| Ćuprija Ћуприја |
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| — Municipality and Town — | |||
| Main street in Ćuprija | |||
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| Location of the municipality of Ćuprija within Serbia | |||
| Coordinates: | |||
| Country | Serbia | ||
| District | Pomoravlje | ||
| Settlements | 16 | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor | Borivoje Kalaba (SPS,JS,PUPS) | ||
| Area[1] | |||
| • Municipality | 287 km2 (110.8 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2011 census)[2] | |||
| • Town | 19,380 | ||
| • Municipality | 30,020 | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| Postal code | 35230 and 35231 | ||
| Area code | +381 35 | ||
| Car plates | ĆU | ||
| Website | www.cuprija.rs | ||
Ćuprija (Serbian Cyrillic: Ћуприја, pronounced [tɕǔprija], Romanian: Ciupria or Podu Nou, Greek: Κυπριαι, Kypriai, Bulgarian: Равън, Ravan, or Кюприя, Kyupriya) is a town and administrative district in Serbia, at 43.93° North, 21.38° East. Ćuprija is part of Pomoravlje District (Serbian Cyrillic: Поморавски округ) in Serbia. The population of the town is 19,380, while municipality has 30,020 inhabitants.
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The Romans founded the town as a fort Horreum Margi (Horreum: Granary, Margi: Morava) on the road from Constantinople to Rome, where it crosses the river now known as Velika Morava. It served as a Roman military base, had a shield factory[3] and gained the status of municipium before 224AD. In 505, the Romans were defeated by Goths and Huns under Mundo, a descendant of Attila the Hun.[4]
Under Slavic rule, it became known as Ravno (litteral translation to English would be "flat"), since it is in a flat river valley. Some local names (of the villages Paljane and Isakovo, of the river Mirosava) recall the major clash in autumn 1191 between the Serbs (under Stefan Nemanja) and the Byzantines (under Emperor Isaac II Angelos).
In 15th century, Ćuprija became part of Ottoman Empire. After conquering this settlement, the Turks have bilt a bridge or "köprü" in Turkish - hance the name of the town.
Shortly after the First Serbian Uprising began, in 1805. one of the first and most important battles has been won on Ivankovac, near Ćuprija. Serbian uprisers under the leadership of dukes Milenko Stojković, Petar Dobrnjac and Stevan Sinđelić have defeated Turkish army which led to further spreading of the Uprising thru entire Belgrade Pashaluk. Four years after that, in 1809 Ćuprija Elementary school was founded.
During Second Serbian Uprising, Serbian prince Miloš Obrenović had made an oral agreement in Ćuprija which enabled Serbs in Belgrade Pashaluk to collect their own taxes, to participate in proceedings against Serbs and to establish People's Office composed of Serbian princes. After Turks have left Ćuprija in 1834., Ćuprija has started to grow economicly and has merged with near-by villages Mućava, Mrčajevci and Žirovnica. In 1853, "Dobričevo" farm was founded. This led to esablishment of Agricultural school in 1899. In 1911., a Sugar factory "ŠELK 911" was founded.
During XIX century, Ćuprija was center of Nahiyah. After 1890., it was the seat of Morvaski okrug (Morava county).
In World War Two, a special Ćuprija-Paraćin partisan troop was formed in order to fight against German Wehrmacht. On September 26th 1941., 35 members of this troop were shot by German occupiers. The WWII has finally ended in Ćuprija on October 13th 1944., when Ćuprija was liberated from Wehrmacht during so called Belgrade Operation.
During NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999., town's centre was heavily damaged. Some buildings still remain in ruins. According to 2002 Census, the population was 20,411.
Ethnic groups in the Ćuprija district (2002 census):[5]
All settlements in municipality have Serb ethnic majority except two villages,Bigrenica and Isakovo with Vlach ethnic majority.
Dušan Matić
Dragoslav Mihailović
Snežana Pajkić
Aleksandar Petrović
Vera Nikolić
Filiberto Kokuca - Italian handball player and representative. Born and raised in Ćuprija.
Elementary school "Đura Jakšić"
Elementary school "Vuk Stefanović Karadžić"
Elementary school "13. Oktobar"
High school in Ćuprija
Medical High-School
Technical School
Medical College in Ćuprija
Musical Elementary School "Dušan Skovran"
School for musically gifted children
Faculty for banking and trade, Alpha University
Sport activities in Ćuprija are developed. Thanks to many athletes and coaches (such as Vera Nikolić, Snežana Pajkić and Aleksandar Petrović etc.)Ćuprija was well known as "the Athletics town". Beside athlethic, soccer (football in Europe), basketball, handball and volleyball are extreamly popular sports in Ćuprija.
Ćuprija's football club "Morava" was founded in 1918 and is currently compeating in Pomoravsko-Timočka football zone. It has it's own stadium with capacity of 10.000 sport fans. In Ćuprija, there could be found a dance club for those who love to dance.
Ćuprija lies on international road and railway links 150 km south of Belgrade and 90 km north of Niš. The main source of income is the College of Nursing and Agriculture. Ravanica Monastery, built in 1381 by Lazar of Serbia, is 8 km to the east.
Ćuprija is twinned with:
Official web site of Ćuprija Municipality