Monument to Freedom (Spomenik Slobode)

Before World War II, Iriški Venac was one of the central points of Fruška Gora, located at the intersection of Grebenski Put (Ridge Road), today called the Partizanski Put, and the road between Irig and Sremska Kamenica.
As an important communication center, Iriški Venac was under the armed control of the occupiers throughout the war and was only liberated in October 1944 by the units of the 7th Vojvodina Brigade.
The monument known as "Freedom", dedicated to the fallen fighters and the National Liberation Movement (NOP) of Vojvodina, is one of the first more representative monuments erected in the territory of Vojvodina, and it is also among the most impressive monuments erected in the first decade after liberation across the entire territory of Yugoslavia.
Even though Iriški Venac was not of major importance for the Fruška Gora partisans, it was chosen for the location of this monument, being the tourist and traffic center of the mountain. It was unveiled on July 7th, 1951, on the 10th anniversary of the Uprising in Serbia, in the presence of around 100,000 citizens.
The author of the monument is the renowned sculptor Sreten Stojanović. "Freedom" belongs to the group of figurative-architectural monuments. The monument is built of Belovac stone and paved with Motajnica granite. The total height of the monument is 36 meters, and the figure of a woman - the personification of the ideal of freedom - at the top of the obelisk is 7 meters high.
By some accounts, the figure of the woman is oriented towards Bosnia, because that is where most of the partisans from Srem and the entire Vojvodina province went to combat. In front of the obelisk, on a high pedestal, there is a composition made up of six figures, symbolizing the people of Srem and Vojvodina who rose up in revolt. The base of the monument is framed by a bronze relief 50 meters long, which, through several chronological and thematic units, presents the development and course of the People's Liberation Struggle (NOB) in the area of Srem. Among other things, the relief depicts the entry and terror of the occupiers, the beginning of the uprising, the cooperation between the common people and the partisans, armed conflicts with the occupiers, and the final victory. [This site is part of the Liberation Routes Hiking Tour "The Liberation Walk" (6km)]
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