In the city Despot Đurađ erected the Church of the Annunciation, the city’s cathedral church, where the mortal remains of St. Luke the Evangelist were kept, from the beginning of 1453 until the fall of the city in 1459, which is why he is still considered the patron saint of the City of Smederevo to this day U gradu je despot Đurađ podigao Crkvu Blagoveštenja, sabornu gradsku crkvu, u kojoj su od početka 1453, pa sve do pada grada 1459. čuvane mošti jevanđeliste Svetog Luke, koji se zbog toga i danas smatra zaštitnikom grada Smedereva
Nad glavnom kapijom Malog grada motri Jerinina kula. Desno su Kula broj 3 i Kula broj 4 ili Krstata (Despotova) kula, kao i Kula broj 5. Kao i u vreme despota Đurđa, tako i danas ispred kapije postoji vodeni rov Above the Main gate to the Small Town is Jerina’s Tower. To its right is Tower No. 3 and Krstat (Despot’s) Tower, as well as Tower No. 5. Just like during the time of Despot Đurađ, a water trench/moat exists in front of the gate
IN THE GREAT DESPOT’S COURT The first part to be erected was the Small Town, the castle of Despot Đurađ with six towers, of which the strongest, Donžon, was intended to be the last line of defence. The most important source about the construction of the city actually lies on one of the towers of the Small Town – in the Despot’s (Krstata) Tower. This is the benefactor’s inscription of the builder, constructed in red brick, the modern Serbian version of which translates as: “In Christ God’s faithful despot Đurađ, Lord of the Serbs and Coastal County; at his behest this city is erected in the year 6938 [1430]”. Today the Small Town is a multifunctional space, a meeting pla- ce for tourists and a venue for a wide range of cultural events. The finest part of the despot’s castle was the great hall for recep- tions, which is mentioned in Venetian sources as the magna sa- la audientiae. The Great Town of Smederevo Fortress was completed by 1439. It was then that another 19 towers were erected, with a height exceeding 20 metres and with walls up to four metres thick. A water trench was dug on the side towards the town, which connected the Danube and Jezava rivers.
brother of Đurađ’s wife Jerina (Irene), from a prominent Greek family, so the people believed that the construction must have been the whim of the cruel despotess. The people cursed her, and the curse soon ar- rived with the builders. Her daughter Mara had to marry Sul- tan Murad II, and shortly after construc- tion of the town was completed, her son- in-law, Murad II, blinded her sons, Stefan and Grgur. And, finally, suspicion still lin- gers over whether Jerina poisoned her son Lazar at the monastery on Mount Rudnik where she became a nun. What we do know for certain from his- tory, however, is that Đurađ Branković in- herited the Serbian throne after the sudden death of his uncle, Despot Stefan Lazare- vić, in 1427. Left without the capital of Bel- grade, he decided to build a new capital
at the confluence where the Jezava merg- es with the Danube, on the far northern border of the Serbian Despotate, where there was already an existing settlement called Smederevo. The masonry work was an unprece- dented feat. Construction began in 1428 and, with brief interruptions, was complet- ed with the Turkish works around 1481. The fortress is mainly built of various types of stone: limestone, granite, slate and even ordinary riverbed pebbles. The build- ing was monumental, and the stone used in construction was brought from various quarries. Ancient Roman monuments were even demolished in Viminacium and near- by ancient towns and fortifications. How- ever, even today the bricks used to dec- orate some parts of the fortress are still visible in some places. The careful eye will
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