Leskovac

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Leskovac (Serbian Cyrillic: Лесковац, Turkish: Leskofça) is a city and municipality located in southern Serbia at 43.00° North, 21.95° East. It is the administrative center of the Jablanica District of Serbia. Leskovac is accessible from Belgrade by the E75 motorway to Thessaloniki in Greece.

In 1860, Leskovac was the second largest city (after Belgrade) in the Principality of Serbia but she was ruled as a kaza (township) unil 1878. During the struggle for independence of the church under the will for self-determination of the population, Leskovac and its surroundings are in the composition of the Bulgarian Exarchate. In 1867 the Principality secured the removal of Ottoman army garrisons from the cities, acquiring sovereingty, which was internationally recognised at the Congress of Berlin in 1878. With the Treaty of Berlin city and the entire Southern Pomoravlje are connected to Serbia. Began mass assimilation of the Bulgarian population in the Serbian state. By emancipating fully from the Ottoman Balkans the trade impact was initially negative. However, by the end of the 19th century, the town of Leskovac was famous across the Balkans for its workshops which turned hemp into rope. Leskovac was known as Leskofça during Ottoman rule and was bounded to Niş sanjak until 1878.

Soon there were three watermill-driven lace producers in the region. In 1896, the founders of these companies pooled their resources and bought factory equipment for the production of woollen cloth from the German Empire. This was the first factory on the outskirts of the town. In 1903, a factory for hemp processing was built on the riverbank north of the old town centre. In 1922, the Teokarevic family opened a wool cloth factory in the small town of Vucje near Leskovac. By 1938, the private textile factories of Leskovac town employed 2,560 workers In the 1870s, there were thousands of hemp-processors in Leskovac, producing up to 150,000 cartloads per year.


Monument of Liberty WWI

The city, initially known as Dubočica, was once known as "Little Manchester", because of its 19th century textile industry which was second only to that of Manchester, England. The city continued to be a major textile center until the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, but due to the economic isolation of Serbia resulting from ethnic wars, its remote location, and failure to privatize the mills, the industry collapsed resulting in depression of the economy in the area.

World War II

During World War II, the city was part of Nedić's Serbia. It was heavily bombed by the Allies in 1944, with estimates of civilian casualties varying from over a thousand to six thousand.[4][5]

Fitzroy Maclean the head of the British military mission to the Partisans wrote ..... as we watched the whole of Leskovac seemed to rise bodily in the air in a tornado of dust and smoke and debris, and a great rending noise fell on our ears. ..... What was left of Leskovac lay enveloped in a pall of smoke; several buildings seemed to be burning fiercely. Even the Partisans seemed subdued. This was part of Operation Ratweek to attack the enemy withdrawal, and air reconnaissance had confirmed the presence of a strong concentration of armour and motor transport there, although he said the use of 50 ‘Heavies’ or Flying Fortresses did seem rather like taking a sledge-hammer to crack a walnut. [6].

[edit] Kosovo Conflict

On 12 April 1999, during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia a bridge near Leskovac (Grdelička klisura) was destroyed by a NATO aircraft as a passenger train was crossing. The act was highly condemned with the bridge being struck twice (the train itself having been bombed from the first attack).

[edit] Demographics of the municipality
river view trade court
Kosta Stamenkovic mounament

Ethnic groups in the municipality (2002 census):

* Serbs = 155,011
* Roma = 6,989

In 2002 the town's population was 94,758of whom the majority are primarily Serbs (88,902). Other significant ethnic groups are Roma (4,327), Montenegrins (223), Macedonians (168), Yugoslavs (108), and others (including Greeks, Bulgarians, etc). In January 2007, there were an estimated 300 persons of Chinese origin living in Leskovac. [7]

At one time the second largest city in Serbia, today Leskovac is blighted by economic problems with many working age people migrating out of the area. [
* 2002: 94,758 (110.240)

The city proper of Leskovac is divided into the following local communities (месне заједнице or mesne zajednice):[1]

* Radničko (Радничко)
* Dubočica (Дубочица)
* Centar (Центар)
* Lamele (Ламеле)
* Morava (Морава)
* Hisar (Хисар)
* Prva južnomravska brigada (Прва јужноморавска бригада)
* Rade Žunić (Раде Жунић)
* Marko Crni (Марко Црни)
* Kosta Stamenković (Коста Стаменковић)
* Veljko Vlahović (Вељко Влаховић), named after a Serbian-Montenegrin Communist
* Milentije Popović (Милентије Поповић), named after a Serbian Communist
* Stojan Ljubić (Стојан Љубић)
* Moša Pijade (Моша Пијаде), named after a Serbian-Jewish Communist

"Roštiljijada" (Serbian Cyrillic: Роштиљијада, in English - Barbecue week) is a grill-meat festival that has been organized in Leskovac for many years, which takes place each year at the beginning of September. During the event, the main bulevard is closed for traffic, night and day for five days, and all its way there are grill-stands constructed, to create many temporary restaurants. Many visitors from all over Serbia and many tourists come to Leskovac to enjoy a good grill and entertainment. The organisers hold competitions, such as in making the biggest burger - the pljeskavica. The festival is the highlight of the season in Leskovac.

[edit] Notable citizens

* Miodrag Stojković, geneticist
* Jelena Božilović, scientist,Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt am Main
* Gojko Mitić, actor
* Maja Miljković, basketball player
* Darko Filipović, singer
* Mija Kulić, engineer, painter, talkshow host