Svilajnac

Coordinates: 44°14′08″N 21°11′47″E / 44.23556°N 21.19639°E / 44.23556; 21.19639
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Svilajnac
Свилајнац (Serbian)
Town and municipality
Svilajnac- collage of image (Mara Resavkinja square, High School, Natural History Center Svilajnac, Stevan Sinđelić monument, Statue of a tyrannosaurus in a natural history center)
Svilajnac- collage of image (Mara Resavkinja square, High School, Natural History Center Svilajnac, Stevan Sinđelić monument, Statue of a tyrannosaurus in a natural history center)
UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
35210
Area code+381(0)35
Car platesSV
Websitewww.svilajnac.rs

Svilajnac (Serbian Cyrillic: Свилајнац, pronounced [sviːlaɪnʌt͡s]) is a town and municipality located in the Pomoravlje District of central Serbia. The population of the town is 9,131 inhabitants, while the municipality has 23,391 inhabitants.

It is located 100 km (62 mi) south-east of

Morava. Its name stems from the word for silk
in Serbian.

History

The Velika Morava Bridge

Svilajnac was first mentioned in Ottoman records in 1467 as a village with a hundred households. The village, and later town, gained prominence through its silk production, from which it derives its name (svila, "silk"). Located in central Serbia, it flourished as a trading center, where silk, wool and livestock were traded.

Svilajnac is the birthplace of the First Serbian Uprising revolutionary Stevan Sinđelić. A statue in his honor was raised in the central square of Svilajnac, in the pedestrian zone of Kriva čaršija. It was erected in 1991 after the design of sculptor Mihailo Paunović. The bronze monument marks the decisive moment in the Battle of Čegar, when Sinđelić, standing in the trench shot the powder keg.[4]

In 1832 a hospital was established in Svilajnac, one of the first medical centers in this part of Serbia. Due to its architectural and historical importance, the building of the Old Hospital has been declared a cultural monument and placed under the state protection.[4]

Modern town began to develop on the location of the medieval village in 1820. It was based on the urban regulatory plan which consisted of four main streets: Prava čaršija (today Saint Sava Street), Kriva čaršija, Gospodska (today Ustanička Street) and Resava Square (today Park of the European friendship). Kriva čaršija is one of the best preserved ambient units in the town. It was later called Kneza Mihailova, then Lenjinova after the World War II, then Stevana Sinđelića before its original name was returned. Today it is the central pedestrian zone in Svilajnac.[4]

On 29 June 1866 Prince

Mihailo Obrenović officially declared Svliajnac a varošica ("small town"). In 1868 a library was open. The building previously belonged to Dimitrije Mita Isaković, founder of the Resava Savings Bank, the first money institution in Svilajnac. The building was declared a cultural monument in 2001 and the library today holds 60,000 books and 9,000 non-book units. A gymnasium was open in 1877. The school building was also declared a cultural monument and was fully renovated in 2015.[4]

In 1923 it was decided to erect the monument in honor of the soldiers from Svilajnac, killed in the

Četniks' unit knocked down the bronze figure and melted it into the hand grenades. After the war, citizens decided to rebuild the monument. Sculptor Lojze Dolinar used the surviving Zajec's molds to cast the identical figure which was unveiled on 29 November 1951.[6]

From 1929 to 1941, Svilajnac was part of the Morava Banovina of the

Dušan Silni" was constructed. It was reconstructed in 2012 and adapted into the cultural center.[4]

One of the largest buildings in town is the Agricultural and veterinary school, with the campus "Svilajnac", built in 1957.

SFR Yugoslavia significant number of residents of the town moved to Paris as guest workers.[9]

On 3 September 2007 there was a

Democratic Party of Serbia.[citation needed
]

The town was damaged during the 2014 Southeast Europe floods.[4]

In 2015 a Natural History Center of Serbia, 3,000 m2 (32,000 sq ft), was open in Svilajnac. It became a major tourist attraction in the entire region, mostly due to its exhibition of dinosaur remains in the Dino Park. The center is located close to the downtown and the Kriva čaršija. Out of 20 dinosaur replicas, the largest is Diplodocus, 11 m (36 ft) tall and 20 m (66 ft) long.[4]

Demographics

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
194833,268—    
195333,969+0.42%
196133,677−0.11%
197134,256+0.17%
198134,888+0.18%
199133,136−0.51%
200225,511−2.35%
201123,551−0.88%
Source: [10]

Economy

Apart from commercial services, Svilajnac's economy is largely dependent on agricultural activities. Svilajnac has developed two fully equipped industrial zones.[citation needed] One of the facilities is of Panasonic since 2011.[4][11]

During the existence of SFR Yugoslavia, the

state-owned
companies contributed substantially to the local economy, until the 1990s, when international sanctions imposed on FR Yugoslavia lead to the massive closure of the companies.

As of September 2017, Svilajnac has one of 14 free economic zones established in Serbia.[12]

Economic preview

The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity (as of 2018):[13]

Activity Total
Agriculture, forestry and fishing 57
Mining and quarrying 7
Manufacturing 1,317
Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply 153
Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities 71
Construction 121
Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles 1,221
Transportation and storage 143
Accommodation and food services 314
Information and communication 51
Financial and insurance activities 72
Real estate activities 9
Professional, scientific and technical activities 148
Administrative and support service activities 94
Public administration and defense; compulsory social security 266
Education 385
Human health and social work activities 310
Arts, entertainment and recreation 50
Other service activities 114
Individual agricultural workers 817
Total 5,720

Infrastructure

One of only several bridges across the Morava is located in Svilajnac, giving it a unique strategic value. During the

Second World War, the original bridge was destroyed by the retreating Royal Yugoslav Army
. After the war, the bridge was rebuilt with German war reparations.

Svilajnac is also the location of a

coal power plant. Built in 1969, only several hundred meters upriver from the bridge, it has an energy output of 125 MW. The town is also the location to now decommissioned military barracks
which could house up to 5,000 soldiers at any one time.

Twin towns

See also

References

  1. ^ "Municipalities of Serbia, 2006". Statistical Office of Serbia. Retrieved 2010-11-28.
  2. ^ GEO Srbija, 2021 [1]
  3. ISBN 978-86-6161-109-4
    . Retrieved 2014-06-27.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j G. Zorkić (5 November 2017), "Zanimljiva Srbija: Svilajnac - Diplodokus u Pomoravlju" [Interesting Serbia: Svilajnac - Diplodocus in Pomoravlje], Politika-Magazin, No. 1049 (in Serbian), pp. 22–23
  5. ^ a b Branko Bogdanović (4 March 2018). "Sudbina spomenika Mari Resavkinji" [Fate of the Mara Resavkinja monument]. Politika-Magazin, No. 1066 (in Serbian). pp. 28–29.
  6. ^
    Glas Javnosti
    (in Serbian), 14 December 2002
  7. ^ Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac, 2nd garland
  8. ^ Maro Resavkinjo
  9. ISBN 0-691-07730-4
    .
  10. ^ "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.
  11. ^ Tanjug (16 April 2016). ""Panasonik" u Svilajncu uvodi i brizganu plastiku" ["Panasonic" in Svilajnac introduces the production of injected plastics] (in Serbian). B92.
  12. ^ Mikavica, A. (3 September 2017). "Slobodne zone mamac za investitore". politika.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  13. ^ "MUNICIPALITIES AND REGIONS OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA, 2019" (PDF). stat.gov.rs. Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia. 25 December 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2019.

External links

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