Smederevo

In Serbian, the city is known as Smederevo (Смедерево), in Latin, Italian, Romanian and Greek as Semendria, in Hungarian as Szendrő or Vég-Szendrő, in Turkish as Semendire.

The name of Smederevo was first recorded in the Charter of the Byzantine Emperor Basil II from 1019, in the part related to the Eparchy of Braničevo (a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Ochrid. Another written record is found in the Charter of Duke Lazar of Serbia from 1381, by which he bestowed the Monastery of Ravanica and villages and properties ’to the Great Bogosav with the commune and heritage’’.

The Latin-Italian name also occurs in Belogradum et Semendria and Belgrado e Semendria, two of the short-lived 20th-century synonyms of the Latin titular bishopric of Belgrade, which was suppressed in 1948 in favor of the residential Latin Archdiocese of Belgrade (Beograd) and 'newly' established titular bishopric of Alba marittima.

Smederevo Coat of Arms uses two shades of blue, which deviates from the heraldic principles (only one shade of every color, contrasting those). Also, the bar with the year 1430 is placed over the shield. Emblem elements are six white discs arranged 3 + 2 + 1, which represents grapes, Smederevo fortress, dark blue and white horizontal lines (representing the Danube).

Aside the city of Smederevo, the administrative area includes the following 27 settlements (number of population according to 2011 census in brackets[1]):

Smederevo has a recent history of heavy industry and manufacturing, which is a result of active and aggressive industrialization of the region conducted by Tito's regime during the 1950s-1960s era. Previously, this entire geographical region had a heavy focus on agricultural production.

The city is home to the only operating steel mill in the country - Železara Smederevo, previously known as Sartid, which is situated in the suburb of Radinac. This was privatized and sold to U.S. Steel in 2003 for $33 million.[5] Following the global economic crisis, U.S. Steel sold the plant to the government of Serbia for a symbolic $1 to avoid closing the plant. The plant was renamed Železara Smederevo and at the time employed 5,400 workers.[6] In 2016, the Serbian government managed to strike a deal with a Chinese conglomerate Hesteel Group, which purchased the effective assets for $46 million.[7]

The "Milan Blagojević" home appliance factory is the second largest industry company in the city. Smederevo is also an agricultural area, with significant production of fruit and vines. However, the large agricultural combine "Godomin" has been in financial difficulty since the 1990s and is almost defunct as of 2005. The grape variety known as Smederevka is named after the city. The "Ishrana" factory is an important supplier of bakery products in northern and eastern Serbia.

A U.S.-Dutch consortium, Comico Oil, planned to build a $250 million oil refinery in the industrial zone of the city in 2012.[8] However, the consortium lost its permit to build the refinery after it failed to meet payment deadlines for the land lease a year later.[9]

As of September 2017, Smederevo has one of 14 free economic zones established in Serbia.[10]

Economic preview

The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity (as of 2018):[11]

The river traffic infrastructure of the city of Smederevo consists of Danube waterway, old port, marina, new port, terminal for liquid Naftna Industrija Srbije loads, as well as smaller piers (gravel pits) which are located along the bank in the industrial zone. The port is registered for international traffic and is located in the very center of the city of Smederevo.

It has reloading capacities which can realize 1.5 million freight tons a year. By 2019, the Government of Serbia invested 9.5 million euros for new railway construction built for the needs of Port of Smederevo.[12] It was also announced that starting in 2020, the Government of Serbia plans to invest 93 million euros for the construction of new Port Terminal.[12][13]

Karađorđe's mulberry, under which Karađorđe received the city keys during the 1805 uprising.

Among the main tourist attractions in the city are the Smederevo Fortress and the Obrenović Villa.

There is an old white mulberry tree in the center of Smederevo. Called Karađorđev dud ("Karađorđe's mulberry"), it is estimated to be over 300 years old. Though there are no historical sources to specifically confirm that, it is believed that under this tree dizdar Muharem Guša, Ottoman commander of the fortress, handed over the keys to the city to Karađorđe on 8 November 1805, after the city was liberated during the First Serbian Uprising. In May 2018 the tree was declared a natural monument of the III category, as the first "living" monument in Smederevo. The three is supported by metallic pipes, but there is an initiative that two sculptures, shaped like a male and female hand, should be installed instead.[14]

Hotel Grand – Regija

In the 2011 census, there was 108,209 residents in the city administrative area,[15] of which 101,908 were Serbs and 2,369 were Romani.[16]

1805-1941 (estimate)

Year	1805	1834	1874	1884	1900	1905	1910	1921	1931	1941
Urban	4,000	3,907	8,343	6,600	7,141	7,097	7,411	8,500	10,500	11,500
Other	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Total	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a

1948-present [1]

Year	1948	1953	1961	1971	1981	1991	2002	2011
Urban	14,206	18,328	27,182	40,192	55,369	63,884	62,805	64,175
Other	45,339	47,804	50,500	50,458	51,997	51,733	47,004	44,034
Total	59,545	66,132	77,682	90,650	107,366	115,617	109,809	108,209

Smederevo is twinned with:

• Pale, Bosnia Herzegovina
• Volos, Greece
• Tangshan, China[18][19][20]
• Herceg Novi, Montenegro

• Municipalities of Serbia
• Cities and towns in Serbia
• Populated places of Serbia
• Smederevo Fortress
• Smederevo Airport

Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Semendria" . Encyclopædia Britannica. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 616.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Smederevo.

• Official website
• Virtual walk through Smederevo www.360serbia.com (in Serbian)
• Visit Smederevo (Tourist Organization City of Smederevo) www.visitsmederevo (in English and Serbian)
• Smederevo's Autumn