Ostrvica or Ostrovica () was a small fortified town built on one of the peaks of Rudnik mountain, northwest of the town of Rudnik. After 1323/1324, when it was recorded for the first time, it belonged to the

Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Principality was ruled by the Obrenović dynast ...

Serbian Empire The Serbian Empire ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српско царство, Srpsko carstvo, separator=" / ", ) was a medieval Serbian state that emerged from the Kingdom of Serbia. It was established in 1346 by Dušan the Mighty, who significantly expande ...

Moravian Serbia Moravian Serbia (), the Principality of Moravian Serbia () or the Realm of Prince Lazar was the largest and most powerful Serbian principality to emerge from the ruins of the Serbian Empire (1371). Moravian Serbia was named after Morava, the ma ...

Serbian Despotate The Serbian Despotate () was a medieval Serbian state in the first half of the 15th century. Although the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 is mistakenly considered the end of medieval Serbia, the Despotate, a successor of the Serbian Empire and Moravi ...

and

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. In 1451 the Ottomans razed it to the ground.

Location

Ostrvica was the main castle in the Rudnik area. It is assumed that its location protected the mines of Rudnik from the north, while another castle (of

Pavle Orlović Pavle Orlović ( sr-cyr, Павле Орловић) is a semi-mythological hero of the Kosovo cycle of Serbian epic poetry; he was a Serbian knight, one of the military commanders under Prince Lazar that fell at the Battle of Kosovo (1389) ag ...

) provided protection from the south. The two castles maintained visual communication by signals.

History

During the 14th and 15th centuries the people of the region and merchants from

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, by the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, a Port, seaport and the centre of the Dubrovni ...

used Ostrovica castle as a haven during wars, first in 1323–1324 during the war between

Stefan Dečanski Stefan Uroš III, , known as Stefan of Dečani ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Дечански, Stefan Dečanski, ( – 11 November 1331), was King of Serbia from 6 January 1322 to 8 September 1331. Dečanski was the son of King Stefan Milutin (). He ...

and Stephen Vladislav. In 1398 Nikola Zojić , a governor of Ostrovica, retreated to Ostrvica after the failure of his attempt to overthrow

Stefan Lazarević Stefan Lazarević ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Лазаревић, 1377 – 19 July 1427), also known as Stefan the Tall (), was a Serbian ruler as prince (1389–1402) and Despot (court title), despot (1402–1427). He was also a diplomat, legislat ...

and to establish direct vassalage to the Ottoman Empire. Zojić took monastic vows to avoid the death penalty. In 1414 voivode Mazarek is mentioned as a governor of Ostrvica and Rudnik. Ostrvica was captured by the Ottomans several times, first in 1431 and again in 1438. The Serbian despot recaptured it in 1443 during the

Crusade of Varna The Crusade of Varna was an unsuccessful military campaign mounted by several European leaders to check the expansion of the Ottoman Empire into Central Europe, specifically the Balkans between 1443 and 1444. It was called by Pope Eugene IV ...

, but the Ottomans captured it again in 1444, only to be restored to Serbia later in the year. Branković and Eirene used Ostrovica as their summer retreat, and had a mint in the castle. When the Ottomans captured Ostrvica in 1451 they razed it to the ground. This was against the order of

Murad II Murad II (, ; June 1404 – 3 February 1451) was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1421 to 1444 and from 1446 to 1451. Early life Murad was born in June 1404 to Mehmed I, while the identity of his mother is disputed according to v ...

Evliya Çelebi Dervish Mehmed Zillî (25 March 1611 – 1682), known as Evliya Çelebi (), was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman explorer who travelled through his home country during its cultural zenith as well as neighboring lands. He travelled for over 40 years, rec ...

described Ostrovica as the "town of Rudnik". He explained that it was founded by the Serbian King Miloš, captured by

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

, recaptured by Christians to be captured again by the Ottomans on 19 May 1521.

References

{{Castles, fortresses and palaces in Serbia, state=autocollapse Forts in Serbia Medieval Serbian architecture Gornji Milanovac

Location

History

See also

References