Kadinjača Memorial Complex

Top choice in Serbia


Serbia's most grandiose spomenik (Yugoslav-era memorial), Kadinjača commemorates the Partisans from the Workers' Battalion who perished on this spot fighting the Germans in November 1941. Rising on a green hill like some futuristic Stonehenge, the arresting series of white granite monoliths of various heights and angles culminates in two 14m-high pillars that together form a symbolic 'bullet hole' sculpture. The 15-hectare complex comprises a stone pyramid with a crypt for the fallen soldiers.

There's a memorial hall with an exhibition about the historic event. The Partisans' heroic defeat at the battle of Kadinjača marked the end of the short-lived Republic of Užice, the first liberated territory in German-occupied Europe. Proclaimed by Yugoslavia's legendary resistance movement, it covered an area of about 20,000 sq km in western Serbia and lasted only 67 days.

The memorial complex is located 14km northwest of Užice, accessed from the road to Bajina Bašta. If visiting from Bajina Bašta, a return taxi should cost around 1300RSD.