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Novo Brdo Fortress

Coordinates: 42°36′54″N 21°25′00″E / 42.61500°N 21.41667°E / 42.61500; 21.41667
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42°36′54″N 21°25′00″E / 42.61500°N 21.41667°E / 42.61500; 21.41667

Fortress of Novo Brdo
Novo Brdo
Upper town of Novo Brdo Fortress
TypeFortification
Site information
OwnerRepublic of Serbia
Site history
Builtcca 1285
Built byStephen Uroš II Milutin of Serbia
In useuntil 1687
Materialsstone, limestone and breccia
Battles/warssieges of Novo Brdo:
Ruins of fortress Novo Brdo

Novo Brdo Fortress is medieval fortress in Serbia, whose ruins are located near the village Novo Brdo, some 20 km from Priština. Fortress was built in early 14th century to protect lucrative mining operations of gold, silver, iron and lead mines. During the Serbian Despotate it was most important mine and second most important town of mediaeval Serbia. Archaeological research of the site started in 1952 and continued until NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. Novo Brdo Fortress was declared Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance in 1948, and is under protection of Republic of Serbia.[1] Constant illegal diggings in order to find buried treasure, plundering and amateur excavations are destroying valuable archaeological strata.[2]


Layout

Novo Brdo Fortress consists of two parts:[3]

  • Upper town
  • Lower town

with 8 (6 +2) rectangular towers, 3 (2 +1) gates and large dry moat around most of the walls (from the north point of Upper town, along north point of Lower town to the south point of Lower town). Upper Town has irregular hexagonal shape. The Lower Town fans out toward west, down the hill slope. The fortress is protected by a dry moat from west and north. There is source of drinking water inside the fortress. Vast suburb, outside the city walls, expands to the east and southeast.

Layout of Novo Brdo Fortress.[4]

Upper town

The Upper Town is the citadel of Novo Brdo and has a nearly regular hexagonal shape that is flattened on the east, so it almost takes on a look of a pentagon with the flat side facing outward and towards the direction that is most approachable. In the middle of the flattened part is the large rectangular, four-sided Donjon tower. Opposite to it, in the western vertex is the rectangular tower with three sides and a cross in dark red brick facing the Lower Town and the west. In each of the remaining vertices are square three-sided towers. Entrance to the Upper Town was through a pedestrian gate in the rampart between the tower with a cross and the tower south of it. Length of Upper Town (in north-south direction) is 50 m, while its width is 45 meters.

Lower town

Lower Town is a fortified settlement of Novo Brdo and has the shape of an elongated rectangle(180m x 95m, of which 45m belong to Upper Town), with flattened sides (east-west), so instead of four vertices there are only two, with a tower in each which, while the remaining two are arched rampart (west) and Upper Town (East). Main entrance to the Lower Town is the great cart gate with a ramp, located in the southeast rampart, alongside the south tower of the Upper Town. In the north wall, near the north tower of the Lower Tower is a pedestrian gate which was used for sallies during the siege.

Towers

Tower with a cross

Novo Brdo has 8 towers - 6 in the Upper Town and 2 in the Lower Town:

  • rectangular tower, eastern vertex of the Upper Town, donjon of the fortress.
  • three-sided square tower, northern vertex of the Upper Town, from which starts northeast rampart of the Lower Town.
  • three-sided square tower, northwestern vertex of the Upper Town.
  • three-sided rectangular tower, western vertex of the Upper Town.
  • three-sided square tower, southwestern vertex of the Upper Town.
  • three-sided square tower, southern vertex of the Upper Town.
  • polygonal triangular tower, northern vertex of the Lower Town.
  • polygonal triangular tower, southern vertex of the Lower Town.

Gates

Novo Brdo has three gates, one in the Upper town and two in the Lower Town:

  1. the arched pedestrian gate, located in the western rampart of the Upper town, between west tower with a cross and the southwest tower.
  2. great cart gate with a ramp, located alongside the south tower of the Upper town.
  3. the arched sally port, located in the northeast rampart of the Lower town, near the north tower.

Churches

Within mining settlement of Novo Brdo there are 7 Eastern Orthodox churches and 2 Roman Catholic churches, most important being:

  • Eastern Orthodox church of Saint Nicholas, that was main city church, and was used by Eastern Orthodox Serbs
  • Roman Catholic church, also known as Sass's church, used by Sass miners and merchants from Dubrovnik (located at present day village of Bostan.

History

Miniature in the 16th century copy of the Mining Law of Stefan Lazarević made for Novo Brdo in 1412.

Significant mining activity in Novo Brdo starts in the first half of 13th century, during the reign of king Stephen Vladislav I of Serbia which brought Saxon miners - Sass to Serbia and developed mines.[5] Fortress of Novo Brdo was created during the early years of the reign of king Stephen Uroš II Milutin of Serbia (1282-1321). It has become one of the most important settlements of Sass miners (they called Novo Brdo Nyeuberghe). Novo Brdo was also known the Place of the Sass (Serbian: Сашко место). Novo Brdo appears in historical records in 1326, already renowned as a mining and trading center, in which traders from Dubrovnik conducted trade and had customs office.

In Novo Brdo silver coins (grossi di Novaberda) were made since 1349.[6]

Ottomans tried to capture Novo Brdo in 1412, but after a long siege they were forced to retreat. After that they shift their activity in Novo Brdo area to intercepting caravans from Dubrovnik and attempts to deny access to the town, but the town remains mainly undisturbed. Even an archery tournament was held in 1413.[7] Despot Stefan Lazarević ratifies set of laws on mining, Sass and exploatation of Novo brdo mines in Mining Law in 1412.[8] After the first collapse of the Serbian Despotate in 1439 Ottomans had begun the long siege of the fort which ended with surrender of the Serbian defenders on 27 July 1441. Although the rest of Serbia was under Ottoman occupation for more than a year, during the two-year siege the residents of Novo Brdo stubbornly defended and even launched two attacks to repel the Turkish forces, but they were unsuccessful and lost battles of Gračanica, on 6 August 1439 and Makreš in 1440. In the first half of 1441, Turks manage to take the suburbs. Defenders continued with resistance from the fortress until end of June, when they surrendered.[9] The invaders then plundered and burnt the town.

After a successful crusade in 1443 and 1444 which penetrated all the way to Sophia and restoration of the Serbian Despotate under terms of Segedin peace treaty Novo Brdo was returned without a fight to despot Đurađ Branković. Under the vassal obligations of despot Đurađ towards the Ottoman sultan, a detachment of cavalry and a company of the tunnel diggers from Novo Brdo were sent to Mehmet II (1451-1481) as an aid in his attack on Constantinople which ended on 29 May 1453 with the Fall of Constantinople.[10] According to the Bertrandon de la Broquière despot Đurađ was receiving 200 000 ducats out of Novo Brdo annually.[11] Only a year later, in 1455, the Ottomans attack Novo Brdo again and with a use of heavy artillery force the besieged to surrender on 1 June 1455. All the men of any distinguished rank or importance were decapitated under orders of sultan Mehmed II. Some 320 boys were taken to become janissaries. Around 700 girls and young women were taken to serve as wives of Ottoman soldiers and their commanders.[12] The siege and its aftermath are described in Memoirs of a janissary written in 1490—1501, by Novo Brdo resident Konstantin Mihailović, that was one of the boys taken.

Exploitation of the surrounding mines continued under Ottoman administration. From 17th century mintage was renewed in the fortress, during the reign of sultan Murad IV (1623-1640). During the Great Turkish War in the Balkans, with the help of local Serbian rebels, general Piccolomini occupied Novo Brdo in 1686, but only a year after it was abandoned as the local Serbs under the leadership of the Patriarch of Serbia Arsenije III Čarnojević (1672-1706) moved to Habsburg Monarchy, during Great Serb Migrations. After that, exploitation of Novo Brdo mines and use of the nearby fortress itself with adjoining settlements ceased.

See also

References

  1. ^ Monuments of Culture in Serbia: "ОСТАЦИ СРЕДЊОВЕКОВНЕ ТВРЂАВЕ СА ПОДГРАЂЕМ" (SANU) (in Serbian and English)
  2. ^ Alma Lama, "Foreign Raiders Plunder Kosovo's Heritage", BCR Issue 561, 2 Aug 2005, Template:En icon
  3. ^ Дероко (1950). p. 171. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ^ Дероко (1950). p. 170. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. ^ Радојчић Н., "Одакле је Јован Рајић преузео вест ο отварању рудника у Србији за време краља Владислава?", Прилози за књижевност, језик, историју и фолклор, XXV, 1959, 248—55. Template:Sr icon
  6. ^ Дероко (1950). p. 171. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. ^ Дероко (1950). p. 171. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ^ Радојчић, Никола (1962). „Закон о рудницима деспота Стефана Лазаревића“. Српска академија наука и уметности, Научно дело, Београд. p. 14. Template:Sr icon
  9. ^ Vojislav Jovanović; et al. (2004). „Novo brdo“. Republički zavod za zaštitu spomenika, Beograd. p. 58. ISBN 86-80879-32-0. {{cite book}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |first= (help) Template:Sr icon Template:En-icon
  10. ^ Siniša Mišić; et al. (2010). „Leksikon gradova i trgova srednjovekovnih srpskih zemalja : prema pisanim izvorima“. Zavod za udžbenike, Beograd. p. 199. ISBN 978-86-17-16604-3. {{cite book}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |first= (help) Template:Sr icon
  11. ^ Гласник Српског ученог друштва, XXVI, 1869, 217—218. Template:Sr icon
  12. ^ Dusan T. Batakovic, "Kosovo and Metohija Under the Turkish Rule" Template:En icon

Sources

  • Александар Дероко, „Средњевековни градови у Србији, Црној Гори и Македонији“, Београд, 1950. Template:Sr icon
  • Иван Здравковић, „Средњовековни градови и дворци на Косову“, Београд, 1975. Template:Sr icon

Template:Cultural Heritage of Serbia

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