Čukur Fountain

About

The Čukur Fountain (Serbian: Чукур чесма/Čukur česma) is a monument built to commemorate the Čukur Fountain incident of 15 June 1862, starting with the death of a boy -- Savo Petković -- and growing into a conflict between Serbia and the Ottoman Empire (Serbia being under Ottoman suzerainty at that time). After a quarrel at a fountain, the Serbian and Turkish police came to shoot at each other, after which a riot broke out in the town that lasted the night. The following day, a truce was agreed and the Ottoman police was ordered to leave the Belgrade Fortress, with safe passage guaranteed by the Serbian government.

The day after that, while the Pasha of Belgrade summoned the consuls to the fortress, Ottoman cannons were set off shelling the town, leading to the death of 50 civilians and soldiers, 20 houses destroyed, and another 357 damaged. The cause of the Pasha's order is unknown, while some sources suggested that the bombardment was triggered by Serbians firing muskets at the fortress, the British Consul-General concluded that the bombardment was "the mere result of panic and false alarm". The Great Powers met and decided that Ottoman troops leave the Belgrade Fortress; in the following...