Sveti Srđ

Sveti Srđ and nearby towns

Sveti Srđ (Latin: St. Sergius, Serbian Cyrillic: Свети Срђ) was an important market town on the left bank of the river Bojana 6 miles (9.7 km) away from Skadar in Medieval Serbia and later Venetian Empire and for short period in Ottoman Empire. It was one of medieval trading centers where a trading took place on the square of the small populated place on certain day of the week (i.e. Friday or Sunday).

Location

Sveti Srđ emerged near the Benedictine Shirgj Monastery, an abbey dedicated to Sergius and Bacchus, and built in the 11th century. Due to its favorable geographical position near the mouth of river Bojana this new market soon became a small populated place which significance surpassed many bigger towns of the region.

History

Since the reign of Stefan Nemanja in the Serbian Grand Principality Sveti Srđ was one of four markets allowed to trade salt (the other three being Kotor and Drijeva while Dubrovnik joined them after it was established as Republic in mid 14th century) in the Serbian maritime. Although a lot of wood was transported by Bojana, Sveti Srđ was not trading place for wood, but for salt and leather. It was one of two customs areas of the region (the other one was Danj on river Drin).

In 1330 near Sveti Srđ, the King of Serbia Stefan Dečanski met with envoys of Dubrovnik who congratulated him for his victory in the Battle of Velbazhd. On that occasion Dečanski asked them to support his military campaigns with 6 galleys. After the collapse of the Serbian Empire in 1371 Sveti Srđ belonged to Zeta until 1392 when Ottomans captured Zeta's lord Đurađ II Balšić. They soon released him after they first captured Danj, Skadar and Sveti Srđ. In autumn 1395 Balšić recaptured his towns including Sveti Srđ. Knowing he would not be able to keep those towns if Ottomans decide to capture them he ceded them to Venetians. Soon, in 1397, Danj was granted with a right to trade salt. That way Venetian takeover ended centuries long monopolistic status of Sveti Srđ in salt trading in wider region around Bojana which it had for centuries while it was in Serbia.

A peace treaty signed in Sveti Srđ in 1423 ended the Second Scutari War waged between Serbian Despotate (initially Zeta) and Venetian Republic over Scutari and other former possessions of Zeta controlled by Venice. This treaty is known as the Peace of Sveti Srđ. While it was in Venetian hands the salt traded in Sveti Srđ had to be transported from, also Venetian controlled, Corfu.

In 1479 Ottomans captured the remaining part of the region of northern Albania and this market soon became deserted.

Further reading

• Momčilo Spremić, 'Sveti Srđ pod mletačkom vlašću' [Sveti Srdj under Venetian rule], Zbornik Filozofskog fakulteta u Beogradu 7 (1963), H. 1, 295-312