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56-662: The medieval necropolis of Mramorje is located near the lake. As one of the most important stećci complex in Serbia, it has been protected by the state as the Cultural Monument of Exceptional Importance . The necropolis originates rom the 1300s and the 1400s, and currently has 88 visible tombstones. All of them are plain, without ornaments, except for one which is decorated with a circle-shaped ornament. All stones are made of one white limestone block which weight 3 tons and more. They have been called mramorovi ("marble [blocks]"), hence

112-466: A 760 mm ( 2 ft  5 + 15 ⁄ 16  in ) track gauge . Having costed 75 million gold crowns, which is approximately 450 thousand gold crowns per kilometer, it was one of the most expensive railways in the world built at the time. This line was eventually extended to Belgrade in 1928. Višegrad is today part of the narrow-gauge heritage railway Šargan Eight . On 18 April 1941 Ustashe murdered ten Serbs including Dragiša Jakšić,

168-481: A 1992 killing spree of Muslims. The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in professional fields per their core activity (as of 2018): Andrićgrad , a town built by filmmaker Emir Kusturica that is dedicated to Ivo Andrić , was officially opened on 28 June 2014. The House of Culture was founded in 1953. Film screenings and other cultural activities take place in there, including amateur drama programs. The City Gallery, which

224-568: A German garrison and captured the town whose Axis garrison had 350 dead and 400 wounded soldiers. 2,000 Bosniak civilians were killed after the capture of Višegrad. The Yugoslav Partisans took control of Višegrad on 14 February 1945. Višegrad is one of several towns along the River Drina in close proximity to the Serbian border. The town was strategically important during the conflict. A nearby hydroelectric dam provided electricity and also controlled

280-511: A handful of survivors had returned to what is now a predominantly Serb town. On 5 August 2001, survivors of the massacre returned to Višegrad for the burial of 180 bodies exhumed from mass graves. The exhumation lasted for two years and the bodies were found in 19 different mass graves. The charges of mass rape were unapproved as the prosecutors failed to request them in time. The cousins Milan Lukić and Sredoje Lukić were convicted on 20 July 2009, to life in prison and 30 years, respectively, for

336-405: A mass grave. Karleuša said the event was covered up despite the fact that numerous residents had witnessed the removal of the bodies from the reservoir. An anonymous reservist told Danas , a Belgrade daily newspaper, that he saw a freezer truck being pushed into the lake, after the water level had been lowered. A rocket had been fired into the truck to sink it but corpses started to emerge from

392-464: A meeting with Interior Minister, Vlajko Stojiljković , secret police chief Radomir Marković, and Đorđević. During the 2010 investigation of the Višegrad massacres remains of engine and chassis of the truck were found. Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor Vladimir Vukcević said that the investigation was ongoing. Necropolis A necropolis ( pl. : necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli )

448-686: A necropolis containing burials from the Predynastic through the Late Period . A pair of small necropoleis of Theban-style rock-cut tombs started to take shape in the wadis east of Akhetaten (modern Amarna ) during the Amarna Period of the New Kingdom; while it appears that the tombs were not ultimately used for burials due to the collapse of the Amarna regime about 20 years after the foundation of Akhetaten,

504-523: A rape camp, in which Bosniak women and girls (some not yet 14 years old at the time), were brought to by police officers and paramilitary members ( White Eagles and Arkan's Tigers ). According to victims' reports some 3,000 Bosniaks were murdered in Višegrad and its surroundings, including some 600 women and 119 children. Bosniaks detained at Uzamnica were subjected to inhumane conditions, including regular beatings, torture and strenuous forced labour. Both of

560-571: A refrigerator truck containing dozens of bodies of Kosovo Albanians had been found in Lake Perućac after some of the bodies surfaced. Kerić had been told by the chief of the SUP Criminal Investigations Division that the bodies were those of civilians, men and women, from a sunken truck with no license plates. They were all heavily decomposed and Kerić was told they could not be identified. He claimed Đorđević had ordered him to bury

616-490: Is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek νεκρόπολις nekropolis ( lit.   ' city of the dead ' ). The term usually implies a separate burial site at a distance from a city, as opposed to tombs within cities, which were common in various places and periods of history. They are different from grave fields , which did not have structures or markers above

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672-642: Is a town and municipality in Republika Srpska , Bosnia and Herzegovina . It rests at the confluence of the Drina and the Rzav river. As of 2013, the municipality has a population of 10,668 inhabitants, while the town of Višegrad has a population of 5,869 inhabitants. The town includes the Ottoman -era Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge , a UNESCO world heritage site which was popularized by Ivo Andrić in his novel The Bridge on

728-502: Is also part of the historical region of Stari Vlah ; the immediate area surrounding the town was historically called "Višegradski Stari Vlah", noted as an ethnographic region in which the population was closer to Užice , located on the Serbian side of the River Drina, than to the surrounding areas. Višegrad has a temperate climate ( Köppen : Cfb/Cfa ) with cold winters, hot summers, and moderate precipitation year-round. The area

784-418: Is thought to be Elamite in origin. The depiction is part of a larger image, most of which was removed at the command of Bahram II . Four tombs belonging to Achaemenid kings are carved out of the rock face at a considerable height above the ground. The tombs are known locally as the " Persian crosses ", after the shape of the facades of the tombs. Later, Sassanian kings added a series of rock reliefs below

840-640: The Republic of Ragusa . Srebrenica , Višegrad and their surroundings were again in Serbian hands in 1448 after the despot Đurađ Branković defeated the Bosnian forces. According to Turkish sources, in 1454, Višegrad was conquered by the Ottoman Empire led by Osman Pasha. The Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge was built by the Ottoman architect and engineer Mimar Sinan for Grand Vizier Sokollu Mehmed Pasha . Construction of

896-551: The 1999 conflict were concealed. The lake is situated at an altitude of 290 m (950 ft) and the majority of it, some 5/6 is within Bosnia and Herzegovina, while 1/6 in Serbia, as the border between the two countries takes the route of longitudinal axes of the Drina river at the section within the canyon where the Brusnička river enters the lake, some 20 km (12 mi) upstream from

952-436: The Drina . A tourist site called Andrićgrad (Andrić Town) , dedicated to Andrić, is located near the bridge. Višegrad is a South Slavic toponym meaning "the upper town/castle/fort". Višegrad is located at the confluence of the Drina river and the Rzav river in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the road from Goražde and Ustiprača towards Užice , Serbia, which is part of the geographical region of Podrinje . It

1008-558: The Tara mountain, some 600 metres above. To hold this water and serve as the reversible reservoir for the PS HPP Bajina Bašta plant, an artificial Zaovine Lake was created up in the mountains by damming the Beli Rzav river. During the summer days, Lake Perućac is the place where many of the residents of the surrounding area and the town of Bajina Bašta come to sunbathe, swim and fish. In

1064-467: The ancient Greek world however. Sparta was notable for continuing the practice of burial within the city. Naqsh-e Rostam is an ancient necropolis located about 12 km (7.5 mi) northwest of Persepolis , in Fars Province, Iran . The oldest relief at Naqsh-i Rustam dates to c.  1000 BC . Though it is severely damaged, it depicts a faint image of a man with unusual headgear and

1120-575: The bodies near the lake without notifying local legal officials or carrying out the standard scene of crime investigation procedure. Đorđević's defence maintained that Kerić decided to carry out the burials himself, not on Đorđević's orders. Police sources alleged that Đorđević had been in charge of removing the bodies from Kosovo and burying them at secret locations in Serbia as part of a "cleaning-up operation" in Kosovo ordered by Slobodan Milošević in March 1999 at

1176-573: The bridge took place between 1571 and 1577. It still stands, and it is now a tourist attraction, after being inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage Site list. In 1875, the Serbs from the area between Višegrad and Novi Pazar revolted and formed a volunteer military corps, which fought in the valley of the River Ibar in 1876 . In 1882, a Jewish cemetery was established in Višegrad while in 1905,

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1232-472: The city. In Mycenae , for example, the royal tombs were located in a precinct within the city walls. The way the large stones fit together so perfectly in the round shape of the underground tomb is one of the most amazing building achievements of the Mycenaean Age. This changed during the ancient Greek period when necropoleis usually lined the roads outside a city. There existed some degree of variation within

1288-482: The club played different seasons in the 1st League of Srpska. KK Varda is a basketball club from Višegrad, currently playing in the 1st League of Srpska, having also had good seasons in the Premier League of Bosnia. Only womens club in the city is OK HE na Drini, a volleyball club, also with a long history, having played in the Premier League of Bosnia, the 1st League of Srpska and the 2nd League of Srpska, Winning

1344-543: The dam and Peruća village. The lake occupies a natural bend of the river, between Višegrad and Bajina Bašta, which bypassing Tara mountain from left to right. The dam of the hydro plant which created the lake is 93 m (305 ft) tall. The reservoir covers and area of 12.4 km (4.8 sq mi) with the volume of 340,000,000 m (1.2 × 10 cu ft). It is 58 km (36 mi) long, 45 to 1,000 m (148 to 3,281 ft) wide and up to 60 to 80 m (200 to 260 ft) deep. Fish species living in

1400-468: The dam. The HPP Bajina Bašta , in Perućac village near Bajina Bašta, the second largest of its kind in Serbia, was built in 1966 as a result of a joint venture by Yugoslavian and Japanese companies. Between 1976 and 1983 a reversible pumping station was built, which was the second phase of the project. Excess electrical power produced during the rain season was used to pump water from the lake to hilltop of

1456-751: The early 1970s, the pontoon beach was placed on the lake, near the dam. Due to the safety concerns, it has been closed in 2021. The annual boating event, the Drina Regatta , is held on the lake. Since the mid-2010s, construction of numerous privately owned structures along the lake, and on the Tara Mountain, within the national park, began. By 2020 there were several thousands of them, vast majority being built illegally, without proper permits or any documentation at all. The structures include houses, villas and floating barges with houses, with some covering several hundreds of square meters. The sewage system wasn't built so

1512-721: The early Dynastic period) and tombs and graveyards for lesser personages. Almost as well-known as Giza is the Theban Necropolis , on the west bank of the Nile at Thebes (modern Luxor ). This necropolis is known for the rock-cut tombs of the Valley of the Kings , the Valley of the Queens , and the various tombs of nobles and others from the New Kingdom onward. The Theban Necropolis is home to some of

1568-462: The exhumed bodies. Dragan Karleuša, head of the Serbian police organized crime unit responsible for investigating the grave, said that in April 1999 a freezer truck containing between 50 and 60 corpses was pushed into the lake. Seven corpses immediately floated back to the surface and were removed. Two days later a container holding between 50 and 60 bodies also came to the surface. The bodies were placed in

1624-585: The few Ancient Egyptian tombs that remained essentially intact until discovery by modern archaeologists, including the Tomb of Tutankhamun and the Tomb of Kha and Merit . Other ancient Egyptian necropoleis of note are the necropolis of Saqqara , home to the Step Pyramid of Djoser and other royal burials; the necropolis of Dahshur , site of the Red Pyramid of Sneferu , the oldest "true" pyramid; and Abydos , site of

1680-537: The first Jewish synagogue was built in the town. Višegrad remained under Ottoman rule until the Berlin Congress (1878), when Austria-Hungary took control of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Bosnian Eastern Railway from Sarajevo to Uvac and Vardište was built through Višegrad during the Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina . Construction of the line started in 1903. It was completed in 1906, using

1736-466: The ground. While the word is most commonly used for ancient sites, the name was revived in the early 19th century and applied to planned city cemeteries, such as the Glasgow Necropolis . Ancient Egypt is noted for multiple necropoleis. Ancient Egyptian funerary practices and beliefs about the afterlife led to the construction of several extensive necropoleis to secure and provision the dead in

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1792-653: The help of the Italians , the Serbian royalist Chetniks established a civil and military government in the area of Višegrad, and engaged in genocidal killing of local Bosniaks . Thousands of civilians were massacred in Višegrad in December. In March 1942, 42 Bosniak villagers were burned to death in the village of Drakan. During the Battle for Višegrad in October 1943, the Chetniks attacked

1848-683: The hereafter. These necropoleis are therefore major archaeological sites for Egyptology . Probably the best-known ancient Egyptian necropolis is the Giza Necropolis . Made famous by the Great Pyramid of Giza , which was included in the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World , the necropolis includes three major pyramid tombs of Old Kingdom kings and several smaller pyramids related to the royal burials, as well as mastabas (a typical royal tomb of

1904-465: The hole made by explosion. The bodies were buried near the village of Rastiste. The bodies that emerged two days later were buried in a separate grave, next to the first. The reservist said that the operation was characterized as a "state secret". The reservist was upset that local people were supposed to allow their children to swim in the lake while officials remained silent about the bodies concealed there. A senior police officer reported that witnesses to

1960-525: The incident had first been threatened and were then paid 20 German marks to remain silent. The disposal of the bodies at Lake Perućac, done by Yugoslav Army soldiers under orders from their superiors, has been linked to the finding of two other submerged refrigerator trucks containing the bodies of Kosovo Albanians at Kladovo and Đerdap . It is assumed that at least ten and possibly dozens of truckloads of bodies were taken from Kosovo to Serbia to be dumped underwater or buried in mass graves. The investigation

2016-425: The lake include wels catfish , huchen , common barbel , European chub , common nase , tench and cactus roach . A mass grave containing 48 bodies and possibly more than 60 was discovered near the lake in 2001. The bodies were believed to be those of Kosovo Albanians killed by Serbian forces during the 1999 conflict, brought to the lake in a refrigerated lorry dumped there during NATO air raids. The burial site

2072-574: The level of the River Drina, preventing flooding of downstream areas. The town is situated on the main road connecting Belgrade and Užice in Serbia with Goražde and Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a vital link for the Užice Corps of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) with the Uzamnica camp as well as other strategic locations involved in the conflict. On 6 April 1992, JNA artillery bombarded

2128-478: The most notorious campaigns of ethnic cleansing in the conflict. There were widespread looting and destruction of houses, and terrorizing of Bosniak civilians, with instances of rape, with a large number of Bosniaks killed in the town, with many bodies being dumped in the River Drina. Men were detained at the barracks at Uzamnica , the Vilina Vlas Hotel and other sites in the area. Vilina Vlas also served as

2184-433: The municipality to remove all the structures, as per its own plan, by December 2022, while the state government dispatched RSD24 million (over €200,000), but the municipal authorities ignored everything. In August 2010, it became the site of a forensic operation to retrieve the bodies of Bosniak victims of the 1992 Višegrad massacres . The lake was a location where the transported remains of Kosovo Albanians killed during

2240-532: The name of the locality. They are made in different shapes: slab, box, gable roof , slightly dressed rectangular stones, etc. Small scale exploration of the area was conducted in 2010 and the stone monuments were conserved in 2011. The lake was created by damming the Drina River and harnessing its flow to power the Bajina Bašta hydroelectric power station. The lake was named after the village of Perućac , close to

2296-599: The president of the Dobrun municipality. Many Serbs were executed by the fascist Ustashe regime along the Drina Valley for a month during the Genocide of Serbs , especially near Višegrad. Jure Francetić 's Black Legion killed thousands of Bosnian Serb civilians and threw their bodies into the Drina river. In 1942, about 6,000 Serbs were killed in the villages of Miloševići and Stari Brod near Rogatica . In November 1941, with

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2352-471: The tomb decorations provide much information about that era of ancient Egyptian history. The Etruscans took the concept of a "city of the dead" quite literally. The typical tomb at the Banditaccia necropolis at Cerveteri consists of a tumulus which covers one or more rock-cut subterranean tombs. These tombs had multiple chambers and were elaborately decorated like contemporary houses. The arrangement of

2408-544: The tombs. The site of Bin Tepe served as a necropolis for Sardis , the capital of the Lydian Empire . It consists of over 100 tumuli including the monumental Tumulus of Alyattes which was commented on by ancient writers including Herodotus and still marks the landscape today. Though Lydian elites also used other burial styles, tumuli are so numerous throughout Lydia that they are used to track settlement patterns. The style

2464-601: The town's mosques were razed. According to the Research and Documentation Center , at least 1,661 Bosniaks were killed/missing in Višegrad. With the Dayton Agreement , which put an end to the war, Bosnia and Herzegovina was divided into two entities, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska , the latter which Višegrad became part of. Before the war, 63% of the town residents were Bosniak. In 2009, only

2520-515: The town, in particular Bosniak-inhabited neighbourhoods and nearby villages. Murat Šabanović and a group of Bosniak men took several local Serbs hostage and seized control of the hydroelectric dam, threatening to blow it up. Water was released from the dam causing flooding to some houses and streets. Eventually on 12 April, JNA commandos seized the dam. The next day the JNA's Užice Corps took control of Višegrad, positioning tanks and heavy artillery around

2576-428: The town. The population that had fled the town during the crisis returned and the climate in the town remained relatively calm and stable during the later part of April and the first two weeks of May. On 19 May 1992 the Užice Corps officially withdrew from the town and local Serb leaders established control over Višegrad and all municipal government offices. Soon after, local Serbs, police and paramilitaries began one of

2632-483: The tumuli in a grid of streets gave it an appearance similar to the cities of the living. The art historian Nigel Spivey considers the name cemetery inadequate and argues that only the term necropolis can do justice to these sophisticated burial sites. Etruscan necropoli were usually located on hills or slopes of hills. In the Mycenean Greek period predating ancient Greece , burials could be performed inside

2688-434: The waste spills directly into the streams and the lake itself, while floating garbage covered areas around the barges. As the municipal plan excludes existence of this type of structures, in 2015 removal of the barges was ordered. By 2018, out of 85, all but 5 were demolished or removed, either by the owners themselves (35) or by the municipality (45). However, by 2023 the number of illegal structures grew to 157. The situation

2744-495: Was a gravel pit on the north bank of Derventa River, close to its confluence with Lake Perućac, 13 km from Bajina Bašta and 2 km from the village of Rastiste. It contained parts of a truck refrigerator container that was used to bring the bodies. The bones and clothing retrieved showed evidence of burning. Of 48 bodies examined by the Institute of Pathology and Forensic Medicine of Belgrade Military Hospital, 38 were male, one

2800-751: Was adopted around 600 BC, likely inspired by similar Phrygian tombs at Gordion . It continued after the Persian conquest of Lydia, into the Hellenistic and Roman eras. Necropoleis have been built in modern times. The world's largest remaining operating necropolis from the Victorian era , for example, is Rookwood Necropolis , in New South Wales , Australia. A modern era example is Colma, California , United States. Vi%C5%A1egrad Višegrad ( Serbian Cyrillic : Вишеград , pronounced [ʋǐʃeɡraːd] )

2856-420: Was described as "everyone is having a jurisdiction, and no one is having a jurisdiction". Only the management of the national park publicly and officially protested, but neither the state nor the municipal authorities reacted. The management gathered all paperwork needed for the demolition instead of the municipality, and handed over the papers so the municipality could act. The State Revisory Institute also ordered

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2912-467: Was female, and the sex of nine could not be established. Dressed in civilian clothing, age of the victims ranged from mid-adolescence to elderly. There was considerable ballistic evidence including classic execution style gunshot wounds to the head in many cases. They had been buried for about two years and the condition of the remains indicated that they had spent some time in the water. Identity documents belonging to two persons from Djakovica were found with

2968-527: Was founded by župan Pribil and his family, some time before the 1370s. The area then came under the rule of the Kingdom of Bosnia , part of the estate of the Pavlović noble family . The settlement of Višegrad was mentioned in 1407, but started to be mentioned more often after 1427. In the period of 1433–37, a relatively short period, caravans crossed the settlement many times. Many people from Višegrad worked for

3024-485: Was opened in 1996, is located in the House of Culture. There is also a folk dance ensemble operating in Višegrad under the name KUD "Bikavac". The Serbian Orthodox Dobrun Monastery is one of the most notable monasteries of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Višegrad is also known for various sports clubs. The local football club is FK Drina HE Višegrad , which competes in the 2nd League of Srpska . In its long history, (1924-2024)

3080-624: Was part of the medieval Serbian state of the Nemanjić dynasty; it was part of the Grand Principality of Serbia under Stefan Nemanja (r. 1166–96). In the Middle Ages, Dobrun was a place within the border area with Bosnia, on the road towards Višegrad. After the death of emperor Stefan Dušan (r. 1331–55), the region came under the rule of magnate Vojislav Vojinović , and then his nephew, župan (count) Nikola Altomanović . The Dobrun Monastery

3136-771: Was set up under the authority of Sreten Lukić , the Serbian police director of public security, who served as the commander of police forces in Kosovo during the war. During the trial of police general Vlastimir Đorđević , chief of the Public Security Department in the Serbian MUP, before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in Hague, Đorđe Kerić, former chief of the Užice SUP, gave evidence that in April 1999 he had informed Đorđević that

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