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 Uzice is a city in southwestern Serbia, in the Detina river valley. The city has 53.607 inhabitants. On a nearby hill the ruins of the old town of Uzice can be seen, in rather poor condition but still worth a look. Uzice itself is an odd combination of old Balkans architecture and the communist era social-realist monstrosities, whose relicts are still present in the form of slogans or huge red star murals on building walls, obstinately resisting the flow of time. Uzice has two churches, a museum, a gallery, and near the city there’s a monument to the people killed in a battle of Kadinjaca, in the Second World War. A number of tourist attractions are scattered in the surrounding area: Potpecka cave, the Sargan Eight, ethno village Sirogojno, etc.
The oldest written data about Uzice is found in a document from the archive of Dubrovnik, and are dated from October 9 1329. In the mid 15th century the city is conquered by the Turks, and in the 17th century it becomes a small town inhabited mostly by craftsmen, members of various guilds – a tradition that remains in Uzice up to this day.
In the First Serbian Uprising in 1805, the fighters liberated Uzice from the Turks, but it was conquered again in 1813, and remained under Turkish rule until 1862, when Turks were finally banished from these parts.
During the Second World War, Uzice was the center of the famous Uzice republic, the only free territory in the occupied Europe. On November 29 1941, in the battle on the Kadinjaca hill, the entire workers’ battalion was annihilated by the Germans. The battalion was comprised of the guild workers from Uzice – bakers, shoemakers, watchmakers, etc.
After the Second World War, in the year 1946 the city changes its name to Titovo Uzice, and today it’s again called simply Uzice.
Getting to Uzice is easy, since it lies on the Belgrade – Bar railway as well as on the main highways to Belgrade, Cacak, Kraljevo, Nis, Republika Srpska and Montenegro. Uzice has excellent bus connections with all the neighboring cities. There are 6 daily buses between Uzice and Belgrade, one to Novi Sad, one to Sarajevo, seven to Nis and one to Skopje. There are 15 daily buses between Uzice and Zlatibor mountain resort. For more detailed information: Uzice bus station, phone 031 / 521 - 765 Uzice also has good train connections with other cities. There are 9 daily trains connecting Uzice with Belgrade, 4 with Bar, 3 with Prijepolje, 2 with Bijelo Polje and one with Subotica, Novi Sad, Priboj and Cacak. For more detailed information: Uzice railway station, phone 031/ 513 - 165 and 031/ 520-521. Both the train and the bus station are located within the same complex, just by the riverside. The old town of Uzice was built in the Middle Ages, and was first mentioned in written documents in 1373, during the reign of Nikola Altomanovic. In 17th century it was briefly controlled by the Austrians, and then re-conquered by the Turks who stayed there until 1862, when they were finally banished from these parts. The old town is located on a hill just near the city, and is in pretty bad condition – all that remains are just huge grounds, wall fragments and a long staircase that starts at the foot of the hill and leads all the way to the top.
The city museum (18, Dimitrija Tucovica Street, phone no. 031 / 521 - 360 and 031 / 520 – 657) is located in the buildings that were used as the main headquarters of the liberation army and communist party and also included a partisan weapon and ammunition factory during the Uzice republic. It hosts a permanent exhibition called “The 1941 Yugoslav Uprising” and a local exhibition that illustrates the development of this area from prehistoric times up to today. The museum hosts over 80.000 artifacts from the fields of archeology, ethnology, history, history of art, numismatics and old manuscripts.
Jokanovica House (Slanuska 10a, phone no. 031 / 513 – 035) also known as “Pecara”, is a completely preserved typical 19th century house built in the folk architectural style common for that time. It hosts a museum exhibition called “Uzice city houses in 19th and early 20th century).
St Mark’s church is located in the old part of the town. It was built in 1828. In 1890 a 18 meters tall wooden bell tower was added. Church hosts a collection of icons and engravings from 17th to 19th century, as well as various examples of applied arts.
Kadinjaca monument is located 14 kilometers west of Uzice, just between the summits of Tara and Jelova Gora mountains, at the altitude of approx. 800 meters. It is dedicated to the fighters of workers battalion who were killed in this place on November 29 1941. The pyramid-shaped monument was built in 1952, with the inscription containing verses from “Kadinjaca” poem by Slavko Vukosavljevic. The new memorial complex was finished in September 1979.
The White Church is located in the Karan village, 16 kilometres northwest of Uzice. It was built and decorated in the first half of the 14th century, and is a memorial structure of zupan Petar Brajan. Decoration includes the frescoes of Brajan and his family as well as those of members of the royal dynasty of Nemanjics, priest Medos and the Three-handed Madonna in the wall iconostasis. The church belongs to the Raska architectural style.
In close proximity of Uzice you can see a Potpecka cave, as well as Tara mountain with its famous Sargan Eight, and ethno village Sirogojno. All these locations are covered in separate sections of this web site.
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