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History

Prijepolje was established as a settlement in 1234, the same year the Mileševa Monastery was built. Prior to its establishment as a settlement, the area was occupied as far back as the Stone Age. First settled by Illyrians, who migrated to the area after being forced out of the northern plains, they retreated to the more defensible and less accessible mountainous regions. Later arrivals were the Celts, with whom the Illyrians intermarried. With the arrival by the Romans, the Illyrians were again forced to flee, and after the Romans, the Slavs settled in the area, intermixing with some of the earlier Illyrians. The Goths, Huns, Gepids, Langobards and Avars also passed through this area. The most interesting archaeological site in the territory is the Roman necropolis near the modern settlement of Kolovrat where pieces of ancient glass, silver, ceramics, and gold have been unearthed.

Prijepolje was mentioned for the first time by Gijom Adam in 1332 while it was part of Dubrovnik's sphere of influence. According to historical sources, Prijepolje developed as a road settlement for caravans along the route known as "Dubrovnik's road", a road connecting the central and eastern Balkans with the middle Adriatic coast. The caravan route traversed both mountainous and heavily forested areas, which could prove dangerous to travelers. Local villagers were tasked with protecting local roads, due to the statute which said, "If, on the road, someone has been killed or has had a bullet stuck into his body, let the local guardians gather together to pay the damage. Hitting by one small drum, the passers by would know that there was no danger".

By 1477, part of the Albanian Mataruge tribe lived in the kaza of Prijepolje, where they formed their own distinct community (nahiye) with 10 villages (katund).

thumb|right|Monument to the victims of the [[Operation Kugelblitz (1943)]]

There was a cartographic reference to Prijepolje in "Regno della Servia detta altrimentri Rascia" by Giacomo Cantelli da Vignola, cartographer to the Duke of Modena, in 1689.

During the Ottoman period, there were quite a few buildings constructed in Prijepolje. Most famous of these are Ibrahim Pasha's mosque and the Sahat Kula. Pasha's mosque is located in Šarampov, one of three regions in town (the other two being Vakuf and the Town Center), and was most likely built in the 16th century. It is adorned with a single minaret, and covered by a "cheramida" (a special covering of the houses in that time). The region has a very tumultuous past. It was part of First Serbian revolt in 1875, known as Banine's revolt, as well as seeing the Javorian War in 1876, the Raonić Revolt, the Balkan Wars in 1912 and 1913, and both World Wars. Those settlements are as follows, with population figures according to the 2002 census:

  • Aljinovići (196)
  • Balići (434)
  • Bare (56)
  • Biskupići (22)
  • Bjelahova (82)
  • Brajkovac (87)
  • Brodarevo (1780)
  • Brvine (175)
  • Bukovik (107)
  • Čadinje (267)
  • Čauševići (132)
  • Crkveni Toci (78)
  • Divci (335)
  • Donje Babine (319)
  • Donji Stranjani (120)
  • Drenova (208)
  • Đurašići (265)
  • Dušmanići (245)
  • Džurovo (179)
  • Gojakovići (183)
  • Gornje Babine (262)
  • Gornje Goračiće (58)
  • Gornji Stranjani (85)
  • Gostun (49)
  • Gračanica (199)
  • Grobnice (254)
  • Hisardžik (285)
  • Hrta (130)
  • Ivanje (1140)
  • Ivezići (170)
  • Izbičanj (46)
  • Jabuka (502)
  • Junčevići (301)
  • Kaćevo (55)
  • Kamena Gora (210)
  • Karaula (63)
  • Karoševina (199)
  • Kašice (88)
  • Koprivna (49)
  • Kosatica (353)
  • Koševine (1049)
  • Kovačevac (1613)
  • Kruševo (36)
  • Kučin (169)
  • Lučice (169)
  • Mataruge (164)
  • Međani (80)
  • Mijani (25)
  • Mijoska (750)
  • Milakovići (66)
  • Mileševo (121)
  • Miljevići (455)
  • Milošev Do (126)
  • Mrčkovina (33)
  • Muškovina (34)
  • Oraovac (336)
  • Orašac (204)
  • Osoje (526)
  • Oštra Stijena (123)
  • Potkrš (124)
  • Potok (282)
  • Pranjci (360)
  • Pravoševo (85)
  • Rasno (410)
  • Ratajska (2088)
  • Sedobro (322)
  • Seljane (168)
  • Seljašnica (774)
  • Skokuće (105)
  • Slatina (138)
  • Sopotnica (136)
  • Taševo (2061)
  • Vinicka (474)
  • Vrbovo (99)
  • Zabrdnji Toci (133)
  • Zalug (1047)
  • Zastup (128)
  • Zavinograđe (1272)
  • Zvijezd (104)

Demographics

According to the 2022 census, the municipality of Prijepolje has 32,214 inhabitants, and 63% of the municipality's population is rural.

Ethnic groups

Prijepolje is an ethnically mixed town and municipality.

The ethnic structure of population of town of Prijepolje (according to the 2022 census):

{|class="wikitable"

|-

! Ethnicity

! Population

! Share

|-

|style="background:#F5F5DC;"|Serbs||align="right"|6,683

|56%

|-

|style="background:#F5F5DC;"|Bosniaks||align="right"|3,428

|28.7%

|-

|style="background:#F5F5DC;"|Muslims||align="right"|623

|5.2%

|-

|style="background:#F5F5DC;"|Others||align="right"|262

|2.2%

|-

|style="background:#F5F5DC;"|Undeclared||align="right"|225

|1.9%

|-

|style="background:#F5F5DC;"|Unknown||align="right"|700

|5.8%

|}

The ethnic structure of population of Prijepolje municipality (according to the 2022 census):

{|class="wikitable"

|-

! Ethnicity

! Population

! Share

|-

|style="background:#F5F5DC;"|Serbs||align="right"|14,961

|46.4%

|-

|style="background:#F5F5DC;"|Bosniaks||align="right"|12,842

|39.8%

|-

|style="background:#F5F5DC;"|Muslims||align="right"|1,945

|6%

|-

|style="background:#F5F5DC;"|Others||align="right"|387

|1.2%

|-

|style="background:#F5F5DC;"|Undeclared||align="right"|379

|1.1%

|-

|style="background:#F5F5DC;"|Unknown||align="right"|1,700

|5.2%

|}

Religion

Based on the 2022 census, in the municipality of Prijepolje, Muslims surpassed the Orthodox Christians, becoming a relative plurality of 46.8% of the population.

{| class="wikitable"

! Religion

! Adherents

! Share

|-

| style="background:#F5F5DC;" |Islam|| align="right" |15,066

|46.8%

|-

| style="background:#F5F5DC;" |Orthodox|| align="right" |14,941

|46.4%

|-

| style="background:#F5F5DC;" |Other Christians|| align="right" |97

|0.3%

|-

| style="background:#F5F5DC;" |Undeclared || align="right" |440

|1.3%

|-

| style="background:#F5F5DC;" |Unknown|| align="right" |1,670

|5.2%

|-

|}

Economy

The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity (as of 2018):

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%;"

|-

! Activity

! Total

|-

|Agriculture, forestry and fishing||align="right"|174

|-

|Mining and quarrying||align="right"|4

|-

|Manufacturing||align="right"|1,804

|-

|Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply||align="right"|61

|-

|Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities||align="right"|90

|-

|Construction||align="right"|415

|-

|Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles||align="right"|1,220

|-

|Transportation and storage||align="right"|655

|-

|Accommodation and food services||align="right"|312

|-

|Information and communication||align="right"|61

|-

|Financial and insurance activities||align="right"|87

|-

|Real estate activities||align="right"|14

|-

|Professional, scientific and technical activities||align="right"|186

|-

|Administrative and support service activities||align="right"|204

|-

|Public administration and defense; compulsory social security||align="right"|687

|-

|Education||align="right"|529

|-

|Human health and social work activities||align="right"|598

|-

|Arts, entertainment and recreation||align="right"|120

|-

|Other service activities||align="right"|154

|-

|Individual agricultural workers||align="right"|76

|- class="sortbottom"

|Total||align="right"|7,455

|}

Culture and tourism

right|thumb|250px|[[Mileševa monastery]]

Prijepolje has many historical monuments from both the periods of Christianity and Islam. The Mileševa monastery is located 6&nbsp;km to the east of Prijepolje on the Mileševka River. The monastery is famous for The White Angel fresco, a famous and widely used religious icon in Serbia as well as being the former resting place of St. Sava, Serbia's most honored patriarch.

A famous monument from the Turkish period, the Sahat-Kula, is in town, as well as several mosques, one of which is in Hisardžik, interesting because of a four-hundred-year-old wooden Quran which was recently unearthed. Jusovića's kula tower, built in the 18th century as a protective house tower for the wealthy. Currently in ruins, there are plans being made to reconstruct this building, adding another unique monument to Prijepolje.

The Museum of Prijepolje is a very significant part of the cultural life of Prijepolje. It serves as a gathering place for artists from diverse locations to visit Prijepolje, and corroborate on large projects to improve the town's culture. In addition to the museum, there is also another major cultural building in Prijepolje, where amateurs, led by Meša Šendelj, are very active in refreshing the cultural life in Prijepolje.

Society

Education

There are 2 kindergartens and one elementary school in town. Prijepolje also has a Gymnasium, a technical high school, an economics high school, and a higher technical school.

Sport

In Prijepolje there are many forms of recreation. There is the local football club "FK Polimlje", as well as "FK Jasen" from nearby Brodarevo (also in the municipality of Prijepolje). There are volleyball clubs like "FAP-Livnica" and "Putevi", a handball club "White angel", and a chess club "Priko". Many parks and playfields are in and around town. Traditionally every year during MOSI (an annual regional sporting event), both the male and female volleyball teams representing Prijepolje see great success. Ilija Andrejic, an alpinist from Prijepolje, together with the Serbian alpinist team, successfully climbed Mount Everest.

  • On 14 of July, Prijepolje was the host of the European coupe in rafting on the Lim River.
  • On 22 of September 2007, Vlade Divac, came to Prijepolje, with a group of NBA basketball players, and opened the newly built museum building.

Besides basketball player Vlade Divac and numerous volleyball man and woman players, other notable sportspeople from Prijepolje are footballers Spaso Perić, Muhamed Preljević, Latif Čičić, Mirsad Kahrović, Ljubomir Brašnjević, Husein Mekić, Mihajlo Pjanović, Ivica Dragutinović, while Dragoslav Divac, Siniša Nestorović, Stevo Ljujić and Vule Maksimović archived notability in athletics.

Media

There is one weekly newspaper published in Prijepolje, Polimlje, and three radio stations. There is also one media civic station working from 2008 called Television Forum, operated by NGO Women forum of Prijepolje. There are two wireless internet operators, one TV cable operator, and two private TV and radio stations. Prijepolje got digital telephonic central since May 2003. thumb|220px|Flyer from REFRACT festival in Prijepolje

Events

  • "Sopotnički izvori", is held near the famous Sopotnica's waterfalls, where you can hear old national songs.
  • A famous diving demonstration is held at Petrovac, consisting of highly ranked divers from the Balkan region.
  • There is a famous art colony called Mileševa, consisting of many artists from this municipality.
  • "Gifts from Lim", is a sports and entertainment event where you can see diverse activities such as beach volleyball, a fish-soup making contest, and Prijepolje's Best son-in-law contest.
  • "July Fires" is a unique annual football tournament held at the highest mountain in the Zlatibor District, Jadovnik.It brings together people and players from Bosnia, Montenegro, and Serbia. The tournament is held on the first sunday after St. Peter's day every year.

Activism and youth

There are 29 registered non-governmental organisations in Prijepolje, the most active ones being Jump, Helium, New Vision, Scout's "Boško Buha", Friends of Brodarevo, Friends of Sopotnica and Friends of Kamena Gora. Prijepolje has the first civic television program in Serbia run by a women's organization, the Woman Forum.

Prijepolje opened a Youth Club, under the auspices of National Strategy for Youth, and the Youth office of municipality Prijepolje was created in April 2008. The Youth Office's priority is to care for the rights and wills of the youth of the area, through constant youth work using the goals of local and national development organizations.

<gallery>

File:Prijepolje in winter.jpg|Prijepolje in winter

File:Lim river in Prijepolje.jpg|The river Lim

File:Footballers of FK Polimlje.jpg|Footballers of FK Polimlje celebrating a goal.

File:Milesevac.jpg|Mileševac fortrerss

File:Lim through Prijepolje.JPG|Lim flowing through Prijepolje in the winter.

File:Mileševka River in Prijepolje.jpg|Mileševka river in Prijepolje.

File:Confluence Mileševka in Lim.jpg|Confluence of Mileševka river in the Lim.

</gallery>

Coat of arms

The coat of arms of Prijepolje depicts the mountain Zlatar (zlat from the word zlato which means gold in Serbian), the golden "pyramid of Zlatar", the sign of Saint Sava and two crowns which symbolize the two coronations which took place in Prijepolje. The more famous coronation was that of the King of Bosnia and the Serbs, Tvrtko I. Also on the coat of arms are two white angels from a fresco located in the monastery of Mileševa. The angels are holding the flags of Serbia, and Prijepolje. The curved line represents the Lim River.

Notable people

  • Valter Perić, World War II Partisan
  • Sreten Vukosavljević, minister in 1944. first Yugoslav government, sociologist, journalist, political active for decentralization of Sanjak region as unified region
  • Savatije Sokolović, Serbian Patriarch
  • Svetomir Borisavljevic, member of parliament of Yugoslavia before World War II, lawyer
  • Vlade Divac, former NBA player, two-time Olympic silver medalist, World and European champion
  • Nemanja Petrić, volleyball player, European champion
  • Dženan Lončarević, pop singer
  • Aco Pejović, pop-folk singer
  • Zvonimir Červenko, Croatian General
  • Sefer Halilović, Bosnian Army general and politician
  • Latif Čičić, footballer
  • Ivica Dragutinović, footballer
  • Mihajlo Pjanović, footballer
  • Muhamed Preljević, footballer
  • Armin Sinančević, Serbian shot putter
  • Zećira Mušović, Swedish Goalkeeper
  • Filip Zekavičić, basketball player

International relations

Twin towns&nbsp;— sister cities

Prijepolje is twinned with:

  • Köniz
  • Eyüp
  • Aranđelovac
  • Bologna

See also

  • Bosniaks in Serbia
  • Lim River
  • Zlatibor District
  • List of places in Serbia
  • Sandžak

References