page_title: Nikšić
section_title: Cityscape
hierarchical_section_title: Nikšić / Cityscape
caption_attribution_description: English: Freedom Square Nikšić on the eve of Statehood Day
context_page_description: Nikšić is the second largest city of Montenegro, with a total population of 56,970 located in the west of the country, in the centre of the spacious Nikšić field at the foot of Trebjesa Hill. It is the center of Nikšić Municipality with population of 72,443 according to 2011 census, which is the largest municipality by area and second most inhabited after Podgorica. It was also largest municipality by area in former Yugoslavia. It is an important industrial, cultural, and educational center.
context_section_description: Although Nikšić area has seen human settlements since antiquity, most of the modern Nikšić is a planned city. Very little remains of the Ottoman architectural heritage, despite the long presence of Ottoman Empire in the area. The city layout visible today still follows the 1883 urban plan commissioned by King Nicholas and designed by Croatian architect Josip Slade.
  According to this plan, the streets of Nikšić radiate to the north and east from the central city square (today a roundabout), locally known as Skver. The radial streets are intersected by circumferential streets and avenues, thus creating a half-spider web-like street layout.
  Layers of different architectural styles and urban patterns are evident along the radial network of streets. Thus, closest to the central roundabout is the historical core of Nikšić, formed after the liberation from Ottoman Empire, and serving as a nucleus for Slade's urban plan. This area, on the foot of Trebjesa Hill, is home to King Nicholas Palace, City Park, and Freedom Square, main city square located along the central Njegoševa Street. The area is composed of mostly single or two storey row housing with basic designs, an architecture typical for late 19th and early 20th centuries Montenegro. The roundabout and the surrounding area is still the focal point of activities in the city, as bus and train stations, as well as commercial and civic services are located in the area.
  Farther from the central roundabout, the historical core is encircled with a layer of mass residential blocks, built during the SFRY era. The building of the highrise residential blocks facilitated housing of the large population drawn to the city by rapid post-World War II industrialisation. The SFRY era apartment blocks are still home for the majority of residents of Nikšić.
  Beyond the blocks, the city expanded in form of a suburban sprawl, that consists of detached housing. Close to the city blocks and major industrial areas, the lowrise single home suburbs are built with well executed urban plans, but farther away from the center, the city expanded in a chaotic and informal way. In addition, the rural areas south of Nikšić have merged with the city, so low density suburbs extend from the city in every direction, covering much of the Nikšić Field.
caption: Freedom Square in Nikšić on the eve of the Statehood Day 2018 as seen from the south
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