{"id":171826,"date":"2025-03-19T18:11:08","date_gmt":"2025-03-19T16:11:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/?p=171826"},"modified":"2025-03-19T18:11:09","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T16:11:09","slug":"from-serbian-siberia-to-unmatched-luxury-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-famous-villa-dzervin-in-knjazevac-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/from-serbian-siberia-to-unmatched-luxury-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-famous-villa-dzervin-in-knjazevac-video\/","title":{"rendered":"FROM SERBIAN SIBERIA TO UNMATCHED LUXURY: The rise and fall of the famous Villa D\u017eervin in Knja\u017eevac! (VIDEO)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>During the time of <strong>Prince Milo\u0161<\/strong>, the town of <strong>Grgusovac<\/strong> was widely known for its <strong>Turkish tower<\/strong>, which, under his rule, was converted into a <strong>harsh prison<\/strong> for the most dangerous convicts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong>tower stood on a hill<\/strong> above the town, at the site where today lies an abandoned summer stage with collapsed buildings. All that remains of the former tower are <strong>soaked linden trees<\/strong>, the <strong>cawing of black birds<\/strong>, and the <strong>roughly hewn stone walls<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Murderers, bandits, and thieves were imprisoned there, but so were many of the <strong>Prince&#8217;s political opponents<\/strong>, who left behind accounts of the <strong>horrors<\/strong> they endured in this place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many <strong>state officials<\/strong> wrote about <strong>Grgusovac<\/strong>, as they were often <strong>sent there as punishment<\/strong>, and it was from them that the entire region earned the notorious name\u2014<strong>Serbian Siberia<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over time, the <strong>tower and the entire town<\/strong> became so infamous that <strong>Milo\u0161 himself ordered the tower to be demolished, the prison to be relocated, and the town to be renamed Knja\u017eevac<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since then, <strong>much water has flowed through the Timok River<\/strong>. The town was <strong>expertly urbanized<\/strong>, oriented towards the <strong>river with a promenade<\/strong>, featuring <strong>various bridges, two main intersecting commercial streets, beautiful small bourgeois houses, parks, and greenery<\/strong>, giving it a peaceful and comfortable appearance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To make things even more interesting, at the <strong>beginning of the last century<\/strong>, a <strong>magnificent villa<\/strong> resembling a <strong>castle with a watchtower<\/strong> was built on one of the town&#8217;s hills. The man behind it was a <strong>local from Knja\u017eevac<\/strong> who had made his fortune as a <strong>caf\u00e9 owner in Belgrade<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Neglected Art by Merlot Levert: D\u017eervinova Vila \/ Villa Dzervin\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wM7HKBxuEY4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Thus, <strong>Knja\u017eevac gained a new landmark<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to <strong>Srbobran Risti\u0107<\/strong>, as recounted by <strong>Miodrag Zupanc<\/strong> in his book <strong>&#8220;Kojekude Serbia&#8221;<\/strong>, the <strong>villa-castle<\/strong> was built by a certain gentleman who had <strong>amassed his wealth<\/strong> as the owner of the <strong>Kolarac tavern and inn<\/strong>, located <strong>near the National Theatre in Belgrade<\/strong>. This was <strong>one of the most famous pre-war taverns<\/strong>, which was <strong>destroyed in the Allied bombing<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Where the caf\u00e9 owner was during the <strong>bombing<\/strong> remains unknown, but after the <strong>liberation<\/strong>, <strong>partisans moved into his empty villa<\/strong>, turning the building into their <strong>headquarters<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, shortly after, the <strong>Belgrade caf\u00e9 owner reappeared in Knja\u017eevac<\/strong>, standing at the <strong>doorstep of his old home<\/strong>! It is said that he <strong>firmly demanded<\/strong> that the <strong>partisans return his property<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Emboldened, the <strong>partisans threw him out headfirst<\/strong>. Reportedly, much of <strong>Knja\u017eevac silently approved and understood their actions<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><mark style=\"background-color:#FFFFFF;color:#d21414\" class=\"has-inline-color\">FIND OUT MORE IN ENGLISH:<\/mark><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fserbiantimes%2Fposts%2Fpfbid02Dz6ZPvtdX9yRPYCuRwLNVbRKiveMcTGRCxjynL4dtJfAMS4Pwa1zWbPXRWsGDdpvl&#038;show_text=true&#038;width=500\" width=\"500\" height=\"558\" style=\"border:none;overflow:hidden\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p>But what followed <strong>shocked many<\/strong>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong>persistent caf\u00e9 owner<\/strong> made a <strong>phone call to someone in Belgrade<\/strong>, and <strong>a few days later, a telegram arrived ordering the villa to be vacated and returned to its rightful owner<\/strong>. The <strong>signature on the document was so authoritative<\/strong> that the <strong>partisans hastily gathered their belongings and moved out immediately<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whose <strong>signature was on the order remains a mystery<\/strong>, but locals <strong>suspect it came from Mo\u0161a Pijade, \u0110ilas, or even the highest authorities<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong>true owner<\/strong> returned to his villa, where he <strong>peacefully lived until his death in the 1960s<\/strong>. His <strong>modest funeral<\/strong> was organized by the woman who later <strong>inherited the villa<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, in the <strong>following decades<\/strong>, the <strong>widow of the wealthy caf\u00e9 owner<\/strong> could not <strong>maintain the villa alone<\/strong>, so she <strong>converted it into a luxury hotel<\/strong> named <strong>Villa D\u017eervin<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, unfortunately, <strong>Villa D\u017eervin stands abandoned and dilapidated<\/strong>, with only <strong>martens and weasels<\/strong> inhabiting its interior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><mark style=\"background-color:#FFFFFF;color:#d21414\" class=\"has-inline-color\">MORE TOPICS:<\/mark><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/brutal-and-illegal-use-of-force-students-demand-responsibility-for-the-use-of-a-sound-cannon-at-the-protest\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">\u201cBRUTAL AND ILLEGAL USE OF FORCE\u201d: Students demand responsibility for the use of a sound cannon at the protest!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/transferred-by-the-serbian-army-twelve-injured-in-the-kocani-fire-arrive-in-belgrade-for-treatment\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">TRANSFERRED BY THE SERBIAN ARMY: Twelve injured in the Ko\u010dani fire arrive in Belgrade for treatment!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/lest-we-forget-the-march-pogrom-in-kosovo-was-deadly-for-many-serbs-while-thousands-got-expelled\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">LEST WE FORGET: The March pogrom in Kosovo was deadly for many Serbs, while thousands got expelled!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/german-journalist-on-the-sound-cannon-at-the-protest-for-about-half-an-hour-i-felt-dizzy-and-inner-unrest\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">GERMAN JOURNALIST ON THE SOUND CANNON AT THE PROTEST: For about half an hour I felt dizzy and inner unrest!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/due-to-the-unprecedented-tragedy-in-kocani-north-macedonia-declares-seven-days-of-mourning\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">DUE TO THE UNPRECEDENTED TRAGEDY IN KO\u010cANI: North Macedonia declares seven days of mourning!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source<\/strong>: Iz knjige \u201cKojekude Srbija\u201d Miodraga Zupanca; <strong>Foto<\/strong>: Wikimedia Creative Commons<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>During the time of Prince Milo\u0161, the town of Grgusovac was widely known for its Turkish tower, which, under his rule, was converted into a harsh prison for the most dangerous convicts. The tower stood on a hill above the town, at the site where today lies an abandoned summer stage with collapsed buildings. All [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2169,"featured_media":171827,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[5111,5668,554,5669,5670,113,1153,15,5671,5672],"class_list":["post-171826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","tag-arhitektura","tag-arhitektura-srbije","tag-istorija-srbije","tag-knjazevac","tag-kulturno-naslede","tag-srbija","tag-srpsko-kulturno-naslede","tag-video","tag-vila-dzervin","tag-vila-dzervin-u-knjazevcu","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Serbiantimes.info EN","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2169"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171826"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171826\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":171848,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171826\/revisions\/171848"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}