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DOI: 10.34298/9788677431488041

UDC: 656.62(497.11)“14/15“

pp. 41–58

language: serbian

Dragana AMEDOSKI, Vladeta PETROVIĆ

WEST MORAVA CROSSINGS (15–16TH CENTURY)

Summary

During the Middle Ages, traffic between the Adriatic coast and the midland of the Balkans was carried out mainly by caravans. In the countryside, on the roads, there was also vehicular traffic, especially in the plains and less hilly areas such as Pomoravlje, Polimlje, Hvosno and Kosovo. The road network was also affected by the church organisation of the Serbian autocephalous archiepiscopacy with its headquarters in the monastery of Žiča and the erection of monasteries, as important economic centres. Economic development prompted by mining as of the mid-13th century, channelled the road network towards important economic city centres. In the case of Western Pomoravlje, the road network gravitated towards Rudnik and Plana. With the definitive fall of the Serbian Despotate in 1459, the Ottomans also took control of the road routes in Western Pomoravlje. The West Morava was still used for transporting people, grains, cattle, weapons, and war supplies. The population engaged in transport-related work was granted a special status with guaranteed duty exemptions: persons who took care of the security of roads and crossings (derbenciler), tool collectors (kaldırımcılar), shipmen (gemiciler), who provided all kinds of river crossings where it was not possible to build a bridge, and bridge toll keepers (köprücüler). Muslims and Christians among them were selected according to their abilities. The rivers were crossed mainly by ships and rafts, and in places where conditions allowed, bridges were built. They were usually built of wood and the bridge type was mostly a pontoon. They met both civilian and military needs, and they could be built relatively quickly. The most developed docks along the West Morava were Gugolj, Čačak, Goričani, Cvetke, Grdica, Ugljarevo, Trstenik, Jasika, Šanac, Mrzenica. The main route followed the course of the West Morava from Gugolj to Kruševac, and it also intersected the roads of different importance that crossed the West Morava. At the Gugolj junction, the roads from Arilje and Užice crossed. Close to Čačak, an economically significant passage disjoined towards Rudnik. The Ottoman authorities took care of and maintained crossings on the West and Great Morava as they were important military and strategic points for administration. Most of these crossings remained in operation until the 19th century. From one of the censuses (1868–1870) it came to our knowledge that there were 14 ships on the West Morava.

Keywords: West Morava, Pomoravlje district, Sanjak of Kruševac, Sanjak of Smederevo, 15th century, 16th century, scaffold, crossing, ship.