Прокуплье: История и археологические открытия

Prokuplje (, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Toplica District in southern Serbia. As of 2022 census, the municipality has a population of 38,054 inhabitants.

The traces of early settlements can be found at Neolithic sites such as Macina (near Zitni Potok), Kavolak west of Prokuplje (village Donja Trnava) and settlements on the south slopes of Jastrebac in Donja Bresnica village. The Vinča period is preserved at the Pločnik site, situated on the left side of the road from Prokuplje to Kursumlija, west of Prokuplje, underneath the modern village, on the left bank of the Toplica river. There are two theories about the emergence of metalworking: the smelting technology was either discovered in one region only, at or near the Fertile Crescent in what is now southern Iran and emanated from there around the world, or it happened independently in different places, the Vinča culture area of Serbia and Bulgaria being one of them, and for now the oldest to be researched and dated. In October 2008, Serbian archaeologists at Pločnik found a copper axe believed to be 7,500 years old, making it 500–800 years older than what had previously been considered to be the beginning of the Copper Age and suggesting that the human use of metal is older than previously believed.

The agricultural Vinča settlements were replaced by the emerging Thracians and then the invading Celtic Scordisci in 279 BC. Pieces of ceramics found by the Latin Church are traces of those tribes' movement on their way to Greece. Between 73 and 75 BC, after the Romans subjugated the tribes of the region, this part of Serbia became a part of the Roman province of Moesia. At the time the settlement was known as Hammeum or Hameo, its oldest preserved name. It was located on the Roman Via Militaris, a road that connected the central Balkans with the Adriatic, passing through nearby Naissus (Niš). In July 2008 a major Roman spa was unearthed. At the end of the 4th century AD, when the Roman Empire was divided, the Toplica region became part of the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire. The place became known as Komplos or Komblos (village town). Some historians believe that Komplos was rebuilt by Emperor Justinian (r. 527–565).

When South Serbs first settled in this area in the 6th century, the city was known as Komplos. During the 9th 11th centuries and the 13th century the territory of modern day Prokuplje was part of the Bulgarian Empire. The city is named after the "Fortress of St. Procopios", first mentioned in 1395. The Ottomans seized the city during their conquest of Serbia, but had to return it in 1444 following the Peace of Szeged.

In 1454, Prokuplje was besieged by the Ottomans and during the next 423 years of Ottomans rule the name of the place was Urcub or Okrub. It was part of the Sanjak of Niš. During the Ottoman rule, in the period between the 16th and 17th centuries, the town's importance increased, similarly to other towns in the region, such as Kruševac, Stalac and Leskovac. Prokuplje prospered through the trade connections with Dubrovnik. Serbs, who had supported the Austrian troops, after their withdrawal started increasingly emigrating from the area, while there was an increase of Muslim Albanian migration into the town. Toponyms such as Arbanaška and Đjake shows an historic Albanian presence in the Toplica and Southern Morava regions (located north east of contemporary Kosovo) that dates to the medieval era. The rural parts of Toplica valley and adjoining semi mountainous interior was inhabited during Ottoman rule by compact Muslim Albanian population, while Serbs in those areas lived near the river mouths and mountain slopes; both peoples inhabited other regions of the South Morava river basin. The Toplica region had an Albanian majority and so did the town of Prokuplje. During the 1877–1878 period, these Albanians were expelled by Serbian forces in a way that today would be characterized as ethnic cleansing. A report was made by local authorities in early 1878 for the minister of education at the time, Alimpje Vasiljević. There were 131 villages, with 1,485 Serbian homes and 1,553 Muslim homes. 12 villages were unregistered as snowfall made them inaccessible, but the inhabitants of these abandoned villages were previously all Albanian. Therefore, the number of houses in regards to the villages only accounts for 119 villages. It is estimated that around 11,437 Albanians left their homes in 119 villages in the Prokuplje district with the arrival of the Serbian army.

In 1877, the entire Toplica region was captured from the Ottomans by Serbian forces, with Prokuplje changing hands on 19 December 1877. The Berlin Congress of 1878 recognised the city and the wider area as part of Serbia. From 1929 to 1941, Prokuplje was part of the Morava Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. During the First and Second World War Prokuplje was completely destroyed, but in the post war period it became an industrial town. In June 2018, Prokuplje gained the status of a city, along with Bor.

According to the official census done in 2011, the city of Prokuplje has 44,419 inhabitants. A total of 61.5% of its population is living in urban areas. As of 2022 census, the municipality has a population of 38,291 inhabitants. Religion structure in Prokuplje is predominantly Serbian Orthodox (41,494), with minorities like Muslims (289), Atheists (122), Catholics (76) and others. Most of the population speaks Serbian language (41,764).

Most of Prokuplje's population is of Serb ethnicity (92.16%). The ethnic composition of the city:
Ethnic group Population%Serbs40,93692.16%Roma2,1454.83%Montenegrins1130.25%Romanians750.17%Macedonians740.17%Croats350.08%Gorani240.05%Others1,0172.29%Total44,419