Ancient and Roman times Medun is an old town and fortress, situated 13 kilometers northeast from
Podgorica,
Montenegro. It was erected originally as a
fortress, later on as a town, between 4th and 3rd centuries BC, by Illyrians living in the area. It was known as
Medeon (),
Meteon, or
Modunense. Well preserved walls of the fortress were built of big blocks of trimmed stone, placed in a number of rows. With respect to solidity and size of the construction it substantially differs from the construction of other, less significant
Illyrian towns. From the cultural-artistic point of view, two lower dig ups in the rock on the road from the lower to the upper town are very interesting. Studies refer to the conclusion that it was the place of performance of rituals related to the cult of snake that represented myth ancestor to the Illyrians. Necropolis is sited north from the upper town. It originates from the
Iron Age, but has not been studied. Medeon hosted the
Ardiaei king
Gentius, his wife
Teuta and the rest of his family until they were taken captives by the Roman legions, who effectively ended the independence of
Illyria and created the Roman province of
Illyricum. Medun was mentioned by
Livy (59BC-17AD) as a civitas of the
Labeates, an Illyrian tribe which lived around the
Lake Skadar, then known as
Lacus Labeatis.
Roman legions conquered Medun around 167 BC, during the
Third Illyrian War. On that occasion the
Ardiaei king
Gentius and his family were captivated, marking the establishment of
Illyricum. The medieval fortification had been built on the ruins of the Roman city. Slavs migrated to the area during the Slavic migrations into Europe and the Balkans.
čelnik Đuraš Ilijić (1326–1362) held
Upper Zeta, including the city, subordinate to King
Stefan Dečanski (r. 1321–1331), and Emperors
Dušan the Mighty (r. 1331–1355) and
Uroš the Weak (r. 1355–1371). The
Balšić noble family which had taken control of Lower Zeta (lands previously held by
Lord Žarko), went after
Head of Upper Zeta Đuraš Ilijić in 1362, and killed him, expanding further the Zeta
župa. The family is recognized as
Oblastni gospodari (Lords) in charters of Emperor
Uroš the Weak (r. 1355–1371). The 1444 charter of King Alfonse V documents Medun as the property of
Stephen Vukčić Kosača. In 1445, Herceg Stjepan ceded the Upper
Zeta and the Medun fortress to despot
Đurađ. A duke of despot Đurađ defended Medun in 1452 from
Stefan I Crnojević who was a duke in the
Venetian service. In 1455, despot Đurađ had to give the fortress to the
Turks in their victorious drive through
Southeastern Europe. The Ottomans captured Medun in 1456. During the rule of
Ivan I Crnojević (r. 1465–1490), a certain Imrahor Aga took refuge in the region, constantly fighting the Crnojevići and attempted to expel their people from Medun. A bloody battle was fought between the two, in which Imrahor and many other leaders were slain, however, the town is taken by the Ottomans. The battle marked the downfall of the Crnojevići and the loss of a state. The region was organized into the
Sanjak of Shkodra, and in 1514, the Zeta region was established into the
Sanjak of Montenegro, which would be headed by
Stanko Crnojević, the son of Ivan I. Stanko was sent in 1485 to
Constantinople as a guarantor of loyalty at the Ottoman court, and he converted to Islam and took the name
Skanderbeg, subsequently being put for Sanjak-bey of Montenegro.
Early modern Mariano Bolizza of
Kotor, a servant of the Republic of Venice, wrote a report in 1614, initially for describing
Sanjak of Shkodra's land routes which could best be utilized by local couriers conveying official correspondence from Venice to Constantinople and back, and to survey the military potential of the territory. He also provided a very detailed overview of towns and villages in Montenegro and northern Albania; their respective chiefs and men in arms, as well as demographics.
Kuči,
Bratonožići and part of
Plava were under the soldiers of Medun, the spahee, but the commander was not named; and the highlanders would pay the Ottoman officials a portion of their income. Medun was described as a little town on a hill, strategically situated, but badly guarded and in ruins, of which fortification was held by the Dizdar Aga and 200 "very war-like people". In 1688 the tribes of
Kuçi,
Kelmendi and
Pipri captured the town defeating 2 Ottoman counter-assaults capturing many supplies on the process before retreating.
Modern . The famous writer, and
Kuči tribe leader, Montenegrin duke and hero
Marko Miljanov (1833–1901) lived at the foot of walls of the town and the fortress. He was buried in the
acropolis in front of the small church dedicated to Archdeacon Stephen, built in Miljanov's honour the same year of his death. A
rebellion in nearby Herzegovina (1875–1878) sparked a series of rebellions and uprisings against the Ottoman forces in
Europe. Montenegro and
Serbia agreed to declare a war on Turkey on 18 June 1876. Nichola I's cousin had twice routed the Ottomans at Medun. A Montenegrin victory in Danilograd in Zeta, and the capitulation of Medun, concluded the first year of the
Montenegrin–Ottoman War (1876–1878). In 1877/1878,
Nicholas I of Montenegro acquired a seaboard on the
Adriatic, and on 13 January 1878 Nicholas I and
Ahmed Muhtar Pasha signed a truce, ending the war. Medun has not yet been studied sufficiently. Not only that it is interesting for its distant and rich past, it also represents an object significant for studying of all cultural epochs, from
prehistory to the
Middle Ages. ==Demographics==