Smederevo

Template:Serbian cities 3

Smederevo (Serbian: Смедерево, Latin: Semendria) is a city in Serbia on the Danube at 44.67° North, 20.93° East. In 2003 the city had a total population of 77,808 (2002), and the surrounding municipality had a population of 116,000. It is the administrative center of the Podunavlje District of Serbia.

History

The modern founder of the city was the Serbian prince Đurađ Branković in the 15th century, who built the Smederevo fortress in 1430. When he became lord of Tokaj in Hungary, he planted vines from Smederevo on his estates there; from these came the famous Tokaji white wine. Smederevo was the residence of Branković and the capital of Serbia from 1430 until 1459, when it was conquered by the Ottoman Empire. Because of its strategic location, Smederevo was gradually renewed and enlarged. For a long period, the town was the capital of the Sanjak of Smederevo. During the First Serbian uprising in 1806, the city became a temporary capital of Serbia, as well as the seat of Praviteljstvujušči sovjet, a government headed by Dositej Obradović. The first basic school was founded in 1806.

During World War II, the city was occupied by German forces, who placed an arsenal of ammunition in the fortress. On June 5 1941 a catastrophic explosion severely damaged the fortress and killed thousands of people in the city.

Industry

Smederevo is an industrial city, and the center of the steel industry of Serbia. The factory previously known as Sartid was purchased by U.S. Steel in 2003; USS Serbia employs over 8,000 workers. The factory of home appliances "Milan Blagojević" is the second most important factory in the city. Smederevo is also an agricultural area, with significant production of fruits and vines. However, the large agricultural combine "Godomin" has been in financial troubles since the 1990s and is almost defunct as of 2005. The sort of grape known as Smederevka is named after the city. The factory "Ishrana" is an important supplier of bakery products in northern and eastern Serbia.

External links

References

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)