Introduction
Southern Serbia‘s Jablanica District has Leskovac as its administrative hub. The population of the City of Leskovac is 124,889 as of the 2022 census. Gluboica, then Duboica, were the previous names for Leskovac. The Serbian words “glib,” which means mud, and “duboko,” which means deep, are the source of these interchangeable versions. Uncontrolled rivers would frequently inundate the region, causing marshes that, when they dried out, would erupt with hazelnut trees, or “leska” in Serbian; “vac” is a typical Slavic suffix, so Leskovac. The town was referred to in Turkish during the Ottoman era as Leskovce or Hisar. Built-in 1931 in the Serbian-Byzantine style, the Holy Trinity Church is located in the heart of Leskovac. A cross with five domes is located in a square at the church’s foundation. It looks similar to the outside of the monastery in Gracanica. The nation’s most stunning exterior decoration is thought to be found here.
Up until the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, the city was a significant textile hub during the socialist era. However, the industry collapsed, depressing the local economy, as a result of Serbia’s economic isolation as a result of ethnic wars, its remote location, and the failure to privatise the mills. The national specialities “pljeskavica” and “cevapi,” in particular, have come to be associated with Serbian culinary tradition in modern Leskovac. The greatest tourist draw in the city, drawing tens of thousands of tourists from Serbia and abroad each year, is the “Rostiljijada” festival, which has been held annually since 1989.
Evolution of the Architecture of Country
Serbia has a lengthy, illustrious, and varied history of architecture. There are notable examples of Raska, Serbo-Byzantine architecture, including its rebirth, Morava, Baroque, Classical, and Modern architecture, with notable instances of Brutalism and Streamline Moderne. Some of the major European architectural styles, from Roman to Post Modern, are also on display.
Prehistoric Period – Simple geometric patterns, like pyramidal huts and round mounts, are used in prehistoric architecture. Local materials like wood, mud, straw, boulders, and soil are used to make these structures.
Ancient Period – Roman and later Byzantine architecture influenced medieval Serbia’s defences and ecclesiastical structures.
Medieval Period – The most erratic and diverse architectural designs and building types were displayed during the medieval period, which lasted from the eighth to the seventeenth century. The establishment of the Kingdom of Serbia, its succeeding Empire, and its eventual fall to the Byzantines, Ottomans, and Habsburgs would have a lasting effect on Serbian and Serb culture as well as the buildings constructed then and in the future. This period set the groundwork for Serbia’s distinctive national architectural style as well as future historic revival forms, including Romanesque, gothic, Ottoman, Byzantine, Moorish, and local styles. Churches, monasteries, fortresses, and castles that have survived despite the country’s stormy past are clear examples of the legacy of medieval Serbian architecture. Although very few folk and vernacular structures from the medieval era have survived, their impacts can be recognised in the numerous vernacular structures built throughout the contemporary era. (1) Medieval Christian Architecture, (2) Raska Style, (3) Vardar Style, (4) Morava Style, (5) Romanesque and Gothic, (6) Medieval Christian Fortification, (7) Ottoman and Islamic Architecture, (8) Konak Style.
Modernity Period – In areas under the jurisdiction of the Habsburg Empire as well as Revolutionary Serbia, the modernity period, which spanned the late 18th to the early 20th century, demonstrated the most rapid change in architectural forms. Serbia would move towards more western European-styled architecture and city planning that were typical in Serb-populated areas of the Habsburg Empire in an effort to break links with Ottoman influence, both politically and culturally as well as in terms of architecture. In the southernmost regions, primarily in Sandzak and Kosovo, and Metohija, which are predominantly regions with significant Muslim populations, Ottoman-inspired architectural styles are still prevalent. (1) Folk and Vernacular Styles, (2) Brvnara and Bondruka Styles, (3) Wooden and Tree Churches, (4) Pannonian and Salas Styles, (5) Baroque and Rococo, (6) Historic Styles – Gothic Revival Romanesque Revival, Eclecticism and Academic Style, Classical Revival, Renaissance Revival, Baroque Revival, Romanticism and Byzantine Revival, Serbo-Byzantine Revival and Art Nouveau and Secession Style.
Royalist Yugoslav Period – Before the creation of the state, in the early 20th century, Yugoslav architecture began to take shape. During this time, several South Slavic artists, inspired by the prospect of statehood, staged several art exhibitions in Serbia in the name of a common Slavic identity. This early bottom-up enthusiasm started to wane with governmental centralisation following the 1918 establishment of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. As the official authority grew more centralised and worked to forge a united national identity, it increasingly determined the style of Yugoslav architecture. (1) Interwar Eclecticism and Academic Style, (2) Art Nouveau and Art Deco, and (3) Interwar Modernism.
Socialist Yugoslav Period – Emerging, distinctive, and frequently contrasting national and regional narratives were key features of Yugoslavia’s architecture. Yugoslavia developed a hybrid identity that blended the architectural, cultural, and political slants of both Western liberal democracy and Soviet communism as a socialist state that was still outside of the Iron Curtain. (1) Modernism, (2) Spomeniks in Serbia, (3) Brutalism and (4) Decentralization.
Contemporary Period – Following the conflicts and isolation of the 1990s, Belgrade’s scene was dominated by the international style, which had already arrived in Yugoslavia in the 1980s. With little regard for the region’s architectural history, major real estates projects like Sava City and the renovation of the Usce Towers broke ground. Many architects fled Serbia before and during the Yugoslav Wars and continued their work in several countries in Europe, America, and Africa, constructing hundreds of buildings. A deal for the construction of a new section of the city on the currently undeveloped wasteland near the riverfront was struck in 2015 with Eagle Hills as part of the Belgrade Waterfront project.
