Višegrad

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This article is about a place in Bosnia and Hezegovina. For other similarly named places, see Visegrad (disambiguation).
Višegrad
Вишеград
Višegrad
Višegrad
Coat of arms of Višegrad Вишеград
Coat of arms
Location of Višegrad in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Location of Višegrad in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Coordinates: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Country  Bosnia and Herzegovina
Entity  Republika Srpska
Government
 • Mayor Slaviša Mišković SDS
Area
 • Total 448.14 km2 (173.03 sq mi)
Population (2013 census)
 • Total 11,774
 • Density 26.3/km2 (68/sq mi)
Postal code 73240
Area code(s) (+387) 058

Višegrad (Serbian Cyrillic: Вишеград, pronounced [ʋǐʃɛɡraːd]) is a town and municipality in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina resting on the Drina river and in the Republika Srpska entity. The town includes the Ottoman-era Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge, an UNESCO world heritage site which was popularized by Nobel prize winning author Ivo Andrić in his novel The Bridge on the Drina. During the Bosnian War the town was one of the scenes of ethnic cleansing and massacres carried out by Bosnian Serb forces against Bosniak civilians, and it saw a drastic decline in its previously majority Bosniak population. Andrićgrad, a future tourist site dedicated to Andrić, is under construction near the bridge. Višegrad is a South Slavic toponym meaning "the upper town/castle/fort".[citation needed] Višegrad is located on the river Drina, on the road from Goražde and Ustiprača towards Užice, Serbia.

Geography

Višegrad is located on the Drina river, thus part of the geographical region of Podrinje. It is also part of the historical region of Stari Vlah; the immediate area surrounding the town was historically called "Višegradski Stari Vlah",[1][2] noted as an ethnographic region[3] in which the population was closer to Užice (on the Serbian side of the Drina) than to the surrounding areas.[1]

History

Middle Ages

Bridge over the Drina.

In the Middle Ages, the entire area became part of the Serbian Empire, under Stefan Nemanja. In the mid-14th century it was under the rule of the Serbian župan Nikola Altomanović. Then the area was occupied by Bosnian King Tvrtko I and joined to the Bosnian Kingdom. During the reign of Serbian Emperor Stephen Dušan (r. 1331-1355), county lord (župan) Pribil held this region. Pribil allegedly founded the Dobrun monastery between 1340 and 1343. Pribil's sons continued to build on the monastery complex, and painted the external narthex and treasury in the northern side by 1383. According to Turkish sources, in 1454, the city was conquered by the Ottoman Empire led by Osman Pasha. It remained under Ottoman rule until the Berlin Congress (1878), when Austria-Hungary took control of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Ottoman period

The Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge was built by the Ottoman architect and engineer Mimar Sinan for Grand Vizier Sokollu Mehmed Pasha in 1571. It still stands, and it is now a tourist attraction, after being inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage Site list.

In 1875, Serbs from the area between Višegrad and Novi Pazar revolted and formed volunteer corps, which in 1876 fought at the Ibar.[4]

Bosnian War

See also: Višegrad massacre Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Višegrad is one of several towns along the Drina river in close proximity to the Serbian border. The town was strategically important during the conflict. A nearby hydroelectric dam provided electricity and also controlled the level of the Drina, preventing flooding downstream areas. The town is situated on the main road connecting Belgrade and Užice in Serbia with Goražde and Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a vital link for the Užice Corps of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) with the Uzamnica camp as well as other strategic locations implicated in the conflict.[5][6]

On 6 April 1992, JNA artillery bombarded the town, in particular Bosniak-inhabited neighbourhoods and nearby villages. Murat Šabanović and a group of Bosniak men took several local Serbs hostage and seized control of the hydroelectric dam, threatening to blow it up. Water was released from the dam causing flooding to some houses and streets.[6] Eventually on 12 April, JNA commandos seized the dam. The next day the JNA's Užice Corps took control of Višegrad, positioning tanks and heavy artillery around the town. The population that had fled the town during the crisis returned and the climate in the town remained relatively calm and stable during the later part of April and the first two weeks of May.[6] On 19 May 1992 the Užice Corps officially withdrew from the town and local Serb leaders established control over Višegrad and all municipal government offices. Soon after, local Serbs, police and paramilitaries began one of the most notorious campaigns of ethnic cleansing in the conflict.[6]

There was widespread looting and destruction of houses, and terrorizing of Bosniak civilians, with instances of rape, with a large number of Bosniaks killed in the town; the Drina was used to dump many of the bodies, others being detained at the barracks at Uzamnica, the Vilina Vlas Hotel and other sites in the area. Vilina Vlas also served as a "brothel", in which Bosniak women and girls (some not yet 14 years old), were brought to by police officers and paramilitary members (White Eagles and Arkan's Tigers).[7] Bosniaks detained at Uzamnica were subjected to inhumane conditions, including regular beatings, torture and strenuous forced labour. Both of the town's mosques were razed.[5][6][8] According to victims' reports some 3,000 Bosniaks were murdered in Višegrad and its surroundings, including some 600 women and 119 children.[9][10] According to the Research and Documentation Center, at least 1661 Bosniaks were killed/missing in Višegrad.[11]

With the Dayton Agreement, which put an end to the war, Bosnia and Herzegovina was divided into two entities, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska, the latter which Višegrad became part of.

Before the war, 63 percent of the town residents were Bosniak. In 2009, only a handful of survivors had returned to what is now a predominantly Serb town.[12] On 5 August 2001, survivors of the massacre returned to Višegrad for the burial of 180 bodies exhumed from mass graves. The exhumation lasted for two years and the bodies were found in 19 different mass graves.[13] The charges of mass rape were unapproved as the prosecutors failed to request them in time.[14] Cousins Milan Lukić and Sredoje Lukić were convicted on July 20, 2009 for a 1992 killing spree that included locking Muslims in two houses and burning them alive; at least 119 Muslims aged 2–75 years, were burned to death. Milan Lukić was sentenced to life in prison, Sredoje Lukić to 30 years.[5][15]

Architecture

Dobrun monastery.
Main entrance of the Andricgrad.
Andricgrad
Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge is UNESCO world heritage site since 2007.

Sport

The local football club, FK Drina HE Višegrad, plays in the First League of the Republika Srpska.

Culture

Višegrad has the so-called "Home of Culture", opened in 1953, where film projections and all other cultural activities are, including drama studio. Also, city gallery was opened in 1996, and it is located in the Home of Culture.[17] In addition, Višegrad has two folklore ensembles, KUD "Bikavac" and SSD "Soko".[18]

Demographics

Municipality

At the 1991 census, the municipality of Visegrad had a population of 21,199 inhabitants:[19]

Census in the municipality of Višegrad
Year 1991. 1981. 1971.
Bosniaks 13,471 (63.54%) 14,397 (62.05%) 15,752 (62.04%)
Serbs 6,743 (31.80%) 7,648 (32.96%) 9,225 (36.33%)
Croats 32 (0.15%) 60 (0.25%) 68 (0.26%)
Yugoslavs 319 (1.50%) 758 (3.26%) 141 (0.55%)
Others 634 (3.37%) 338 (1.45%) 203 (0.79%)
Total 21,199 23,201 25,389

Town

At the 1991 census, the town of Visegrad had a population of 11,828 inhabitants:[19]

Višegrad
Year 1991. 1981. 1971.
Bosniaks 7,413 (62.67%) 2,854 (47.66%) 2,429 (49.91%)
Serbs 3,512 (29.69%) 2,446 (40.84%) 2,141 (43.99%)
Croats 28 (0.24%) 52 (0.86%) 53 (1.08%)
Yugoslavs 300 (2.5%) 518 (8.65%) 107 (2.19%)
others 575 (4.9%) 118 (1.97%) 136 (2.79%)
total 11,828 5,988 4,866

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Final report of the United Nations Commission of Experts, established pursuant to security council resolution 780 (1992), Annex VIII - Prison camps; Under the Direction of: M. Cherif Bassiouni; S/1994/674/Add.2 (Vol. IV), 27 May 1994
  8. ↑ Final report of the United Nations Commission of Experts established pursuant to security council resolution 780
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Visegrad in Denial Over Grisly Past
  13. ↑ Has anyone seen Milan Lukic?
  14. ↑ Investigation: Visegrad rape victims say their cries go unheard
  15. ↑ Hague: Bosnian Serbs Sentenced
  16. ↑ Политика, издање од 6. јануара 2008. године
  17. ↑ Institucije kulture, www.visegradturizam.com (Serbian)
  18. ↑ Kulturno umjetnička društva - www.visegradturizam.com (Serbian)
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 http://www.fzs.ba/Podaci/nacion%20po%20mjesnim.pdf

Sources

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External links

Media related to Višegrad at Wikimedia Commons

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