highlights

Visit the capital where east and west meet, stroll down the steep Turkish alleys, wide boulevards, always jammed Knez Mihailova Street. Climb Kalemegdan fortress; discover, shoulder to shoulder with the Victor, confluence of Sava and Danube. You have to see the biggest Orthodox temple in the world, St. Sava’ temple, from where you can see the whole city and further, then church St. Marko, the City Hall, the Old Palace, the Residence of Princess Ljubica and the National Museum. Don’t forget to take a bite in one of the famous restaurants in the picturesque Skadarska Street while sensing the sounds of tamburitza, and if you are in the mood for a walk, roam around the luxurious villas of Dedinje.

history

In the 3rd century B.C. Celts took over Belgrade (Singidunum – Celt Singa) from the Thracian who settled here in the 4th century B.C. During the rule of Romans it was of the great strategic value as the border town of the Roman Empire.

During the 5th and 6th century Belgrade suffered Slavic, Hun, Avars, Goths and Sarmatians attacks. The first name, similar or almost the same as todays, Bjelgrad, appeared in the year 878, so we can reason out that even then it was populated mostly by Slavs (although under the Bulgarian rule).

In the second half of the 8th century the King Stefan Dragutin got it from the Hungarians, and, during his reign (1276-1282) Belgrade became the capital of Serbia for the first time. When he died in 1316, it underwent the Hungarian authority again. The Emperor Stefan Uros IV Dusan managed to regain it, but after he died, Hungarians took it over again. In 15th century Belgrade was given to the Despot Stefan Lazarevic, who renewed it and pronounced it the capital city for the second time. After his death, in 1427, Belgrade falls under the rule of Hungary.

In 1521 the Turks seized Belgrade from the Hungarians. By the end of 17th and during the 18th century Austrians conquered and governed it three times. In 1842 Belgrade became the capital of knezhevina Serbia (knezhevina-principality).

Belgrade was much damaged by Austrian and German bombing during the WW I. In the WW II it was bombed on 6th April 1941 by Germans, and few times during the 1944 by Americans (so called “allied bombing”). In 1918 Belgrade became the capital of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (renamed in 1929 into Kingdom of Yugoslavia). After the WW II it became the capital of FNRJ (The Federative People's Republic of Yugoslavia), later SFRJ (The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) and the republic of Serbia.

In recent years Belgrade, as Serbia itself, faced the turbulent period of protests and riots. The climax was another bombing in 1999, this time by members of NATO Pact, and the revolution on 5th October 2000. Today Belgrade is the capital of the Republic of Serbia.

things to see

Belgrade is the city of contrasts, mixture of different cultures and architectural styles, reminding us of the significance of its geographical position and turbulent history. Belgrade lies on the confluence of Danube and Sava, rivers that have always represented boundaries, both geographical and culturological. A Celtic, than Roman colony that emerged here started to grow, developing into the town under the alternating influence of the two powerful states- Byzantium and Austria, and later Turkey. Present modern look Belgrade got under the rule of the Knez Milos Obrenovic, but because of the catastrophic bombing in 1941 and 1944 its appearance is very much changed. After the war, in the place where the ruins were, new soc- realistic buildings appeared. So, while tootling around Belgrade streets from Kalemegdan to Slavija, you will see traces of these epochs enriched with sparkling and vivid flavors of the typical Balkan metropolis.

Downtown

The most vital street of Belgrade is the Knez Mihailo’s Street, conjoined to Terazije and Knez Milan’s Street which ends with hectic Slavija Square. On the very beginning of Knez Mihailo’s St., above the confluence of Sava and Danube, Kalemegdan fortress and park with numerous monuments and museums are placed.

If you take the Knez Mihailo’s St. from Kalemegdan, and turn right into the King Petar’s street, you will get to the Kosancicev Venac, a tangle of colorful balkan-style streets. The church of Archangel Mihailo (Orthodox Cathedral) is here. It was built between 1836 and 1841 by wish of the Knez Milos Obrenovic in the place where the old Belgrade church was. The church is constructed in classical and the bell tower in baroque style. The iconostasis made in 1841 by Dimitrije Petrovic, with the icons of Dimitrije Avramovic, is of the greatest value. Two eminent Serbs- Vuk Karadzic and Dositej Obradovic- are buried here. This church, together with Patriarchate built in 1935 opposite to it, is the residence of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

Just next to it is the Residence of Princess Ljubica. By the order of Knez Milos Obrenovic it was built as a living place for his family, Kneginja (Princess) Ljubica and sons - Milan and Mihailo. This is the typical example of balkan architecture with slight western influence and, at the same time, the first building made of compound material in Belgrade. Today, this is a museum and the display area (8 Simo Markovic St; phone: 011/638-264; opened 10-17 on working days, 10-16 on Saturday and 10-16 on Sunday; closed on Monday).

In the Kralj Petar’s St. you will see the National Bank building, built in 1889 and enlarged in1922, to resemble to a renaissance palace. If you walk further down the Knez Mihailo’s St. you will get to the SANU Gallery (SANU- Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts; 35 Knez Mihailo’s St; phone: 011/ 334-24-00; opened 10-20, free entrance) where you can watch various exhibitions.

If you turn left from the great marble fountain, you will find yourself in the passage leading to the Students’ Square, crowded with books and cafés. The Faculty of Philosophy is located there, famous for many protest assemblies and meetings that were organized in front of it. From here it’s easy to get to the Students’ Square, where Students’ Park and pompous building of the Ethnographic Museum are (13 Studentski trg, phone: 011/3281-888; www.etnomuzej.co.yu ; opened: 10-17 on working days, 10-13 on Sunday, closed on Monday; admission fee: adults/students- 60/30 CSD; exhibitions: folk costumes, cloth, rugs, craftworks).

Some of the endowments and public buildings, gifted by wealthy and influential citizens, are located here. Here is the Captain Misa's building, built in 1863 with donation of a wealthy merchant Misa Anastasijevic. It was made in typical romantic architectural style, with some gothic, roman and renaissance elements added. The building hosted the Great School (Velika skola), the National Library, the National Museum, Grammar School and the Ministry of Education during its history. Today here is the Rectorate of the University of Belgrade (Chancellor’s office).

On the left, toward the Ethnographic Museum, is the Endowment of Ilija M. Kolarac, built in 1932, well known for its concert hall and display area (5 Studentski trg, phone: 011/ 185-794).

If you carry on trough the Knez Mihailo’s street, you’ll reach the square with a fountain, where Cultural Center of Belgrade is, and on your left you will see the Republic Square (Trg republike), the main Belgrade square. In the center of it is the monument representing Mihailo Obrenovic on the horse, art piece of the Florentine sculptor Enrico Pazzi from 1882. The National Theater (built in 1869) and the National museum (1a Trg republike; phone: 011/ 624-322; www.narodnimuzej.org.yu ; opened: 10-17 on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. 12-20 on Tuesday and Thursday. 10-14 on Sunday, closed on Monday; exhibitions: prehistory, Middle Age, paintings) dominate the square. The National Museum was built in 1903 in neo-renaissance style for Fund Administration needs. But after it was much damaged during the bombing in 1944, it’s adapted and transformed into a museum.

If you walk over the square to the National Theater and take the Francuska Street, go across into 29th November Street, pass “The Officer’s Club” (Dom Vojske), the Skadarska street will appear on your left. That’s the main part of the bohemian quarter- Skadarlija. In this typical balkan cobbled street you will see plenty of galleries, a house of the famous Serbian poet Djura Jaksic (34 Skadarska; phone: 011/ 323-0302, open 10-15 and 18-21 from Monday to Friday) and numerous restaurants under specific, oldish names, where the most famous people of Belgrade were spending their time. The most famous are: "Dva jelena", "Tri sesira", "Zlatni bokal", "Ima dana", "Dva bela goluba" and "Skadarlija.

When you go back to the Cultural Centre of Belgrade, if you keep going till the end of the Knez Mihailo’s street you will pass by “Palata Albanija”, the first Belgrade skyscraper built in 1940. The building was named after the pub “Albanija” that used to be here before. Here starts the wide boulevard Terazije, where you can see an interesting hotel “Moskva” built in secession-style in 1906, for the insurance company “Rosija”.

Here is, also “Terazijska cesma”, a drinking fountain, built in 1860 during the rule of Milos Obrenovic. In 1911, the fountain was moved to the yard of the Church on the Topcider hill, but it was brought back in 1975. If you turn right behind the “Moskva” hotel you will enter the steep Balkanska street which will lead you to the Nemanjina street and to the Savski square where the bus and the train stations are located, but if go down the park behind the hotel “Moskva” you will get to the garage and see the colourful roofs of the Zeleni venac (the green market).

Terazije joins the King Milan’s St. where the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia is. The Old Palace is across it, built in neoclassical style in 1882 for the King Milan Obrenovic. Nowadays it serves as the City Hall, and on its right is the old Ministry of Justice built in renaissance style in 1893. If you turn right from the King Milan’s St., and pass the old castle, you will get to the King Aleksandar’s St. and to the House of the National Representation, the impressive neo-baroque building from 1889.

Here are also Nikola Pasic’s square and the Historical Museum of Yugoslavia (11 Nikola Pasic square; phone: 011/ 339-8532, www.muzejistorijejugoslavije.org, working hours: 12-20h;free entrance; exhibition displays the history of the people of Yugoslavia from 1918th on, sometimes the items from Josip Broz Tito’s collections are shown).

A little bit further, across the Takovska Street, you will see the buildings where the Post office and National bank of Serbia are, as well as the park Tasmajdan and the St. Marko’s church, built between 1931 and 1940 in the Serbian- Byzantine style to resemble Gracanica monastery near Pristina. In St. Marko’s church a sarcophagus with bones of Serbian Emperor Dusan is held, moved here from his foundation- the St. Archangels’ monastery, near Prizren. Here is, also, one of the richest collections of Serbian icons from the18th and 19th century.

From the King Milan’s street turn right on the next crossing and walk down the wide Knez Milos’ Boulevard to see the embassies, ministries and General Staff building, seriously damaged during the bombing in 1999.

If you proceed the King Milan’s St. and walk by renovated Yugoslav Drama Theater and Students’ Cultural Center, you will reach the Slavija Square- very busy rotary, from where you can follow St. Sava’s St. passing by the “Slavija” hotel, to get to the part of the city named Vracar and the biggest Orthodox temple in the world. It’s the St. Sava’s temple, erected in the place where the Turks, as a presentation of their power, have burnt the bones of the first Serbian Archbishop Sava Nemanjic. The construction of the temple began in 1894, but it was interrupted many times by wars and disturbances until the 1985 when the works continued. The outside facades and a plateau in front of the temple are finished, but the interior is still under construction.

Kalemegdan

Kalemegdan consists of two parts: the park and the fortress.The name Kalemegdan (Turkish: kale- field; megdan- battle) refers to a plateau around the fortress which was, in the middle of 19th century, by the order of Mihailo Obrenovic, transformed into the biggest and maybe the most beautiful Belgrade park. A lot of different monuments are in the park, but the one that dominates is the Victor, the art work of Ivan Mestrovic erected in 1931, representing the gratitude of Serbian people to France for their help during the WW I. Worth seeing is also the Art pavilion “Cvijeta Zuzoric”, where the exhibitions are displayed. In the eastern part of the park, toward the fortress itself is a Zoo (8 Mali Kalemegdan, working hours: 08.00-17.00 during the winter, 08.00-20.30 during the summer; admission fee: adults/ students: 200/150 CSD).

Belgrade fortress is at the end of the park, on the reef above the confluence.

It was being built from the 1st to 18th century, and the constructors alternated from Roman, over Byzantine and Serbian, to Turkish and Austrian. The first fortress was built in the 1st century as a Roman castra and around it antique settlement, Singidunum, developed. During the following centuries the fortress suffered the attacks of Goths, Huns, Avars and Slavs. Byzantines built a new castle in 12th century, later extended to the river banks. The bloom and development into prosperous medieval town, Belgrade fortress experiences under the rule of the Despot Stefan Lazarevic. In the 1521 the fortress is conquered by the Turks, just to be reconquered by the Austrians in 1717 and transformed into the one the strongest military fortifications. Modern fortifications were built according to the projects of the general Nikola Doksat Demorez, who was, ironically, shot below the ramparts of Kalemegdan fortress, because of his defeat in the battle by Nis.

By the end of 18th century the fortress gains its final look. In the following wars it endures great devastations, but it was restored and pronounced a cultural monument after the WW II.

Belgrade fortress consists of two parts: upper and lower town. You can reach the fortress through the park from a few directions using the famous gates. If you are coming from the Knez Mihailo’s or Uzun Mirko’s St. you will pass through the Stambol, Kralj (King’s) and Sahat (Clock) gate. Zindan and Despot’s gate are in the east and you will go through them if you enter the upper town by the Zoo. The entrance to the lower town is guarded by Vidin gate (from the direction of the Vojvoda Bojovic Boulevard) and the Mracna (Dark) gate (from Karađorđeva St.). The most famous are Inner Stambol gate from 1750, Sahat Kula (Clock Tower) from the 18th century (used as a watchtower) and there is also massive Zindan gate (from the 15th century, once a dungeon with bad reputation). Despot’s gate from the 15th century is the best preserved part of the town, dating from the period of Despot Stefan Lazarevic. Today the astronomical observatory is placed here. The upper town represents the main part of the fortress. Right at the entrance to the Kralj’s gate is a Roman well, about 60m deep and renewed by Austrians in 1721. This is the place where the palace of Stefan Lazarevic used to be, and here somewhere is the entrance leading into the still unexplored lagumi (underground passages) spreading beneath the fortress. Very close to this place is the Belgrade Fortress Museum (Kalemegdan , phone: 011 / 631-766; working hours: summer: 10-19 Tuesday to Sunday, closed on Monday; winter: 11-14 Sunday; display: models of the Belgrade fortress from the 15th and the 16th century, chronological display trough the text and plans, including builder’s tools and weapons) and the Military Museum (Kalemegdan; phone: 011 / 3343-441, working hours: 10-17 every day but Sunday, closed on Monday).

In the very center of the upper town there is a shrine of Damad-ali Pasha (a little mausoleum) erected in 1783, and on the hill just next to the ramparts, above the confluence of the rivers, raises the symbol of Belgrade, the Victor -a monument devoted to the 10th anniversary of the Thessaloniki front line breach. This monument, made by Ivan Mestrovic in 1928, represents the warrior with the sword in his right hand and a hawk in his left.

In the eastern part of the fortress close to Zindan gate there is a suburb, connecting upper and lower town. This is place where you can see the Church of the Holy Mother of God-Ruzica (18th century) and the chapel of St. Petka (erected in 1867 on the “miracle spring”), Jaksic’s tower (middle of 15th) with the Serbian warriors’ charnel, where the Belgrade defenders from 1915 are buried, as well as the drinking fountain, a endowment of the grand vizier Mehmed-Pasha Sokolovic, who had Serbian roots.

The lower town lies on the river banks and it represented the main part of the medieval town. These parts of the fortress were pretty destroyed and among the structures preserved are the Nebojsa’s Tower (medieval tower built in 1460 to control the entrance into the lower town, and later it was transformed into a dungeon); the Gate of Carlo VI (built in 1736 as a ceremonial entrance in the honor of Carlo VI, conquer of Belgrade; near the gate is the cannon foundry where the cannons were made during the first Serbian uprising) and “Amam” (Turkish bathroom from the end of the 18th century. Today the Planetarium is placed here).

Avala

Avala is a mountain about 18 km away from the center of Belgrade, and it represents one of the most popular Belgrade picnic places. It’s only 511m high, overgrown by deciduous and coniferous trees. In the medieval times, town Zrnov was placed at the top of the Avala Mountain and it was used to control the entrance to Belgrade. Today on Avala Mountain, beside the beautiful nature, you can also see the famous mausoleum and the Monument to the Unknown Hero by Ivan Mestrovic from 1938. There was also a big TV receiver 195m tall built in 1965, but it was destroyed during the 1999 bombing.

You can reach the foot of the Avala mountain by buses no.401 and 402 to Pinosava and Beli Potok (departing from Trosarina- Vozdovac every half an hour from 5am to 9pm), and you can reach Vozdovac by tram no.10 from Kalemegdan. Suburban train for Beli Potok departs from the station Beograd Centar- Prokop, at 8.20, 16.03 and 20.19, and from Beli Potok at 10.44, 18.37 and 22.34. It’s a 30 min ride.

Museums and Galleries

Beside the already mentioned museums, you can also visit the “Jevremovac” Aborteum (Botanical garden) from 1892 (43 Takovska St.; admission fee: 80 CSD; working hours: Green house- 11-18 on weekends; open area- 9-19 from April till October, 9-17 from November till March); the House of Flowers and the White Court (organized visits only; ask in Tourist Organization of Belgrade; phone: 011 / 3248-404) on Dedinje; the Museum of Contemporary Art (Novi Beograd, Usce; phone: 011/ 3115-713; www.msub.org.yu ;opened: 10-18 on working days, closed on Tuesday; exhibits: paintings and sculptures of Yugoslav artists from 1900 till today) and the Museum of the African Art (14 Andre Nikolica; phone: 011/651 -654; opened: 10-18,every day)

The museums of the special interest are Nikola Tesla Museum (51 Krunska; phone: 011/ 244-33-886; www.tesla-museum.org ; opened: 10-18 on working days, 10-13 on Saturday and Sunday, closed on Monday) hosting the collection of this famous scientist’s inventions, and the Airforce Museum (Belgrade airport; phone:011/670-992; opened: summer- 9-19 on working days; winter- 9-15 working days, closed on Monday), placed in the impressive dome near the airport building.