# Knjaževac

Knjaževac (Serbian Cyrillic: Књажевац, pronounced) is a town and municipality located in the Zaječar District of the eastern Serbia. As of 2022, the municipality has a population of 25,341 inhabitants, while the town has 16,350 inhabitants.
The town is situated between three mountains, in the geographical region of the Timok Valley bordering Bulgaria.

## History

Near Knjaževac, in the village of Gabrovnica, there is a cave whose walls hide the only preserved prehistoric cave drawing in Serbia. The drawing is related to the end of the Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age. Its age is between 3000 and 4000 years. Based on the type of dagger that is represented above the horse's neck, it is concluded that the drawing is from the Bronze Age period.
In the Roman period, Timacum Minus fort existed near the village of Ravna, within the present municipality. It was built in the 1st century near the Roman road Naissus–Ratiaria and used for hundreds of years, with the last restoration during the Justinian era.
Medieval monuments in the area include the 14th century Church of the Holy Mother of God in Donja Kamenica, notable for its unusual architectural style and fresco paintings. Holy Trinity Monastery is located in the village of Gornja Kamenica and dates back from the 15th century. Both sites are protected as cultural monuments of great importance.
The area was occupied by the Ottomans in 1396 and became a part of Sanjak of Vidin. According to the records from the XVII century, the town consisted of 46 Turkish and 120 Christian households.
In 1833, the town, formerly known as Gurgusovac, was liberated from the Ottoman Empire and was administrated into the Krajina nahija of the Principality of Serbia in 1834. In 1859 the official name was changed to Knjaževac. From 1929 to 1944, Knjaževac was part of the Morava Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In 1944, a train tunnel was built in the town, which is depicted in the town's coat of arms.

### Gurgusovac Tower

During the Ottoman period, the fortress, known as the Gurgusovac Tower, after the then name of the town, was built with a purpose to control the Niš-Vidin road. Strategically located, encompassed by the rampart and a deep trench, the fort hosted the company of 100 soldiers. The tower with two floors and a basement was square shaped and the rampart surrounding it was 13 m (43 ft) long, 10 m (33 ft) wide and 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) tall.
After the liberation from the Ottomans, the fort lost its strategic importance and was turned into a dungeon-type prison. Numerous adversaries of Prince Alexander Karađorđević and the Defenders of the Constitution regime were jailed in the tower. Due to its notoriety because of the torture and abuse, it became a symbol of suffering and was nicknamed the "Serbian Bastille". After Prince Miloš Obrenović returned to Serbia in 1858 and replaced Alexander Karađorđević, he visited Gurgusovac and ordered for the tower to be burned to the ground. The tower was razed, with only one wall and an entry gate remaining, while in order to commemorate the prince's decision, the name of the town of Gurgusovac was changed to Knјаževac ("Prince's town") on 17 January 1859.
In the 2010s, the area of the former tower was adapted into the open-air cultural venue, including the summer stage. The wall and the gate were kept while the additional walls were rebuilt on the remaining foundations.

## Geography

The municipality extends over an area of 1202km$^2$ and is the sixth largest in the Republic of Serbia. Its countryside is mostly hilly and mountainous.
The highest point in the territory of the municipality is Midžor on Stara Planina (2169 m), which is also the second highest peak in the Republic of Serbia. The lowest point is 176 metres high and is situated in the Knjaževac valley. There are 86 inhabited places in the municipality of which 85 are villages. The town itself is situated at the confluence of the Trgoviški Timok and the Svrljiški Timok which become the Beli Timok. It flows on towards Zaječar, merges with the Crni Timok and becomes simply, Timok. It is this river that gives name to the Timok Valley region.
Knjaževac is connected with other towns by road and railroad traffic. It is located between the latitudes of 43°20' and 43°45' north and between the longitudes 22°11' and 22°41' east.

### Climate

Knjaževac has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification: Cfa) bordering on a hot-summer mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: Csa). The warmest month is July with an average temperature of 23 °C (73 °F), whereas the coldest month is January with average temperature of 0.7 °C (33 °F). Average annual rainfall is 606.7 mm/m$^2$. There are 306 sunny days and 21 days with snow in a year.
Climate data for Knjaževac :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 18.6 (65.5) | 26.6 (79.9) | 26.8 (80.2) | 33.2 (91.8) | 35.5 (95.9) | 38.2 (100.8) | 40.1 (104.2) | 40.8 (105.4) | 37.8 (100.0) | 30.3 (86.5) | 27.7 (81.9) | 20.6 (69.1) | 40.8 (105.4) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 5.1 (41.2) | 8.4 (47.1) | 13.4 (56.1) | 19.5 (67.1) | 24.1 (75.4) | 28.3 (82.9) | 31.0 (87.8) | 31.9 (89.4) | 25.9 (78.6) | 18.7 (65.7) | 12.6 (54.7) | 6.6 (43.9) | 18.8 (65.8) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 0.7 (33.3) | 3.0 (37.4) | 7.0 (44.6) | 12.2 (54.0) | 16.8 (62.2) | 20.9 (69.6) | 23.0 (73.4) | 22.8 (73.0) | 17.8 (64.0) | 11.6 (52.9) | 7.2 (45.0) | 2.4 (36.3) | 12.1 (53.8) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −3.1 (26.4) | −1.5 (29.3) | 1.2 (34.2) | 5.6 (42.1) | 10.1 (50.2) | 14.2 (57.6) | 15.4 (59.7) | 14.9 (58.8) | 11.1 (52.0) | 6.0 (42.8) | 3.1 (37.6) | −1.0 (30.2) | 6.3 (43.4) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −20.8 (−5.4) | −21.8 (−7.2) | −12.8 (9.0) | −4.3 (24.3) | −0.7 (30.7) | 5.8 (42.4) | 8.1 (46.6) | 7.2 (45.0) | −0.4 (31.3) | −4.2 (24.4) | −10.1 (13.8) | −16.6 (2.1) | −21.8 (−7.2) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 53.2 (2.09) | 39.9 (1.57) | 47.6 (1.87) | 40.5 (1.59) | 62.0 (2.44) | 67.3 (2.65) | 69.9 (2.75) | 33.5 (1.32) | 32.9 (1.30) | 53.0 (2.09) | 53.3 (2.10) | 53.7 (2.11) | 606.8 (23.88) |
| Average ultraviolet index | 1.2 | 2.0 | 3.3 | 5.1 | 7.4 | 8.8 | 9.6 | 8.5 | 7.1 | 3.9 | 2.0 | 0.8 | 5.0 |
| Source: vreme.in.rs ||||||||||||||

## Demographics

According to the 2011 census results, the municipality of Knjaževac has 31,491 inhabitants, of which 18,404 inhabitants live in urban area. The average population density is 26.2 inhabitants per square kilometer making it a sparsely populated municipality.

### Ethnic groups

The ethnic composition of the municipality:
| Ethnic group | Population | % |
| Serbs | 29,631 | 94.08% |
| Romani | 789 | 2.51% |
| Macedonians | 42 | 0.13% |
| Bulgarians | 33 | 0.10% |
| Croats | 23 | 0.07% |
| Albanians | 22 | 0.07% |
| Montenegrins | 20 | 0.06% |
| Vlachs | 20 | 0.06% |
| Yugoslavs | 15 | 0.05% |
| Hungarians | 15 | 0.05% |
| Others | 884 | 2.81% |
| Total | 31,494 | |

## Economy

The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity (as of 2018):
| Activity | Total |
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 180 |
| Mining and quarrying | - |
| Manufacturing | 2,495 |
| Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply | 64 |
| Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities | 135 |
| Construction | 110 |
| Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles | 772 |
| Transportation and storage | 188 |
| Accommodation and food services | 307 |
| Information and communication | 61 |
| Financial and insurance activities | 45 |
| Real estate activities | 7 |
| Professional, scientific and technical activities | 220 |
| Administrative and support service activities | 126 |
| Public administration and defense; compulsory social security | 338 |
| Education | 465 |
| Human health and social work activities | 578 |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 86 |
| Other service activities | 112 |
| Individual agricultural workers | 133 |
| Total | 6,442 |

## Tourism

Knjaževac, with its Babin Zub ski center at an elevation of 1,758m offers opportunities for tourism and sports events. Its picnic areas are set in areas of natural beauty (like Banjica, Baranica and other), places for rest and recreation. The 14th-century Church of the Holy Mother of God lies in the nearby village of Donja Kamenica. In 2014, Knjaževac was chosen as the outstanding destination in Europe. (Project EDEN Network)

## Notable people

* Nenad Marinković, footballer
* Milos Milos, actor and bodyguard of Alain Delon
* Tihomir Đorđević, ethnologist, folklorist, cultural historian and professor at the University of Belgrade.
* Miloš Milojević, Football coach.

## International relations
### Twin towns — Sister cities

Knjaževac is twinned with:
* Belogradchik, Bulgaria, since 2011.
* Novi Bečej, Serbia

## Gallery

* Knjaževac
* Church in Knjaževac
* Centre of Knjaževac
* Knjaževac
* Knjaževac
* Church in Knjaževac
* Knjaževac
* Villa in Knjaževac
* Memorial park in Knjaževac, dedicated to the soldiers fallen in the liberation wars 1803-1945