Kurvingrad (, "Whoretown") or Koprijan (Копријан), is a ruined fortress which sits above the town of Doljevac on the South Morava river, 11 km south of the town of Niš. The ruins are all that remain of the medieval town of Koprijan from the time of Classical antiquity; the fortress is over a thousand years old. Today, fortifications remain, but have not been substantially studied.
History
An important defensive advantage of the location was its inaccessible mountainous terrain, with a clear view of the valley and the river, protected from attack from the rear by an even higher mountain, Seličevica. Because of its strategic location, during the Roman Empire it served as part of the tower defenses of the Via Militaris Roman military road. The city was still an important military point at the time of the Byzantine Empire, with the name of Kompolos.
In the mid-6th century, Emperor Justinian I built thirty-two new forts and restored seven forts in the region of his birth. He also built a number of castles, so that the population had a place of refuge in case of a barbarian attack on the Danube. It is possible that the restored castle was ad Herculum i Calis. Calis later could have been incorrectly written Komplos, and it is quite possible that it served as the northern defense for Justiniana Prima.
The old city fortification of Koprijan was built at the time of Knez Lazar on the foundations of Roman and Byzantine fortifications. At the time of the battle for the Turkish throne in 1413, it was conquered and destroyed by the Sultan Musa Çelebi. After his defeat, the city was returned to the despot Stefan Lazarevic.
The document of the Peace of Szeged in 1444 mentions Koperhamum and Procopius, suggesting that Kompolos must have been on the site of the present-day Kurvingrad. There is a noticeable similarity in the names, and the whole area is rich in Byzantine findings; a Byzantine basilica and several graves were found in the neighboring village of Doljevac. During the excavation of the foundations of those buildings, people often found the ruins of older structures, dating from the 6th to 8th centuries based on the materials used and the manner of building.
In 1451, the Ottoman Empire occupied Kurvingrad, 70 years after the fall of Niš. The Ottoman population census in 1498 mentioned Kurvingrad village with 40 households. By 1498, the village of Kurvingrad had only 20 households. In 1516, Nišava District was affected by a plague, which caused the population to further decline.
Travel writer Ami Bue mentioned the ruins of this city in the first half of the 19th century.
The remains of the fortress were repeatedly used as building material for the construction of Niš Fortress.
In the 20th century, materials from the ruins were also used by the local population as building materials.
In 1933, there was a stone church building on the site, of a Moravian type construction.
During World War I, the site was used by the German command in their defensive front against the Serbian army which was moving rapidly, advancing to the north in October 1918. Despite its strong position, the German front could not be held because the Serbian army came over the top of Seličevica and found themselves behind the Germans, who left Niš without a fight.
Stone inscription from Niš Fortress
In 1933, researchers examining Niš Fortress found a stone inscription above a doorway about Koprijan city. The item, 114cm by 123cm in size, is now in the collection of the exhibits of the National Museum in Niš. It was carved of white oval stone, with the upper side of the stone being flat and 26cm wide, and the lower side of the back wall 26cm. On the pillar in the fourth row (width 16cm) there is written in the Serbian Church Slavonic, Cyrillic alphabet with letters 3cm in size, the following: "Аз Ненад, син казнаца Богдана, сазидах си град Копријан годо...ва дни благовернаго господина ми кнеза лазара ва лето…" (Vlastelin Nenad, son of Kaznac Bogdan, built the city of Koprijan in the days of your glory, my Lord Prince Lazar in the year ...") The inscription was slightly damaged on the edges, so it is not very clear whether this year as preserved is the 6880 years, or it is 1372 years of the old Serbian calendar which coincides with the reign of Knez Lazar. If the latter, then in 1372, Nenad the son of Bogdan built the city of Koprijan.