The City municipality of Kostolac ( sr-cyrl, Градска општина Костолац, Gradska opština Kostolac is a town in

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 ...

and one of two city municipalities which constitute the City of Požarevac. It is situated 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 ...

river. The remains of the Roman capital of the province of

Moesia Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; el, Μοισία, Moisía) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River, which included most of the territory of modern eastern Serbia, Kosovo, north-eastern Alban ...

Superior

Viminacium Viminacium () or ''Viminatium'', was a major city (provincial capital) and military camp of the Roman province of Moesia (today's Serbia), and the capital of ''Moesia Superior'' (hence once a metropolitan archbishopric, now a Latin titular see). ...

are located near Stari Kostolac some 2 km to the east of Kostolac. Kostolac is also a center of area called Stig and home of thermal power plants and coal mines.

History

A 1.5 million year old mammoth skeleton was uncovered in the Viminacium site in June 2009. The tribes of

Autariatae The Autariatae or Autariatai (alternatively, Autariates; grc, Αὐταριᾶται, ''Autariatai''; la, Autariatae) were an Illyrian people that lived between the valleys of the Lim and the Tara, beyond the Accursed Mountains, and the v ...

and

Scordisci The Scordisci ( el, Σκορδίσκοι) were a Celtic Iron Age cultural group centered in the territory of present-day Serbia, at the confluence of the Savus (Sava), Dravus (Drava), Margus (Morava) and Danube rivers. They were historically ...

are thought to have merged into one in this area after 313BC, since excavations show that the two groups made burials at the same exact grave field in Pecine, near Kostolac. Nine graves of Autariatae dating to 4th century BC and scattered Autariatae and

Celt The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient ...

ic graves around these earlier graves show that the two groups mixed rather than made war and this resulted in the lower Morava valley becoming a Celto-Thracio-Illyrian interaction zone. The Celtic Invasions of Greece in 279 BC formed the sub-Celtic group of Scordisci who would according to Strabo, defeat and push the powerful Triballians towards the

Getae The Getae ( ) or Gets ( ; grc, Γέται, singular ) were a Thracian-related tribe that once inhabited the regions to either side of the Lower Danube, in what is today northern Bulgaria and southern Romania. Both the singular form ''Get'' an ...

, the Scordisci self-rule in different regions of Serbia gradually ended with the Roman conquest of the Balkans in the 1st century AD.

, a major city of the Roman province of

, and the capital of

Moesia Superior Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; el, Μοισία, Moisía) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River, which included most of the territory of modern eastern Serbia, Kosovo, north-eastern Alban ...

was situated 20 km east to the present centre, in the area of ''Stari Kostolac'' (Old Kostolac). Viminacium was the base camp of Legio VII ''Claudia'', and hosted for some time the IV ''Flavia Felix''. It was destroyed in 440 by the

Hun The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...

s, but rebuilt by

Justinian I Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized '' renov ...

. During

Maurice's Balkan campaigns Maurice's Balkan campaigns were a series of military expeditions conducted by Roman Emperor Maurice (reigned 582–602) in an attempt to defend the Balkan provinces of the Roman Empire from the Avars and the South Slavs. Maurice was the only Ea ...

, Viminacium saw destruction by the Avars and

Slavs Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...

in 584 and a crushing defeat of Avar forces on the northern Danube bank in 599, destroying Avar reputation for invincibility. Đorđe Vajfert opened coal mines in Kostolac. During World War II, Germans constructed first power plant "Mali Kostolac" ("small Kostolac"). After the war, people from everywhere came to build it.

Settlements

Aside from the town of Kostolac, the city municipality includes the following settlements: * Klenovnik * Ostrovo * Petka * Selo Kostolac

Features

* Ostrovo, the biggest island of Serbia is located near Kostolac.

Tourism

In Kostolac is the archaeological site of

, a former Roman outpost with wide streets, luxurious villas, extensive baths and an amphitheater, just recently opened to the public.

Industry

Kostolac has two thermal power plants which comprise the

TPP Kostolac TPP Kostolac is a coal fired thermal power plant complex operated by Elektroprivreda Srbije, located on the right bank of Danube river, in Kostolac, Požarevac. It is the second largest power plant in Serbia after TPP Nikola Tesla. Within the c ...

. These are: * TPP "Kostolac A" – with 2 blocks – total available capacity of 310 MW and production of 716 GWh * TPP "Kostolac B" – with 2 blocks – total available capacity of 700 MW and production of 3,027 GWh In addition to electric power, TPP "Kostolac A" produces heating energy for heating of Kostolac and Požarevac.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census results, the municipality has a population of 13,637 inhabitants.

Ethnic groups

References

External links

Municipality of Požarevac
{{Authority control Populated places in Braničevo District Municipalities of Požarevac