At the same time, the Ottoman sultanate was gradually spreading across Asia and Europe.
Photo:asiana/Shutterstock.com
The city of Nis was captured for the first time by the Ottoman Turks in 1375.
The Serbs managed to get it back in 1443, but it fell again in 1448.
During this era, the Serbs suffered untold misery as chronicled by travelers passing through the region.
A 16th century Silesian traveler described grisly scenes of mutilated corpses littered along the route from Sofia to Nis.
Battle of Misar, painting by Afanasij Scheloumoff, 1930s.
Stevan Sinelic blowing up the powder keg.
The locals named it Cele kula.
And it still is.
Today, the Skull Tower has lost the majority of the skulls.
The few that remainsaround 50are protected by a glass enclosure.
The entire tower is housed inside a rather small chapel that looks like a church from the outside.
The skull believed to be of Sinelic rests in a glass container.
The Skull Tower as in 1863.
The Skull Tower as in 1878.
The Skull Tower today.
Photo:Maxim Bonte/Flickr
Photo:Magalie L’Abbe/Flickr
The supposed skull of Stevan Sinelic.
Photo:Pudelek/Wikimedia Commons
Photo:NiglayNik/Shutterstock.com
