Donji Milanovac ( sr-cyrl, Доњи Милановац, ) is a town in eastern

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...

. It is situated in the Majdanpek municipality, in the Bor District. It is located on the right bank of Lake Đerdap on the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

. The population of the town is 2,410 people (2011 census). Its name means "Lower Milanovac" (there is an Upper Milanovac, as well). The management office of

Đerdap national park The Iron Gates ( ro, Porțile de Fier; sr, / or / ; Hungarian: ''Vaskapu-szoros'') is a gorge on the river Danube. It forms part of the boundary between Serbia (to the south) and Romania (north). In the broad sense it encompasses a rout ...

is located in the town. It has been nicknamed a "town of 100,000 roses".

Geography

The town is located on the right bank of Lake Đerdap on the

, and is located in the

. The Miroč mountain lies between Donji Milanovac and Tekija and further to the south are the

Kučaj Kučaj ( sr, Кучај, ) is a mountain range in eastern Serbia. Its highest peak, ''Velika Tresta'' has an elevation of 1,284 meters above sea level. They belong to the Serbian extension of Carpathians, which separate the valleys of Great Mor ...

mountains. The Miroč is known for the abundance of the medicinal herbs while the area surrounding the town is covered in lush

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...

forests. Via Danube, Donji Milanovac is away from

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 mi ...

. It is situated in the ''Veliki Kazan'' gorge, a section of the composite Iron Gate gorge. At Donji Milanovac, the Danube is wide, while at Veliki Kazan is wide and deep. The locality on which the settlement is today used to be called "Trkulja's gallery", after a local artist. A balloon station "Pena" was situated on location, as prior to the discovery of radio, balloons were used for signalization during the navigation through the canal. Prior to the construction of the

Iron Gate I Hydroelectric Power Station The Iron Gate I Hydroelectric Power Station ( ro, Porțile de Fier I, sr, Ђердап I/Đerdap I) is the largest dam on the Danube river and one of the largest hydro power plants in Europe. It is located on the Iron Gate gorge, between Romani ...

, which dammed the Danube and created the Lake Đerdap in 1967–72, belugas from the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

reached the gorge, travelling upstream for . Specimen, up to , used to be fished in Donji Milanovac. The dam prevents belugas from swimming upstream since, so the largest fish in the lake now is

wels catfish The wels catfish ( or ; ''Silurus glanis''), also called sheatfish or just wels, is a large species of catfish native to wide areas of central, southern, and eastern Europe, in the basins of the Baltic, Black and Caspian Seas. It has been introd ...

, with rare specimen reaching .

History

Donji Milanovac lies on remains of an 8000-year-old Mesolithic settlement of the

Lepenski Vir Lepenski Vir ( sr-cyr, Лепенски Вир, "Lepena Whirlpool"), located in Serbia, is an important archaeological site of the Mesolithic Iron Gates culture of the Balkans. The latest radiocarbon and AMS data suggests that the chronology of ...

, and of the Roman town of ''Taliata''. Since the founding of the first settlement, Donji Milanovac was moved three times. It was originally established as a settlement called Banja which was moved some upstream, on the island of Poreč (which also became the name of the settlement), during the 17th century. In 1830, due to frequent flooding, ruling prince

Miloš Obrenović Miloš, Milos, Miłosz or spelling variations thereof is a masculine given name and a surname. It may refer to: Given name Sportsmen * Miłosz Bernatajtys, Polish rower * Miloš Bogunović, Serbian footballer * Miloš Budaković, Serbian ...

ordered the town be moved to the nearest, right bank, so it was resettled downstream, at the mouth of river Oreškovica into the Danube. It became the first town in Serbia built by architectural planning. The relocation was finished by 1832 and the town became the seat of the Poreč

nahiyah A nāḥiyah ( ar, , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level division w ...

. From 1929 to 1941, Donji Milanovac was part of the Morava Banovina of the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 191 ...

. After construction of the "

Đerdap I The Iron Gate I Hydroelectric Power Station ( ro, Porțile de Fier I, sr, Ђердап I/Đerdap I) is the largest dam on the Danube river and one of the largest hydro power plants in Europe. It is located on the Iron Gate gorge, between Romani ...

" hydroelectric power station in 1970, the town was moved again to its present location, another downstream, and the old site was completely flooded by the Lake Đerdap in 1971.

Lepenski Vir

is an important Mesolithic archaeological site located 15 kilometers from Donji Milanovac. The latest radiocarbon and AMS data suggests that the chronology of Lepenski Vir is compressed between 9500/7200-6000 BC. There is some disagreement about the early start of the settlement and culture of Lepenskir Vir. But the latest data suggest 9500-7200 to be the start. The late Lepenskir Vir (6300–6000 BC) architectural development was the development of the Trapezoidal buildings and monumental sculpture The Lepenski Vir site consists of one large settlement with around ten satellite villages. Numerous piscine sculptures and peculiar architecture have been found at the site.

Culture

The Church of St. Nicholas is located in the centre of Donji Milanovac. It was built in 1840 thanks to captain

Miša Anastasijević Mihailo "Miša" Anastasijević ( sr-cyr, Миша Анастасијевић; February 24, 1803 – January 27, 1885) was a businessman and the second richest man in Serbia in the 19th century, through his successful salt export from Wallachi ...

Captain Miša's konak Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

and Tenka's house have been proclaimed cultural heritage of Serbia. There is a monument to the 1912–1918 wars (

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and def ...

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

), and a mammoth sculpture. Another noted monument is the Roman Tabula Traiana.

Economy

Until the 1990s, there were numerous companies in the town: wood company "Poreč", factories "FEP" and "Megaplast", hotel "Lepenski Vir", agricultural cooperative "Sloga", etc. By the 2010s, the majority of economy deteriorated and depopulation accelerated.

Tourism

In 1972 a hotel "Lepenski Vir" was built and the town beach was arranged. The area became a popular camping location as, due to the climate, there are no mosquitos. Donji Milanovac and the gorge are situated on the European bicycle corridor and the Đerdap highway, the shortest connection between Belgrade and

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north o ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, and further with the Black Sea. The town also has a

pier Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century.">England.html" ;"title="Brighton, England">Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th ...

, which is today mostly used by the foreign river cruisers. During the 1970s there was a regular motorboat line from Belgrade to Đerdap, which took about two and a half hours. Donji Milanovac was nicknamed "Serbian Hollywood" as numerous movies were filmed in the town and the surroundings, including ''Naivko'' (1975), ''Ćao, inspektore'' (1984) and ''Vampiri su među nama'' (1989).

Sport

FK Poreč is the local football club, founded in 1932.

Notable people

Ilija Zavišić Ilija Zavišić (Serbian Cyrillic: Илија Завишић; born 10 January 1952) is a former Yugoslav professional footballer who played as a midfielder. After retiring from the game, Zavišić worked in Partizan's youth setup. His younger ...

(b. 1952), retired footballer * Aleksandar Jovanović (1896—1977), *

(1803—1885), businessman * Tenka Stefanović (1797—1865), politician * Starina Novak (ca. 1530—1601), guerrilla and military commander * Dragos Ristić (1933-2020), economist

Gallery

File:Danube near Donji Milanovac.jpg, Panoramic View

References

Populated places in Bor District Timok Valley Populated places on the Danube {{BorRS-geo-stub