Kraljevo

Kraljevo (Serbian Cyrillic: Краљево, pronounced [krǎːʎɛʋɔ] ⓘ) is a city and the administrative center of the Raška District in central Serbia. It is situated on the confluence of West Morava and Ibar, in the geographical region of Šumadija, between the mountains of Kotlenik in the north, and Stolovi in the south.

Kraljevo
Краљево (Serbian)
City
City of Kraljevo
From top: Kraljevo City Museum, The church of the Holy Trinity, Main pedestrian street, Maglič Fortress, Morava Airport, Žiča Monastery, Archive in Kraljevo
Flag of Kraljevo
Flag
Coat of arms of Kraljevo
Coat of arms
Location of the city of Kraljevo within Serbia
Location of the city of Kraljevo within Serbia
Coordinates: 43°43′25″N 20°41′15″E
Country Serbia
RegionŠumadija and Western Serbia
DistrictRaška
Settlements92
Government
 • MayorPredrag Terzić[1] (SNS)
Area
[2]
 • Rank2nd in Serbia
 • Urban24.43 km2 (9.43 sq mi)
 • Administrative1,529.55 km2 (590.56 sq mi)
Elevation
192 m (630 ft)
Population
 (2022 census)[3]
 • Rank8th in Serbia
 • Urban
61,490
 • Urban density2,500/km2 (6,500/sq mi)
 • Administrative
110,196
 • Administrative density72/km2 (190/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
36000
Area code+381(0)36
ISO 3166 codeSRB
Car platesKV
Websitewww.kraljevo.rs

In 2022 the city urban area has a population of 61,490 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 was in the region of Raška, with state capital in the ancient fortress of Ras, near modern Novi Pazar. 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 (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.

Gospodar Vasin konak (Master Vasa's mansion), built in 1830, the oldest preserved building
Josip Broz Tito in Kraljevo in 1951.

After the Second Serbian uprising, 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 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 in 1999 the Lađevci Airport located near Kraljevo was bombed.

Kraljevo City Museum

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 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, 39 km (24 mi) 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, and the portraits of five saints remain from the original artwork. The dome and narthex are 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
Main article: 2010 Serbia earthquake

Kraljevo was shaken by a Mw 5.4 earthquake 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.[4][5] There were several weaker aftershocks including a 4.3 Mw earthquake on November 4.[6][7]

Demographics
Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
194876,657—    
195382,454+1.47%
196191,580+1.32%
1971106,153+1.49%
1981121,622+1.37%
1991125,772+0.34%
2002121,707−0.30%
2011125,488+0.34%
Source: [8]

According to the 2011 census results, a total of 125,488 inhabitants live in the city administrative area of Kraljevo.

The city of Kraljevo has 41,358 households with 3,03 members on average, while the number of homes is 53,367.[9]

Religion structure in the city of Kraljevo is predominantly Serbian Orthodox (120,240), with minorities like Muslims (932), Atheists (487), Catholics (286), Protestants (82) and others.[10] Most of the population speaks Serbian language (122,007).[10]

The composition of population by sex and average age:[10]

  • 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 (49.78%), while the 15,281 citizens have higher education (14.31%). Of those with higher education, 9,326 (8.73%) have university education.[11]

Ethnic groups

The ethnic composition in the city of Kraljevo, according to the 2011 census:[12]

Ethnic group Population
2011		 %
Serbs 120,267 95.84%
Romani 1,266 1.01%
Macedonians 224 0.18%
Croats 162 0.13%
Yugoslavs 106 0.08%
Muslims 44 0.04%
Russians 40 0.03%
Bulgarians 33 0.03%
Hungarians 30 0.02%
Slovenes 29 0.02%
Others 3,287 2.62%
Total 125,488

Settlements

At 1,530 square kilometres (591 sq mi) Kraljevo is the largest municipality of Serbia by area. Apart from the urban area, the city administrative area includes 92 settlements:

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 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 2019):[13]

Activity Total
Agriculture, forestry and fishing326
Mining and quarrying176
Manufacturing6,745
Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply630
Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities478
Construction1,708
Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles4,846
Transportation and storage2,006
Accommodation and food services1,364
Information and communication561
Financial and insurance activities426
Real estate activities136
Professional, scientific and technical activities1,107
Administrative and support service activities737
Public administration and defense; compulsory social security2,413
Education1,995
Human health and social work activities2,793
Arts, entertainment and recreation493
Other service activities695
Individual agricultural workers1,037
Total30,674

Tourism

Since 1990 an annual regatta called "Joyful descend" (Veseli spust) is held on the Ibar river. The course is 25 km (16 mi) 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.[14][15]

Sport

The most popular sports in Kraljevo are basketball, volleyball and football. The volleyball club OK Ribnica is playing in top-tier Volleyball League of Serbia. The basketball club KK Sloga is playing in the second-tier Basketball League of Serbia B, while the association football club FK Kablar Sijaće Polje is playing in regional league of Serbia.

Climate
Climate data for Kraljevo (1991–2020, extremes 1961–2020)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 20.0
(68.0)		 25.5
(77.9)		 30.3
(86.5)		 32.1
(89.8)		 35.0
(95.0)		 39.2
(102.6)		 43.6
(110.5)		 41.0
(105.8)		 37.3
(99.1)		 33.8
(92.8)		 28.6
(83.5)		 22.0
(71.6)		 43.6
(110.5)
Average high °C (°F) 4.7
(40.5)		 7.9
(46.2)		 13.0
(55.4)		 18.3
(64.9)		 22.8
(73.0)		 26.6
(79.9)		 29.0
(84.2)		 29.4
(84.9)		 24.0
(75.2)		 18.4
(65.1)		 12.0
(53.6)		 5.7
(42.3)		 17.7
(63.9)
Daily mean °C (°F) 0.6
(33.1)		 2.9
(37.2)		 7.2
(45.0)		 12.2
(54.0)		 16.6
(61.9)		 20.5
(68.9)		 22.4
(72.3)		 22.3
(72.1)		 17.3
(63.1)		 12.1
(53.8)		 7.0
(44.6)		 1.8
(35.2)		 11.9
(53.4)
Average low °C (°F) −2.9
(26.8)		 −1.4
(29.5)		 2.1
(35.8)		 6.2
(43.2)		 10.5
(50.9)		 14.3
(57.7)		 15.7
(60.3)		 15.6
(60.1)		 11.6
(52.9)		 7.1
(44.8)		 2.9
(37.2)		 −1.4
(29.5)		 6.7
(44.1)
Record low °C (°F) −24.0
(−11.2)		 −23.6
(−10.5)		 −15.7
(3.7)		 −6.3
(20.7)		 −1.6
(29.1)		 2.9
(37.2)		 7.0
(44.6)		 3.1
(37.6)		 −1.8
(28.8)		 −5.6
(21.9)		 −17.4
(0.7)		 −19.2
(−2.6)		 −24.0
(−11.2)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 44.8
(1.76)		 47.0
(1.85)		 61.0
(2.40)		 63.6
(2.50)		 83.7
(3.30)		 91.7
(3.61)		 73.6
(2.90)		 61.0
(2.40)		 60.4
(2.38)		 62.9
(2.48)		 49.0
(1.93)		 53.4
(2.10)		 752.1
(29.61)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) 13.2 13.1 12.7 12.6 14.7 11.9 10.4 8.4 10.6 10.7 10.4 13.9 142.6
Average snowy days 9.0 7.8 4.8 0.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 2.9 7.7 33.3
Average relative humidity (%) 81.8 75.4 68.5 66.6 69.9 69.0 66.1 66.2 72.0 77.4 79.0 83.0 72.9
Mean monthly sunshine hours 64.4 89.8 141.8 171.1 212.3 247.1 279.6 272.4 185.0 139.6 85.2 51.4 1,939.7
Source: Republic Hydrometeorological Service of Serbia[16][17]

Famous residents

NBA player Vlade Divac started his career in Kraljevo, while playing for Sloga basketball club (his wife is from Kraljevo). He now donates to the club. Another NBA player, Nenad Krstić was born in Kraljevo, and played for "Mašinac" basketball club from Kraljevo. Kraljevo is the birthplace of Euroleague MVP Vasilije Micić. In Kraljevo was born Serbian international footballer Aleksandar Luković. Nebojša Dugalić, actor. Predrag Živković Tozovac, music cantautor, Dragan Kalafatović, young chess prodigy, Miloš Pribičević, Serbias most notourious bookmaker, Stefan Jovanović, rapper from Ribnica, Luka Voštinić, owner of Michelin rival Pro Guma and Danilo Pantović, movie director.

Twin towns – sister cities
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Serbia

Kraljevo is twinned with:[18]

  • Archive in Kraljevo
    Archive in Kraljevo
  • Ibar River, Kraljevo
    Ibar River, Kraljevo
  • Park, Kraljevo
    Park, Kraljevo
  • City center square
    City center square
  • Church of Saint Sava, Kraljevo
    Church of Saint Sava, Kraljevo
  • Inside the Cathedral of Saint Sava, Kraljevo
    Inside the Cathedral of Saint Sava, Kraljevo
  • Monument to the Serbian Soldier, Kraljevo
    Monument to the Serbian Soldier, Kraljevo
  • Kraljevo Train Station
    Kraljevo Train Station
  • Morava Airport
    Morava Airport

See also

References
  1. "Novi gradonačelnik Kraljeva Tomislav Ilić iz Nove Srbije". Blic (in Serbian). 20 June 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  2. "Municipalities of Serbia, 2006". Statistical Office of Serbia. Retrieved 2010-11-28.
  3. "2022 Census of Population, Households and Dwellings: Ethnicity (data by municipalities and cities)" (PDF). Statistical Office of Republic Of Serbia, Belgrade. April 2023. ISBN 978-86-6161-228-2. Retrieved 2023-04-30.
  4. "OCP Error page". www.danas.rs. Archived from the original on 2012-07-29. Retrieved 2010-11-04.
  5. "2 killed in earthquake in central Serbia". Archived from the original on November 13, 2010.
  6. Serbia, RTS, Radio televizija Srbije, Radio Television of. "Dan posle zemljotresa".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. "Magnitude 4.3 - SERBIA".
  8. "2011 Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in the Republic of Serbia" (PDF). stat.gov.rs. Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  9. "Number and the floor space of housing units" (PDF). stat.gov.rs (in Serbian). Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  10. "Religion, Mother tongue, and Ethnicity" (PDF). stat.gov.rs (in Serbian). Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  11. "Educational attainment, literacy and computer literacy" (PDF). stat.gov.rs (in Serbian). Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  12. "Попис становништва, домаћинстава и станова 2011. у Републици Србији" (PDF). stat.gov.rs. Republički zavod za statistiku. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  13. "Запослени у Републици Србији, 2019. - Годишњи просек -" (PDF). stat.gov.rs (in Serbian). Statistical Office of Republic of Serbia. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  14. M.Dugalić (3 July 2017), "Veseli spust uz povoljan vetar", Politika (in Serbian), p. 05
  15. "Veseli spust niz Ibar" (in Serbian). Radio Television Serbia. 4 July 2015.
  16. "Monthly and annual means, maximum and minimum values of meteorological elements for the period 1991–2020" (in Serbian). Republic Hydrometeorological Service of Serbia. Archived from the original on 20 April 2022. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  17. "Monthly and annual means, maximum and minimum values of meteorological elements for the period 1981–2010" (in Serbian). Republic Hydrometeorological Service of Serbia. Archived from the original on 20 July 2021. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  18. "Bratski i partnerski gradovi i opštine". kraljevo.rs (in Serbian). Kraljevo. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
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