The city is located at a mountainous crossroads of three mountains: Gledić, Rudnik and Crni Vrh, with its edges framing the vale through which the River Lepenica flows.
With the fall of Serbia’s medieval state to Turkish Ottoman rule, this “market town” was affirmed as an extremely important settlement. The name Kragujevdža or Karagovindža was first noted in 1476 in Ottoman records that are today kept in the government archives in Istanbul. It is believed that the name of the settlement originates from the kraguj bird, which resembles an eagle. These birds of prey have sharpened senses and can be trained for use in hunting.
(Selected parts of BelGuest Magazine Article)

The year 1818 marked a milestone in the development of the city, when Duke Miloš Obrenović, speaking at the People’s Officers Assembly in Vraćevšnica Monastery, declared Kragujevac the capital of Serbia. The city became the main centre of the Serbia of the time, becoming urbanised, developed and modernised...   

HOMELAND OF MODERN SERBIA

The first bell of the chruch’s wooden narthex first tolled in 1929, long after Duke Miloš justified its construction as a need for the people to shelter from the rain. The Serbian-Byzantine style narthex and bell tower were only added in 1907.   

The churchyard houses the old Assembly, where almost all important decisions of the Serbian people were proclaimed. The Candle mass Day Assembly of 1835 was also held there, when the first Serbian constitution was passed.