Via de Zenta, known simply as Zeta ( sr, Зетски пут/Zetski put) was a medieval road connecting the Adriatic with the medieval Serbian state. It started from the mouth of the Bojana, the Skadar port, (alternatively

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

then Cetinje) along the

Drin Valley The Drin Valley ( sq, Lugina e Drinit) is a valley in northern and eastern Albania along the Drin River The Drin (; sq, Drin or ; mk, Дрим, Drim ) is a river in Southern and Southeastern Europe with two distributaries one discharging ...

to Prizren, then to

Lipljan Lipjan ( sq-definite, Lipjani) or Lipljan ( sr-Cyrl, Липљан) is a town and municipality located in the Pristina District of Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town of Lipjan has 6,870 inhabitants, while the municipality has 57,605 i ...

, then through

Novo Brdo Novo Brdo ( sr-Cyrl, Ново Брдо), or Novobërda and Artana ( sq-definite, Novobërdë or ''Artanë''), is a municipality located in the Pristina district of Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, it has a population of 6,729 inhabitants. T ...

Vranje Vranje ( sr-Cyrl, Врање, ) is a city in Southern Serbia and the administrative center of the Pčinja District. The municipality of Vranje has a population of 83,524 and its urban area has 60,485 inhabitants. Vranje is the economical, poli ...

and

Niš Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names in other languages) is the third largest city in Serbia and the administrative center of the Nišava District. It is located in southern part of Serbia. , the city proper has a population of 183,164, while ...

. The

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

and Ragusa used the road for trade with Serbia and

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

. From Niš, the ancient Roman road of

Via Militaris Via Militaris or Via Diagonalis was an ancient Roman road, starting from Singidunum (today the Serbian capital Belgrade), passing by Danube coast to Viminacium (modern Požarevac), through Naissus (modern Niš), Serdica (modern Sofia), Philippo ...

continued all the way to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

. The road ended its use with the Ottoman conquest of this part of Serbia by 1392, after the earlier Ottoman conquest of the southern provinces of Macedonia (1371), the Ottomans having begun their European conquest at Gallipoli (1354). The Venetian traders, who were the most frequent users of the road, used it for

export An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is an ...

of wheat, animals, silver and grape from Serbia and Bulgaria to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. It was among the most important communication links of Ragusa and its hinterland. The other road connecting hinterland Serbia with the Adriatic was that from Niš, through the mining province of

Kopaonik Kopaonik ( sr-cyr, Копаоник, ; sq, Kopaoniku) is a mountain range located in Serbia and Kosovo. The highest point is the Pančić's Peak with . The central part of the Kopaonik plateau was declared a national park in 1981 which today cove ...

, to Via Drine. Two other

maller Benjamin "Big Ben" Maller (born April 29, 1975) is an American sports radio host who hosts a weekday radio show on Fox Sports Radio, which airs 11pm-3am PT/2am-6am ET. Maller is considered one of the first influential sports bloggers, because of ...

roads went through Bosnia to the northeast: one was

Via Narenta ''Via Narenta'', sometimes also ''Via Bosna'' or ''neretvanski put'', was a medieval trade route through the Dinaric Alps that connected Dubrovnik (Republic of Ragusa) through the Neretva river valley with the Bosna river valley, and from there to ...

, traversing the canyons of the Neretva, and the other was

Via Argentaria The Via Argentaria (Latin for the "Silver Way") was a Roman and medieval trade route through the Dinaric Alps. It was named after the Roman silver that was transported between the mint in Salona, the silver mines east of Ilidža and in Srebrenica, ...

, that connected

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, entertai ...

with the silver mines of

Ilidža Ilidža ( sr-cyrl, Илиџа, ) is a town and a municipality located in Sarajevo Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It has a total population of 66,730 with 63,528 in Ilidža itself, and is ...

and

Srebrenica Srebrenica ( sr-cyrl, Сребреница, ) is a town and municipality located in the easternmost part of Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is a small mountain town, with its main industry being salt mining and a nearby ...

and in turn Sremska Mitrovica in the north. It had an important cultural role as in connecting the hinterlands with the Adriatic cities which also had a Latin population, and Venice.

References

Sources

* * * * * {{Republic of Venice Kingdom of Serbia (medieval) Grand Principality of Serbia Serbian Empire Medieval Serbia Medieval Albania Medieval Croatia Economy of Serbia in the Middle Ages Trade routes Economy of the Republic of Venice