Serbian Capitals

In 1405 Belgrade became the capital of Serbia for the first time, but only in the recent history, after a long period of time, the city kept its role of a capital. The first Serbian capital was the town of Ras, and its remains can now be seen near Novi Pazar, in the Raška region. In the period of Stefan Nemanja Serbia was called Raška and the town of Ras was the Nemanjić’s capital for a long time. Later on, the centre of the Serbian state moved towards Kosovo, so the emperors  Dušan and Uroš had their seat in Prizren, a town on the Bistrica river in the Prizren valley, in Metohija. But emperor Dušan – upon his coronation – moved the capital to Skopje (present Macedonia). The capital of Lazara and the Lazarević’s was Kruševac, and later – Belgrade. Some thirty years before the fall of under the Turkish rule, the capital of Serbia was the town of Smederevo, built by despot Đurađ Branković. The capital of prince Miloš Obrenović was Kragujevac in the 1818-1839 period, the very centre of Šumadija. In the 19th century it was also the cultural centre of Serbia. The first high schools were founded in Kragujevac, a theatre and a printing shop. Since Serbia was declared an autonomous principality in 1839 and up to the present day, the capital has been Belgrade