Numerous archaeological finds from the region of Kragujevac and the surrounding area prove that this area had social life even in prehistoric period. The first written record of the settlement was made by the Turks in 1476-77, because the former Christian population withdrew from it after the Turkish takeover. Kragujevac experienced a real boom in 1818, when it was proclaimed a capital of the renewed Serbia by Prince Milos Obrenovic. A new town opposed to legacy od Turkey Palanka was created.

A whole series of institutions were established for the first time in the history of the Serbian state. With relocation of the capital to Belgrade in 1841 a period of stagnation for Kragujevac begins. Nevertheless, the city remained the center of political life, so that it maintained all the major assemblies in Serbia, as in time of Prince Milos, until 1878. Kragujevac experienced frequent destruction in all wars, and in World War II the city especially remembers the great tragedy of mass executions of its people in 1941.

Kragujevac has institutions of regional and national importance, and many of them continue the tradition of the first institution of its kind in Serbia:

• Theatar ‘Joakim Vujic’ (1835)
• National Library ‘Vuk Karadzic’ (1866)
• Cultural-Artistic Society ‘Abrasevic (1904)
• National Museum of Kragujevac, a department of archeology (with over 100,000 case stury material), visual art (with about 1,000 works of art), ethnography and history of Kragujevac and Sumadija
• Museum of Old foundry, located in an old foundry, representing the industrial development in Kragujevac and Serbia

Of the numerous cultural and historical monuments in Kragujevac, next stand out:

• Old Church from 1818, endowement of prince Milos Obrenovic
• Hall principality of Serbia
• The complex of Princ Milos’s palace
• Courthouse
• Amidza’s refractory
• The First High School
• Memorial Park of Kragujevac massacre

In Kragujevac several cultural events are organized, of which the most important are:

• International Fair of anti-was cartoons
• International Festival of Chamber Choirs
• Folklore
• ‘Jazz Fest’
• Serbian Theater Meeting ‘Joachim Fest’
• A special attraction is the ‘Kragujevac Aquarium’, the first fresh water aquarium in the country, located at the Faculty of Natural Sciences