On the northeast part of Montenegro on the top basin of Lim, between the mountains Bjelasice, Smiljevica, Turjak and Mokra mountain, in a region full of natural beauty and valuable historic and cultural monuments, there is a valley, over 600 m high, in which the municipality of Berane is developing. The town extends on the surface of 717 km2. The highest point in the community is top Crna glava, which reaches the height of 2139m.
There are material proves that human have resided on this space since the prehistory. During the past millenniums, the different cultures have changed, from Starcevo, Vinca, Illyrian, Celtic, Roman, over Byzantine, Slavic and Oriental, to modern European of the 21st century. Polimska museum in Berane has beautiful exhibits which are witnesses of these epochs. The Slavery tribes settled these areas in the 6th and 7th century.
At the place where today’s Berane is located until 1862 there was no home. Then, after the battle of the Rudes, the Turkish army built a military stronghold. The village has slowly expanded since the Orthodox population reluctantly decided to raise houses next to the Turkish camp. The Turks built a fort on Jasikovac, bridge of Lim, and military barracks on its left bank which is now a general hospital. For Prosinama under Jasikovac they have built harems-flats for officers and employees, after which this part of town got its name. At first it was a military settlement and settlement for the families of military officers.
Soon the town began to attract business people and quickly spread. In addition to military settlements with time inns, craft workshops and shops were built. Over the past several centuries the upper Polimlje got its name changed. In the middle ages it was called the district and Budimlje, since 1957. The name that has occurred gradually pushed the early name. In the middle of the 19th century, Berane and its closer surroundings begin to be called Beranska district. Only Berane was named after Berane-village, a nearby village that is now wrap in the metropolitan core.
In the memory of the revolutionary Ivan Milutinovic, on 21 July 1949, the decision was made that the town will be named after him Ivangrad.
In a citizen referendum in November 1991 the old name Berane was restored. Before the Second World War Berane had 3500 inhabitants. According to the census of 1961 the city had 6969 inhabitants. Population boom is a result of industrialization and economic development. The sudden development of Berane brought this small town to a modern contemporary and we would say one of the most beautiful towns in the north of Montenegro.
According to the census from 2003 Beranska municipality had 40.880 inhabitants in 66 villages. Berane is from all sides surrounded by the mountainous uplands. Successive administrations in this region had civilizations that left behind a rich cultural heritage. But as a town Turkish identified Berane in1862, and it became part of Montenegro in 1912.
Berane is a young town. Its streets are spacious and decorated by squares and parks. Near the town there is a ski-lift that leads to a ski resort on the Smilevici. The town is oriented towards the winter months, but the large number of archaeological findings makes it attractive for this kind of tourism. Monastery Djurdjevi pillars, where Saint Sava founded one of the first Serbian diocese, is an important historical and cultural monuments of this town.
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