Kraljevo
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Kraljevo ( sr-Cyrl, Краљево, ) is a
city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
and the administrative center of the
Raška District The Raška District (, ) is one of administrative districts of Serbia. It expands to the southwestern part of the country. According to the 2022 census, it has a population of 296,532 inhabitants. The administrative center of the Raška distric ...
in central Serbia. It is situated on the confluence of West Morava and Ibar, in the geographical region of
Šumadija Šumadija ( sr-Cyrl, Шумадија, ) is a geographical region in the central part of Serbia. The area used to be heavily covered with forests, hence the name (from ''šuma'' 'forest'). The city of Kragujevac is the administrative center of t ...
, between the mountains of Kotlenik in the north, and Stolovi in the south. In 2022 the city urban area has a population of 57,432 inhabitants, while the city administrative area has 110,196 inhabitants. With an area of 1530 km2, it is the largest municipality (after Belgrade) in Serbia by area.


Name

Formerly known as Rudo Polje (Рудо Поље), Karanovac (Карановац) and Rankovićevo (Ранковићево), Kraljevo received its present name, meaning "the King's Town", from King Milan I of Serbia in honor of his own coronation and six Serbian kings that had been crowned in that area. The modern coat of arms of the city features seven crowns symbolizing the seven kings.


History and sights

The "lower" Ibar region is thought to be the first area where Serbs began to develop cultural, political and economic life. Since the end of the 11th century, the center of
Grand Principality of Serbia The Grand Principality of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Великожупанска Србија, Velikožupanska Srbija, separator=" / "), also known by the anachronistic exonym Raška (region), Rascia ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Рашка, Raška, separator=" ...
was in the region of Raška, with state capital in the ancient fortress of Ras, near modern
Novi Pazar Novi Pazar ( sr-cyr, Нови Пазар) is a List of cities in Serbia, city located in the Raška District of southwestern Serbia. As of the 2022 census, the urban area has 71,462 inhabitants, while the city administrative area has 106,720 inha ...
. There are numerous monasteries in the Kraljevo area, Studenica (1188), Gradac and Stara Pavlica. There is also a medieval fortress known as Maglič. Monastery of
Žiča The Žiča Monastery (, or ) is an early 13th-century Serbian Orthodox monastery near Kraljevo, Serbia. The monastery, together with the Church of the Holy Dormition, was built by the first monarch, King of Serbia, Stefan Prvovenčani, Stefan t ...
(1219) was the original seat of Serbian Archbishop was used for the crowning of Serbian kings. The village of Rudo Polje, from which Kraljevo arose, was settled during the 14th century. This area was occupied by the Turks between 1458 and 1459. During the Turkish rule Rudo Polje became known as Karanovac. Karanovac became an important settlement during the war between Austria and Turkey in the period between 1718 and 1739. After 1718, a border between Austria and Turkey was established along right bank of river Morava. During the first uprising of the Serbs in 1805, Karanovac was heavily damaged and most of the Muslim population left, leaving the Serbs to continue development of the city during the period following the uprising. After the
Second Serbian uprising The Second Serbian Uprising ( / ''Drugi srpski ustanak'', ) was the second phase of the Serbian Revolution against the Ottoman Empire, which erupted shortly after the re-annexation of the country to the Ottoman Empire in 1813. The occupation was ...
, Karanovac was liberated in 1819 under the rule of Prince Miloš Obrenović. In that period the Orthodox Cathedral of the Holy Trinity was built; '' Gospodar Vasin konak'', a mansion used by wealthy guests, as well as a number of significant public buildings. Kraljevo received the first urban plan, and became an important economic city. In 1882 King Milan Obrenović, establishing the Kingdom of Serbia, in honor of his coronation, changed Karanovac name to Kraljevo, and gave the order for restoration of rather dilapidated monastery Žiča. In 1919, Nikolaj Velimirović, was consecrated Bishop of Žiča and spent a brief period in the city. He returned again in 1935, and stayed until 1941. He rebuilt and enlarged the monastery. During World War II Kraljevo was occupied by the German army. In October 1941, joint forces of Chetniks and Partisans besieged and attacked German forces in Kraljevo during the Siege of Kraljevo. In retaliation the
Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
carried out the Kraljevo massacre, killing 2,000 residents of the city. A memorial complex constructed in the 1970s today commemorates the site of the massacre. In November 1944, heavy battles were fought in Kraljevo and its surrounding areas culminating in the city's liberation on 29 November 1944. During the
NATO bombing of Yugoslavia The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Serbia and Montenegro, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The air strikes lasted from 24 March 1999 to 10 June 1999. The bombing ...
in 1999 the Lađevci Airport located near Kraljevo was bombed. One prominent feature of the area is the Coronation church which belongs to the Žiča monastery. Seven Serbian kings are said to have been crowned (the seven crowns on the city coat of arms represent this assumption) in the church. The church is
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
in style, and has been partially restored, with only the main tower remaining from the original building dating to 1210, when it was founded by Saint Sava, the patron saint of Serbia. The famous monastery of Studenica, south west of Kraljevo, stands high among the south-western mountains, overlooking the Studenica, a tributary of the Ibar. It consists of a group of old-fashioned timber and plaster buildings, a tall belfry, and a diminutive church of white marble, founded in 1190 by King Stefan Nemanja, who became a monk and was canonized as Saint Simeon. The carvings around the north, south and west doors have been partially defaced by the Turks. The inner walls are decorated with Byzantine frescoes, among which only a painting of the
Last Supper Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, ''The Last Supper (Leonardo), The Last Supper'' (1495-1498). Mural, tempera on gesso, pitch and mastic ...
, and the portraits of five saints remain from the original artwork. The dome and narthex are relatively modern additions. The silver shrine of Saint Simeon sits within the church, along with many gold and silver ornaments, church vessels and old manuscripts, and a set of vestments and a reliquary, believed by the monks to have been the property of Saint Sava who founded the first hospital in Studenica in the 13th century. In various historical periods, Kraljevo was part of various administrative formats within Serbia, for example in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, as part of Northern Serbia, during the time of Kingdom of Yugoslavia as part of the Moravian Banovina, etc., and today it is officially part of Sumadija & Western Serbia Region


2010 earthquake

Kraljevo was shaken by a Mw 5.4
earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...
on 3 November 2010. Two people died and over 100 suffered light injuries. A number of buildings suffered damage, and several hundreds, chiefly older buildings, were rendered unusable. There were several weaker aftershocks including a 4.3 earthquake on November 4.


Demographics

According to the 2022 census, a total of 57,432 people live in the city proper, while 110,196 live in the administrative area. The city of Kraljevo has 41,358 households with 3,03 members on average, while the number of homes is 53,367. Religion structure in the city of Kraljevo is predominantly
Serbian Orthodox The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian churches. The majority of the populat ...
(120,240), with minorities like
Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
s (932),
Atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
s (487),
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
s (286),
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
s (82) and others. Most of the population speaks
Serbian language Serbian (, ) is the standard language, standardized Variety (linguistics)#Standard varieties, variety of the Serbo-Croatian language mainly used by Serbs. It is the official and national language of Serbia, one of the three official languages of ...
(122,007). The composition of population by sex and average age: * Male - 61,585 (41.02 years) and * Female - 63,903 (43.45 years). A total of 53,137 citizens (older than 15 years) have
secondary education Secondary education is the education level following primary education and preceding tertiary education. Level 2 or ''lower secondary education'' (less commonly ''junior secondary education'') is considered the second and final phase of basic e ...
(49.78%), while the 15,281 citizens have
higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...
(14.31%). Of those with higher education, 9,326 (8.73%) have university education.


Ethnic groups

The ethnic composition in the city of Kraljevo, according to the 2011 census:


Settlements

At Kraljevo is the largest municipality of Serbia by area. Apart from the urban area, the city administrative area includes 92 settlements: * Adrani * Banjevac * Bapsko Polje * Bare * Bogutovac * Bojanići * Borovo * Bresnik * Brezna * Brezova * Bukovica * Bzovik * Cerje * Čibukovac * Čukojevac * Cvetke *
Đakovo Đakovo (; , , sr-Cyrl, Ђаково) is a town in the region of Slavonia, Croatia. Đakovo is the centre of the fertile and rich Đakovo region ( ). Etymology The etymology of the name is the (diákos) in Slavic form đak (pupil). The Hungar ...
* Dedevci * Dolac (Kraljevo) * Dragosinjci * Drakčići * Dražiniće * Drlupa * Gledić * Godačica * Gokčanica * Grdica * Jarčujak * Kamenica * Kamenjani * Konarevo * Kovači * Kovanluk * Lađevci * Lazac * Leševo * Lopatnica * Lozno * Maglič * Mataruge * Mataruška Banja * Međurečje * Meljanica * Metikoš * Milakovac * Milavčići * Miliće * Miločaj * Mlanča * Mrsać * Musina Reka * Obrva * Oplanići * Orlja Glava * Pečenog * Pekčanica * Petropolje * Plana * Polumir * Popovići * Predole * Progorelica * Ratina * Ravanica * Reka * Ribnica * Roćevići * Rudnjak * Rudno * Samaila * Savovo * Sibnica * Sirča * Stanča * Stubal * Šumarice * Tadenje * Tavnik * Tepeče * Tolišnica *
Trgovište Trgovište ( sr-cyr, Трговиште) is a town and municipality located in the Pčinja District of southern Serbia. According to 2022 census, the population of the town is 1,711, while population of the municipality is 4,316. Settlements As ...
* Ušće * Vitanovac * Vitkovac * Vrba * Vrdila * Vrh * Zaklopača * Zakuta * Zamčanje * Zasad *
Žiča The Žiča Monastery (, or ) is an early 13th-century Serbian Orthodox monastery near Kraljevo, Serbia. The monastery, together with the Church of the Holy Dormition, was built by the first monarch, King of Serbia, Stefan Prvovenčani, Stefan t ...
Of those, Adrani, Centar, Čibukovac, Grdica, Higijenski Zavod, Jarčujak, Konarevo, Mataruge, Mataruška Banja, Metikoš, Ratina, Ribnica, Stara Čaršija, Vitanovac, Vrba, Zaklopača, Zelena gora and
Žiča The Žiča Monastery (, or ) is an early 13th-century Serbian Orthodox monastery near Kraljevo, Serbia. The monastery, together with the Church of the Holy Dormition, was built by the first monarch, King of Serbia, Stefan Prvovenčani, Stefan t ...
lie within the proper city limits.


Economy

The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity (as of 2022):


Tourism

Since 1990 an annual
regatta Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wa ...
called "Joyful descend" (''Veseli spust'') is held on the Ibar river. The course is long, starts at the Maglič fortress and ends in Kraljevo. It is held in the early July and in 2017 it was attended by over 300 boats and 5,000 people. Inaugural regatta in 1990 had 150 participants, but the number grew to 10,000 in 2004–06 and 20,000 in 2008.


Sport

Basketball, volleyball, and football are the most popular sports in Kraljevo. The local volleyball team, OK Ribnica, competes in the top-tier Volleyball League of Serbia. The basketball club KK Sloga plays in the second-tier Basketball League of Serbia B. In football, FK Kablar Sijaće Polje competes in the regional league of Serbia, while FK Sloga represents the city in the
Serbian League West Serbian League West () is one of four sections of the Serbian League, the third tier of professional football in Serbia. The other three sections are Serbian League Belgrade, Serbian League East and Serbian League Vojvodina. It is also the highest ...
, the third tier of Serbian football.


Climate


Famous residents

* Zoran Bojanić (born 1959), Serbian politician and deputy of the
National Assembly of Serbia The National Assembly ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Народна скупштина, Narodna skupština, ), fully the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia (), is the unicameral legislature of Serbia. The assembly is composed of 250 deputies who are ...
* Sevastijan Dabović (1863–1940), Serbian-American Orthodox monk, missionary and saint * Vlade Divac (born 1968), Serbian basketball executive and former player in the
NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
* Nebojša Dugalić (born 1970), Serbian actor and theater director * Predrag Živković Tozovac (1936–2021), Serbian folk singer and composer * Stefan Jovanović (born 1994), Serbian footballer * Danilo Kalafatović (1875–1946), Yugoslav
army general Army general or General of the army is the highest ranked general officer in many countries that use the French Revolutionary System. Army general is normally the highest rank used in peacetime. In countries that adopt the general officer fou ...
* Nenad Krstić (born 1983), Serbian basketball executive and former player in the NBA * Jovan Kursula (1768–1813), Serbian '' vojvoda'' * Aleksandar Luković (born 1982), Serbian football manager and former player * Petar Luković (1951–2024), Serbian journalist and newspaper editor * Vasilije Micić (born 1994), Serbian NBA basketball player and 2021
Euroleague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...
MVP * Mira Trailović (1924–1989), Serbian dramaturg and theater director


Twin towns – sister cities

Kraljevo is twinned with: * Gjorče Petrov (Skopje), North Macedonia *
Grodno Grodno, or Hrodna, is a city in western Belarus. It is one of the oldest cities in Belarus. The city is located on the Neman, Neman River, from Minsk, about from the Belarus–Poland border, border with Poland, and from the Belarus–Lithua ...
, Belarus *
Ivanovo Ivanovo (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Russia and the administrative center and largest city of Ivanovo Oblast, located northeast of Moscow and approximately from Yaroslavl, Vladimir, Russia, Vladimir and Kostroma. ...
, Russia * Lod, Israel *
Maribor Maribor ( , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is the seat of the ...
, Slovenia *
Niagara Falls Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York (s ...
, Canada * Plužine, Montenegro * Uvarovo, Russia *
Zielona Góra Zielona Góra (; ''Green Mountain''; ) is the largest city in Lubusz Voivodeship, located in western Poland, with 140,403 inhabitants (). The region is closely associated with vineyards and holds an annual Zielona Góra Wine Fest, Wine Fest. Zie ...
, Poland *
North Mitrovica North Mitrovica; or ''Mitrovicë Veriore'' or North Kosovska Mitrovica, is a town and municipality located in Mitrovica District in Kosovo. As of 2015, it has a population of 29,460 inhabitants. It covers an area of . North Mitrovica is a par ...
, Kosovo


Gallery

Arhiv u Kraljevu 1.jpg, Archive in Kraljevo Reka Ibar, Kraljevo.jpg, Ibar River, Kraljevo Gradski park u Kraljevu.jpg, Park, Kraljevo File:Kraljevo 111.jpg, City center square Hram Svetog Save u Kraljevu 01.jpg, Church of Saint Sava, Kraljevo Hram Svetog Save u Kraljevu - unutrašnjost 02.jpg, Inside the Cathedral of Saint Sava, Kraljevo Spomenik srpskom vojniku u Kraljevu 1.jpg, Monument to the Serbian Soldier, Kraljevo File:ŽSKV_(4).jpg, Kraljevo Train Station File:Aerodrom Morava.jpg, Morava Airport


See also

* Morava Airport * Pridvorica (Kraljevo) *
Raška District The Raška District (, ) is one of administrative districts of Serbia. It expands to the southwestern part of the country. According to the 2022 census, it has a population of 296,532 inhabitants. The administrative center of the Raška distric ...
*
Šumadija and Western Serbia The Šumadija and Western Serbia () is one of the five statistical regions of Serbia. It is also a Level-2 statistical region according to the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS). History In 2009, the National Assembly adop ...
*
List of places in Serbia This is the list of populated places in Serbia (excluding Kosovo), as recorded by the 2002 census, sorted alphabetically by municipalities. Settlements denoted as " urban" (towns and cities) are marked bold. Population for every settlement is ...


Notes


References


External links

* * {{Authority control Populated places in Raška District Šumadija Municipalities and cities of Šumadija and Western Serbia