Kraljevo

The town of Kraljevo, territorially the largest municipality in Serbia and one of the most significant towns in central Serbia, the administrative, economic and cultural center of the District of Ras, lies almost at the very confluence of the Ibar and the Zapadna Morava (West Morava) rivers. It is connected with Belgrade by the main road E 75 and is 174 km away from the capital. Until 1882, it had been known as Karanovac; when Milan Obrenović was anointed in the nearby monastery of Žiča, as the first king of modern Serbia, freed from slavery under the Turks, the town was given its present name – Kraljevo. The town was faced with a big tragedy in the Second World War, when the occupying forces executed by firing squad 5750 citizens of Kraljevo, as a reprisal. The Memoral Park was also built to the memory of those victims. The first urbanistic plan for today’s Kraljevo was drawn by Prince Miloš Obrenović “with his finger on the bottom of a baking dish filled with sand”. This sketch, made by the formally uneducated, but shrewd ruler, was helpful to Laza Zuban, who made a concept in 1832 of how this settlement would transform into a modern town. So, three main alleys were cut in, after which a network of the streets starting from the central circular square, normally intersecting and branching into the four directions, was also created. Kraljevo is considered to be a masterpiece of Serbian urbanistic planning. As a modern town, Kraljevo is a significant cultural, educational, economic as well as tourist center. Apart from its museum, theater, library, town archiving center and other important institutions, there are also many cultural-artistic societies working in the town, and fine arts colonies and interesting events, such as the traditional Days of Lilacs or The Joyful Descent down the Ibar River, are organized. In the town itself, worth of seeing is the Church of the Falling Asleep of the Most Holy Mother of God, the temple erected by Miloš Obrenović. That is the main sacral edifice preserved in the town itself. There is also Master Vasa’s Residence, built in the style of a residence of Miloš’s time, with the elements of the architecture of the Balkans. It was built in the first half of the 19th century; today, the Spiritual Center “Vladika Nikolaj Velimirović” is located there. Six kilometers away from Kraljevo towards Mataruška Banja Spa, in the fertile lowland of the village of Kruševica, the monastery of Žiča – a beautiful monastery made of brick, stone and tuff, recognizable for its red color, rises. If Kraljevo is said to be a royal town, then Žiča is a royal temple. One of the greatest sacred objects of the Serbian nation is the legacy of Stefan the First-Crowned (1195–1223), the first king of the baptized mediaeval Serbian state, who was also crowned in this monastery in 1217. According to the records, the building of the monastery began upon Saint Sava’s return from Hilandar, most likely in 1206, and it was supposed to be finished prior to the crowning of the ktetor in 1217. Žiča was constructed as a monastery compound, the seat of the Serbian Archiepiscopate and the place where the elders of the church and the rulers were consecrated. Today, what has remained from the edifice of that time is the Church of St. Spas and a small Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, whereas the other buildings are of a more recent date. Architecturally speaking, Žiča belongs to the School of Ras. It is a single-nave building, with a semi-circular sanctuary apse on the eastern side, an external narthex with a tower on the western side, and rectangular cantors’ stands on the southern and northern sides. Žiča’s wall painting, according to experts’ opinions, was being developed in three stages, throughout the century (1219–1316) and consists of three segments different in the style and the time of creation. A group of frescoes including the portraits of the ktetor Stefan the First-Crowned and his son Radoslav, who himself was crowned in this monastery, are also precious. About thirty kilometers to the southwest of Kraljevo, on the top of a hill difficult to access, there is one of the best preserved mediaeval fortified towns in Serbia – Maglič. The fortress with seven towers, whose origin has never been shed light on completely. If you happen to be on the road from Kraljevo to Raška in May, you will remember the valley of the Ibar river for its lilacs in full blossom. The lilac was for the first time planted here by King Uroš the First because he wanted the road by which his future wife Helen of Anjou would arrive to resemble Provence, where she was born. Mataruška Banja Spa is located only eight kilometers away from Kraljevo, on the right riverbank of the Ibar, surrounded by the mountains of Stolovi and Čemerno. The spa is, actually, a 15-ha park located in a picturesque environment. Hot 42–510C medicinal water springing here contains a large amount of Sulphur and is suitable for curing many diseases. Bogutovačka Banja Spa, the famous “spa for treating disorders of the nervous system” is located near Kraljevo. This spa, surrounded by the forest and through which the Lopatnica river flows, is the right place for rest. Goč mountain is located 20 km away from Kraljevo. For its sports facilities and attractions, the mountain is interesting to sportspeople, and children, too, for which reason some call it a children’s mountain.