Užice

 After an overnight stay in Valjavo in Western Serbia, I drove south through the mountains to Užice, a city about 90km away. This is terrain hard-fought over in both World Wars and tough going for an attacker. The mountains are not particularly high, similar to the west coast of Scotland, but with very few level routes - zig zags much of the way.

The city is famous as Tito's first partisan base. In 1941, after Nazi occupation, Užice was liberated by the Yugoslav Partisans, who chose it as the capital of the Republic of Užice. It didn't last long after facing a multi-pronged Axis attack. The partisans delayed the attack for long enough for the main force to escape to Bosnia.

The National Museum in the city has a wide range of exhibits covering this period, and they have opened some of the caves used to manufacture arms and ammunition, including 2.7 million rifle bullets. There is also a rare statue of Tito.

A French Hotchkiss tank was captured from the Germans, who used a lot of them in the Balkans.

The city was part of an early Serbian state after the Slavs infiltrated the Balkans in the 6th century. Nikola Altomanović built the stone tower, while the rest of the fortified complex was most likely made of wood. The fortress remained Serbian until 1459, when it was conquered by the Ottomans, who developed it; the crenellations in the reconstructed upper town date to that period. The Austrians gained the fortress in the early 18th century, but lost it to the Ottomans in 1738.

The best view is from the river below. However, you can drive up and visit the castle, just don't expect Mrs Google to get the route correct. She took me all around the narrow residential streets. A very knowledgeable guide greeted the weary travellers. They have done an excellent job with the reconstruction and hope to do more with the lower town.

This is the view from the river, and it's stunning.

And this is from a viewing position at the base of the upper town.

The main tower

After that, I decided to go back to Valjavo on a different route, which took me past the partisan memorial at Kadinjača. On 29 November 1941, the Battle of Kadinjača was fought here. A workers' battalion fought and died against the German assault on the Republic of Užice. The memorial is huge with great views, but sadly, the museum was closed. If I understood the notice, it was due to a contaminated water supply.

The route back runs along the Bosnian border, where the main Austrian attack came from in 1914. I'll leave you with a photo near the border that gives a good impression of the terrain. Over those distant mountains lies Srebrenica, a reminder of a more recent conflict in these hills.