Trstenik, Serbia


Trstenik is a town and municipality located in the Rasina District of central Serbia. As of 2011 census, the town has 15,329, while the municipality has 42,989 inhabitants. It lies on the West Morava river.

History

In the Early and Middle Iron Age, the tribe of Triballi inhabited the West Morava. Romans conquered the area in the 1st century AD. Roman sites include the Stražbe castrum on the right bank of the river, as well as sites in Bučje and Donji Dubić, and others still unexplored. The Romans introduced the Vitis vinifera to the region, which still today is processed in Serbian wineyards.
In the Middle Ages, Trstenik belonged to the West Morava oblast. The first written record of Trstenik is from Prince Lazar's Ravanica charter dated 1381, in which he donated Trstenik to the Ravanica monastery. The Ljubostinja monastery was built in the Morava architectural style.
In 1427, the Ottoman Empire conquered the areas of Kruševac and Trstenik. In the Western Morava valley, the Ottomans built the Grabovac fortress. After the final fall of the Serbian Despotate in 1459, Trstenik became an important Ottoman caravan stop. In an Austrian report dated 1784, Trstenik had 47 Muslim and 17 Christian houses, stone mosques, two inns and a few craft shops. At that time Trstenik was located 2 km west of the present town, near the village of Osaonica.
After receiving autonomy of the Principality of Serbia, Miloš Obrenović ordered the construction of a new settlement on the right bank of the Western Morava in the period 1832-1838. In the 1870s, Trstenik got a primary school, a post office, a pharmacy, a bank and the first steam mill. In 1899, west across the river, a steel bridge was built, and the following year the Church of the Holy Trinity was built. Stalać-Kraljevo railroad opened in 1910.
From 1929 to 1941, Trstenik was part of the Morava Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
After World War II new facilities were built and a large part of the old quarters dates from this period. After World War II, Trstenik suffered significant industrial development with the establishment of the factory hydraulic and pneumatic systems First five years. During the period of sanctions in the 1990s, the city stagnated.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census results, the municipality of Trstenik has a population of 42,966 inhabitants.

Ethnic groups

The ethnic composition of the municipality:
Ethnic groupPopulation%
Serbs41,82997.35%
Romani3420.80%
Montenegrins840.20%
Macedonians480.11%
Croats350.08%
Gorani290.07%
Yugoslavs170.04%
Bulgarians150.03%
Muslims150.03%
Romanians130.03%
Others5391.25%
Total42,966

Economy

As of 2017, key industrial companies in Trstenik are mechanical manufacturer PPT-Petoletka and defense company PPT-Namenska, both being the successors of once-great manufacturing company "Prva Petoletka" which employed nearly 20,000 employees at its peak during the 1980s.
The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity :
ActivityTotal
Agriculture, forestry and fishing192
Mining and quarrying2
Manufacturing3,314
Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply101
Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities183
Construction134
Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles1,251
Transportation and storage282
Accommodation and food services293
Information and communication85
Financial and insurance activities61
Real estate activities1
Professional, scientific and technical activities208
Administrative and support service activities57
Public administration and defense; compulsory social security274
Education686
Human health and social work activities365
Arts, entertainment and recreation90
Other service activities227
Individual agricultural workers1,315
Total9,121

Visitor attractions