History
The monument was the location of the Gazimestan speech delivered by Slobodan Milošević on the 600th anniversary of that battle in 1989, which preceded a violent surge in nationalistic and ethnic tensions prior to the Breakup of Yugoslavia.
Inscribed on the monument is the "Kosovo curse" attributed to Prince Lazar:
- "Whoever is a Serb and of Serb birth
- And of Serb blood and heritage
- And comes not to the Battle of Kosovo,
- May he never have the progeny his heart desires!
- Neither son nor daughter
- May nothing grow that his hand sows!
- Neither dark wine nor white wheat
- And let him be cursed from all ages to all ages!"
This form of the curse first appeared in the 1845 edition of the collection of Serbian folk songs by Vuk Karadžić.
Read more about this topic: Gazimestan
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