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Vranje is a town of some 65.000 inhabitants, located about a hundred kilometres south of Niš. It's surrounded by the peaks Krstilovica (1154 m), Pržar (731 m) and Borino Brdo (690 m), and located 70 km from the Bulgarian border and 40 km from the Macedonian.
Vranje is an extremely picturesque town, with many interesting and unusual details that cannot be seen in other parts of Serbia. It's in the part of country where the Turks stayed the longest, so the traces of Ottoman civilization are still widely present - the famouse Beli Most (White Bridge), pašin konak, haremluk, hamam... not far from the town, the remainings of a fortification called Markovo Kale can be seen, and definitely one of the most interesting and most beautiful objects in the town is the birthhouse of the writer Bora Stankovic in Baba-Zlatina street, one of the oldest streets in Vranje.
In the vicinity of Vranje, there is a big massif that consists of the mountains like Besna Kobila (1922 m alt.), Doganica (1806 m alt.), Vardenik (1875 m alt.) and many others, makeing Vranje a perfect base for exploring these mountains.
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It is believed that the first inhabitants of this area were Romans and the Byzantines, as well as Slavs, which came here in the VI century. It's not clear when the town was founded, but it is known that this was the crossroad of the caravan roads connecting East and West.
The first written evidence of the existence of Vranje dates from the XI century. Ana Komnin, a Greek from the imperial family says in her work "Alexiade", that the grand duke Vukan conquered Vranje in 1093, but after the reprisal from the byzantine army, he retreated. In 1193, grand duke Stefan Nemanja conquered Vranje and it became the part of the medieval Serbian state.
The Turks enter Vranje on the 14th of june 1455, and remaind there until the 31st of january 1878, when the town was liberated by the Serbian army commanded by the general Jovan Belimarkovic. In that time, the town had about 8000 inhabitants.
During the First Balkans War, king Petar I Karadordevic personaly led the battle operations against the Turks from Vranje. Later, in the First World War, it was occupied by the Bulgarians on 16/17th of october 1915. It was liberated by the Serbian soldiers from the Thessaloniki front on the 4th of october 1918.
In the WW II, Germans conquered the town on the 9th of April 1941, but already on the 22nd of April turned it over to the Bulgarians. During the four years of occupation, the Bulgarians shot about 700 people, and interned about 4000. In the fightings for Vranje, about a thousand soldiers were killed, and the town was finally liberated on the 7th of september 1944.
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Vranje is an important traffic junction, so it is easily reachable from all parts of Serbia. It's connected with several daily buses to Belgrade (ow ticket around 10 euros) and there are also three daily trains (takes 6 hours, ow ticket around 10 euros).
Most of the buses/trains which operate between Macedonia and Serbia, make a stop in Vranje. Couple daily buses go east to the village Kriva Feja, from where the road goes further to Bosilegrad, on the border with Bulgaria.
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Vranje is definitely one of the most picturesque towns in Serbia. The town is not big, so if you start early in the morning, you can finish the sightseeing in one day. Plenty of cobbled streets, old, splendid houses with large courtyards, wooded mountains hiding the horizon, as well as numerous remainings of the old Ottoman and Balkan architecture create a unique atmosphere...
Pasin konak (Pasha's residence), where the town museum is located, was built by Raif-beg Džinic in the 1765. It consists of two buildings - selamluk (for men) and haremluk (for women). The buildings are completely preserved and renovated and represent the most beautiful examples of the Ottoman architecture in this region. The town museum of Vranje is open workdays 8 am - 3 pm, and weekends 10 am - 2 pm. Entry is 50 dinars (0.6 euros) for adults and 30 (0.3 euros) for children and pupils. Th building of haremluk is nowadays a business centre Simpo, and it is located in the street Kralja Stefana Prvovencanog.
In the street Petog Kongresa, there is a hamam, old turkish bath. The hamam was built of stone, behind it is a courtyard surrounded by a stone wall, but as far as we've seen, the building is closed and it is not possible to go inside. But, even taking a look of the building itself, should be enough for one to get a sense of the atmosphere which once existed here.
Vranje is the birthplace of a famous serbian writer Bora Stankovic. The two of his books "Koštana" and "Necista krv" (Tainted blood) will help you get the clearer picture of the town and everything you see there. The museum - house of Bora Stankovic was built by his grandmother, the famous granny Zlata, after which the street with the house is named. The house was built around 1850, and turned into a museum in the 1967. When you pass through the old wooden gate, you enter the courtyard, where there is the inevitable well and an old mulberry tree. You enter the house through an arched porch. Inside, you can see old furniture, dishes, various ornaments, carpets, family photos, weavers loom, icons - in one word, you are entering a real 19th century southern Serbian home. There are also many books by Stankovic, photos of the performances of his plays and bunch of other interesting little things. At the other part of the courtyard, there is a summer kitchen with an old worm-eaten wooden table, different kitchen accessories, clay pots etc. Museum is located in the street Baba zlatina 9. It is open workdays 8 am - 3 pm and sundays 9 am - 1 pm. Admission fee is 50 dinars (0.6 euros) for adults and 30 (0.3 euros) for children and pupils.
Beli most (the white bridge) from the year 1844, is also known as the "bridge of love" (most ljubavi). The story says that the prophets fortold to the pasha (a turkish governor), that his daughter Aisha will suffer a violent death, so not far from the bridge, he built a white palace and locked her up inside. She had only one small window, through which she observed the outside world. Every day, she saw a Serbian shepherd Stojan pushing the sheep across the river, and she fell in love with him. Somehow, she managed to sneak out of the palace and meet Stojan, but the pasha surprised them, took out a gun to kill Stojan... Aisha threw herself in front of him and so, she got killed instead. The legend then says that Stojan took out a knife and slit his own neck. Pasha then ordered that a bridge is to be built there, with an Arabic inscription saying "cursed be the one who separates what love brings together". The bridge, as well as the inscription are still in the old part of Vranje in the street Devet Jugovica. Ask anybody for the white bridge, and you will be shown the way.
In the street Sindeliceva, near the white bridge, there is a fountain Đerenka. According to a legend, it was built by the Turks in the memory of the famous Đerzelez, who despite his courage and good looks, didn't manage to conquer the heart of a beautiful black-eyed Serbian woman.
The Cathedral of the Holly Trinity, dating from the early 19th century is also interesting. With several of its domes, it surmounted the towns mosques, so the Turks demolished it. It was reconstructed in 1958 an it is located in the street Milutinovica 26.
Just 3-4 km north of Vranje is Markovo Kale, remainings of a medieval fortification. It's not clear who built it, but it is believed that it was Iustinianus, a byzantine emperor from the VI century.
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