Kragujevac

About

While the region was first settled about 40,000 years ago, it was Serbia succumbing to the Ottomans that transformed this provencal market town into the prototype for modern Serbia. In 1818, Duke Miloš Obrenović declared Kragujevac the capital of Serbia, though this title was later moved to Belgrade. A walk down Kragujevac's cobbled streets, lined with traditional shuttered doors, brings visitors to sites such as the Cathedral of St. Sava, an iconic church boasting an elegantly ornamented façade and beautifully designed interior, and the Duke's Palace, where the first theatre, library, drawing school, and gallery were established. The quiet Šumarice Memorial Park is dedicated to the nearly 3,000 Serbian men and boys executed on the site by the Nazi occupation forces on October 21, 1941.