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Smederevo (Serbian Cyrillic: Смедерево, pronounced [smêdereʋo] ⓘ) is a city and the administrative centre of the Podunavlje District in eastern Serbia. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube, about 45 kilometres (28 miles) downstream from the capital, Belgrade. According to the 2022 census, the urban settlement had 59,261 inhabitants, while the administrative area of the city had 97,930 inhabitants.
The area of present-day Smederevo has been inhabited since prehistoric and ancient times. The modern city developed around Smederevo Fortress, constructed in the 15th century by Serbian despot Đurađ Branković after Belgrade was returned to the Kingdom of Hungary. Smederevo served as the capital of the Serbian Despotate from 1430 to 1439 and again from 1444 until the Ottoman conquest in 1459.
Smederevo later developed as an important settlement on the Danube and, particularly during the 20th century, as a major industrial centre. The city is home to a large steelworks operated by Hesteel Serbia and remains an important centre of manufacturing and river transport. Smederevo also has an international freight port on the Danube.
The settlement is mentioned in a charter of the Byzantine emperor Basil II from 1019, in connection with the ecclesiastical organisation of the Archbishopric of Ohrid. It is mentioned again in a charter of Prince Lazar of Serbia from 1381 concerning property granted to the Ravanica Monastery.
Historical forms of the city's name include Latin Semendria, Hungarian Szendrő (formerly also Vég-Szendrő), and Ottoman Turkish Semendire. Modern Serbian uses Smederevo (Смедерево).
The etymology of the name is uncertain. Linguist Petar Skok proposed that it ultimately derives from the name of Saint Demetrius. Other proposed explanations connect the name with the medieval personal name Smender, or with the words smet ("snowdrift") and Old Serbian drevo ("tree" or "wood").
The City of Smederevo has an official coat of arms and flag. Under the city statute, their design and use are regulated by a separate decision of the City Assembly.
The city emblem is predominantly blue and white. Its elements include six white discs arranged in rows of three, two and one, representing grapes; a stylised representation of Smederevo Fortress; and horizontal dark-blue and white bands representing the Danube. A ribbon bearing the year 1430, the year in which the medieval fortified capital was completed, is placed across the shield.
Archaeological evidence indicates human activity in the Smederevo area from the Paleolithic onward, although the prehistoric archaeology of the region remains incompletely investigated. Finds from former brickyards in Smederevo have been attributed to the Upper Paleolithic, while Neolithic and Bronze Age material has been recorded at sites including Vučak and Udovice. Burial mounds dating from the Early Iron Age have also been identified at Vranovo and Radinac. The Museum in Smederevo notes that much of the surviving prehistoric material from the wider Smederevo Danube region consists of isolated or chance finds and that the available evidence is insufficient to reconstruct an uninterrupted cultural and chronological sequence for the area.
During the Roman period, the territory of present-day Smederevo lay on the right bank of the Danube, within the frontier zone of Moesia Superior, between the legionary centres of Singidunum and Viminacium. The Roman frontier in this sector consisted of a chain of forts, settlements and military installations forming part of the Danube Limes.
One of the principal Roman sites in the wider Smederevo area was Aureus Mons, identified with the locality of Seone. Archaeological remains indicate a fort and associated settlement, broadly dated from the 1st to the 4th centuries. The site is mentioned in Roman written sources, and the late Roman garrison included Dalmatian cavalry. Emperor Probus (r. 276–282) is also associated by ancient sources with the cultivation of vines at Aureus Mons.
Another Roman settlement, Vincea, is known from ancient itineraries and is generally placed in the broader territory of present-day Smederevo. Its precise location has not been conclusively established, although archaeological finds and late-antique burials indicate that it was probably situated in the area of modern Ćirilovac. Late-antique graves discovered in Smederevo, including lead and stone sarcophagi, have contributed to attempts to determine the extent of Vincea and its necropolis.
Near the village of Kulič, close to the confluence of the Great Morava and the Danube, a fortified position also developed at a strategically important point controlling the entrance to the Morava valley. An early Byzantine fortification was probably constructed or renewed there, possibly during the fortification programme of emperor Justinian I in the 6th century. The site remained strategically significant during the Middle Ages and Ottoman period, although archaeological investigations have been limited and the chronology of its earliest phases is not fully established. Most of the surviving visible remains belong to later phases of the fortress rather than securely identified Roman or early Byzantine structures.
Smederevo rose to major political importance in the 15th century. After Belgrade was returned to the Kingdom of Hungary in 1427, Serbian despot Đurađ Branković established a new capital at Smederevo. The fortified court, later known as the Little Town of Smederevo Fortress, was completed by 1430, after which the larger fortified city was constructed around it.
According to the historian Theodore Spandounes, construction of the fortress was directed by George Palaiologos Kantakouzenos, brother of Branković's wife Irene Kantakouzene.
Smederevo served as the capital of the Serbian Despotate from 1430 until its capture by the Ottoman Empire in 1439. Under the terms of the Peace of Szeged, the town was restored to Đurađ Branković in 1444. It again became the seat of the despotate and remained its capital until the final Ottoman conquest in 1459. The fall of Smederevo marked the end of the medieval Serbian Despotate.
After the conquest of 1459, Smederevo became an important Ottoman military and administrative centre and gave its name to the Sanjak of Smederevo. Its position on the Danube frontier made it an important base in Ottoman conflicts with the Kingdom of Hungary. The Ottomans strengthened the fortress, adding low artillery towers adapted to gunpowder warfare.
A Hungarian–Serbian force unsuccessfully attempted to recapture Smederevo in 1476. Further Hungarian attacks followed, including attempts led by Pál Kinizsi in 1494 and John Zápolya in 1512.
Following the Ottoman conquest of Belgrade in 1521, Smederevo gradually lost some of its former frontier importance. During the 16th and 17th centuries it developed into a larger Ottoman town and remained an important regional administrative centre.
From the late 17th century onward, Smederevo was repeatedly affected by wars between the Habsburg monarchy and the Ottoman Empire. The town changed hands on several occasions, suffered destruction and economic decline, and during periods of Habsburg rule served as the centre of a district.
During the First Serbian Uprising, Smederevo was captured by Serbian insurgents and became an important administrative centre of the emerging revolutionary state. The Praviteljstvujušči sovjet, the principal governing body of the insurgent administration, was based in Smederevo from 1805 to 1807.
After the collapse of the uprising in 1813, Ottoman rule was restored. Following the Second Serbian Uprising and the gradual establishment of Serbian autonomy, Smederevo became part of the autonomous Principality of Serbia, while an Ottoman garrison remained in the fortress.
In 1867, control of Smederevo Fortress was transferred to the Serbian authorities as part of the Ottoman withdrawal from the remaining fortified towns in the principality.
During the 19th century, Smederevo developed as a commercial and administrative centre serving the surrounding agricultural region. Its position on the Danube contributed to the growth of river trade and commerce.
Smederevo suffered damage during both world wars. During the German occupation of Serbia in World War II, large quantities of captured ammunition and explosives were stored inside Smederevo Fortress.
On 5 June 1941, the ammunition depot exploded in what became known as the Smederevo Fortress explosion. Much of the city was destroyed or damaged, while several thousand people were killed. The precise number of victims has never been conclusively established. According to the City of Smederevo, approximately two-thirds of the city's buildings were destroyed or damaged by the blast.
After World War II, Smederevo underwent rapid industrialisation as part of the economic development of socialist Yugoslavia. Metalworking and heavy industry became particularly important, while the construction and expansion of the steelworks on the outskirts of the city transformed the local economy.
Industrial growth was accompanied by significant urban expansion, the construction of new residential districts and improvements to transport and communal infrastructure. By the second half of the 20th century, Smederevo had developed into one of Serbia's major industrial centres.
Smederevo is located in eastern Serbia, on the right bank of the Danube, approximately 45 kilometres (28 miles) southeast of Belgrade. The administrative territory of the city covers 484.3 km2 (187.0 sq mi), while the urban area covers approximately 42.0 km2 (16.2 sq mi).
The city lies near the northern end of the Great Morava valley, where the lowlands of the Pannonian Basin extend southward into central Serbia. Its position on the Danube and close to the main Belgrade–Niš transport corridor has historically contributed to its importance as a transport, industrial and trading centre.
The urban settlement is situated primarily along the Danube, while the wider administrative area extends southward over gently undulating agricultural land and includes 27 surrounding settlements.
Smederevo has a temperate continental climate influenced by both the Pannonian Plain to the north and the Great Morava valley to the south. The open terrain favours frequent winds, particularly during winter, and the area is strongly affected by the košava, a southeasterly wind characteristic of the Danube valley.
According to the City of Smederevo, the average growing season with mean daily temperatures above 10 °C (50 °F) lasts around 205 days, while the average frost-free period is approximately 206 days. January is the coldest month and July the warmest.
The administrative area of the City of Smederevo comprises the urban settlement of Smederevo and 27 surrounding settlements. According to the 2022 census, their populations were:
The territory of the City of Smederevo is further divided into local communities (mesne zajednice), which constitute units of local self-government for both urban neighbourhoods and rural settlements.
Within the urban settlement of Smederevo, the local communities are:
The surrounding rural settlements are likewise organised into local communities.
The City Assembly of Smederevo has 70 councillors. The most recent local election was held on 17 December 2023.
A total of 52,395 of 94,957 registered voters participated in the election, representing a turnout of 55.18%.
Following the election, Jasmina Vojinović of the Serbian Progressive Party was elected mayor by the City Assembly on 5 February 2024. She received 41 votes in favour and one against.
The governing majority was formed by councillors from the Aleksandar Vučić electoral list, the Socialist Party of Serbia-led list and the citizens' group God–Family–Smederevo.
According to the 2022 census, the urban settlement of Smederevo had 59,261 inhabitants, while the administrative territory of the City of Smederevo had 97,930 inhabitants. The population of the urban settlement increased rapidly during the period of post-war industrialisation, from 14,206 in 1948 to 63,884 in 1991. After remaining broadly stable between 1991 and 2011, it declined to 59,261 by 2022.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Smederevo”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.