COMPLOS

In the Charter of Basilius II, the only debatable point is the location of Complos (komplos). The latest investigations point to the medieval city Koprijan (Kurvingrad) near the village Orljane to the south from Niš. The fortification (Kurvingrad) is located on the top of the highest hill, on a lower hill near the village Klisura there is a trefoil-based church, to the south of Klisura there is a necropolis with a vaulted crypt discovered so far (the site of the former church of St. Simeon the Stylite), and there is a monastery with at least two churches and a hermit's hut across the fortification on the hill Komiga, on the other bank of the river Morava. Such organized space is characteristic for medieval urban entities.

Serbs rebuilt the town in 1372, as noted in the discovered inscription, and named it the City of Koprijan. The city was built by Nenad, son of the tax-collector Bogdan, to be a shield of the state south borders against the coming Turks. The apostate Sultan Musa demolished the city in March 1413, but it was returned to Despot Stephan in May the same year by the Sultan Mehmed II. In the year 1428, the Turks took over Niš and Koprijan.

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