Kruševac Fortress

Kruševac Fortress or City of Prince Lazar (Serbian: Крушевачки град, Kruševački grad) was a medieval fortified town in Kruševac, Serbia, former capital of Prince Lazar. The city housed the court church, Lazarica. Today, all that remains of the town are ruins.

The Fortress of Kruševac was first mentioned in 1381, so it was most likely built by Prince Lazar, becoming the seat of his realm – Moravian Serbia. He ruled his country from Kruševac, as attested by signature and record in a charter issued in 1387 which includes the phrase In the famous city of my dominion Kruševac (у славноме граду господства ми Крушевцу).

Lazar's son and successor Stefan Lazarević managed the despotate from Kruševac until 1405, when the capital was moved to Belgrade, which he began renewing and refortifying in that year. Kruševac never lost its strategic importance, however. It was the meeting place of despot Stefan and Sultan Mehmed I in 1413.

Struggles over the control of the city took place throughout the first half of the 15th century. It was occupied by the Turks briefly in 1413 and in 1427, and by Hungarians in 1437. After signing an agreement on the restoration of the Despotate, Đurađ Branković regained Kruševac in 1444. In 1454, the Ottomans launched an offensive with the goal of subduing the entirety of Serbia. At the beginning of the offensive, the Ottomans suffered enormous losses, especially in the Battle of Kruševac. The massive casualties inflicted on the Ottomans prompted Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror to personally reinforce his offensive using his entire Rumelian army. The city finally fell under Ottoman rule, along with the rest of the Despotate, later in 1454.

Under Ottoman rule, Kruševac was renamed Aladža Hisar, Turkish for Colorful City, because of the diversity of materials from which the fortress was built. The Lazarica, which was built by Prince Lazar, was vandalized by the Ottomans, and was used for gunpowder storage.

The best-preserved part of Prince Lazar's former capital is the palace church of St. Stephen, Lazarica. Little is left today of the Hard town of Kruševac, as it was called by Constantine of Kostenets. Today, the surviving remains consist of the Donjon Tower, through which one entered the city, and part of the eastern wall.

Text adapted from “Kruševac Fortress” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Kruševac Fortress ranks #2,945 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #17 of the 26 mapped in Serbia. Founded 1381, it is older than 55% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 582 atlas entries founded in the 14th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,071 times in the last 60 days, more than 50% of the atlas. 1 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Kragujevac, 57 km away. See how Serbia compares in the castle statistics.

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