Golubac

Golubac ( Serbian Cyrillic Голубац ) is a small port and fortress town on the Danube in the northeast part of the Serbian district Braničevo on the border with Romania. The city is located west of the city of Veliko Gradište and south of Kučevo, which also belong to the district Braničevo.

Location and Geography

The Danube forms a length of 52 km, the northern boundary of the city to Romania. Along the river runs a highway that connects Golubac with other cities in the region such as Požarevac and Veliko Gradište. Golubach situated 130 km away from Belgrade. The total area of the municipality is 376 km ².

The National Park Đerdap, one of the largest in Southeastern Europe, starts at Golubac and ends at tekija near the dam and hydroelectric power plant Djerdap 1

Population

The Danube city, including the 25 villages in its vicinity some 12,500 inhabitants ( as of 2011). The population density is compared to other regions in Serbia is relatively low and is only 34 inhabitants / km ². The ethnic composition comprises more than 90 percent Serbs, Vlachs and about 5 percent more people, each less than one percent ( Montenegrins, Yugoslavs, Hungarians, Romanians, Macedonians, Russians, Czechs, Slovenes, Bulgarians ). The unemployment rate in Golubac is about 46 percent. One reason for the low compared to the recent history of population in this region is the migration to nearby towns such as Požarevac or Veliko Gradište, where there are higher chances of finding employment.

History

The city and fortress were probably founded in the 13th century by Hungary on the right bank of the Danube. The name is derived from golub, the dove. Analogously means Golubac about pigeons or doves city castle. Another source states that Golubac was founded by the Romans in the 1st century BC here.

Golubac was first mentioned in 1335 in a Hungarian documents. The town with fortress was fought at this time between Hungary and Serbia. He was to Belgrade is the most important fortress on the lower Danube and of appropriate strategic importance. As a result, they often changed owners, was thereby partially destroyed and rebuilt. During the Battle of Kosovo Polje (1389 ) Golubac was owned by Serbs. After the battle, the Ottomans occupied the first time Golubac. Then Hungary recaptured the town and fortress. In 1403, the Serbian prince Stefan Lazarević Golubac got as a fief of Hungary. After his death Golubac should be returned to Hungary. However, a voivode Jeremija handed from unspecified reasons, the city in 1427 to the Ottomans. 1444, with the renewal of the Serbian state, was Golubac ( the Ottomans occupied Serbia in 1439 for the first time ) in the Serbian ownership to in 1456 to fall to the Ottomans again. Hungary conquered Golubac 1481 for a short time, and the Habsburgs it held from 1688 to 1690 and from 1718 to 1739. Afterwards reigned again the Ottomans Golubac until 1867, when they handed it over along with the Belgrade fortress Kalemegdan in the former Principality of Serbia. The fort is one of the best preserved in the whole of Serbia.

Since that time Golubac belongs to Serbia, which was a part of the state of Yugoslavia between 1950 and 1990.

Attractions

The fortress Golubac consists of a lower and an upper castle. The remains of an Orthodox church in the upper castle, witness the presence of a Serbian lord of the castle, nothing of that is but further details are known. The fort buildings well preserved are an attraction for tourists, even on the over -propelled cruise ships. Some buildings are directly in the water, because the water level has risen through the impoundment by several meters.