1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Uzhitse

UZHITSE (also written Užice and Ushitsa), the capital of the Uzhitse department of Servia. As implied by its name, which may be translated “the narrow places,” Uzhitse is built in a narrow and lonely glen amongst the south-western mountains, 1385 ft. above the sea. The surrounding heights, though rugged and barren, produce some of the finest Servian tobacco. Weaving is taught in the girls' school, and fairs are held for the sale of farm produce; but the absence of a railway and the badness of the roads retard commerce. Uzhitse possesses a court of first instance and a prefecture. Despite the prevailing poverty, it has also a real-school with good buildings, founded in 1865, and attended by about 300 pupils in 1900. The houses in Uzhitse are quite unlike those of more prosperous Servian towns, being tall, narrow structures of timber, frequently blackened by the damp. Pop. (1900) about 7000.

Early in the 13th century Uzhitse was the seat of St Sava, the first archbishop, and the patron saint of Servia. The archbishopric was soon removed to Ipek, in Old Servia; but after the Turkish garrison had been expelled in 1862 the city became once more the head of a diocese. At Arilye, 13 m. E.S.E., there is a 13th-century church, dedicated to St Aril, who, according to tradition, was martyred in the 9th century by unconverted Serbs. On the Bosnian frontier, 15 m. W. by N., are the mineral springs of Bayina Bashta (i.e. “the Garden Bath”), with Racha monastery close by; and in the neighbourhood is Dobrinye, the home of the Obrenovich family, with a church built by Milosh Obrenovich, called “the Liberator of Servia” (1818–1839).