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DJORDJE PETROVIC, KARADJORDJE
(Born in Visevac near Raca Kragujevacka, 1768 – Killed in Radovanje near Smederevska Palanka, 1817; the leader of the First Serbian Insurrection.)
The Turks called him Karadjordje - Black ("Kara") Djordje. He has been a shepherd in Sumadija, then a livestock merchant. He has spent his youth resisting the Turkish terror, at first as a hajduk (brigand, anti-Turkish rebel), and later as a courageous soldier in the company of volunteers led by captain Radic Petrovic, during the Austrian-Turkish war 1788-1791.
After the return of janissaries to Belgrade he became a hajduk again, and with prominent Serbs began to prepare a large-scale resistance. He has managed to escape the slaughter of Serbian dukes, and at the gathering in Orasac in the first half of February 1804, he was elected leader of the Insurrection. He made connections with Austria and Russia and confronted the official Turkish Empire.
He led the battle on Misar and fights for liberation of Belgrade. Immediately after the insurrection, in 1813, he went to Austria, and then to Russia. He returned to Serbia in June 1817, but in the morning of July 25, he was killed by the order of Duke Milos Obrenovic. His head was cut off and sent to the Sultan as a proof of Milos' loyalty.
Updated May 5, 2005
A broad action is to be initiated and funds are to be provided in order to realize this project of protecting and arranging of the renowned place of Orasac, with the participation of all the Serbs within the country and abroad.
In the exhibition and the galery (entrance from the back side of the school) some of articles from the time of the First Serbian Insurrection can be seen.
Written May 4, 2005
Orasac is the place where, in Maricevica Gully in 1804, Karadjordje was chosen leader of the First Serbian Insurrection against Turkish rule, thus becoming one of the sacred places of freedom in the history of Serbian people.
A church, a school and a memorial drinking-water fountain were set up in the memory of the accord among insurgents to elect Karadjordje their leader, and of the commencement of their rebellious actions.
Written May 4, 2005
It was erected between 1868 and 1870. The architect who designed the church is not known. According to its size, it is a small, architecturally modest building with harmonized proportions and simple shapes. Its rectangular base ends in its east portion by a five-sided altar apse rounded on the inside, with entrance vestibule in its west portion. The bell tower is located above the west portion of the church. It is vaulted by a semi-vaulted ceiling with gable roof above. The apse is covered by semi-dome. Massive walls are plastered and whitewashed inside and outside. The iconostasis of the church is of notable artistic value. It was painted by Steva Todorovic, one of the most renowned Serbian artists in the second half of the 19th century.
Written May 4, 2005
The bronze plaque on the right-hand side of the buttress depicts a high bass relief of Karadjordje, girdled by the text in archaic Serbian language saying:
THE SUPREME LEADER OF THE SERBIAN PEOPLE.
This portrait of Karadjordje is the work of Raja Nikolic, the sculptor from the town of Arandjelovac.
Written May 4, 2005
The Memorial Drinking-water Fountain contains three arched marble plaques in the intermediate portion of this monument. The middle one carries the text that says:
"IT WAS ON THIS SPOT THAT THE FIRST SERBIAN INSURRECTION WAS RAISED ON FEBRUARY 15, 1804."
Written May 4, 2005
The left- and right-hand plaques each carry four lines of the well-known epic poem "The Commencement of the Uprising against Turkish rulers" and bronze plaques. The one the left shows the scene when Kaadjordje was choosen for the leader of the First Serbian Insurrection.
Written May 4, 2005
The Memorial Drinking-water Fountain is located in Mariceva Gully, not far from the church. It was set up in 1954, at the event of celebrating the150th anniversary of the First Serbian Insurrection against Turkish rule. The fountain is a part of a larger compound comprising a buttress made of stone blocks.
Written May 4, 2005
"THE PEOPLE'S SCHOOL - THE MEMORIAL ON THE INSURRECTION RAISED UNDER KARADJORDJE'S LEADERSHIP IN ORASAC.
THANKFULL SUMADIJA REGION RAISES THIS HOME IN THE MEMORY AND GLORY OF GREAT KARADJORDJE AND OTHER UNYIELDING AND DESERVING ANCESTORS WHO IN 1804 RAISED THE INSURRECTION IN THIS HOLY PLACE AND INITIATED THE GREAT ENDEAVOUR OF NATIONAL LIBERATION AND UNIFICATION."
Written May 4, 2005
This memorial compound (a church, a school and a memorial drinking-water fountain in Maricevica Gully) was declared a protected cultural entity by adequate decision of the Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, in 1979. Orasac is categorized as permanent cultural treasure of extraordinary importance in the history and culture of Serbia. A trust fund named "The First Serbian Insurrection" is in charge of this cultural treasure.
Written May 4, 2005
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This memorial compound (a church, a school and a memorial drinking-water fountain in Maricevica Gully) was declared a protected cultural entity by adequate...
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Orasac is the place where, in 1804. Djordje Petrovic called Karadjordje was chosen for a leader of the First Serbian Insurrection against Turkish rule. Orasac become one of the sacred places of...
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