Exploring Belgrade

Belgrade received bad press for almost 10 years during the breakup of the former Yugoslavia but now visitors are arriving to enjoy the unexpected pleasures of this unusual city. Despite this, Belgrade is a problem to me. It doesn’t have the romance of Prague, the grandeur of Budapest or the fascination of Istanbul. What it does have is pieces of each of these cities and the mix makes an interesting place to visit.

A tourist guide told me that Belgrade is the most destroyed city in the world. I don’t know if such a claim is true but Belgrade has been destroyed at least 40 years in its 2300-year history. Understandably, there is little left which is more than a few centuries old.

The city sits on the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers and is on the land and river routes between central Europe and the Balkans. The city grew from fortresses built by the Celts (3rd century BC), the Illyrians and the Romans. The town was captured by the Huns, Goths, Sarmarathians and Gepids before it was retaken by a Byzantine emperor in the 6th century AD. Then came the Franks, followed by the Bulgars. It is the Bulgars who are credited with naming the city – Beligrad, meaning white fortress.

The destruction continued, however. It was ruled by Byzantium before becoming the capital of Serbia in the 12th century but fell to the Hungarians and then the Ottomans in 1521. The Ottoman Turks made Belgrade their chief strategic fortress in Europe and despite temporarily losing control of the city, to the Austrians then later the Serbs, they maintained a garrison in the Belgrade fortress until 1867.

The city today is still recovering from 10-years of nationalism where Serbia fought with its old partners in Yugoslavia and created world-wide anger with its actions in Kosovo and Bosnia. The country was effectively cut-off from Europe during this time and this culminated in the NATO bombing in 1999. Burned-out building still exist and lack of modern infrastructure is a problem for the city and its inhabitants. You will find that the city has a gritty charm which is slowly being polished and visitors are once again returning to explore what is one of Europe’s oldest cities.

Quick Tips:

Unless you are someone who loves the cold, Belgrade can be daunting in the middle of winter. Conversely, it can be extremely hot for a few weeks in summer. The best time to visit is April-June and September-November.

If you can only visit one place, make it Kelemegdan and Belgrade Fortress. To fully explore this area would take a whole day but you can get a good appreciation of it in two hours.

If you have more time, explore the old part of the city. Go into the cathedral, visit the Princess Ljubica museum and stop for a coffee at ? restaurant. Then just wander the cobbled streets and look around you.

Best Way To Get Around:

Throughout the central city just walk. Most attractions are within 1.5 kilometres and there is plenty to see in between.

Take a half-day sightseeing tour. I took the public tour on Sunday morning for around US and thought it was well worthwhile.

There are buses, trams and trolleys which cover most of the city area. They are all operated by the government-owned GSP Beograd company. The trams are the easiest to use because they tend to go in straight lines across the city. You pay on board. Taxis with meters are also available but many drivers do not understand English.

The Romans built on this site 2000 years ago but most of what you see today is from the 17th century. It is well worth a visit.

Belgrade Fortress is the historical nucleus of Belgrade, around which the civilian settlement grew up, starting from the time of Singidunum in the Celtic and Roman periods. Numerous remains of the Roman fortification have been uncovered in recent times. While the IV Flavian legion was stationed here, the first fort constructed of square hewn stones was erected in what is now called the Upper Fortress. Parts of the original Roman walls are still visible near the Zindan gate, incorporated in the lower part of the north-west wall of the Upper Fortress, together with remains of a square tower.

Changing hands among the Byzantines, Bulgars, Hungarians and Serbs in the period from the 5th to the 15th century, Belgrade underwent various changes, additions and repairs without losing its basic form or purpose. However, the large-scale building works undertaken from 1403-1427 by Despot Stevan Lazarevich gave the fortifications their developed medieval form with a citadel in the north-west corner of the Upper Fortress and an extensive Lower Fortress and western and eastern suburbs.

The common approach for tourists is from the downtown pedestrian street through lovely Kalemegdan Park. This park was created in the 19th century after the Ottomans handed over the fortress to the Serbs in 1867. Most of the greenery you see was planted between 1873 and 1875 after a plan was drawn up by Emilijan Josimovic, Belgrade’s first urban planner. The park and fortress sit on top of a hill strategically overlooking the Danube and Sava rivers. The park provides good views over the rivers and back towards the main city.

The ideal way to view the fortress is to wander around. It is quite extensive and there appears to be no organized ‘best way’ to see all the sights. There are several monuments within the park dedicated to distinguished public and cultural figures. In addition, there is the Monument to France which was erected in 1930 as a symbol of gratefulness to France for aid during World War 1. There is also a monument to the surrender of the keys where in 1867 the Sultan’s order was read stating that the Fortress was to be turned over to the Serbian army.

Don’t miss Cafée Castle in one of the towers if you are hungry or thirsty. There are also two museums, a zoo, an amusement park, and various sporting facilities within the park and fortress.

The oldest parts of Belgrade are in the immediate vicinity of Kalemegdan.

Kosancicev venac is located on the plateau overlooking the Sava River just below the fortress and it was here that a Serbian settlement took shape in medieval times. This gradually evolved into a community with a church and a cemetery. At the beginning of the 19th century, this area became the core for the expansion of Belgrade. Today, a few quiet cobbled streets and some interesting buildings still show glimpses of the Belgrade of better days.

The most important building was, and still is, the Holy Archangel Michael’s church. This was built by order of Prince Milos Obrenovic on the location of an earlier church dating from 1728. The new building, designed by Kuarfeldt is in classical style with Baroque elements was completed in 1840. Particularly important is the church treasury with ancient icons and richly adorned works of 17th-20th century goldsmiths.

The Serbian rulers Milos Obrenovic and Mihailo Obrenovic are buried in the church crypt while two outstanding figures of Serbian culture – Dositij Obrenovic and Vuk Stefanovic Karadzic – are buried in the churchyard.

The other ‘don’t miss’ building is the Pricess Lyubica’s Mansion, now a museum. Princess Ljubica Obrenovic moved into this Turkish-style residence just after its completion in 1831 and lived here for 10 years. Since then, it has been occupied by many people but in the 1970s it was restored and has been open to the public ever since. The rooms now reflect different styles of decoration ranging from Ottoman to Biedermeiser. Especially interesting are the Turkish-style rooms with beautiful carved furniture. The impressive arched collars deep below the house hold changing exhibitions.

While in the area, have a look at Kafana “?” (the question mark restaurant). The building is just across the street from the Orthodox cathedral. The building comes from the same period as the cathedral and is built with a wooden skeleton and clay and straw infill. The building was purchased at one time by Prince Milos Obrenovic and given to his personal healer, and he established it as a restaurant. The two-storey building changed owners and names several times before becoming Kod Saborne crkue (By the Cathedral). Finally the ecclesiastical authorities insisted that such a sign be removed because it was ‘sacrilege to the House of God’. The owner consented to the request and put up a temporary sign “?” which still stands today.

Belgrade has several fine churches which are good tourist attractions. Two in particular stand out.

St Mark’s Church in Tasmajdan Park is for me the most spectacular building in Belgrade because of its architecture and setting. It is an enlarged copy of the Gracinica monastery church in Kosovo. It was built between 1931 and 1940 on the location of an older church from 1835 and designed in Serbian-Byzantine style. The impressive yellow-red exterior hides a huge, bare hall with four massive pillars. On my recent visit to the city, I was lucky enough to visit the church during a wedding ceremony and the colour and excitement was a stark contrast to the fairly austere interior of the building.

In the southern part of the inner temple sanctuary lies the sarcophagus with the remains of the Serbian emperor Dusan (1308-1355) after being moved here from his memorial in the Saint Archangel’s Monastery near Prizren. The church also possesses a rich collection of 18th and 19th century Serbian icons.

St Sava Church, when completed, will be Belgrade’s crowning glory. The church is dedicated to Saint Sava, founder of the Serbian church and an important figure in medieval Serbia. The exterior is virtually completed now but there is still much work to be done on the interior. Preparations for the construction of the largest Orthodox church in the world started back in 1894. The church is built on a hill at a place where in 1594 Sinan Pasha had the holy relics of St Sava burned at the stake, after he had them brought from the Mileseva Monastery.

After two public competitions, a design was finally chosen in 1926 but construction only proceeded intermittently until the 1980s. The church is 91 m long from east to west, and 81 m from north to south. It is 70 m tall, with the main gold-plated cross extending for 12 more metres. Its domes have 18 more gold-plated crosses of various sizes, while the bell towers have 49 bells. It can be seen from many parts of the city.

The church has an area of 3,500 square metres on the ground floor, three galleries on the first level, and a further gallery on the second level. The temple can receive 10,000 faithful at any one time. The choir gallery seats 800 singers. The basement contains a crypt, the treasury of Saint Sava, and the grave church of Saint Hieromartyr Lazar.

The facade is done in white marble and granite and, when finished, the inner decorations will be done as mosaics. The huge central dome will contain a mosaic of Christ Pantocrator.

You can visit the church and appreciate its huge size but to attend a service on Sunday is another thing entirely.

If the Belgrade Fortress is the number one visitor attraction, Prince Mihailo’s Street is number one with the locals. This pedestrianised street is at the very core of Belgrade, stretching from the main entrance to Kalemegdan Park to the Terazije. It bears the name of the 19th century Serbian ruler, Prince Mihailo Obrenovic, a great military commander and builder of cultural edifices.

For generations it has been a promenade and meeting place and it remains so today. Everyone who wishes to be seen by others or wishes to see others comes here. This is a good enough reason for the visitor to check it out but there are also many art galleries, libraries, bookshops, shops, restaurants and institutions of importance to Serbian history and culture to add to the appeal.

The street is a strange blend of architectural styles with old edifices mirrored in the glass facades of modern buildings. In Roman times, it is believed that Via Cardo existed more or less in this location but over the years random winding roads were built during Turkish times. After the Austrians captured Belgrade in 1717 they began the reconstruction of the town and this street divided the town into Serbian and German parts, then later the Turkish and Serbian sides.

Today’s Prince Mihailo’s Street was designed in 1867 by the first city planner, engineer Emilijan Joksimovic. In 1987 it was reconstructed and pedestrianised.

I strongly recommend a stroll along here both in the daytime and the early evening. On weekends, in particular, the pavement is crowded – alive with all Belgrade has to offer. Stop for a drink in one of the outdoor cafes, people watch, buy and ice cream and gaze at the many interesting buildings.

As you walk along, check out the cafe known as the ‘Russian Emperor’ at Number 7 which was once the most elegant in the city and home to all the writers and artists. Other buildings worth noting are the Prometna Bank Palace at number 26 which was built in 1912, the Foundation of Nikola Spasic (No. 33) which was built in 1889, the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (No. 35) and the Greek Queen (No 51) which comes from 1835. At the end of the street, the house of Marko Stojanovic (built 1885) now houses the Fine Art Academy while the Serbian Crown building (No. 56) was built in 1896 and is now the city library.

Tourism in Belgrade has been greatly hindered by the events of the 1990s but it is now starting to recover. There are tourist information centers at the airport and the railway station and also in the Terazije underground passage in the city center. My experience with personnel at these places has been very mixed and information in English is limited. Don’t expect Western European-type service.

There are sightseeing tours organized by the Tourist Organisation of Belgrade but I have never managed to do one of these because the timing didn’t suit. As far as I can make out, there are a couple of bus tours, some walking tours and a boat tour on offer.

What I have done, and can recommend, is the 90 minute bus tour of Belgrade that operates by public bus each Sunday morning. It leaves from 12 Nikola Pasic Square nearly opposite the National parliament building at 10am. Tickets are bought on the bus (200din) and there is an English/Serbian speaking guide. The tour doesn’t stop anywhere but it passes the parliament building, Belgrade Fortress and other places, travels through Republic Square, Students Square, Freedom Square, New Belgrade, the diplomatic quarter and Dedinje. It provides an excellent introduction to the city at minimal cost.

I’m told the Tourist Organisation has a similar 2-hour bus trip on occasions as well as a 4-hour bus tour of Belgrade churches and monasteries. There is a daily 90-minute boat trip from a quay near the Hotel Jugoslavija at 6pm during the summer months.

The other thing worth considering is a walking tour. There are regular 2-hour tours around the central city from the Terazije Square fountain, a 2-hour tour of the Belgrade Fortress which departs from the front of the Cvijeta Zuzoric Pavilion, and a 3-hour tour of Old Zemun departing from in front of the Pinki sports stadium. These probably only operate during the warmer months and you will need to check departure times once you reach Belgrade.