Velika Plana

Velika Plana
Velika Plana; Велика Плана
	— Municipality and Town —
	Pokajnica Monastery near Velika Plana
; Flag	; Coat of arms
	Location of the municipality of Velika Plana within Serbia
	Coordinates: 44°20′N 21°05′E / 44.333°N 21.083°E
Country	Serbia
District	Podunavlje
Settlements	13
	Government
• Mayor	Dejan Sulkic
	Area
• Municipality	345 km2 (133 sq mi)
	Population (2011 census)
• Town	16,078
• Municipality	40,578
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	11320
Area code	+381 26
Car plates	VP
Website	www.velikaplana.org.rs/

Velika Plana (Serbian Cyrillic: Велика Плана, pronounced [ʋêlikaː plǎːna]), is a town and municipality located in the Podunavlje District of Serbia. In 2011, the population of the municipality is 40,578 (i.e. in the town proper, 16,078 inhabitants). It is estimated that about 5,500-6,500 IDP's from Kosovo & Metohija also live in Velika Plana but are unregistered. It lies on the left bank of Velika Morava, at a distance of 4 km from the town center.

Transportation [edit]

The main Serbian motorway from Subotica to Niš goes by the town. The town is also an important railroad junction. Twin tracks go south toward Niš, a track goes west to Belgrade, and a track goes north to Mala Krsna junction, where it splits towards Belgrade, Smederevo and Požarevac. This, in combination with the fact that many bus lines form southern Serbia to Belgrade and Vojvodina make a stop at the town bus station, makes Velika Plana an important transportation hub of central Serbia.

Education [edit]

Velika Plana has three elementary schools: "Sveti Sava", "Мiloš Mitrović", and "Nadežda Petrović" in the town itself, and 11 in the surrounding suburbs and villages.

It also has three high schools: a gymnasium, a technical high school and a business assistant high school.

Leisure and historic monuments [edit]

In the center of the town is a quaint town park. The town also has few smaller parks.

At the outskirts of the town are three important ecclesiastical monuments: the early 15th century Koporin Monastery where Despot Stefan Lazarević, son of Prince Lazar of the Battle of Kosovo is buried; the early 19th century Pokajnica Monastery built as a sign of repentance (Serbian: pokajanje/покајање) by the murderer of Karađorđe, leader of the First Serbian Uprising and the founder of the Karađorđević royal family of Serbia and later Yugoslavia; as well as a small church built by King Alexander Karađorđević of Yugoslavia at the exact place of his ancestor's murder.

The latter two are within 4 km from each other, and easily reachable by public transit. Koporin is more secluded but still within 11 km from the other two.

Recent events [edit]

The notorious hitman for the UDBA, Željko Ražnatović Arkan was officially promulgated into a "freedom fighter" by Slobodan Milošević's secret police at a ceremony, opposed by the Pokajnica Monastery monks, which took place in the immediate vicinity of the monastery right after the liturgical service. This took place on 11 October 1990.

In 2000 Serbia's Democratic Party held annual conference at the Pokajnica Hotel conference centre in Velika Plana, in the immediate vicinity of the Pokajnica Monastery at which the programme for the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević was first officially proclaimed. In due course it was carried out that same year.

Rock Festival [edit]

Since 2009 a festival of rock music Plana Demo Fest has been organised under sponsorship of the Velika Plana Youth Community Centre. With more and more bands appearing each year, and the first foreign participants in 2011, its organisers hope that it shall become a springboard for youth rock bands in Serbia. [1]