Prince Mihailo Obrenovic

Belgrade 1862

Cukur Drinking Fountain

Sava Petkovic

In Belgrade of that time, before the final liberation, the situation was tense between the Serbian and Turkish army. Belgrade was divided in two parts, and it had a Turkish and the Serbian part, each part also had a separate police forces. One Sunday afternoon in June 1862 there was a conflict at the location of the Cukur fountain between the Serbs and the Turkish police which waited in line to get water.

Thirteen year old boy name Sava Petkovic was also waiting in line, he was an apprentice in the nearby craft shop. There are a lot of versions of the incident, and it was never determined which story is true. According to one version Sava accidently broke the jug the Turks were carrying so the Turkish soldier hit him in the head with a heavy jug and he was seriously injured. By another version Turks wanted to drink water from Sava’s jug and he did not let them so the Turkish soldier pulled a bayonet and killed the boy.

Some sources say that the Serbian translator Sima Nešić (The Simina Street in Dorcol was named after him) escorted the wounded boy home, while other sources state that the boy died at the scene, right by the fountain. Since the boy is not mentioned in the historical sources since that day it is assumed that he died at the scene. Somehow the commander of the Serbian Guard Ivko Prokic appeared at the spot where Serbs have surrounded the Turks who killed the boy, and in order to prevent worse consequences, he escorted the Turkish soldiers to the gates of the Belgrade fortress, where was the Turkish stronghold . As soon as the soldiers entered the fortress and he turned his back to return to the city, he was killed from behind by the Turks.

After this, the conflict at the fountain soon escalated and led to the armed clashes of Serbian and Turkish soldiers throughout the city. Prince Mihajlo Obrenovic sent an ultimatum to the Turks to leave the city. The situation calmed the next day and on the second day the Turks suddenly started bombing Belgrade with the cannons from Kalemegdan Fortress and on that occasion 20 Serbs were killed and around 20 houses were burned and 357 houses were damaged. Knez Mihajlo declared a state of war and mobilized 15,000 people.

When a new truce followed, Vefik Effendi came from the Turkish Empire in order to establish what really happened. After the hearing and with the help of powerful countries (France, England Russia and Austria) the Turks left Serbia forever, between 23rd August and 4th September of 1862 according to Kalidža protocol.



Belgrade today.