Welcome to Belgrade, the capital and largest city of Serbia. Its name means White City, and it stands where the Sava flows into the Danube, at the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Belgrade is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Europe: the prehistoric Vinča culture evolved here, Celts named it Singidūn, and the Romans later conquered it. Its strategic position has come at a price, as the city has been fought over in 115 wars and razed 44 times. It was later the capital of Yugoslavia. Let us start our tour.
Belgrade Fortress
Photo: Oliver Bunic · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsWelcome to the Belgrade Fortress, the historical core of the city, standing above the meeting of the Sava and the Danube. It is made up of the old citadel, with its Upper and Lower Town, and the green Kalemegdan Park. The fortress was among the very first places in Serbia to be officially declared a cultural monument, right after the Second World War, and in 1979 it was named a Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance. It is also the most visited attraction in Belgrade.
Church of Saint Sava
Photo: Npps90 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsBefore you rises the Church of Saint Sava, one of the largest Eastern Orthodox churches in the world. It is dedicated to Saint Sava, the first Serbian archbishop and the nation's patron saint, and it stands where his relics are believed to have been burned by the Ottomans in 1594 after a Serb uprising. Construction began in 1935, but after decades of interruptions, wars and political turmoil the exterior was finished only in 2004, and the interior in 2020. Its design was inspired by the Hagia Sophia.
Knez Mihailova Street
Photo: Peiragmeno paidi · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsStroll down Knez Mihailova Street, Belgrade's main pedestrian and shopping street, about one kilometre long. It is named after Prince Mihailo Obrenović the Third of Serbia, and it is lined with buildings and mansions from the late 1870s. In 1964 it was protected as a cultural and historical area, the first cultural monument of that kind in Belgrade, and it is still considered one of the oldest and most valuable landmarks of the city.
Skadarlija
Photo: Erwan Martin · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia CommonsWelcome to Skadarlija, the main bohemian quarter of Belgrade, often compared to Montmartre in Paris. It begins just below Republic Square and follows the short, winding Skadarska Street, less than 400 metres long. Here the old urban layout and traditional architecture are partly preserved, and the whole area has been protected since 1967. After the fortress, it is the second most visited attraction in the city, bringing in a third of Belgrade's foreign-currency income.
House of the National Assembly of Serbia
Photo: Boris Dimitrov · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsOn Nikola Pašić Square stands the House of the National Assembly, the seat of the National Assembly of Serbia. Across from it you can see two palaces, Novi Dvor, seat of the President of the Republic, and Stari Dvor, the city hall. The building was first intended for the assembly of the Kingdom of Serbia. It later served as the seat of the Assembly of Yugoslavia and then of Serbia and Montenegro, and since 2006 the National Assembly of Serbia has met here.
Museum of Yugoslavia
Photo: Ванилица · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsHere is the Museum of Yugoslavia, devoted to the history of Yugoslavia and the life of Josip Broz Tito. It is the most visited museum in Serbia. Tito and his wife Jovanka are buried on its grounds, in the House of Flowers. One of its buildings, the 25 May Museum, was a gift from the City of Belgrade to Tito for his 70th birthday in 1962. It displayed the presents he had received, including a special collection of Relay of Youth batons.
Ada Ciganlija
Photo: Andrija12345678 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsWe end on Ada Ciganlija, or simply Ada, a river island on the Sava that has been artificially turned into a peninsula. Next to it lies the artificial Lake Sava with its beach. Over the past decades it has become an immensely popular place for swimming and sport. On summer days it can welcome more than 100,000 visitors, and up to 300,000 over a weekend. No wonder locals call it Belgrade's Sea.
Lomakuume
