Medieval period Žrnov

a drawing of Žrnov felix philipp kanitz, second half of 19th century

there no records confirm byzantines used fort. in first half of 15th century, during reign of serbian despot stefan lazarević, expanded proper fortress. data on fort scarce. when german naturalist , traveler felix philipp kanitz visited area in second half of 19th century, made several drawings , Žrnov , wrote serbian emperors built fort on foundations of roman outpost on top of mountain, without specifying emperors or when. during middle ages, cinnabarite used fresco paintings , exported greece. expanded fortress became known Žrnov grad ( Žrnov town ). believed got name because of large grinding stones crushing ores, called žrvanj in serbian. mountain avala called Žrnovica in middle ages.

the ottomans conquered fort in 1442 , further fortified , strengthened eastern , southern ramparts, on orders of hadım Şehabeddin, eunuch beylerbey of rumelia eyalet. peace of szeged, serbian despotate restored , ottomans had withdraw fortified towns: golubac, kruševac, novo brdo , Žrnov.