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Aleksinac (?????????) is a town which is center of municipality of Aleksinac, located in the Nišava District of Serbia. In 2002, the population of the town was 17,171, while population of the municipality was 57,749.
History
The territory of the municipality of Aleksinac has been inhabited since the neolithic age. Most of the settlements in the area belong to the Vinca cultural group, and are located on the western side of the South Morava river.
After the fall to the Romans this territory was included in the province Upper Moesia and after 293 AD it was in the Mediterranian province Dacia. A Roman Military Road (Via Militaris) was built in I century AD across the territory. There were also two stations for rest (mansio) and change of horses (mutatio) along the road on the territory of Aleksinac: Praesidium Pompei and Rappiana. Their location is still unknown, although there are few candidates for this position. Also few fortresses (Castell) are known to existed in this period, but their names are not known, except for the Castell Milareca on Gradiste hill (228 m).
From the year 476 this territory was under Byzantine rule. There are evidences of settlements from this time, however their names still remain unknown.
During the reigns of emperors Phocas (602-610) and Heraclius (610-641) Slavic peoples inhabit Balkan peninsula. In 614 they razed Niš. The Via Militaris was renamed Medieval Military Road and it was used by the crusaders of first four Crusades to reach Constantinople thus passing through the territory of Aleksinac municipality.
During the reign of the Nemanjic dynasty this territory was under direct control of the state. After the death of Uroš V this territory was included in the territory of Moravian Serbia under the Prince Lazar and his successors. Two medieval towns, Bolvan and Lipovac, date from this period.
Turkish rule
Aleksinac is first mentioned in 1516 in "Kruševacki Tefter", a list of towns and its residents were made by Turks to keep an eye on taxes, as the village belonging to Bolvan province and Kruševac sanjak. It remained village up to the end of XVI century when it was developed into town settlement.
In the middle of XVII century, Aleksinac was town with more than 100 shops in it, and because of its strategic location on the road to Constantinople it became important travel and caravan station. It's importance can be supported by the fact that Turks built fortress to protect it from outlaws in 1616. The development of Aleksinac was stopped during the so called Great Turkish War (1683-1699). Aleksinac was conquered by Austrian army (general Ludwig of Baden liberated it), and later burned to the ground by the soldiers of Jegen-Osman Pasha. Serbian inhabitants of Aleksinac joined Great Serb Migrations to Habsburg Monarchy and some of them settled down in Budim. Aleksinac was destroyed again by fire during the second Austro-Turkish war (1716-1718) when grand vizier Hallil Pasha was defeated beneath the walls of Belgrade. In retreat he burned down all settlements all the way to Niš.
After the third Austro-Turkish War (1737-1739) Aleksinac developed into significant trade and handcraft center. Many caravans passed through it exchanging wares from entire Ottoman Empire and central Europe. At the same time it became center of Aleksinac county which in 1784 consisted of 17 villages. There were 160 houses in Aleksinac at that time, 120 Serbian and 40 Turkish.
After the Fourth Austro-Turkish war Aleksinac was burned down again by the Turkish outlaws led by Osman Pazvan.
Modern times
Aleksinac and its surrounding joined the First Serbian Uprising in January 1806. Town itself and villages facing the right side of South Morava river were liberated by the army of Petar Dobrnjac while the settlements on the left side were liberated by Mladen Milovanovic and Stanoje Glavaš. As soon as the town was liberated, Captain Vuca Žikic built the famous Deligrad trenches on the north side of Aleksinac which earned fame in battles with the Turks, especially in 1806.
After the fall on the First Serbian Uprising, Aleksinac remained under Turkish rule up to December 1832 when it became integral part of Prince Miloš's Serbia. During his first reign Aleksinac became the economic centre of the south-east Serbia with numerous trade and handicrafts shops and it developed into important government centre. It became centre of county and county court. The third post office in Serbia (after Belgrade and Kragujevac) was opened in Aleksinac for both Serbian and Austrian post as well as the place where English courier sent and received the post from Turkey. At that time Customs office and quarantine station were built in Aleksinac. Aleksinac was also the site of major battles with Turks in First Serbo-Turkish war in 1876, with only true victory won on Šumatovac, 3 kilometers from Aleksinac.
Aleksinac was seriously damaged during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999. Today Aleksinac is home of Serbian Army LF Combined-Arms Artillery Brigade.
Demographics
Ethnic groups in the municipality (2002 census):
- Serbs = 54,845
- Roma = 1,434
- Yugoslavs = 146
- Montenegrins = 130
- Vardarians = 127
- Native Indians = 4
- Albanians = 27
- Bosnians = 2
- Bulgarians = 42
- Vlahs/Wallachians = 3/7
- Gorani = 7
- Hungarians = 10
- Muslims by nationality = 59
- Germans = 5
- Russians = 19
- Rusyns = 1
- Slovenians = 38
- Croats = 55
- Czechs = 4
- Unknown number of Chinese.
- others (including Jews, Italians and Aromanians).
Density = 81,68 c/m^2
Average age of population = 42,4 years
- Male = 41,3
- Female = 43,5
Gender structure:
- Males = 28 390
- Females = 29 359
Economy and natural resources
Main industry in Aleksinac is metal industry, but large parts of municipality consists of arable land near the Morava river that is used for grain, maize ?nd peppers. Coal industry was also dominant before fire accident in November 1989.
Municipality of Aleksinac is rich in natural resources, especially in black coal, bitumen schist, gravel, sand and limestone.
Education
Town has two elementary schools, High (Grammar) School "Aleksinacka gimnazija" (The former name was "Drakce Milovanovic" but it was changed in 2004), college for kindergarten teachers, machine engineering high school and couple of technical schools. The construction of building for Agricultural high school has started in 2006. There are two elementary schools: "Ljupce Nikolic" and "Vožd Karadjordje" (Former name "Aca Milojevic", changed by new government in 2003 in process of diminishing war heroes, by the new school principal Milan Veljkovic). Aleksinac have a school for kids with special needs.
Tourism
Lake Bovan, situated 15 km from Aleksinac centre, is a place popular for tourists. The medieval monastery from XV century built by Despot Stefan Lazarevic, St. Stefan in Lipovac, is 25 km from the city. The monastery is built beneath the slopes of Mt. Ozren (1175 m). There is also remnants of two medieval towns in the mountains surrounding Aleksinac: Bovan and Lipovac, however they are not well preserved. Nightlife in Aleksinac is very developed.
Notable locals
- Kosta Taušanovic (1854–1902) - one of the founders of Serbian Radical Party, minister of police and minister of commerce, founder of first insurance company in Serbia.
- Mihajlo Rašic (1858–1919) - Army commander in Kingdom of Serbia, and minister of military affairs (1918–1919)
- Milan Pecic (1865–1959) - Army doctor and inventor of a military stretcher that was used in Serbia by the end of World War I. Also inventor of military apothecary.
- Stevan Dimitrijevic (1866 - ?)- Rector of Theologian University in Belgrade.
- Kosta Stojanovic (1867–1921) - Minister of Commerce (1906–1908) and (1912–1913).
Trivia
- The patron saint of Aleksinac is St. Mark.
- Aleksinac is the home of Native Indians Society of Serbia.
Twin cities
References and further reading
- Istorija Aleksinca i okoline do kraja prve vladavine kneza Miloša, Spric Miodrag, Aleksinac, 1995.
- Aleksinac i okolina, Dr. Branko Perunicic, Beograd, 1978.
External links
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