Zvečan

Zvečan/ Zveçan
Municipality and city
Albanian: Zveçan Serbian: Zvečan
The town of Zvečan
Seal
Zvečan/ Zveçan Location in Republic of Kosovo
Coordinates: 42°54′N 20°50′E / 42.900°N 20.833°E / 42.900; 20.833Coordinates: 42°54′N 20°50′E / 42.900°N 20.833°E / 42.900; 20.833
Country	Kosovo
District	District of Mitrovica
Government
• Mayor	Vučina Janković
Area
• Total	123 km2 (47 sq mi)
Elevation	461 m (1,512 ft)
Population (2014)
• Total	7,341
• Density	60/km2 (150/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	38227
Area code(s)	+381 28
Car plates	02
Climate	Cfb
Website	Municipality of Zvečan

Zvečan (Albanian: Zveçan, Serbian: Звечан, Zvečan) is a town and municipality in the Mitrovica district of Kosovo. It is a part of North Kosovo, a region with an ethnic Serb majority that functions largely autonomously from the remainder of the ethnic-Albanian-majority Republic of Kosovo. The municipality covers an area of 104 km² (40 sq mi), and consists of 35 villages. As of 2014, the municipality has a population of approximately 7,341.

The town of Zvečan is located near Mitrovica. It was mentioned for the first time in connection with the border clashes between the Serbs and Byzantines between 1091 and 1094. There is also an inscription that Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja, after the victory over the Byzantines in 1170, ordered that a prayer for the successful outcome of the battle be held in the church of St. George at Zvečan.

In the 13th and 14th centuries Zvečan was one of the royal residences of the Serbian court. Queen Theodora died there in December 1322, and nine years later her husband, Stefan Uroš III was imprisoned and strangled there. First the Musić, then the Vojinović noble family, held the fortified city and region during the Serbian Empire of Uroš V (r. 1355–1371). As imperial power collapsed Zvečan was in a disputed zone being held by Miloš Pović in 1370 but claimed by Nikola Altomanović.