Valjevo, Kolubara District, Serbia

History | Settlements | Geography | Amenities | Surroundings | Cultural institutions | Tešnjar | Economy

🇷🇸 Valjevo is a city and the administrative centre of the Kolubara District in western Serbia.

Valjevo occupies an area of 905 square kilometers; its altitude is 185 meters. The city is situated along the river Kolubara, a tributary of the Sava river.

History In the nearby village of Petnica, scientists found the first complete neolithic habitat in Serbia and dated it at 6,000 years old. In Roman times this area was part of the province of Moesia. Valjevo was mentioned for the first time in 1393. It was an important staging post on the trade route that connected Bosnia to Belgrade. Valjevo became significant during the 16th and 17th centuries under stable Ottoman rule.

According to Matija Nenadović, there were 24 mosques in Valjevo in the late 18th century.

At the beginning of the 19th century most of the territory of Serbia rapidly transformed. The Serbian revolution began with armed rebellion. In 1804, the local Serb population had rebelled against the Turkish lords and liberated a large part of Serbia. One cause for the revolution was the killing of two prominent Serbian commanders by the Ottoman Turks. The two well-known knights, Ilija Birčanin and Aleksa Nenadović, were killed in Valjevo on the bridge over the Kolubara.

The settlement's development accelerated further in the 20th century, when Valjevo became an important industrial and cultural center. During the First World War the battle of Kolubara was fought in the immediate vicinity. A large hospital for the wounded was in the town. One of the captured partisan leaders Stjepan Filipović was executed by the Nazis in Valjevo in 1942.

In 1999, Valjevo was repeatedly bombed during the NATO intervention in Yugoslavia.

Settlements Apart from the city, Valjevo covers the administrative area which includes the following settlements: • Babina Luka • Bačevci • Balinović • Belić • Beloševac • Beomužević • Blizonje • Bobova • Bogatić • Brangović • Brankovina • Brezovice • Bujačić • Degurić • Divci • Divčibare • Donja Bukovica • Donje Leskovice • Dračić • Dupljaj • Gola Glava • Gorić • Gornja Bukovica • Gornja Grabovica • Gornje Leskovice • Jasenica • Jazovik • Joševa • Jovanja • Klanica • Klinci • Kotešica • Kovačice • Kozličić • Kunice • Lelić • Loznica • Lukavac • Majinović • Mijači • Miličinica • Mrčić • Oglađenovac • Osladić • Paklje • Paune • Petnica • Popučke • Pričević • Prijezdić • Rabas • Rađevo Selo • Ravnje • Rebelj • Rovni • Sandalj • Sedlari • Sitarice • Sovač • Stanina Reka • Stapar • Strmna Gora • Stubo • Sušica • Suvodanje • Taor • Tubravić • Tupanci • Valjevska Kamenica • Veselinovac • Vlaščić • Vragočanica • Vujinovača • Zabrdica • Zarube • Zlatarić • Žabari.

Geography The Valjevo mountain range (Medvednik, Jablanik, Povlen, Maljen, Suvobor), with gently-rolling hills surrounds the town. Divčibare is a plateau in the mountain of Maljen. It has an average altitude of 1000 m. It is 28 km from Valjevo and 110 km from Belgrade.

The canyon of the Gradac River (also the name of a Valjevo suburb) ends in the town centre. The Gradac is one of Europe's cleanest rivers, as evidenced by the presence of Eurasian otters, which only inhabit unpolluted waters. It abounds in brook trout. Also, the artificial lake Rovni is located 15 km from the centre of Valjevo.

Amenities The Valjevo mountain range offers clean air, medicinal herbs, forest fruits and wild game. The vicinity is kept free of industrialisation and the soil is unpolluted, so the food grown there is healthy. Hunting and fishing in the mountain rivers is common. The air-spa of Divčibare offers rest and recreation.

Vrujci Spa has mud baths for rheumatic diseases, as well as a hotel and sports complex with swimming pools.

Old water mills are found in the thirteen square km natural reserve.

In Petnica, 5 km away from Valjevo, the Petnica Science Center supports young researchers. It has outdoor swimming pools with minor sports facilities, as well as lake Pocibrava, a recreational area.

The Nenadović Tower (Кула Ненадовића), originally an armory built by Jakov Nenadović and his son Jevrem in spring 1813, is adjacent to the road to Šabac, at the edge of Kličevac hill. The construction material was stone from an older Vitković tower. Later, the Ottomans turned it into a prison.

Surroundings The village of Brankovina is situated near Valjevo and is the home of the Nenadović family. The sights of Brankovina are encompassed in a cultural and historical complex, which includes: the Church of Saint Archangel, Archpriest's school, Desanka's school, Old Courtroom, the Sleeping Outbuilding of the Nenadović family, the graves of the Nenadović family and Desanka Maksimović, as well as old “sobrašica” summer houses in the exquisitely beautiful Brankovina church yard.

Several ancient monasteries are located in the area surrounding of Valjevo, including Pustinja, Lelić, and Ćelije. The sites on which the current monasteries stand have been used for religious purposes since the 10th century, although the current church buildings date to between 14th and 17th centuries. Pustinja Monastery is located in the cleft of a remote mountainous valley and contains rare Serbian medieval frescoes. Excavations have shown that the current church was built on the foundations of a much older church. Parts of the foundation and an unidentified tomb, much older than the church itself, were discovered. The church is only accessible by a steep path. However, despite its inaccessibility, the Turks managed to damage the monastery more than once. It was damaged in 1683 during the invasion of Turkish army to Vienna. Pustinja is today an active female monastery.

Cultural institutions The most important cultural institution is the National Museum founded in 1951, under whose auspices are the Museum of the First and Second Serbian Uprisings and displays in Brankovina. Other institutions include the Institute for Protection of Cultural Monuments, the Historical Archive, the Town Library. The Cultural Centre has a well-equipped stage and an auditorium with 630 seats. The Youth Centre has "Gallery 34" for exhibitions and forums. The Serbian Language and Culture Workshop offers classes in Serbian for foreigners.

Valjevo has two elite art galleries. The Modern Gallery has a permanent display of works of the Academician Ljuba Popović (1953-63 period), a collection of works presented by exhibitors and a concept of representing fantastic painting after the model of the famous "Mediala". The International Art Studio "Radovan Mića Trnavac" exhibits foreign painters of different styles.

The Cultural and Artistic Society "Abrašević" has a renowned choir, along with folk music and drama ensembles. Theatrical performances are given by the private theatre "Mala scena" and the Drama Studio of Valjevo Grammar School.

The Jazz Fest is accompanied by summer literary talks in the Library Yard. Desanka's May Talks discuss literary topics, where the Desanka Maksimović Foundation grants an annual poetry award.

Tešnjar Tešnjar is one of the oldest paved streets in Valjevo. It is used for films based in the past and is one of the places that makes the beautiful town unique.

Economy The main economic activity in the second half of the 20th century was the arms manufacturing firm Krušik, which returned to production after the wars. The Valjevo economy is characterized by small, private companies working in metallurgy, food production and textiles. Austrian company Austrotherm GmbH, Italian company Golden Lady and Slovenian company Gorenje have built production facilities in Valjevo. Another domestic company is Valjevska Pivara, founded in 1860.

Belgrade Time 
Belgrade Time
Image: Adobe Stock umike_foto #290118190

Valjevo has a population of over 90,312 people. Valjevo also forms the centre of the wider Kolubara District which has a population of over 174,513 people.

To set up a UBI Lab for Valjevo see: https://www.ubilabnetwork.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/UBILabNetwork

Twin Towns, Sister Cities Valjevo has links with:

🇲🇪 Nikšić, Montenegro 🇩🇪 Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm, Germany 🇸🇰 Prievidza, Slovak Republic 🇮🇱 Rehovot, Israel 🇳🇱 Sittard, Netherlands
Text Atribution: Wikipedia Text under CC-BY-SA license

Antipodal to Valjevo is: -160.116,-44.271

Locations Near: Valjevo 19.8841,44.2706

🇷🇸 Užice 19.85,43.85 d: 46.8  

🇷🇸 Obrenovac 20.2,44.65 d: 49.1  

🇷🇸 Šabac 19.7,44.75 d: 55.3  

🇷🇸 Čačak 20.35,43.889 d: 56.5  

🇷🇸 Gornji Milanovac 20.45,44.017 d: 53.3  

🇷🇸 Loznica 19.217,44.533 d: 60.5  

🇷🇸 Čukarica 20.417,44.783 d: 70.9  

🇷🇸 New Belgrade 20.417,44.8 d: 72.4  

🇷🇸 Novi Beograd 20.417,44.8 d: 72.4  

🇷🇸 Belgrade 20.449,44.787 d: 72.8  

Antipodal to: Valjevo -160.116,-44.271

🇹🇴 Nuku'alofa -175.216,-21.136 d: 17091.2  

🇵🇫 Papeete -149.566,-17.537 d: 16883  

🇦🇸 Pago Pago -170.701,-14.279 d: 16532.7  

🇼🇸 Apia -171.76,-13.833 d: 16454.7  

🇺🇸 Hilo -155.089,19.725 d: 12880.7  

🇺🇸 Maui -156.446,20.72 d: 12778.8  

🇺🇸 Maui County -156.617,20.868 d: 12763.3  

🇺🇸 Kahului -156.466,20.891 d: 12759.9  

🇺🇸 Wailuku -156.505,20.894 d: 12759.8  

🇺🇸 Honolulu -157.85,21.3 d: 12720.3  

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