The Vushtrri Castle (; ) or Old Tower (; ) are city

fortifications A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

Vushtrri Vushtrri ( sq-definite, Vushtrria; sr-Cyrl, Вучитрн, ''Vučitrn'') is a List of cities in Kosovo, city and Municipalities of Kosovo, municipality located in the District of Mitrovica, Mitrovica District in Kosovo. According to the 2024 c ...

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

. It was the seat of despot

Đurađ Branković Đurađ Vuković Branković ( sr-Cyrl, Ђурађ Вуковић Бранковић, ; 1377 – 24 December 1456) served as the Serbian Despot from 1427 to 1456, making him one of the final rulers of medieval Serbia. In 1429, Branković was form ...

(1427–1456). Later chroniclers ( Ami Boué, Aleksandar Giljferding) are noted that the fort itself is derived from the times of

Dušan Dušan ( sr-Cyrl, Душан) is a Slavic names, Slavic given name primarily used in the former Yugoslavia and the former Czechoslovakia. The name is derived from the Slavic noun ''duša'' "soul". Occurrence In Serbia, it was the 29th most po ...

, and that ''it is an old fortress with a tower in the middle of the town''.

History

The building of the fortress is traditionally attributed to the Vojinović brothers, to whom is also attributed the nearby Stone Bridge, while its style places it at the end of the 14th or early 15th century. The Vojinovići existed as nobility in the first half of 14th century, and according to epic poetry were nephews of Emperor Dušan. However Vučitrn itself was outside their area of control, which was expanding to the nearby

Zvečan Zvečan ( sr-Cyrl, Звечан) or Zveçan ( sq-definite, Zveçani) is a town and municipality located in the Mitrovica District in Kosovo. As of 2015, it has a population of 16,650 inhabitants. It covers an area of , and consists of a town and ...

, even at the time of their greatest power under the

Vojislav Vojinović Vojislav Vojinović (, d. 1363) was a 14th-century Serbian nobleman, and one of the leading members of Serbian noble House of Vojinović. He held prominent offices during the reigns of Serbian Emperors Stefan Dušan and Stefan Uroš. His fath ...

(around 1355 - 1363) and

Nikola Altomanović Nikola Altomanović ( sr-Cyrl, Никола Алтомановић; died after 1395) was a 14th-century Serbian župan of the House of Vojinović. He ruled the areas from Rudnik, over Polimlje, Podrinje, east Herzegovina with Trebinje, reach ...

(1366–1373). However, in Vučitrn in the early 15th century, the court of the

house of Branković A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

is mentioned, who were related to the Vojinović family: Ratoslava, the sister of

Branko Mladenović Branko ( sr-cyr, Бранко; 1331–65) was a Serbian magnate who served to king and Serbian Empire, emperor Stefan Dušan (r. 1331–55), and emperor Stefan Uroš V (r. 1355–71), with the titles of ''sluga'' and later ''sevastokrator''. A m ...

(father of

Vuk Branković Vuk Branković ( sr-Cyrl, Вук Бранковић, , 1345 – 6 October 1397) was a Serbian medieval nobleman who, during the Fall of the Serbian Empire, inherited a province that extended over present-day southern and southwestern Serbia, enti ...

) was married to

Altoman Vojinović Altoman Vojinović (; 1335–59) was a Serbian magnate ('' velikaš'') who served Emperor Stefan Dušan (r. 1331–55) as ''župan'' ("count") and Emperor Uroš V (r. 1355–71) as '' veliki župan'' ("grand count"). His father Vojin was a gen ...

(father of Nikola Altomanović).

Vojinović Tower

Today, of the entire fort survived only donjon tower that the people called ''Vojinović Tower'' with part of wall in the form of a square. On that walls (thick about 3 m), the remains of

machicolation In architecture, a machicolation () is an opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement through which defenders could target attackers who had reached the base of the defensive wall. A smaller related structure that only protects key ...

, putlog holes or hoardings can be seen, and in addition to the closed ground, had the floor, over which there was an open top of the tower with

battlement A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals ...

on. As all Donjon, Vojinović Tower also had no entrance in the basement, but only on the floor with the southern side and it is approached by wooden stairs that in a case of emergency could be easily removed.

Remains

Most of the former

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

of Đurađ Branković disappeared during

Ottoman period The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an 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 Central Euro ...

when the space fortress became the seat of government and administrative

Bey Bey, also spelled as Baig, Bayg, Beigh, Beig, Bek, Baeg, Begh, or Beg, is a Turkic title for a chieftain, and a royal, aristocratic title traditionally applied to people with special lineages to the leaders or rulers of variously sized areas in ...

, while the ground floor of the tower used as a warehouse for the

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...

(

barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...

corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

) that are collected on behalf of Bey taxes. Former entrance gates, located next to the tower (at a distance of 1m) in North wall and has

semicircle In mathematics (and more specifically geometry), a semicircle is a one-dimensional locus of points that forms half of a circle. It is a circular arc that measures 180° (equivalently, radians, or a half-turn). It only has one line of symmetr ...

shape, was embowered and immured, and instead of that one, new was opened on the East wall. Today, of the whole former fortress survived only donjon tower with walls around it to form a square courtyard base. Their height is 4–5 m, with the exception of southern wall that faces the main street with the bottom of the slope (height 1.2–1.5 m, sally 0.35–0.4 m) whose height is 6–7 m. Vojinović Tower was declared Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance in 1990, and it was protected by the

Republic of Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

References

{{coord, 42, 49, 20, N, 20, 58, 3, E, type:landmark_source:kolossus-frwiki, display=title Cultural heritage monuments in Vushtrri Cultural heritage of Kosovo Ruins in Kosovo Towers in Kosovo Monuments and memorials in Kosovo Medieval Serbian sites in Kosovo Vojinović noble family

History

Vojinović Tower

Remains

See also

References