There is a monument in my country that is unique in the world. I'll introduce you one of the most cruel period that befell the people of Serbia during the Ottoman rule and story about the time and the events that preceded and led to the creation of this monument.
This horrific monument that was built along the road to Constantinople, located in Nis, in southern Serbia, stood as a cautionary tale to remind the Serbian people of what happens to those who resist the Ottoman Empire. The Skull Tower (or Ćele-kula in Serbian) is a tower that was built by a conquering Turkish army in the nineteenth century using the skulls. After Serbia fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1459, the Serbian people fought in several uprisings to gain their independence. In the Battle of Cegar in 1809, during the First Serbian Uprising, commander Stevan Sinđelic led 3000 Serbian rebels. When Turkish forces attacked them on Cegar Hill, near Niš, the Serbian army was overwhelmed and faced certain defeat. So rather than risk execution by impalement, Sindjelic fired his pistol into a powder magazine, and the explosion killed himself, his men, and any nearby Turkish soldier.
After that, the Turkish Grand Vizier of Nis, Hurshid Pasha ordered that the heads of the Serb victims be collected, skinned, and that the skulls be built into the tower. The heads were stuffed with cotton and sent to Constantinople. When the skulls were returned to Nis, the Turks built the Skull Tower as a deterrent to the Serbian people so they always remember what happens to those who oppose the Ottoman Empire.
A mid 19th century written document reads that the tower was made of 952 skulls. In time most skulls were taken or missing, so that today the tower has only 58 skulls.
The Serbs eventually won independence in 1830. What used to be a gruesome monument is now a sort of reliquary that holds the bones of deceased revolutionaries. In 1938. a chapel was built around the Skull Tower to preserve it from further decay. That year, a bust of Stevan Sindjelic was placed in the plateau in front of the tower entrance.
Turkish written sources about the Skull Tower doesn't exist. Information about it's appearance, manner of construction, number of skulls were given by travelers who passed through Niš in the 19th century. For the first time, Europe was informed about this monument of Turkish ferocity and Serbian courage in 1833, when the French poet and academician Alphonse de Lamartine published his work "Journey to the East", where, in a special section "Notes about Serbia ", pointed out the importance of this monument: “May the Serbs keep this monument! It will always teach their children the value of the independence of a people, showing them the real price their fathers had to pay for it.“
In 1948, Skull Tower and the chapel were declared Cultural Monuments of Exceptional Importance.
It is considered one of the most visited places in Serbia, with 30,000–50,000 tourists visiting it annually and one of the most important historical monument in Serbia. Ticket price for adults amounts 120 rsd and for students and children costs only 100 rsd, so it is cheap and above all, worth visiting.
Although I live in Serbia, I have never visited this memorial, but I would like to, because it testifies about difficult and terrible period which passed my people.This monument exists to show us how we should appreciate freedom and as Lamartine said it mustn't be forgotten.
This horrific monument that was built along the road to Constantinople, located in Nis, in southern Serbia, stood as a cautionary tale to remind the Serbian people of what happens to those who resist the Ottoman Empire. The Skull Tower (or Ćele-kula in Serbian) is a tower that was built by a conquering Turkish army in the nineteenth century using the skulls. After Serbia fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1459, the Serbian people fought in several uprisings to gain their independence. In the Battle of Cegar in 1809, during the First Serbian Uprising, commander Stevan Sinđelic led 3000 Serbian rebels. When Turkish forces attacked them on Cegar Hill, near Niš, the Serbian army was overwhelmed and faced certain defeat. So rather than risk execution by impalement, Sindjelic fired his pistol into a powder magazine, and the explosion killed himself, his men, and any nearby Turkish soldier.
After that, the Turkish Grand Vizier of Nis, Hurshid Pasha ordered that the heads of the Serb victims be collected, skinned, and that the skulls be built into the tower. The heads were stuffed with cotton and sent to Constantinople. When the skulls were returned to Nis, the Turks built the Skull Tower as a deterrent to the Serbian people so they always remember what happens to those who oppose the Ottoman Empire.
A mid 19th century written document reads that the tower was made of 952 skulls. In time most skulls were taken or missing, so that today the tower has only 58 skulls.
The Serbs eventually won independence in 1830. What used to be a gruesome monument is now a sort of reliquary that holds the bones of deceased revolutionaries. In 1938. a chapel was built around the Skull Tower to preserve it from further decay. That year, a bust of Stevan Sindjelic was placed in the plateau in front of the tower entrance.
Turkish written sources about the Skull Tower doesn't exist. Information about it's appearance, manner of construction, number of skulls were given by travelers who passed through Niš in the 19th century. For the first time, Europe was informed about this monument of Turkish ferocity and Serbian courage in 1833, when the French poet and academician Alphonse de Lamartine published his work "Journey to the East", where, in a special section "Notes about Serbia ", pointed out the importance of this monument: “May the Serbs keep this monument! It will always teach their children the value of the independence of a people, showing them the real price their fathers had to pay for it.“
In 1948, Skull Tower and the chapel were declared Cultural Monuments of Exceptional Importance.
It is considered one of the most visited places in Serbia, with 30,000–50,000 tourists visiting it annually and one of the most important historical monument in Serbia. Ticket price for adults amounts 120 rsd and for students and children costs only 100 rsd, so it is cheap and above all, worth visiting.
Although I live in Serbia, I have never visited this memorial, but I would like to, because it testifies about difficult and terrible period which passed my people.This monument exists to show us how we should appreciate freedom and as Lamartine said it mustn't be forgotten.