Prijepolje

Infobox Serbia municipality
native_name = Пријепоље|official_name=Prijepolje
district = Zlatibor| image_shield = Grb-Prijepolje.jpg
mayor = Nedžad Turković
area_km2 = 827
population_total = 15031 | mpop=41188
latd = 43| latm = 32|longd = 19| longm = 38
code = 33
postal_code = 31300
settlements = 96
plates = UE

Prijepolje (Serbian Cyrillic: Пријепоље, ) is a town and municipality in the Zlatibor District of Serbia. According to the 2002 census, the municipality of Prijepolje had a population of 41,188 people, while the town itself had a population of 15,031. It is located in the Sandžak geographic region, which is also known as the Raška oblast.

Name

One possible meaning of the name Prijepolje is "Prija's field"; according to this theory Prija was the owner of the land before the town was built and "polje" ("field" in English). More probably theory is that the name originates from the location of Prijepolje. When caravans were passing through Prijepolje, the side from which they arrived was before the fields (in today's Prijepolje, the villages of Ivanje and Velika Župa) and hence the name would mean "before the fields" (prije=before; polje=field). Coat of arms of Prijepolje also tells a lot about town.

Geography

Prijepolje is located at the confluence of the fast-flowing Lim and Mileševka rivers, along the road from Belgrade to the Adriatic sea and on the Belgrade – Bar railway. The Belgrade – Adriatic road is intersected here with the regional road Pljevlja - Prijepolje - Sjenica. This road runs along roughly the same route as the ancient Roman and Ottoman road, known as the Dubrovnik road. At Bistrica, north of Prijepolje, there is a road leading towards Priboj, Višegrad and Sarajevo. The town itself is surrounded by hills, like Pušina, Srijeteži, Gradina and Sokolica, which was making a special climate, for Prijepolje, but it lasted until the hydro plant "Potpeć" near Nova Varoš was built, and change it into a climate, regular for this cold part of Serbia.

Prijepolje is surrounded by forests. There are also a lot of beaches on the Lim. The one considered most attractive is in the centre of the town, under the bridge in Ivanje, and under the bridge in Petrovac.

History

Prijepolje has a very long history. It was established as a settlement in 1234, the same year the Mileševa Monastery was built.

In this area life is beginning in younger stone age. It was settled by northern areas of from today's borders of Serbia when they were forced to leave the northern plains to the mountains and inaccessible region. The first settlers were Illyrians. After the arrival of the Celts, they intermarried. Later, the Illyrians were displaced again, but now by the Romans, again in to mountains, and when Slavs came they were infiltrated into them, but still the Slavs take some their attributes. The Goths, Huns, Gepids, "Langobards" and "Avars" passed through this area. The most interesting archaeological site in the area is Roman necropolis in 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 in Dubrovnik's and historical sources mentioned for the first time in 1343. In historical sources, Prijepolje was developed like a road settlement on caravans road know as "Dubrovnik's road", which was connecting central and east parts of the Balkans with the middle part of the Adriatic coast. On the caravan road was walking by foot or by horse over endless and abrupt mountains and through dangerous woods. The duty of the local villagers was to protect local roads, because there was a statute "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". It's worth to be mentioned that in monastery of Mileševa, Tvrtko I was crowned on 26 October 1377, as king of "Serbs, Bosnia and the Seaside and the Western Lands".

Also one of the oldest cartographic documents on which after Mileševa, Prijepolje for the first time was mentioned, was in "Regno della Servia detta altrimentri Rascia" which was made by Giacomo Cantelli da Vignola, cartographer to the Duke of Modena, in 1689.

During the very long Ottoman period it have been raised a many objects. Most famous are Ibrahim Pasha's mosque and Sahat Kula. Ibrahim Pasha's mosque in Shararampov (one of tree regions in town, other two are Vakuf and Center of town), probably was built in 16th century. That is a very beautiful and attractive mosque with one minaret, and it was covered by a "cheramida" (special cover of the houses in that time). The region of Prijepolje (Akova during Ottoman rule) is known by very rough past which was part of First Serbian revolt, Banine's revolt 1875, the Javorian war 1876, the Raonic revolt, the Balkan wars as well as both World Wars. [mr Milinko Femić: "Prijepoljski kraj u prostoru i vremenu" ] . She passed from Ottoman Empire to Kingdom of Montenegro during First Balkan War in 1912.

In second world war, Prijepolje was under Italians and Germans, and it was liberated on 4 decembar 1943., which is now celebrated as the Day of the liberation of Prijepolje.

Demographics

Ethnic groups in the municipality

In 1991, the population of the municipality was composed of:
* Serbs (54.78%)
* Muslims by nationality (43.42%)
* Others.

In 2002, the population of the municipality was composed of:
* Serbs = 23,402 (56.82%)
* Bosniaks = 13,109 (31.83%)
* Muslims by nationality = 3,812 (9.26%)
* Others.

Note: Most of those who at the time of the 1991 census declared themselves as Muslims by nationality in the last census from 2002 declared themselves as Bosniaks, while a smaller number of them still declare themselves as Muslims by nationality.

Ethnic groups in the town

In 2002 census, population of the town of Prijepolje was composed of:
*Serbs = 9,411
*Bosniaks = 3,941
*Muslims by nationality = 1,225
*Others.

Administrative subdivisions

Prijepolje town is the seat of the Prijepolje municipality. The municipality covers an area of 824 km² with an extreme variance in altitude, from 440-1735 meters.