Markovo Kale

Serbia, Serbia

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Markovo Kale is a medieval fortress perched on a rocky ridge rising 750 meters between the Krstilovica and Pljačkavica mountains near Vranje in southern Serbia, strategically positioned along ancient trade routes like the Vranje-Leskovac road overlooking gorges of the Devotinska and Mala rivers. Its foundations trace to the 6th century under Byzantine Emperor Justinian I, later rebuilt and used by Serbs during the Nemanjić dynasty, first mentioned in 1412 when Ottoman Sultan Musa Čelebi captured it and garrisoned 30 soldiers, naming it Kale-i Ivraniya or Vranje Fortress. The irregular triangular stronghold features massive 2-meter-thick stone ramparts on the south and east, a main northeastern tower, upper and lower towns with water cisterns, a cross-shaped church, residential ruins from the 12th-16th centuries, and natural western cliffs for defense, now a protected cultural monument of great importance amid challenging access paths.