovo Municipalities of Kosovo Medieval Serbian sites in Kosovo