TRESKA

A Town or a Watchtower?

The fortification on the hill known locally as Treska, or Trijeska as it appears on maps, lies close to the village of Jablanica, five kilometres southeast of Gornji Milanovac. It was built on a hard-to-reach, rocky elevation where the Jablanički Stream and the Grabovička River meet. Archaeological findings date its construction to the late 14^th or early 15^th century. While only the foundations remain today, it is believed that the fortress once served to control the routes leading from Rudnik to the east and south. According to some authors, these ruins may be the remnants of the medieval town of Nevade, mentioned in a charter by the Hungarian King Sigismund in 1411.

ABOVE: Map of the site

ABOVE: The hill of Treska, where a fortification once stood during the Middle Ages

The hill of Treska, standing at 735 meters above sea level, dominates the landscape. From its summit, one can survey the entire southern foothills of Rudnik and spot the Ostrvica peak with its namesake fortress to the northwest. This strategic vantage point suggests that the fortification on Treska may have been part of a broader network of watchtowers encircling Mount Rudnik to safeguard the local mines. The fortification’s base is similar in size and spatial organisation to the Gradina fortification in nearby Majdan village, hinting at a standardised design for these towers.

ABOVE LEFT: A rocky ridge known as Krš descends from the summit of Treska

ABOVE RIGHT: View from Krš towards Gornji Milanovac

The fortification’s layout is elongated, conforming to the terrain’s contours. It is just over 100 meters long, with a maximum width of 26 meters. Cliffs flank the southern and southeastern sides, while steep, hard-to-scale slopes protect the remaining sides. At its apex stand the remnants of a circular donjon tower, boasting an inner diameter of 8 meters. The 1.4-meter-thick walls were constructed using large, rough-hewn and broken stones on their exterior side.

Small-scale archaeological excavations took place in 1987 and 1988. Ceramic artefacts, roughly dated to the late 14^th and early 15^th centuries, provided the primary evidence for determining the fortification’s age. Three opened probes yielded numerous pottery shards, a glass vessel fragment, part of an iron tool, several slag pieces, and two iron arrowheads. Only a small portion of the ceramic findings belonged to the ancient period and the older Iron Age (Hallstatt culture).

ABOVE: A plateau on the southeastern side of the hill, from which a path leads to the summit

Access to the site is possible via a marked path that starts from a spacious plateau on the southeastern side of the hill and then gradually curves towards the northeast. Dense vegetation shrouds the peak, obscuring traces of the former fortress. The top of Treska, which is of volcanic origin, abounds with numerous imposing rock masses, giving this place a unique charm and a dose of mystery.

List of References

ABOVE: The summit of Treska dominates the landscape, making it a logical choice for the ancient builders to construct a fortification

From Old Records

A small town or tower on the hill of Treska. The locals attribute these ruins to Đurađ’s Jerina. It is said that the Turks fired cannons at this small town from Veliki Vrh (the Great Peak), which is directly opposite Treska.

(From the book “Principality of Serbia” by Milan Đ. Milićević, published in 1876)

On the top of Trijeska, there are remains of some walls, overgrown with forest. It is said that it was a town built by Jerina the Cursed. There are many human bones found there, as well as numerous caves suitable for hiding. They say that there was once a “Hungarian” cemetery here, as well as on Lipovac, but everything has been taken away.

(According to the book “Takovo” by Milenko Filipović from 1960)

ABOVE LEFT: Like many other fortresses in Serbia, this one is said to have been built by Jerina the Cursed

ABOVE RIGHT: It remains uncertain whether this was the medieval town of Nevade or simply one of the many watchtowers around Rudnik

The Forgotten Town of Nevade

Nevade was a Serbian medieval city near Mount Rudnik, whose exact location remains unknown. The sole remnant of this fortification lingers in the name of a village called Nevade, situated 3 km northwest of Gornji Milanovac along the Despotovica River. Historical records mention Nevade only once: in a 1411 charter by Hungarian King Sigismund (1387-1437), detailing the exploits of nobleman Peter Perényi. This document recounts a 1397 Hungarian incursion into Serbia, during which the fortress of Borač fell while Čestin and Nevade withstood siege attempts, leaving Perényi wounded in the battle.

ABOVE LEFT AND RIGHT: The summit of Treska is scattered with unusually shaped stone blocks

The fortress was forgotten over the centuries and only returned to the focus of scholarly attention in 1995 when historian and academician Sima Ćirković published an article titled “Nevade – An Unknown Fortified City in Serbia”. Today, there are two hypotheses about the location of this fortification. One was presented by Dejan Bulić and Vladeta Petrović in the article “Ubication of the Mediaeval Fortification of Nevade”, suggesting that this fortification lies on the top of Treska. According to the second theory, proposed by architect Ranko Tomić, the fortification is located on Mount Rudnik’s peak of Veliki Vis in the village of Nevade. There is still no conclusive evidence for either of these assumptions.