Požarevac ( sr-cyr, Пожаревац, ) is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

and the administrative centre of the

Braničevo District The Braničevo District (, ) is one of administrative districts of Serbia. According to the 2022 census, it has a population of 156,367 inhabitants.https://publikacije.stat.gov.rs/G2023/Pdf/G20234001.pdf Braničevo District is named after the vi ...

in eastern Serbia. It is located between three rivers:

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

, Great Morava and Mlava and below the hill Čačalica (208m). As of 2022, the city has a population of 42,530 while the city administrative area has 68,648 inhabitants.

Name

In Serbian, the city is known as ''Požarevac'' (Пожаревац), in Romanian as ''Pojarevăț'' or ''Podu Lung'', in Turkish as ''Pasarofça'', in German as ''Passarowitz'', and in Hungarian as ''Pozsarevác''. The name means "

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. Flames, the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion re ...

-town" in Serbian (In this case, the word "fire" is used in the sense of a disaster).

History

Ancient times

In ancient times, the area was inhabited by

Thracians The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European languages, Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared betwee ...

Dacians The Dacians (; ; ) were the ancient Indo-European inhabitants of the cultural region of Dacia, located in the area near the Carpathian Mountains and west of the Black Sea. They are often considered a subgroup of the Thracians. This area include ...

, and

Celts The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...

. There was a city at this locality known as '' Margus'' in Latin after the Roman conquest in the first century BC. In 435, the city of Margus, under the

Eastern Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

, was the site of a treaty between the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

and the Hun leaders

Attila Attila ( or ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in early 453. He was also the leader of an empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Gepids, among others, in Central Europe, C ...

and Bleda. One pretext for the Hun invasion of the Eastern Roman Empire in 442 was that the Bishop of Margus had crossed the Danube to ransack and desecrate the royal Hun graves on the north bank of the Danube. When the Romans discussed handing over the Bishop, he slipped away and betrayed the city to the Huns, who then sacked the city and went on to invade as far as the gates of

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

itself. After the fall of the Hunnic Empire, the area was again controlled by the

. In the 6th century, it was briefly controlled by the Kingdom of the Gepids. Since the 6th century, the area was populated by

Slavs The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and ...

, but the

held a nominal control over the region until the 8th century when Balkan Slavs achieved de facto independence from the Eastern Empire. It was also ruled by

Avar Khaganate The Pannonian Avars ( ) were an alliance of several groups of Eurasian nomads of various origins. The peoples were also known as the Obri in the chronicles of the Rus' people, Rus, the Abaroi or Varchonitai (), or Pseudo-Avars in Byzantine Empi ...

before their demolition by

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

. The area was subsequently included into the

Bulgarian Empire Bulgarian Empire may refer to: * First Bulgarian Empire The First Bulgarian Empire (; was a medieval state that existed in Southeastern Europe between the 7th and 11th centuries AD. It was founded in 680–681 after part of the Bulgars, led b ...

and was alternately ruled by the Bulgarian Empire, the

and the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

until the 13th century. In the 13th century, the area was ruled by independent local Slavic-Bulgarian rulers, Drman and Kudelin. It was subsequently included into the Kingdom of

Syrmia Syrmia (Ekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srem, Срем, separator=" / " or Ijekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srijem, Сријем, label=none, separator=" / ") is a region of the southern Pannonian Plain, which lies between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is div ...

, ruled by Serbian king

Stefan Dragutin Stefan Dragutin ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Драгутин, ; died 12 March 1316), was List of Serbian monarchs, King of Serbia from 1276 to 1282. From 1282, he ruled a Realm of Stefan Dragutin, separate kingdom which included northern Serbia, and ...

and into the

Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Principality was ruled by the Obrenović dynast ...

and

Serbian Empire The Serbian Empire ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српско царство, Srpsko carstvo, separator=" / ", ) was a medieval Serbian state that emerged from the Kingdom of Serbia. It was established in 1346 by Dušan the Mighty, who significantly expande ...

ruled by Stefan Dušan.

Archaeology

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

figurine "The Idol of Kličevac" was found in a grave in the village of Kličevac. It was destroyed during World War I. The National Museum in Belgrade and Požarevac has some 40,000 items found in Viminacium, of which over 700 are of gold and silver. Among them are many invaluable rarities. In June 2008, a Triballian (

Thracian The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared between north-eastern Greece, ...

) grave was found with ceramics (

urns An urn is a vase, often with a cover, with a typically narrowed neck above a rounded body and a footed pedestal. Describing a vessel as an "urn", as opposed to a vase or other terms, generally reflects its use rather than any particular shape ...

). These date from the first millennium BC.

Modern city

The modern town of Požarevac was first mentioned in the 14th century under the name ''Puporače''; it first being mentioned under its present-day name in 1476. The town became part of Moravian Serbia and Serbian Despotate, until the Ottoman conquest in 1459. During Ottoman administration, it was part of the Sanjak of Smederevo. It was occupied by

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

between 1688 and 1690. In 1718, Požarevac was the site of the signing of the Treaty of Požarevac, with the town then falling under Habsburg control and becoming part of the Habsburg

(from 1718 to 1739). After 1739, the town reverted to Ottoman control except final Austrian occupation between 1789 and 1791. During the

First Serbian Uprising The First Serbian Uprising (; sr-Cyrl, Први српски устанак; ) was an uprising of Serbs in Orašac (Aranđelovac), Orašac against the Ottoman Empire from 14 February 1804 to 7 October 1813. The uprising began as a local revolt ...

(1804–1813), the town was part of the Karađorđe's Serbia. At the end of the uprising in 1813, the town came briefly once more under direct Ottoman control. However, following the Second Serbian Uprising from 1815, the town then became part of the autonomous Ottoman

Principality of Serbia The Principality of Serbia () was an autonomous, later sovereign state in the Balkans that came into existence as a result of the Serbian Revolution, which lasted between 1804 and 1817. Its creation was negotiated first through an unwritten agre ...

. Požarevac was the second capital of the Serbian prince, Miloš Obrenović with the first regular state court in Serbia being established here in 1821. Since 1878, Požarevac became part of the independent Principality of Serbia and since 1882 as part of the

. Following the end of the First World War in 1918, the town was part of the

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () has been its colloq ...

(renamed the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

in 1929). From 1929 to 1941, Požarevac was part of the Danube Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. During the Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, from 1941 to 1944, it was part of the Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia. From 1944, Požarevac became part of the new socialist Serbia within socialist Yugoslavia. And from 1992, the town became part of the

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

(renamed as

Serbia and Montenegro The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

in 2003). Since 2006 it has been part of the Republic of Serbia.

Municipalities and settlements

The City of Požarevac includes two city municipalities: *

Požarevac Požarevac ( sr-cyr, Пожаревац, ) is a list of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative centre of the Braničevo District in eastern Serbia. It is located between three rivers: Danube, Great Morava and Mlava and below the hill Čač ...

* Kostolac These include the following settlements: In the 2008 reform of Serbian local government, Požarevac received the status of a city and the town of Kostolac became the seat of the second city municipality. Požarevac is the smallest Serbian city consisting of two municipalities.

Demographics

As of 2022, the administrative area of the City of Požarevac has a total population of 68,648 inhabitants.

Ethnic groups

The ethnic composition of the municipal area of the city of Požarevac:

Economy

The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity (as of 2022):

Politics

Seats in the municipality parliament won in the 2024 local elections: * Aleksandar Vučić – Požarevac tomorrow (47) * We Choose to Fight ( DS- NS- NPS) (8) * Citizen group A Step Forward (4) * Vlach Party – Ljiljana Ugrinović (3) * We voice of People (2) * My city, my village, my people ( DJB- Dveri) (2) * The only HOPE for Požarevac - POKS (2)

Education

* Požarevac Gymnasium (Požarevačka gimnazija), a college-preparatory high school * Technical College (Visoka tehnička škola strukovnih studija u Požarevcu) * Polytechnic school (Politehnička Škola Požarevac), a collage-preparatory high school * Economic trade school (Ekonomsko - trgovinska škola Požarevac), a collage-preparatory high school * Medical School (Medicinska škola Požarevac), a collage-preparatory high school * School for primary and secondary music education "Stevan Mokranjac" (Škola za osnovno i srednje muzičko obrazovanje “Stevan Mokranjac”)Official website
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People associated with Požarevac

*Filip Soskić, railroad expert and a candidate for president of geographers * Milena Pavlović-Barili, painter and poet * Dimitrije,

Patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Roman Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and ...

of the

Serbian Orthodox Church The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodox Church#Constit ...

* Dragana Mirković, singer * Novica Urošević, singer and composer * Saša Ilić, footballer * Velibor Vasović, footballer and manager *

Milivoje Živanović Milivoje Živanović ( sr-cyr, Миливоје Живановић; 2 April 1900 – 15 November 1976) was a renowned Serbian film and stage actor. References 1900 births 1976 deaths People from Požarevac Serbian male stage actors ...

, film and stage actor * Bata Paskaljević, stage, film and television actor * Slaviša Žungul, footballer * Prvoslav Vujčić, writer * Đorđe Jovanović, sculptor * Petar Dobrnjac, army commander *

Milenko Stojković Milenko Stojković ( sr-cyr, Миленко Стојковић; 1769, Kličevac, Požarevac – 1831, Bakhchysarai, Crimea) was a Serbian revolutionary and '' bimbaša'' in the First Serbian Uprising early in the 19th century. He is mos ...

, army commander * Radmila Manojlović, singer *

Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан Милошевић, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the President of Serbia between 1989 and 1997 and President of the Federal Republic of Yugos ...

, politician *

Milivoje Stojanović Milivoje Stojanović (Serbian Cyrillic: Миливоје Стојановић; 18 September 1873 – 4 December 1914) was a Serbian military commander who served during the Balkan Wars and during the Serbian Campaign (part of the larger Balkans ...

, army commander * Svetozar Andrejevic, merchant and philanthropist * Nataša Stanković model, actress, dancer

International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

Požarevac is twinned with:

Gallery

File:Zgrada-SO.jpg, Požarevac City Hall File:Centar-grada.jpg, Downtown File:Streets of Požarevac.jpg, Downtown (1980s) File:ParkPozarevac.jpg, Požarevac Park File:Miloš Obrenović statue in Požarevac, Serbia.jpg, Miloš Obrenović monument in the city park File:Pozarevacki-muzej.jpg, Regional History Museum File:Cacalica-3.jpg, Čačalica Memorial Park File:Požarevac - old logo.png, Old coat of arms File:Nebojša Dozet, Knight of the Ljubičevske konjičke igre.jpg, Ljubičevo Equestrian Games File:Galery in the birth house of Milena Pavlovic Barilli in Pozarevac, Serbia 17.jpg, Milena Pavlović-Barili Gallery in her home in Požarevac

References

Sources

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pozarevac Populated places in Braničevo District Municipalities and cities of Southern and Eastern Serbia