Eastern and Central Europe (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

SERBIA 559

surviving church in Serbia.

West of the town centre is the

monastery of Đurdevi Stupovi

(George’s Pillars), built by

Stefan Nemanja in the 1170s.

Niš 6

235 km (146 miles) SE of Belgrade.

• 250,000. £ @ n Voždova 7
  (018) 523 118.

Despite its fairly contemporary
appearance, the town of Niš
has an ancient pedigree.
Believed to be the birthplace
of Emperor Constantine the
Great, who led the Roman
world’s conversion to
Christianity, it was also an imp-
ortant Roman trading
post. Conquered by
the Ottomans in 1386,
Niš became a part of
the modern Serbian
state after its liberation
in 1878.
Today it is Serbia’s
third largest city and
centres around the
pedestrianized Kralja
Milana Square, where
there is an eques trian
monument dedicated to
the liberators of 1878.
North of the square, a bridge
leads across the Nišava river
towards the 18th-century
Tvrđava (Fortress) built by the
Ottoman Turks, which is now
the town park. Entered via
the Istanbul Gate (Stambul
Kapija), the park contains
some Ottoman buildings,
includ ing a domed bath house
and the 15th-century Mosque
of Bali Beg, which now serves
as an art gallery.
South of the main square,
the Copper-workers’ Alley
(Kazandžijsko Sokače)
preserves some 19th-century
craft workshops. About 3 km
(2 miles) east of the centre
stands the Tower of Skulls
(Ćele Kula), a gruesome

monument dedicated to the

origins of the Serbian Uprising

of 1809, when insurgents blew

themselves up to avoid capture

by the Turks. The Ottoman

authorities built a tower

studded with the victims’

heads to serve as a warning to

others. It originally con tained

around 1,000 skulls, but many

were stolen in the 19th

century, leaving just 60 today.

Sopoćani

Monastery 8

287 km (178 miles) S of Belgrade.

@ from Novi Pazar.

Located on a hill surrounded

by mountains, the monastery

of Sopoćani was founded in

1263 by King Uroš I, the

grand son of Stefan Nemanja,

who intended it to serve as

his mausoleum. The monas-

tery church is a three-aisled

Romanesque basilica made

from blocks of stone. The

nave is covered with frescoes

painted by masters from

Constantinople, with a fine

Dormition of the Virgin filling

the west wall. Also in the nave

are the tombs of Uroš I and

his Venetian mother Anna

Dandolo. The narthex con-

tains more frescoes, with

superb portraits of Uroš

and his son Dragutin.

St Peter’s Church in Novi Pazar, the

oldest church in Serbia

Equestrian monument to the
Liberation of 1878, Niš

Detail from the

Tower of Skulls

Novi Pazar 7

270 km (168 miles) S of Belgrade.

* 120,000. @ n 28 Novembar

27, (020) 338 030. http://www.tonp.rs

Situated in mountainous

territory in southwest Serbia,

Novi Pazar was founded in

the mid-15th cen tury as a way-

station on the Dubrovnik-

Constantinople caravan route.

The town cen tre still has some

Ottoman-era buildings and

plenty of mos ques – the majo-

rity of the locals are Muslim

Bosnians. High lights include

the many-domed Isa Beg

Hammam (Isa-begov

hamam), a 15th-cen-

tury bath house

beside the Raška

river. North of the

river is the Lejlek

Mosque, built a cen-

tury later, with its

arched portico over-

looked by a minaret.

The area around

Novi Pazar was once

the heartland of the

medieval Serbian state and is

dotted with ancient churches

and monas teries. North of the

centre stands the 9th-cen tury

St Peter’s Church (Petrova

Crkva), the original seat of the

bishops of Ras and the oldest

Evocative fresco of Dormition of the Virgin, Sopoćani Monastery