Vlasotince (Serbian Cyrillic: Власотинце) is a town and municipality located in Jablanica District of southern Serbia. As of 2022, the municipality has 25,695 inhabitants, while the town itself has a population of 14,924 inhabitants.
History
According to Turkish records, the town existed in the 15th century as a Turkish administrative center. After the Turks were forced out of Serbia, locals started growing wine grapes as a kind of complementary business to their building activities. They made Vlasotince the number one wine region in the former Yugoslavia and furthermore the biggest wine exporter in the Balkans. The craftsmanship and building skills of workers and builders from this region were appreciated in the former Yugoslavia and its surrounding neighbours until the Yugoslav Wars.
On 26 June 1988, after a period of heavy rains, Vlasina valley was a site of catastrophic floods. Extreme downpours and heavy storms affected river's watershed area in the municipalities of Vlasotince, Crna Trava, Babušnica, Pirot and Leskovac. Military was dispatched to help the residents. In Vlasotince, 1,700 buildings were flooded, 120 were completely destroyed, so as 55 artisan shops, while all major companies and economic organizations were disabled. Numerous streets were washed away, so as 17 bridges along the river, town's bus station, power station and all generators, sports fields, post offices, city waterworks, overhead power lines and Vlasotince's famous "Park" garden.[3][4] In the next period, a solidarity settlement was built in Vlasotince.
During the floods in January 2021, the army was again deployed. Severe rains and ensuing floods caused power outage in the entire municipality of Vlasotince and cut the supply of the drinking water. The river also brought large amount of garbage which clogged the small dam in town.[5][6]
Settlements
Aside from the town of Vlasotince, the municipality includes the following settlements:
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^Danilo Kocić (28 June 2020). Највеће ћуди мирне реке Власине [Major whims of timid Vlasina river]. Politika (in Serbian). pp. 12–13.
^Danilo Kocić (12 January 2021). Власотинце без воде, села без струје [Vlasotince without water, villages in dark]. Politika (in Serbian). p. 12.
^M.G. (13 January 2021). Војска помаже у Лесковцу, Власотинцу и Житорађи [Army helps in Leskovac, Vlasotince and Žitorađa]. Politika (in Serbian). p. 16.
