Kladovo

Kladovo
Кладово
Municipality and Town

Fetislam Fortress

Coat of arms

Location of the municipality of Kladovo within Serbia
Coordinates: 44°37′N 22°37′E / 44.617°N 22.617°E / 44.617; 22.617Coordinates: 44°37′N 22°37′E / 44.617°N 22.617°E / 44.617; 22.617
Country  Serbia
District Bor
Settlements 23
Government
  Mayor Dejan Nikolic
Area[1]
  Municipality 629 km2 (243 sq mi)
Population (2011 census)[2]
  Town 8,913
  Municipality 20,635
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
  Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 19320
Area code +381 19
Car plates KL
Website www.kladovo.org.rs

Kladovo (Serbian Cyrillic: Кладово, pronounced [klâdɔʋɔ]) is a town and municipality in the Bor District of eastern Serbia. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube river. The population of the Kladovo town is 8,913, while the population of the Kladovo municipality with surrounding settlements is 20,635 (2011 census).

Name

In Serbian, the town is known as Kladovo (Кладово), in Vlachas Claudia, in German as Kladowo or Kladovo and in Latin and Romanised Greek as Zanes. In the time of the Roman Empire, the name of the town was Zanes while the fortifications was known as Diana and Pontes (from Greek "sea" -pontos, or Roman "bridge" - pontem). Emperor Trajan had a number of fortications constructed in the area during the Roman times, such as the well-known Trajan's Bridge (Pontes was built on the Serbian side, Theodora was built on the Romanian side). Later, Slavs founded a settlement that was named Novi Grad (Нови Град), while Ottomans built a fortress here and called it Fethülislam. The present-day name of Kladovo is first recorded in 1596 in an Austrian military document.

There are several theories about the origin of the current name of the town:

There is a settlement with the same name in Russia near Moscow and it is believed that this settlement was founded by Serbs who moved there from Serbian Kladovo in the 18th century. One of the suburbs of Berlin also has this name, which originates from the Slavic Lusatian Serbs (Sorbs) who live in eastern Germany.

The name is also found in the Arad and Timiș counties of Romania, Cladova, in Arad county Cladova, Arad, Cladova in Timiș county Cladova, Timiș

History

Early Bronze Age pottery of the Kostolac-Kocofeni culture was found in Donje Butorke, Kladovo,[3] as well as several miniature duck-shaped vases of 14th century BC in Mala Vrbica and Korbovo.[4] Bronze Age necropolis with rituals, pottery (decorated with meander) and other significant archaeological items were found in Korbovo.[5][6]

In ancient times, a fortification near Trajan's bridge named Zanes/Pontes existed at this location, the area was governed by the Dacian Albocense tribe. In the Middle Ages, the Slavs founded here new town named Novi Grad (Нови Град), but it was razed by the Hungarians in 1502. It was rebuilt in 1524 by the Ottomans and received new name: Fethi Islam (Fethülislam). According to Ottoman traveler, Evliya Chelebi, who visited the town in 1666, most of its inhabitants spoke local Slavic language and Turkish language, while some also spoke Vlach. In 1784, the population of Kladovo numbered 140 Muslim and 50 Christian houses.

From 1929 to 1941, Kladovo was part of the Morava Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

Settlements

Aside from the town of Kladovo, the municipality includes the following settlements:

Towns
Villages

Population

Ethnic groups in the municipality

According to the 2002 census the population of the Kladovo municipality is composed of:

According to the 2002 census, all settlements in the Kladovo municipality have Serb ethnic majority.

Ethnic groups in the town

According to the 2002 census the population of the Kladovo town is composed of:

Economy

Sport center "Jezero"

The main business is the hydro-electric power plant "Đerdap". Other businesses began primarily to support the building and operation of the power plant, and the local folk.

The population of the villages around Kladovo is mostly supported by the family members who work as guest-workers in the countries of western Europe, agriculture is a side activity more than an income-generating one.

Features

Tabula Traiana

Kladovo has one hospital, two daycare and kindergarten centers, one elementary school (grades 1 through 8), one high school and several vocational schools. Though the river Danube is very polluted by international standards, many people still fish in it. Before the power plant was built, sturgeon caviar from this area was very popular and was exported as a delicacy to the western Europe and the United States.

The nearby archeological sites include the remnants of Roman Emperor Trajan's bridge, one of many Trajan's tables, remnants of Trajan's road through the Danube's Iron Gates, and the Roman fortress Diana.

During the Ottoman occupation of the Balkan peninsula a fortress was built near the town. The fortress's name is Fetislam (originally Feht-ul-Islam meaning "gate of Islam") and in the 1970s it was converted into a sports complex containing children's playgrounds, track and soccer fields, handball, volleyball and tennis courts. The Iron Gates national park offers scenic views, excellent hunting grounds, and many trails for hiking (most trails are not well marked or maintained, so hiking is recommended only for the experienced).

The town has two hotels:"Đerdap" and "Aquastar Danube". Nearby the city (8 km on the road to Belgrade) there is a youth camp named "Karataš" (Turkish kara-tash for "black stone") which can host some of the visiting tourists. Kladovo has many cafés and restaurants, some offering live music entertainment late into the night. The town's quay stretches about 3 kilometers (1.9 mi) along the Danube river, offering quite beautiful scenery for strolling.

Famous residents

Born in Kladovo municipality:

Temporary residents:

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kladovo.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/5/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.