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110-724: Pobednik ( Serbian Cyrillic : Победник , lit.   'The Victor') is a monument in the Upper Town of the Belgrade Fortress , built to commemorate Serbia 's victory over the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires during the Balkan Wars and the First World War . Cast in 1913, erected in 1928, and standing at 14 metres (46 ft) high, it is one of the most famous works of Ivan Meštrović . It

220-808: A 2014 survey, 47% of the Serbian population write in the Latin alphabet whereas 36% write in Cyrillic. The following table provides the upper and lower case forms of the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, along with the equivalent forms in the Serbian Latin alphabet and the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) value for each letter. The letters do not have names, and consonants are normally pronounced as such when spelling

330-480: A Christian coalition from various European ethnic groups. Prince Lazar was the ruler of Moravian Serbia and the most powerful among the Serbian regional lords of the time, while Branković ruled the District of Branković and other areas, recognizing Lazar as his overlord. Reliable historical accounts of the battle are scarce. The bulk of both armies were wiped out, and Lazar and Murad were killed. The battle marked

440-601: A betrayer of the Christians. Lazarević's success as an Ottoman vassal was such that eventually his lands encompassed a territory bigger than his father's and matched the territories of the Nemanjic dynasty in the 13th century. After Mehmed 's death in 1421, Lazarević was one of the vassals who strongly supported the coalition against the future Mehmed the Conqueror who ultimately prevailed. This move led Mehmed to punish

550-539: A challenge in Unicode modeling, as the glyphs differ only in italic versions, and historically non-italic letters have been used in the same code positions. Serbian professional typography uses fonts specially crafted for the language to overcome the problem, but texts printed from common computers contain East Slavic rather than Serbian italic glyphs. Cyrillic fonts from Adobe, Microsoft (Windows Vista and later) and

660-493: A colossal athletic male nude set up on a tall column, the monument symbolically represents the iconic figure of victory. In iconographic terms, the personification of the triumph of a victorious nation can be traced back to classical antiquity and its mythic hero Hercules . Then the First World War broke out. The Austrian ultimatum forced Meštrović to leave Belgrade and almost all finishing works had to be ceased. During

770-457: A few other font houses include the Serbian variations (both regular and italic). If the underlying font and Web technology provides support, the proper glyphs can be obtained by marking the text with appropriate language codes. Thus, in non-italic mode: whereas: Since Unicode unifies different glyphs in same characters, font support must be present to display the correct variant. The standard Serbian keyboard layout for personal computers

880-474: A force of historical, political, military and artistic inspiration to date. The day of the battle, known in Serbian as Vidovdan (St. Vitus' day) and celebrated according to the Julian calendar (corresponding to 28 June Gregorian in the 20th and 21st centuries), is an important part of Serb ethnic and national identity, with notable events in Serbian history falling on that day: in 1876 Serbia declared war on

990-464: A location outside the city. As soon as Kosta Kumanudi took over as a mayor of Belgrade in 1926, he pushed to project to finally get it done. Belgrade municipality officially purchased the monument. Also, by this time the city decided to scrap the fountain and the lion heads at the monument's base due to the money reasons. The Arts Commission, formed by the city, decided in September 1927 to relocate

1100-469: A major symbol of Belgrade, art historians tend to believe that, due to the scandals following its construction, the monument is placed on present location, on such a high pedestal and turned away from the city in order "not to be seen better, but to be seen less". After the creation of a new state and a new spiritual climate in the aftermath of the First World War, the concept of the Herald of Victory (which

1210-580: A tombstone was used as the pedestal. Due to the high concentration of sulfur dioxide in Belgrade atmosphere, the patina is mostly made of copper sulfate. However, it developed unevenly, so some parts of the sculpture are light green while some are black. It will be cleaned as much as possible (including dry ice) as patina is eating out the copper core. To slow down the process, the Pobednik will be treated with special chemicals. The oxides were removed using

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1320-420: A total of almost 100 dents and in the end weighted a half of ton more than before the restoration. The statue was returned on the column on 14 February 2020. Works on the column itself and on the surrounding plateau continued until the complete reconstruction was finished on 5 March 2020. Though monument's position and design may be interpreted in a way that he is "guarding" the city, and its present function as

1430-436: Is also one of the most visited tourist attractions in Belgrade and one of its most recognizable landmarks. It is a standing bronze male figure in the nude with a falcon in the left hand and a sword in the right (as symbols of peace and war), modelled by the sculptor Ivan Meštrović, set on a pedestal in the form of a Doric column on a tall cubic base, designed by the architect Petar Bajalović. The statue looks forward across

1540-622: Is as follows: Battle of Kosovo Skanderbeg's Rebellion (1443–1468) Contemporaneous Campaigns (1447–1462) Resistance until the Fall of Shkodra (1468–1479) The Battle of Kosovo took place on 15 June 1389 between an army led by the Serbian Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović and an invading army of the Ottoman Empire under the command of Sultan Murad Hüdavendigâr . The battle

1650-559: Is celebrated on June 28 and is an important Serbian national and religious holiday as a memorial day for the Battle of Kosovo. Emperor Stefan Uroš IV Dušan "the Mighty" (r. 1331–55) was succeeded by his son Stefan Uroš V "the Weak" (r. 1355–71), whose reign was characterized by the decline of central power and the rise of numerous virtually independent principalities; this period is known as

1760-474: Is less information about Lazar's preparations, he gathered his troops near Niš , on the right bank of the South Morava . His forces likely remained there until he learned that Murad had moved to Velbužd, whereupon he moved across Prokuplje to Kosovo. This was the best place he could choose as a battlefield, as it gave him control of all the routes that Murad could take. The historiographical examination of

1870-636: Is necessary (or followed by a short schwa , e.g. /fə/).: Summary tables According to tradition, Glagolitic was invented by the Byzantine Christian missionaries and brothers Saints Cyril and Methodius in the 860s, amid the Christianization of the Slavs . Glagolitic alphabet appears to be older, predating the introduction of Christianity, only formalized by Cyril and expanded to cover non-Greek sounds. The Glagolitic alphabet

1980-477: Is the only one in official use. The ligatures : were developed specially for the Serbian alphabet. Serbian Cyrillic does not use several letters encountered in other Slavic Cyrillic alphabets. It does not use hard sign ( ъ ) and soft sign ( ь ), particularly due to a lack of distinction between iotated consonants and non-iotated consonants, but the aforementioned soft-sign ligatures instead. It does not have Russian/Belarusian Э , Ukrainian/Belarusian І ,

2090-507: The Battle of Nicopolis , where Vuk Branković another Serbian magnate who ruled in parts of Kosovo had joined the anti-Ottoman coalition. As a reward for his contribution to the Ottoman victory, Lazarević was given a large part of Branković's lands. Branković himself died as an Ottoman prisoner, although in all later "Kosovo myth" narratives first created by Stefan Lazarević, he is portrayed as

2200-602: The Knights of Rhodes , led by John of Palisna , has been suggested as participants on Lazar's side by Croatian historian Neven Budak , who quotes in the Italian Chronicles Annales Forolivienses , " Domino Johanne Banno cum Crucesignatis " (Ban John with those marked by a cross). According to Budak, " Domine Johanne Bano " probably refers to John of Palisna the Ban of Croatia, but

2310-566: The Nazi puppet Independent State of Croatia banned the use of Cyrillic, having regulated it on 25 April 1941, and in June 1941 began eliminating " Eastern " (Serbian) words from Croatian, and shut down Serbian schools. The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet was used as a basis for the Macedonian alphabet with the work of Krste Misirkov and Venko Markovski . The Serbian Cyrillic script was one of

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2420-474: The Pannonian Sea . Instead, stone from Fruška Gora will be used. After transportation to Smederevo, it turned out that the statue is even in the worse condition than previously estimated, including terrible statics and loosened sword and eagle. A construction made of stainless steel was added inside the sculpture, to properly connect it to the pedestal. Also, it was discovered that part of the tombstone

2530-495: The djerv (Ꙉꙉ) for the Serbian reflexes of Pre-Slavic *tj and *dj (* t͡ɕ , * d͡ʑ , * d͡ʒ , and * tɕ ), later the letter evolved to dje (Ђђ) and tshe (Ћћ) letters . Vuk Stefanović Karadžić fled Serbia during the Serbian Revolution in 1813, to Vienna. There he met Jernej Kopitar , a linguist with interest in slavistics. Kopitar and Sava Mrkalj helped Vuk to reform Serbian and its orthography. He finalized

2640-654: The fall of the Serbian Empire . Uroš V was neither able to sustain the great empire created by his father nor repulse foreign threats and limit the independence of the nobility; he died childless in December 1371, after much of the Serbian nobility had been destroyed by the Ottomans in the Battle of Maritsa earlier that year. Prince Lazar , ruler of the northern part of the former empire (of Moravian Serbia ),

2750-479: The "Victor" is partially standing on the embankment and partially on the medieval rampart, which is why it is tilting. The technical documentation for the pedestal is lost so the Institute for the protection of the cultural monuments has done its own research. It showed that the core of the pedestal is made of concrete while from the outside it has been slab-sided with the stone. The monument was partially repaired in

2860-504: The "tilting is a process which continues and shows no signs of slowing down or stopping". In September 2017, it was reported that there is a crack on the monument. The crack starts from beneath the Victor's left foot, goes over the capital and down the Doric column. It is some 50 cm (20 in) long and quite visible. The cracks on the plinth , or the bronze base of the sculpture were

2970-405: The 1989–1991 period. Within this project, in 1990 it was cleaned from the graffiti and dirt. In 1996, the Institute tried to improve the static of the monument and to stop further tilting, but eventually unsuccessfully. The foundations were strengthened and the piles were placed to prevent the tilting. Still, the monument hasn't been fully straightened and remained in partially tilted position, as

3080-557: The 3 and 13 October 1914 banned the use of Serbian Cyrillic in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia , limiting it for use in religious instruction. A decree was passed on January 3, 1915, that banned Serbian Cyrillic completely from public use. An imperial order on October 25, 1915, banned the use of Serbian Cyrillic in the Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina , except "within the scope of Serbian Orthodox Church authorities". In 1941,

3190-470: The Belgrade architect Bajalović for a more solid pedestal for the statue. The Council, so I’ve heard, set to work. And then stopped. What have I to say? If they intend to set up the statue in Terazije, let them set it up. If they have found a better place, let them set it up there. After all, it may as well stay where it has been for all this time – in a shed. As far as I am concerned, I’d like it best to have

3300-509: The Christian coalition which fought in the battle of Kosovo. The hypothesis about his participation is considered to be "almost entirely false" as he had become an Ottoman vassal; he was in hostility with Lazar's ally Tvrtko I; and at the time of the battle he was most likely in Ulcinj . Serbian forces assembled at Kosovo Field approximately 3 miles northwest of Priština . Prince Lazar led

3410-697: The Latin script is almost always used in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina , whereas Cyrillic is in everyday use in Republika Srpska . The Serbian language in Croatia is officially recognized as a minority language; however, the use of Cyrillic in bilingual signs has sparked protests and vandalism . Serbian Cyrillic is an important symbol of Serbian identity. In Serbia, official documents are printed in Cyrillic only even though, according to

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3520-619: The Ottoman Empire ( Serbian–Ottoman War (1876–78) ; in 1881 Austria-Hungary and the Principality of Serbia signed a secret alliance ; in 1914 the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was carried out by the Serbian Gavrilo Princip (although a coincidence that his visit fell on that day, Vidovdan added nationalist symbolism to the event); in 1921 King Alexander I of Yugoslavia proclaimed

3630-532: The Ottoman Turks. Perceptions about the Battle of Kosovo in Serbian public discourse changed and were "harnessed in earnest in the rise of Serbian nationalism during the 19th century" and acquired new meanings in the context of the Greater Serbia nationalist project. Many of the elements which came to be seen later in Serbian discourse as crucial elements of Serbian tradition appear to have entered

3740-490: The Ottoman feudal hierarchy. Consequently, some of the Serbian principalities that were not already Ottoman vassals became so in the following years. These feudal lords – including the daughter of Prince Lazar – formed marriage ties with the new Sultan Bayezid. In the wake of these marriages, Stefan Lazarević , Lazar's son, became a loyal ally of Bayezid, and contributed significant forces to many of Bayezid's future military engagements, including

3850-448: The Ottoman lines: Fortunate, most fortunate are those hands of the twelve loyal lords who, having opened their way with the sword and having penetrated the enemy lines and the circle of chained camels, heroically reached the tent of Murat himself. Fortunate above all is that one who so forcefully killed such a strong vojvoda by stabbing him with a sword in the throat and belly. And blessed are all those who gave their lives and blood through

3960-456: The Ottoman wing commanded by Yakub Çelebi. When the knights' charge was finished, light Ottoman cavalry and light infantry counterattacked and the Serbian heavy armor became a disadvantage. In the center, Serbian troops managed to push back Ottoman forces, except for Bayezid's wing, which barely held off the Bosnians commanded by Vlatko Vuković , who inflicted disproportionately heavy losses on

4070-457: The Ottomans. The Ottomans, in a ferocious counterattack led by Bayezid, pushed the Serbian forces back and then prevailed later in the day, routing the Serbian infantry. Both flanks still held, with Vuković's Bosnian troops drifting toward the center to compensate for the heavy losses inflicted on the Serbian infantry. Historical facts say that Vuk Branković saw that there was no hope for victory and fled to save as many men as he could after Lazar

4180-567: The Serb center, Branković took command of the right, while Vuković the Bosnian general commanded the left, which also included the foreign contingents. The formidable Serb cavalry took their place at the forefront, with lighter cavalry armed with bows positioned on the flanks. Murad led the Ottoman center, entrusting his younger son Bayezid and his commander Evrenoz with the European troops on

4290-458: The Serbian and all other vassals who supported the other claimants to the throne by campaigning against them to directly annex their lands. In a series of campaigns from this era onward Serbia formally became an Ottoman province. The capture of Smederevo on June 20, 1459 marks the end of medieval Serbian statehood. The Kosovo Myth has for a long time been a central subject in Serbian folklore and Serbian literary tradition , and for centuries

4400-442: The Serbian corpus about Kosovo just a few decades before 19th century Serbian folklorists recorded them. Throughout most of the 19th century it did not carry its later importance, as the Principality of Serbia saw the region of Bosnia as its core, not Kosovo. The Congress of Berlin (1878) was the event which caused the elevation of the narratives about the Battle of Kosovo (" Kosovo myth ") in its modern status. The region of Bosnia

4510-429: The Serbian feudal class in response to these threats split in two factions. A northern faction supported a conciliatory, pro-Ottoman foreign policy as a means of defence of their lands against Hungary, while a southern faction which was immediately threatened by Ottoman expansion sought to establish a pro-Hungarian foreign policy. Some Serbian feudal lords continued to fight against the Ottomans and others were integrated in

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4620-531: The Victor was illuminated for the first time with the colours of EU – blue and yellow (stars) – thanks to the EU Delegation in Serbia. On 28 August 2019 preparatory works on the repair began. The base construction will be fixed first, in order to prevent micro movements and to straighten up the monument. The slabs and plates will be removed so that new piles and beams could be placed below. On 10 October 2019

4730-576: The alphabet in 1818 with the Serbian Dictionary . Karadžić reformed standard Serbian and standardised the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet by following strict phonemic principles on the Johann Christoph Adelung ' model and Jan Hus ' Czech alphabet . Karadžić's reforms of standard Serbian modernised it and distanced it from Serbian and Russian Church Slavonic , instead bringing it closer to common folk speech, specifically, to

4840-574: The alternative route through Sofia and the Nišava Valley , this led the Ottoman forces to Kosovo , one of the most important crossroads in the Balkans . From Kosovo, they could attack the lands of either Prince Lazar or Vuk Branković . Having stayed in Kratovo for a time, Murad and his troops marched through Kumanovo , Preševo , and Gjilan to Pristina , where he arrived on June 14. While there

4950-523: The assassination however, with another version describing Obilić playing dead on the battlefield and stabbing the Sultan as he walked. It is also unclear when the assassination occurred, as some sources suggest it happened once the battle turned against the Serbs or in the immediate aftermath of the battle, while others describe it happening early on as Miloš sought to prove his loyalty to Prince Lazar after he

5060-479: The available funds could only cover the casting costs for the Victor and lion masks. The statue arrived in Belgrade in the late July 1923 and was stored in a storehouse for plumbing pipes in Senjak . Yet, in 1923 the city council and Meštrović reached an agreement that he should do the monument in Terazije, but the sculpture remained in the storehouse for the next 4 years. However, the beginning of preparation works for

5170-496: The base from the inside completely, all four of them, rotted and disappeared. It was also established that the sculpture was lighter than previously thought: it was estimated to be 1.5 to 1.7 tons, but it turned out it has only 1 ton. The sculpture was exhibited for a while at Tsarigrad Road , path in the Kalemegdan Park and former starting point of the road which connected Belgrade to Constantinople. Kuzmanović also headed

5280-595: The basin below... In order to finish the work as quickly possible, Meštrović moved his studio to Belgrade. He worked in the semi-basement of the Elementary School King Petar I by the Cathedral Church , actually in the school's gym. Due to the size of the statue, the school's roof was partially removed. Within a short time he completed the figure of the Victor and lion's heads. Having sent them to Bohemia for casting, he began to work on

5390-470: The battle differ, making it difficult to reconstruct the course of events. It is believed that the battle commenced with Ottoman archers shooting at Serbian cavalry, who then made ready for the attack. After positioning in a wedge formation, the Serbian cavalry managed to break through the Ottoman left wing, but were not as successful against the center and the right wing. The Serbs had the initial advantage after their first charge, which significantly damaged

5500-462: The battle is challenging. No first-hand accounts from participants in the battle exist. Contemporary sources are written from widely diverging points of view and not much is discussed in them about battle tactics, army size and other battleground details. Estimates about army size vary, but the Ottoman army was larger. It is likely that the army led by Lazar had 12,000/15,000 to 20,000 troops against 27,000–30,000 led by Murad. A higher estimate places

5610-512: The battle on the side of the Christian coalition, bringing a band of Albanians to join Lazar's army. Of those Albanian lords, Teodor II Muzaka died during the battle, alongside a number of fellow Albanians. Based on Ottomans sources, it is claimed by Albanian historiography that the Albanians accounted for around a quarter of the total number of troops in Lazar's coalition, primarily under

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5720-495: The battle, it is described that twelve Serbian knights, known in Serbian epic poetry as the Jugović brothers , successfully breached the Ottoman defense. One of the knights, later identified as Miloš Obilić , pretended to have deserted to the Ottoman forces. When brought before Murad, Obilić pulled out a hidden dagger and killed the Sultan by slashing him. He was then killed by the Sultan's bodyguards. There are differing versions of

5830-647: The city council coincided with the completion of the Sava Avenue and the Great Stairway in Kalemegdan Park as well as with the celebration of the anniversary of the Salonika front breakthrough. It was in commemoration of that event's 10th anniversary that on 7 October 1928 the freshly refurbished part of the Sava Avenue was inaugurated and the Victor unveiled. Measurements from 1989 showed that

5940-506: The clergy. Division among public, elite and church soon gained political connotation. There were various, jokingly suggestions, like the proposition for the super-high pedestal so that its nudity won't be visible from the ground or that, since it is already nude, it may be placed in a swimming pool. Meštrović also had his say: Belgrade City Council asked my consent to set up the “Victor” in Terazije temporarily. But aware that our “temporarily” tends to last too long, I have made an agreement with

6050-433: The column and to make static of the foundation firmer, eight rebar bars were drilled into the ground. Each has a diameter of 40 mm (1.6 in) and an average length of 10 m (33 ft). Their purpose is not to straighten the column, only to make it more stable, so it will remain tilted. The column was cleaned from soot and the cracks in it, some up to 15 cm (5.9 in) deep, were filled. The sculpture had

6160-455: The column, all in bronze. The column was to have 5 segments, representing 5 centuries of Ottoman occupation. On 19 October 1913 the city contracted with Meštrović and he set to work on the fountain but, being an Austro-Hungarian subject, he had to leave Belgrade at the outbreak of the World War I . Background information about the fountain and its more detailed description were brought out by

6270-475: The command of Dhimitër Jonima, Đurađ II Balšić and Teodor II. According to historian Dejan Djokić , it is improbable that Lazar commanded a broad coalition composed of Albanians, Bulgarians, Czechs, Hungarians, Germans and Vlachs, in addition to his and Vuk Branković’s armies and reinforcements from Bosnia. Daniel Waley says that next to nothing can be said with assurance about numbers and multi-ethnic composition of both armies. A group of crusaders linked to

6380-511: The complicated political setting preceding the battle has been simplified in the battle being a clash between Christianity and Islam . However, Miodrag Popović notes that in Ottoman Serbia of the 16th and 17th century, the local population was " Turkophilic " in accordance with the general climate of necessary adaptation to Ottoman rule. Тhey did not give the legend of the Battle of Kosovo an interpretation unfavorable or hostile to

6490-576: The confluence of the Sava and the Danube , and over the vast Pannonian plain , towards the very distant Fruška Gora mountain (until 1918 a domain of Austro-Hungarian empire ), it is probably the most powerful, most popular visual symbol of Belgrade. The statue was removed from the column in October 2019 for repairs. It was returned on the pedestal after the restoration on 14 February 2020. The history of

6600-530: The council decided to rename the Terazije square and build the fountain with the monument in it. They also awarded the construction of the monument to Meštrović, without architectural competition. Meštrović accepted the job and quickly presented his design. The original concept was that of a monumental fountain which was to be placed in Terazije or what then was the Square of Crown Prince Alexander . The fountain

6710-413: The deepest, 4 to 8 mm (0.16 to 0.31 in) wide. The damage of the base, both to the sculpture and the pedestal, is such, that the sculpture stands on the inner, corroded iron skeleton and not on its bronze body. The reporters remarked that it looks like the "Victor stomped with his left foot, creating the crack". The Institute stated that the crack is there for a long time and that it is not affecting

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6820-615: The dialect of Eastern Herzegovina which he spoke. Karadžić was, together with Đuro Daničić , the main Serbian signatory to the Vienna Literary Agreement of 1850 which, encouraged by Austrian authorities, laid the foundation for Serbian, various forms of which are used by Serbs in Serbia , Montenegro , Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia today. Karadžić also translated the New Testament into Serbian, which

6930-464: The glorious manner of martyrdom as victims of the dead leader over his ugly corpse. Another Italian account, Mignanelli's work of 1416, asserted that it was Lazar who killed the Ottoman sultan. Both armies were destroyed in the battle. Both Lazar and Murad lost their lives, and the remnants of their armies retreated from the battlefield. Murad's son Bayezid killed his younger brother, Yakub Çelebi, upon hearing of their father's death, thus becoming

7040-448: The large reliefs of lancers. Sketches for the large lion figures were also done. Meštrović's statue of the Victor was done in 1913, immediately after and as a continuation, in concept and style, of the cycle of sculptures intended for his large-scale project for a shrine commemorating the Battle of Kosovo ( Vidovdanski hram ), which includes representative sculptures such as Srdja Zlopogledja, Miloš Obilić and Marko Kraljević. Conceived as

7150-834: The largest battles of late medieval times. In comparison, in the battle of Agincourt (1415) even by assuming the higher estimate of army size as correct, around 10,000 fewer soldiers were engaged. The Ottoman army was supported by auxiliary troops from the Anatolian Turkoman Beylik of Isfendiyar , and comprised no more than 2,000 Janissaries . Lazar's main forces included the Serbian contingent from his principality, troops of Vuk Branković his son in law and Bosnian forces under Vlatko Vuković , sent by Lazar's ally King Tvrtko of Bosnia. Lazar's Christian coalition also included Albanians, Croatians, Hungarians and Bulgarians. Teodor II Muzaka , Dhimitër Jonima and other Albanian lords and aristocrats participated in

7260-559: The legend was not fully formed immediately after the battle but evolved from different originators into various versions. In Serbian folklore , the Kosovo Myth acquired new meanings and importance during the rise of Serbian nationalism in the 19th century as the Serbian state sought to expand, especially towards Kosovo which was still part of the Ottoman Empire . In modern discourse, the battle would come to be seen as integral to Serbian history, tradition and national identity. Vidovdan

7370-428: The monument and place it "on the ridge of the Belgrade Town, at the mouth of the Sava and the Danube". As Kumanudi had other duties in the state government, this decision was confirmed by his deputy Kosta Jovanović, and Kumanudi was neither aware or notified about it at the time. Kumanudi then informed Meštrović that the preparatory work on erecting the monument had been ceased contrary to his instructions. This decision of

7480-426: The monument as a whole rather than in detail, which resulted in the desired monumentality and the perception of the monument as a sign or a symbol. Over time the Victor has become one of the most salient symbols of Belgrade. Along with the Monument of Gratitude to France , it belongs to the few public monuments erected between the two world wars in Belgrade which pursued contemporary stylistic trends. The Victor Monument

7590-417: The monument goes back to the period between 1913 and 1928, even though the initial idea was born in 1912, when Serbia's success in the First Balkan War inspired proposals for erecting a monument in Belgrade to honour the final victory over the Ottomans. In August 1913 Belgrade city council made the decision to mark this momentous event by erecting a monument to Victory. Headed by the mayor Ljubomir Davidović ,

7700-419: The monument's foundation in May 1927 caused a public controversy. The public challenged the erection of the monument on moral and artistic grounds. Instigated by the author and jurist Petar Odavić, the campaign against the monument began. Odavić published an article in the Vreme magazine, attacking the sculpture claiming it insults the moral of chaste Belgrade ladies, so as the memory on Serbian soldiers which it

7810-408: The newspaper Vreme : ...a large basin (shell) the outer side of which would be decorated with a relief depicting warriors on galloping horses. Affixed along the rim of the shell would be lion’s heads (from the present-day jet fountain) spouting water into the shell. [...] The column would be girdled with spaced hoops to which Turkish head masks would be affixed, and each would spout a jet of water into

7920-421: The nose and closed it. It was also found that the steel connection between the handle and the blade of the sword completely corroded. The screw which also supported it was completely rotten and disappeared. It was a pure luck that the blade didn't fell down from the pedestal. Over 30 bullet and shrapnel holes were found on the statue. One cannonball was discovered in one of its legs. To prevent further tilting of

8030-475: The occupation by Austrian, German and Hungarian troops, all was destroyed except for the statue of the Victor and lion masks, which were away in Bohemia for casting. The exact appearance of the fountain is known from the photographs of Meštrović's original drawings taken in his Zagreb studio by the sculptor Veselko Zorić. The project of erecting the fountain in Terazije was revived after the First World War, but

8140-509: The official status (designated in the constitution as the " official script ", compared to Latin's status of "script in official use" designated by a lower-level act, for national minorities). It is also an official script in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro , along with Gaj's Latin alphabet . Serbian Cyrillic is in official use in Serbia , Montenegro , and Bosnia and Herzegovina . Although Bosnia "officially accept[s] both alphabets",

8250-414: The only time in history when an Ottoman Sultan was killed in battle. Serbian manpower was depleted and had no capacity to field large armies against future Ottoman campaigns, which relied on new reserve forces from Anatolia. The Serbian principalities that were not already Ottoman vassals, became so in the following years. The mythologization of the battle and writings began shortly after the event, though

8360-419: The opportunity to do the whole Fountain the way it was originally conceived. Especially vocal against it were the members of several female organizations. They considered the placing of a figure of a nude man in the center of the city is "rude" and that it will damage the moral of the girls. After much controversy, debate and criticism, the city council decided not to set up the monument in Terazije, but to find

8470-409: The piles were pushed into the soft section of the rampart and the subsidence of the terrain continued. Researches in 2007–2009 showed that it was tilted 0.8 mm (0.031 in). In 2015, when the broken plates were being removed and replaced at the foothill of the statue, it was discovered that the earth beneath is sagging. The measurements were conducted and an underground room, dug in the 1950s,

8580-418: The project was announced in October 2018. The bronze statue itself, which is damaged by the various ammunitions in time, will be removed from the column, repaired and returned to its place. The column and the pedestal will be repaired in situ and a temporary workshop will be set at the plateau on which the monument is built, where the statue will be repaired, too. On 9 May 2018 on the occasion of Europe Day,

8690-474: The repairs of another Fortress landmark, the Monument of Gratitude to France , in 2018. The sculpture has never been repaired since the unveiling. In time it turned black, with only patches of preserved green copper patina . The inner construction of the statue and its connection to the pedestal will also be replaced as, at the time, they were made of iron which corroded in time. The top of the pedestal, on which

8800-546: The right wing; Murad's other son, Yakub, led the Anatolian troops on the left. The wings were fortified with around 1,000 archers , while the Janissaries held the central position, supported by Murad and his cavalry guard standing behind them. Ottoman sources claim that Murat also placed camels in front to scare the Serbian cavalry. One of the Ottoman commanders was Pasha Yiğit Bey . Serbian and Turkish accounts of

8910-434: The same period, linguists led by Ljudevit Gaj adapted the Latin alphabet, in use in western South Slavic areas, using the same principles. As a result of this joint effort, Serbian Cyrillic and Gaj's Latin alphabets have a complete one-to-one congruence, with the Latin digraphs Lj, Nj, and Dž counting as single letters. The updated Serbian Cyrillic alphabet was officially adopted in the Principality of Serbia in 1868, and

9020-413: The sculpture stands, will be completely replaced. Deadline is set for February 2020. The stone slabs used originally were from Tašmajdan quarry, which has been closed a long time ago. Also, the rock below the monument, which was partially used during the construction, can't be used as it protected as the natural monument today, as it originates from the period when the area of Belgrade was submerged under

9130-768: The semi-vowels Й or Ў , nor the iotated letters Я (Russian/Bulgarian ya ), Є (Ukrainian ye ), Ї ( yi ), Ё (Russian yo ) or Ю ( yu ), which are instead written as two separate letters: Ја, Је, Ји, Јо, Ју . Ј can also be used as a semi-vowel, in place of й . The letter Щ is not used. When necessary, it is transliterated as either ШЧ , ШЋ or ШТ . Serbian italic and cursive forms of lowercase letters б , г , д , п , and т (Russian Cyrillic alphabet) differ from those used in other Cyrillic alphabets: б , г , д , п , and т (Serbian Cyrillic alphabet). The regular (upright) shapes are generally standardized among languages and there are no officially recognized variations. That presents

9240-533: The senate of Trogir (August 1) and the council of Florence claimed that he had defeated the Ottomans in Kosovo. The response of the Florentines to Tvrtko (20 October 1389) is an important historical document as it confirms that Murad was killed during the battle and that it took place on June 28 (St. Vitus day/Vidovdan). The killer is not named, but it was one of 12 Serbian noblemen who managed to break through

9350-432: The size of Murad's army up to 40,000 and Lazar's up to 25,000 troops. Ottoman historian Mehmed Neşri who authored the first detailed report in Ottoman historiography about the battle of Kosovo in 1521 represents the Ottoman imperial narrative. As an Ottoman Sultan died before or during the battle, the size of the Christian army is presented as significantly larger in Ottoman sources. Neşri placed it at around 500,000, double

9460-408: The size of the Ottoman army. According to historian Noel Malcolm , Ottoman writers were most likely eager to build up the size and significance of Lazar's army, which they described as vastly outnumbering Murat's, in order to add to the glory of the "Turkish victory". Moreover, Malcolm claims that the Ottoman sources lack reliability. Regardless of the exact army size, the battle of Kosovo was one of

9570-408: The so-called "Kosovo cycle", which became the final version of the transformation of the myth. The modern narrativization of the legend focuses on three main motifs: sacrifice, betrayal and heroism, exemplified respectively by Prince Lazar choosing a "heavenly kingdom" over an "earthly kingdom", Vuk Branković's supposed desertion and Miloš Obilić's assassination of Murad. In Serbian historiography,

9680-508: The sole heir to the Ottoman throne. The Serbs were left with too few men to defend their lands effectively, while the Turks had many more troops in the east. The immediate effect of the depletion of Serbian manpower was a shift in the stance of Hungarian policy towards Serbia. Hungary tried to exploit the effects of battle and expand in northern Serbia, while the Ottomans renewed their campaign in southern Serbia as early as 1390–1391. Domestically,

9790-446: The stability or the static of the monument, despite the tilt. The crack was growing as the water was entering into it, getting frozen and expanding during the winters, causing further corrosion. The stone on the statue's round bas on top of the pedestal crumbled almost completely, while the steel parts rusted. They announced the full reconstruction and static overhaul for 2019, for which the special technologies are required. The bidding for

9900-403: The statue itself was removed and transported to Smederevo , where sculptor Zoran Kuzmanović will repair it. For the first time since it was posted in 1928, the statue was physically removed from its pedestal. When it was lowered to the ground, it was shown that the statue remained attached to the pedestal only by one screw and the lightning rod wire, while the cables which connected the statue to

10010-402: The technique of the dry ice abrasive blasting at the temperature of −75 °C (−103 °F). It was discovered that the nose was partially covered with bronze tin patch, presumably because of the faulty mold. The patch separated in time which allowed for the water to enter inside the sculpture which explains why everything rusted and decayed inside. Kuzmanović cast a proper bronze section of

10120-430: The term is uncertain.” Budak himself suggests that the term could simply designate warriors who marked a cross on their clothing, a customary practice before going to war against infidels. Both armies contained soldiers of various origins. Contemporary Greek authors list among participants Northern Albanians, those of Himarë , Epirus and the coast. Based on Neşri's account, Đurađ II Balšić has also been linked to

10230-545: The two official scripts used to write Serbo-Croatian in Yugoslavia since its establishment in 1918, the other being Gaj's Latin alphabet ( latinica ). Following the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, Serbian Cyrillic is no longer used in Croatia on national level, while in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro it remained an official script. Under the Constitution of Serbia of 2006, Cyrillic script

10340-611: The writer of the Chronicles could have been honouring someone who was no longer a ban , such as John Horvat . British historian and Hospitaller scholar Anthony Luttrell disputes Budak’s assumption that " crucesignati " means the Knights Hospitaller, stating, “Hospitallers wore a cross but technically were not crusaders or crucesignati , how the author of the Annales Forolivienses understood

10450-569: Was accused of treachery. The battle marked the only time in history an Ottoman Sultan was killed in battle. The event of the battle quickly became known in Europe. Not much attention was paid to the outcome in these early rumors which circulated, but they all focused on the fact that the Ottoman Sultan had been killed in the battle. Some of the earliest reports about the battle come from the court of Tvrtko of Bosnia who in separate letters to

10560-419: Was aware of the Ottoman threat and began diplomatic and military preparations for a campaign against them. After the defeat of the Ottomans at Pločnik (1386) and Bileća (1388) , Murad I , the reigning Ottoman sultan, moved his troops from Philippoupolis to Ihtiman (modern Bulgaria) in the spring of 1388. From there they traveled across Velbužd and Kratovo (modern North Macedonia ). Though longer than

10670-630: Was based on the Slavic dialect of Thessaloniki . Part of the Serbian literary heritage of the Middle Ages are works such as Miroslav Gospel , Vukan Gospels , St. Sava's Nomocanon , Dušan's Code , Munich Serbian Psalter , and others. The first printed book in Serbian was the Cetinje Octoechos (1494). It's notable extensive use of diacritical signs by the Resava dialect and use of

10780-413: Was captured. In popular oral tradition, however, Branković is said to have fled and betrayed Lazar, a theory which was first presented by the writer Mavro Orbini in a 1601 work but is largely seen as unfounded. Sometime after Branković's retreat from the battle, the remaining Bosnian and Serb forces yielded the field, believing that a victory was no longer possible. In one of the earliest accounts of

10890-419: Was cultivated mostly in the form of oral epic poetry and guslar poems. The mythologization of the battle occurred shortly after the event. The legend was not fully formed immediately after the battle but evolved from different originators into various versions. The philologist Vuk Karadžić collected traditional epic poems related to the topic of the Battle of Kosovo and in the 19th century, he released

11000-484: Was designated as a cultural heritage property in 1992. Serbian Cyrillic alphabet Reformed Serbian based its alphabet on the previous 18th century Slavonic-Serbian script, following the principle of "write as you speak and read as it is written", removing obsolete letters and letters representing iotated vowels , introducing ⟨J⟩ from the Latin alphabet instead, and adding several consonant letters for sounds specific to Serbian phonology . During

11110-516: Was discovered beneath the plateau. That delayed the works on the plateau itself, which were finished in September 2016: the new marble plates were placed, so as the decorative lights, while the problem of draining the atmospheric waters was solved, but the monument itself (both the pedestal and the sculpture) were not renovated. That same year the Belgrade University Civil Engineering Faculty concluded that

11220-399: Was effectively handed out to Austria-Hungary and Serbian expansion towards that area was blocked, which in turn left southwards expansion towards Kosovo as the only available geopolitical alternative for the Serbian state. Today, the Battle of Kosovo has come to be seen in public discourse as "particularly important to Serbian history, tradition and national identity ". The battle has become

11330-696: Was embedded into the base. Tombstone probably originated from the Old Cemetery , the 19th cemetery in Tašmajdan. The cemetery was relocated by 1927 to the Belgrade New Cemetery and the remaining tombstones were reused for various construction works around the city. The stone will be preserved and exhibited. Though this was the usual practice in the Balkans in general (the old, reused materials are called spolije ), art historians are surprised that

11440-467: Was fought on the Kosovo field in the territory ruled by Serbian nobleman Vuk Branković , in what is today Kosovo , about 5 kilometers (3.1 mi) northwest of the modern city of Pristina . The army under Prince Lazar consisted mostly of his own troops, a contingent led by Branković, and a contingent sent from Bosnia by King Tvrtko I , commanded by Vlatko Vuković . However, Lazar was also supported by

11550-631: Was gradually superseded in later centuries by the Cyrillic script, developed around by Cyril's disciples, perhaps at the Preslav Literary School at the end of the 9th century. The earliest form of Cyrillic was the ustav , based on Greek uncial script, augmented by ligatures and letters from the Glagolitic alphabet for consonants not found in Greek. There was no distinction between capital and lowercase letters. The standard language

11660-579: Was in exclusive use in the country up to the interwar period . Both alphabets were official in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and later in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia . Due to the shared cultural area, Gaj's Latin alphabet saw a gradual adoption in the Socialist Republic of Serbia since, and both scripts are used to write modern standard Serbian. In Serbia , Cyrillic is seen as being more traditional, and has

11770-582: Was published in 1868. He wrote several books; Mala prostonarodna slaveno-serbska pesnarica and Pismenica serbskoga jezika in 1814, and two more in 1815 and 1818, all with the alphabet still in progress. In his letters from 1815 to 1818 he used: Ю, Я, Ы and Ѳ. In his 1815 song book he dropped the Ѣ. The alphabet was officially adopted in 1868, four years after his death. From the Old Slavic script Vuk retained these 24 letters: He added one Latin letter: And 5 new ones: He removed: Orders issued on

11880-488: Was the original name of the statue) as the crowning motif of the fountain as a monument to freedom and liberation from the centuries-long Ottoman occupation lost its originally intended sense and its name came to reflect its new dedication to the Salonika front breakthrough and the victory of the Serbian army in the First World War. The simple design of the pedestal and its well-proportioned height made it possible to take in

11990-399: Was to be built of stone in the form of an oval basin, with 8 m (26 ft) in diameter, resting on the backs of four lions. At the centre of the basin was to be a marble column surmounted by the 5 m (16 ft)-tall statue of the Victor. According to the city council resolutions of 4 October 1913 Meštrović was also to produce twenty masks for the rim of the basin and fifty masks for

12100-466: Was to represent, by not having "symbols of the Serbian soldiers", like the šajkača hat or the opanak footwear, and that it doesn't represent a Serbian hero but rather some ancient one. Still, the design was endorsed by numerous members of Serbian academia, like Bogdan Popović , Stevan Hristić , Branislav Petronijević , Ksenija Atanasijević , Zora Petrović , Beta Vukanović or Stanislav Krakov , but also by certain women organizations and parts of

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