Skull Tower, Skull tower in Niš, Serbia
Skull Tower (Ćele Kula) is a 4.5-metre stone tower in Niš, built of sand and limestone on four supporting walls around a hollow core. Its walls are embedded with human skulls; 58 remain, set in rows on the outer faces. A chapel designed by Dimitrije T. Leko encloses the tower, and a glass container beside it holds the skull attributed to Stevan Sinđelić.
Hurshid Pasha, governor of the Rumelia Eyalet, ordered the tower built after the Battle of Čegar on 19 May 1809, when Stevan Sinđelić blew up his powder magazine rather than be captured. Built of sand and limestone between June and autumn 1809 on the Istanbul road, it held 952 skulls in 14 rows. Midhat Pasha had it dismantled in 1861; after 1878 a baldachin was raised, and Dimitrije T. Leko's chapel enclosing it was consecrated in 1894.
Locals call it Ćele kula, from the Turkish kelle kulesi, meaning "skull tower". The site is a museum and a Cultural Monument of Exceptional Importance, and a plaque placed near the chapel in 1904 reads: "To the first Serbian liberators after Kosovo."
Skull Tower stands about 4 km from the centre of Niš, on the road toward Niška Banja, in the Trošarina neighbourhood near the former eastern entrance to the city. The chapel built over the tower shelters it from rain and frost, though damp and temperature swings still affect the walls. Visitors view the skulls from inside the chapel.
The skull of commander Stevan Sinđelić is displayed in a glass container, while most other skulls disappeared over time due to weathering and looting. Only a small fraction of the remains originally embedded in the walls can be seen today.
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