FW4R+29 Grčac, Serbia
Koznik is a fortress in Serbia, located 8 km west of Aleksandrovac and ten kilometers northwest of Brus, built in the last third of the 14th century. It is situated on the slopes of Kopaonik, on a conical elevation 921 meters above sea level, dominating the surroundings and the Rasina River. Historically, it is associated with the great military leader Radič Postupović, a nobleman of Stefan Lazarević. As part of the Night of Museums in 2009, an exhibition titled "Life in a Medieval Castle" was held at Koznik fortress. Today, it is partially conserved and protected by the Republic of Serbia as a cultural monument of great importance.
The entire area around the town is called Rasina, so Koznik is associated with Radič Postupović, to whom Despot Stefan issued two charters in Rasina in 1405. In folk epic poetry, Postupović was also called Rade Oblačić or Rajko Rasina, so these two names are also linked to Koznik.
Koznik was most likely built during the reign of Prince Lazar (1371–1389), as traces of construction in the Morava style, characteristic of his rule, were found, meaning it was built in the same period as several other fortifications (Kruševac, Prokuplje, Pirot). It is first mentioned in sources in Lazar's charter of the Monastery of the Lavra of Saint Athanasius on Mount Athos. The charter is dated 08.08.1381 and was brought to the noble town of Koznik. Lazar's wife Milica lived in the town in 1402, and three years later their son Stefan issued two charters to his magnate Radič Postupović, granting him all the villages around Koznik and the church on Grabovničica. Stefan and Milica often stayed in Koznik.
During the first fall of the despotate in 1439, the Ottomans occupied Koznik, but a few years later it was returned to Despot Đurađ based on the provisions of the Treaty of Szeged, which restored the Serbian despotate in 1444. Ten years later, the Ottomans occupied it permanently during the campaign on Kruševac, after which Koznik was rebuilt and further fortified as a strategically important stronghold. Its significance did not diminish even at the beginning of the 16th century, as the nearby village of Strelac supplied the fortress with 30,000 arrows annually.
In the following centuries, an Ottoman garrison was stationed in Koznik, which was destroyed by Serbian rebels who captured the fortress in 1689 during the Great Turkish War. Immediately after, an Austrian engineer officer made a rough plan of the fortification with its foundation and marked the names of the fortifications as Schloss Koznica and Cosnicher Schloss. After the death of Piccolomini in Skopje and the failure of the Austrian advance into the Balkans, the Great Serb Migration occurred, and Koznik, like several other fortifications, was abandoned to fate.
Archaeological research of the monument was first conducted from 1970 to 1973. During this time, the entire complex was cleared of vegetation, parts of the ramparts and towers were conserved and partially restored, as well as the donjon tower itself, reinforced with a system of iron rings. Work continued in 1978 when new funds were allocated but was again interrupted in 1980. During this period, among other things, a cistern 5 meters in diameter was discovered, containing four wells. The entire system was designed to collect and store rainwater, and at the time of its discovery, it contained clean water, indicating that even after several centuries, the water collection and storage system in the fortress functioned without problems.
Koznik was built on an elevation with steep cliffs on three sides, preventing access, while the fourth (western) side is gentler and used as the approach to the fort. It has an irregular shape, following the terrain's configuration, with a maximum length of 58 meters and a width of 44 meters. Its ramparts are reinforced by 8 quadrangular square towers, located at roughly equal distances. Three towers on the eastern rampart are slightly smaller than the three located on the southern and western ramparts, while the northern (donjon) and northwestern towers (external width 10 meters and internal 8 meters) are significantly larger and most likely had residential purposes. At the highest point of the town, about 921 meters above sea level, in the middle of the northern rampart, stands the donjon. It is a quadrangular tower with a regular square base, 9 meters high and walls about 2 meters thick, with the entrance on the southern side.
