Skull Tower - a price of Serbian freedom

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 Skull Tower ( Ћеле Кула )  is a stone structure embedded with the skulls of Serbian men  It was constructed following the Battle of Čegar of May 1809, during the First Serbian Uprising  against Ottoman Empire. Serbian rebels under the command of Stevan Sinelič  were attacked by the Ottomans on Čegar Hill, near Niš.  After the defeat of the Serbian rebels,Vizier Hurshid Pasha ordered that a tower be made from the skulls of the fallen rebels. The tower is 4.5 meters (15 ft) high, and originally contained 952 skulls embedded on four sides in 14 rows.  Many skulls were taken out of the wall because the families wanted to bury their loved ones.
Skull Tower and the chapel enclosing it were declared Cultural Monuments of Exceptional Importance and came under the protection of the Republic of Serbia. Further renovation of the chapel occurred again in 1989. As of 2013, 58 skulls remain on the tower. The one that is said to belong to Sinđelić is enclosed in a glass container. Seen as a symbol of independence by Serbs, the tower is mentioned in the writings of French Romantic poet Alphonse de Lamartine and English travel writer Alexander William Kinglake. In the two centuries since its construction, it has become a popular tourist attraction, visited by between 30,000 and 50,000 people annually.

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