Zvecan

in Zvecan

Zvečan - located in the northern region of Kosovo and Metohija, this city is also the center of the municipality of the same name. The sonorous name of the city comes from the name of the old fortress, the ruins of which are still standing near the city today and which is considered the oldest fortress in our area. Once a medieval town, today there are only the remains of buildings at the confluence of the rivers Sitnica and Ibar, and it is estimated that people lived in this place until prehistoric times. The town was built on a conical hill of the same name, which is located at the very beginning of the Ibar gorge and is overlooked by a valley where important trade caravan routes of the time crossed. The center and headquarters of the entire Zvečan parish was in the fortress of the same name, which was located here. It is estimated that this settlement had the character of a town settlement as early as the 12th century, which makes it one of the oldest towns in our region. At the end of the 14th century, Zvečan fell under the occupation of the Turks, and after that strong military positions were established here until the 18th century. After the Turks finally left the city, the fortress was left to the mercy of time. It can be said that the development of this settlement in modern times began with the establishment of RMHK Trepča. As the settlement of Zvečan grew both economically and spatially, over time it merged with Mitrovica and the settlements of Veliko Rudare and Donje Korilje, which are in its immediate vicinity. Between 1926 and 1941, as RMHK Trepča developed, the settlement of Zvečan also grew, building a tennis court, an English colony, buildings for housing experts who worked in the Combine and numerous other structures. As the population grew, a school was built in 1933. After World War II, the construction of the Workers' Home followed, along with a cinema and dance hall and a bowling alley. After that, a clinic and inpatient facilities, an elementary school, a hotel, a post office, a business school, and finally the Olympic swimming pool in 1968 were built. After 1970, there was not so much construction while Zvečan was part of the municipality of Kosovska Mitrovica. After the establishment of Zvečan municipality in 1990, more projects were built, such as the church of St. Đorđe, residential buildings, a new kindergarten, reconstruction of schools, construction of a center for social work, as well as the start of construction of additional residential buildings. The Zvečan settlement today houses the Zvečan Higher Technical School, the Lane preschool, a high school, the "Vuk Karadžić" elementary school, the Zvečan Higher Technical School, and the Faculty of Arts.