KARAN – THE WHITE CHURCH It is situated in the village of Karan , 16 km from Uzice.It is dedicated to the Annunciation of God’s Mother. Archaeological explorations have confirmed that at the site where the church is today there used to be a settlement in Roman times.Next to the church several well-preserved Roman grave markers(stelas) have been discovered.The church was built in the period from 1332 to 1337 as a family tomb of prefect Peter , also known as Brajan.According to its architectural features the White Church in Karan belongs to the type of monuments of the Rashka school.Apart from the two main cycles “Big holidays” and “ The Life og the mother of God” , numerous other portraits are shown on the church frescoes:those of its patron Brajan with his family, of emperor Dushan, empress Helen and of other historical characters. The frescoes carry on the tradition of the early 14th century art . The original gold iconostasis with fresco-icons has been kept in the church.
ST.MARKO’S CHURCH The old church in Uzice is situated in the town centre, in the part of the town known as Carina.The church was first mentioned in the third decade of the 18th century as a small church-wattle house , built in the style of wooden churches and located in the Serbian part of the town.Felix Kanic mentions St. Marko’s church in Uzice, which is said to have been built in 1928, in the “bondruk” style , with steep and high roof , covered with shingles, with a small wooden tower on the west side.A wooden bell-tower , 22 m high, was built next to the church By its harmonious forms and beauty it is unique in Serbia.The church contains precious icons and numerous valuable and relics , including the fragments of the old iconostasis , the work of an iconographer Simeon Lazarevic.The icons were made in 1851, probably by Dimitrije Posnikovic.The church contains as collection of engravings made in the period from the 17th to 19th century , as well as the works of applied art and those made by Uzice coppersmiths.
ST. GEORGE’S CHURCH Na Upon the initiative of well-off merchants and distinguished citizens
of Uzice , the main church, dedicated to St. George, was built in the
period from 1842-1844.It is situated in the town centre, not far from
the Grammar school.The iconostasis and the frescoes were made between
1851 and 1856 by the painters Dimitrije Posnikovic and Milija
Markovic.The church used to have three bell-towers , two of which have
been preserved.One of the preserved towers was a gift by prince
Alexander Karadjordjevic to the town.The missing bell is the one taken
by the Austrians in World War I. In 1859 the first public clock was
placed on the church tower.
THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF UZICE
Among the collections and depots of the museum there are about 70,000 museum units of the complex type. Two permanent museum exhibitions are available to the visitors as well as the Legacy of the painter Mihailo Milovanovic., and occasionally there are some interesting thematic exhibitions.The central exhibit covers the period of “Uzicka Republic” , one of the most important periods in the history of Uzice. Uzicka republic - T The Tourist Organisation of Uzice has recently offered a new assortments of souvenirs : umbrellas, cups. And T-shirts with a Logo “Uzice repuplic”These products san be bought in the premises of the Tourist Information Centre of the Tourist Organisation of Uzice. Užička republic is the name of the first liberated territory within Europe (that was occupied by the Nazis).The territory did not have permanent borders , they changed almost every day with each offensive of the partisans from one side and occupiers from the other. Its boundaries covered the area of the river Drina in the west, Zapadna Morava in the east, and it spread from the river Skrapez in the north to Uvac in the south.That state existed for 73 days , and then it fell into the hands of the Nazis , while the partisans retreated towards Sandzak.
THE JOKANOVIĆ’S HOUSE This edifice, also known under the name “peccara” , used to be the property of a famous merchant family Jokanovic from Uzice.The house is one of the rare edifices of the Oriental-Balkan architecture from the 19th century , not only in Uzice but in the wider area so that it was declared a national cultural heritage – an ethnographic cultural monument. Nowadays in the Jokanovic’s house you can see the exhibition “Town House Of Uzice in the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century”This exhibition is to show the total transformation of Uzice from an oriental settlement “sheher” into a small Serbian town.
MEMORIAL KADINJACA The memorial is dedicated to the soldiers of the Worker’s Battalion from Uzice , the ones from Posavac and Orasac, who sacrificed their lives on 29th November 1941 by protecting the retreat of the main partisan troops from Sandzak towards Uzice.Within this memorial , at the area of 15 acres, there is a Memorial home where visitors can see the permanent exhibition named “The Worker’s Battalion and the Battle on Kadinjaca”. In one of the rooms for exhibitions there is an exhibition “Uzice Region in NATO AGGRESSION against FR Yugoslavia”
One of the urban planning guidelines of old Uzice are guild fountains built in the second half of the 19th century as an endowment of the guilds or individuals and as a sign of gratitude to the town.
The remains of the Old Town lie on the rocky cliff which separates the
river bed of the Djetinja , at the place where it flows out of the
gorge into the tame valley.The fortification was built on a high cliff
, rather fdifficult to reach, which is surrounded by the river Djetinja
from all 3 sides.To the west, south and east, steep cliffs , up to 50 m
high, as well as strong natural ramparts, descend to the river,. The
town was possible to be approached from the north only, from the ridge
towards the adjoining elevation, but even there the vertical slopes
defended the entrance to the highest point of the elevation, making it
unconquerable. The road, linking Bosnia to Serbia, could be monitored
and defended from the fortress. Over the centuries, the position of the
town caused admiration among the travellers and unexpected guests
passing by its ramparts. The
first reliable sources about the fortress of Uzice date back to the
middle of the 14th century. At that time it was the property of the
feudal family Vojinovic, and from 1366 to 1373 it belonged to Nikola
Altomanovic.A historian from Dubrovnik Mavro Obrini mentions Uzice in
his description of the events which refer to the conflict of prince
Lazar and king Tvrtko with Nikola Altomanovic, who was then captured,
imprisoned and made blind in the fortress , in the summer of 1373. The
geographic position and its strategic influence affected the appearance
of the fortress.In its upper part it had a semi-circular tower, in the
middle part the buildings for hosting military regiments, equipment and
food supplies, and in the lower part , by the so called Watery tower it
was linked to the river.Several times the fortress was destroyed and
fortified anew. Significant enlargements and fortifications were made
in 1478, afterwards during the Austrian-Turkish wars in 1688 and
1737-1839 , and finally during the First Serbian Uprising and soon
after the Second Serbian Uprising from 1813-1819. At last, it was
made useless as a military object and ruined in January 1863, at the
time when the Turks were being driven out of Uzice. Due to the
archaeological exploration , partial reconstruction and the
conservation work conducted by the Heritage Authority from Kraljevo and
the National Museum from Uzice in the period from 1973-1984, a
century-old erosion and decay of the Old Town was stopped.
THE WATER PLANT ON THE DJETINJA - The water plant on the river Djetinja lies at the bottom of Uzice’s Old Town.It started working in 1900 and is on e of the symbols of the town. It wa the first electrical plant in the Balkans constructed in accordance with Tesla’s principles and the second in Europe , just a year after the first plant of that kind was built on the Niagara river in America.The cornerstone was placed by king Alexander Obrenovic .The pompous opening on the the water plant was on 2nd August(Holy Elias’s Day) Old Siemens machinery still produces the electricity and in this beautiful edifice which is in the very centre of the town , by the town beach, there is the Technical Museum .On 1st August 2008 a monument to Nikola Tesla was revealed in front of the water plant , and the right bank of the river Djetinja (to the right ot the plant ) was named the bank of Nikola Tesla.
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