Pirot is a town and municipality located in south-eastern Serbia. According to 2011 census, the town has a total population of 38,432, while the population of the municipality is 57,911. The town is the administrative center of the Pirot District.
It is known for the Pirot Kilim (Pirotski Cilim), a traditional woven carpet, highly regarded in Serbian culture.
In its vicinity is the Church of St. Petka, and the monastery of St. John the Theologian from the late fourteenth century. These churches display a fine example of medieval Serbian architecture.
The municipality, which has the area of 1,235 km2 (476.84 sq mi), has several , several mountains are situated: Stara Planina, Vlaska Planina, Belava, Suva Planina, etc. The following rivers flow through Pirot: the Nisava, Jerma, Rasnicka Reka, Temstica and the Visocica. Pirot also has four lakes: Zavoj Lake, Berovacko Lake, Krupac Lake and Sukov Lake.
History
Prehistoric and Roman times
Thracians lived in Pirot prior to the Roman conquest and Romanization of Serbia in the 1st century BC.
The first mentions of Pirot are found in the 2nd century AD, when the town was called Turres. At the Maglic monastery of village Blato, an 2nd century AD stone depiction of the Thracian horseman was found in September 2008.
The first written account mentioning Pirot was the 4th century Roman itinerary knowns as Tabula Peutingeriana. An antique settling in this area was named Tures (Latin for “towers”). Firstly, it was set to enable control and defence of the main road in this part of the empire. Besides, travellers could sleep here over night, as well as get refreshments and new horses or vehicles. In time, the settling advanced because of the important road passing through. It was also disturbed very persistently by invasions of the Gothic tribes throughout the 4th century, as well as the Huns in the 5th century.
Eastern Roman (Byzantine) rule
According to the written accounts On the Constructions by Procopius of Caesarea, writing during the reigning of the emperor Justinian I (527 – 565), the reigning emperor ordered reconstruction of thirty fortresses in the area from Ni? to Sofia, probably including the tower of Pirot. He also gave the detailed description of those construction works. In times when the Slavs and Avars were invading the Balkans, the settlment was named Quimedava, and was situated on the southern slope of the Sarlah Hill.
Corresponding to the archaeological investigations, the town back then, surrounded by forts and fortified walls, also included an early Christian basilica, termas (public bathrooms), a necropolis (graveyard), and other facilities. Beside the military fortress, a civil settlement existed on the site called Majilka. Although Byzantium successfully defended itself from the barbaric tribes’ raids, the Balkans were teeming with the Slavs in the second half of the 6th century and at the beginning of the 7th century. The Slavs soon became a crucial ethnical element on the peninsula.
Sclaveni
The Slav subgroup of Sclaveni (eponymous) started raiding Byzantine towns in the 520s and are mentioned as having attacked Thrace in 549. In 577 some 100,000 Slavs poured into Thrace and Illyricum, pillaging cities and settling down.
Boris I of Bulgaria conquers the area after the Bulgaro-Serbian Wars (839-842).
High and Late Middle Ages
In the early 11th century it becomes part of the Theme of Sirmium, a main administrative unit of the Byzantine Empire, formed by Emperor Basil II (r. 976–1025). He also forms the Archbishopric of Ochrid, an autonomous church under the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Constantinople (1018). The region was then part of the Archbishopric of Ni?.
In 1182-1183, the joint Serb-Hungarian army took control of Pirot area, Stefan Nemanja, together with Frederick Barbarossa passed through Pirot and were enthusiastically welcomed by its citizens. The region is shortly thereafter part of the Uprising of Asen and Peter after 1190s.
In 1214-1216 Serbian Grand Prince (later King) Stefan Nemanji? retook possession of the region of Pirot, and with the autocephaly of the Serbian Orthodox Church in 1217, the region is ecclesiastically part of the Serbian church.
Du?an the Mighty becomes the first Emperor of Serbia in 1346, and the town is part of this realm until the death of the second Emperor, Uro? the Weak, his son, in 1371. It is then part of Moravian Serbia, under Tsar Lazar, and the Serbian Despotate under Stefan Lazarevi?, his son.
In the 14th century, Serbian duke Momcilo raises the Pirot Fortress (Mom?ilov Grad, Mom?ilo's town).
By 1411-12, Ottoman Musa had conquered Pirot and its surroundings from Stefan Lazarevic (r. 1389-1427).
Ottoman rule
Pirot was known as Sehirkcy in Turkish and belonged to the Sanjak of Nis.
- April 7, 1831, site of a battle in the Bosnian uprising
- 1846–1864, part of the Nis Eyalet
- 1864–1878, part of the Danube Vilayet.
Tourism
- Pirot Fortress, dating to the 14th century Serbian Empire
- Temska Monastery, 16th-century Orthodox monastery
