A GUIDE TO BELGRADE, SERBIA

For all my friends abroad - those of you who wish to learn about Belgrade or are planning to come for a visit, and for my countrymen abroad who feel nostalgic for home, I have written my own guide to Belgrade. A lot of effort went into this. I appreciate you taking the time to read this. Read it slowly, and try to imagine the pictures as you are reading. Enjoy!

NOTE from Ravnagora: I have included the photos in Alex's piece and they have been taken from various sources on the internet.

According to statistics, Belgrade (original name: Beograd) is the only European capital that has not seen a downfall of tourists because of the world economic crisis. No doubt that the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) and the World Summer University Games (Universiade), both hosted in Belgrade recently, have contributed to this. Statistics also show that most visitors are from all corners of the former Yugoslavia, but there has also been an increase of Western European tourists and, to a lesser extent, those from the USA. Statistics say that most tourists stay in Belgrade from one to three days. People from the former Yugoslavia and domestic visitors prefer mostly the 3 star hotels, while foreigners prefer the 4 star accommodation.

Kalemegdan is a park and fortress of Belgrade, and its oldest area. When I say "old", I mean it.

Donji Grad or “Lower Town” - where you can see Kula Nebojsa (”Fearless, or Daredevil Tower”), where the Turks used to execute rebel Serbs (and a very important Greek, that is why the Greek Government will invest in the renovation of the tower). Orthodox churches of Ruzica (former Austrian gun depot) and Saint Petka are here.

Gornji Grad or “Upper Town” - features a park with beautiful promenades and the monument to “The Victor” (Serbian - Pobednik) - built in 1928 to mark the tenth anniversary of World War One, the “Roman well” (Serbian - Rimski bunar) (actually, built by the Austrians and not the ancient Romans), the Observatory and Planetarium, tennis and basketball courts, etc.

Mali Kalemegdan or “Smaller Kalemegdan” - features the Belgrade ZOO, opened in 1936. The art pavilion "Cvijeta Zuzoric" is also located here.

Veliki Kalemegdan or “Greater Kalemegdan” - features the Military Museum, the Museum of Forestry and Hunting, Monument of Gratitude to France (for France's role in World War One) - often defaced due to France's shameful role in 1999...

In Kalemegdan you will also discover numerous statues and busts of various Serbian artists, painters, writers, poets...

There is also an Observatorium with four panoramic telescopes. This is a unique place in Belgrade for panoramic observations.

It is a pedestrian zone and shopping venue featuring some of the most popular world brands. It has a large number of impressive buildings built at the end of the 19th century. Here are some of the landmarks in this street:

Library of the City of Belgrade, once known as the "Srpska kruna" or Serbian Crown Hotel, Knez Mihailova 56, was built in 1869.

The house of Marko Stojanovic, Knez Mihailova 53-55, built in 1889. Today it is home to the Gallery of the Academy of Arts.

The House of Veljko Savic, Knez Mihailova 46, built in 1869, today changed in appearance.

The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU), Knez Mihailova 35, completed in 1924, hosts the Library of SANU, the Archives of SANU, the Gallery of SANU... It is a truly magnificent building.

The Passage (pronounced in French) of Nikola Spasic, Knez Mihailova 19, built in 1912.

The "Grcka kraljica" (Greek Queen) restaurant, Knez Mihailova 51, built in 1835, currently closed for renovations.

(Formerly) Hotel "Rusija" (Russia), Knez Mihailova 38, built in 1870, annex built in 1920.

Belgrade's main square features a monument to Prince Michael Obrenovich (after whom the nearby main pedestrian street has been named), the National Museum (founded in 1844, but has been in this 1903 building only since the 1960s) and the National Theater (built in 1869).

Prince Michael Obrenovich was the most pro-European ruler of 19th century Serbia. He was educated, generally way ahead of his time, he spoke several languages, played the polo, went on horse races, composed music, played the piano, danced the waltz, and attended gala events in luxurious ballrooms of European royal palaces... He is today known as the "enlightened autocrat"... certainly, one of the most prominent figures of 19th century Serbia. Some of his political and personal moves were not popular, and he was assassinated in 1868. Only later did Serbs realize that they had lost a great man, and since 1882, his monument has been standing in downtown Belgrade (not even the Communists had removed it, and neither have they renamed his street, and they have done that to most, almost all other Serbian Kings, Queens, Princes, and Princesses).

Founded in 1844, it has more than 400,000 items, for example the Italian Art Collection (230 works) including Titian, Caravaggio, Tintoretto, Paolo Veronese, Canaletto, Tiepollo, Carpacio,… the French Art Collection (250 works) including Renoir, Monet, Degas, Signac, Lautrec, Matisse, Goughen, Utrillo, Pissaro, Corot… the Dutch and Flemish Art Collection (120 works) including Vincent van Gogh, Rubens, Rembrandt, Van Goyen, Breughel, … the Japanase Art Collection (82 works) including Kunisada, Toyokuni, Hirosige… the Cubist Art Collection including Picasso, Cezanne, Delaunay, Arhipenko, Mondrian… the Yugoslav Art Collection including the works of Serbian painters Paja Jovanovic, Uros Predic, Lubarda… Other Art Collections (German, Austrian, Russian…) including Durer, Gustav Klimt, Kandinsky, Sisley, Marc Chagall, Modigliani, Kassat…

Unfortunately, the National Museum is closed for renovations and will not be open for some time.

The beautiful building which currently houses the Museum was built at the beginning of the 20th century and was originally a bank.

The National Theater was built in 1869 following the order of Prince Michael Obrenovich, who did not get to see it completed, because he was assassinated a year before. The Theater had been reconstructed and changed several times. The big changes happened in 1922, after World War Two, in 1965, and in 1989. After the Second World War, the Communists had removed many decorative elements which they thought were "kitch", thus destroying the original beauty of the building. In 1989, as Communism was wearing out, the ornaments have been returned and the National Theater now looks as it did before World War Two, aka as it looked after the renovation of 1922.

The Temple of Saint Sava is said to be the largest Orthodox church in the world currently in use, although I doubt that it is actually bigger than the Temple of Christ the Savior in Moscow, Russia. The church is dedicated to Saint Sava, founder of the Serbian Orthodox Church (1219). It is built on the Vracar plateau, on the location where his remains are thought to have been burned in 1595 by the Ottoman Empire’s Sinan Pasha. This was intended to be a punishment for rebeling, but it had actually made the Serbian faith and resistance even stronger. From its location, it dominates Belgrade’s cityscape. The parish home is nearby, built totally in the modern style, somewhat unappealing to the area, as will be the planned patriarchal building. Also nearby are the National Library of Serbia (Communist architecture) - currently closed due to renovations, and the monument to Karageorge (father of modern Serbia in the beginning of the 19th century), and the monument to Saint Sava. There is also a nice park nearby with several monuments, more or less important, but testimonies of time(s).

Once the home of many Serbian poets, writers, artists, and actors, the cobble-stoned Skadarlija today hosts some of the best restaurants in town, all of which strive to preserve bohemian traditions from the early 19th century. Definitely the place to go if you want to get a feel of the atmosphere of Belgrade’s old times, shop for antiques or souvenirs, or taste the best of local food and local music.

Nikola Tesla was a Serb, born in what is today Croatia, but at that time was Austria-Hungary. Therefore, both Serbs and Croats say he is "theirs". In many sources in America, he will be quoted as Serbian-American scientist and inventor, and in fact, one of the greatest minds of our world.

Half of this museum is dedicated to Tesla’s personal effects, while the other half contains models of his inventions. There are English-speaking guides who can help you understand the sometimes-complicated science.

Ivo Andric (October 9, 1892 — March 13, 1975) was a Yugoslav novelist, short story writer, and the 1961 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature - for His novel "The Bridge on the Drina".

Belgrade has other museums: the Aircraft Museum (which houses, among other things, the remains of the F117A, the so-called radar-invisible US billion-dollar plane that was downed over Serbia in 1999 during Nato's bombing, the so-called "humanitarian" campaign with a code name, imagine this - OPERATION MERCIFUL ANGEL), let me move on before I get enfuriated... The museums, continued: Pedagogical Museum (modernized), the Museum of African Arts (testimony to the Cold War era and the role Communist Yugoslavia had played in the Non-Alligned Movement), the Railway Museum, the Ethnographic Museum, the Numismatic (Money and Coin) Collection at the National Bank, the Museum of Contemporary Arts (closed for renovations), the Museum of Science and Technology (modernized). If you would like to see what it was like in the early 19th century, when modern Serbia was created, you should see the Vuk and Dositej Museum, the Museum of the First and Second Serbian Uprisings against the Turks a.k.a. the Residence (Konak) of Prince Milosh, and the Residence (Konak) of his wife Princess Ljubica, all testimonies of the "Turkish era" and of the struggle of the Serbian people to be free once again...

The so-called "Kuca cveca" (House of flowers) hosts the resting place of the nowadays both quite beloved and quite hated leader of the Communist Yugoslavia, Josip Broz Tito. We can discuss who he was or wasn't, what he did and didn't do, but nobody can deny the fact that this powerful man had marked an era, not only in Yugoslavia and the Balkans, but in the world, primarily via the Non-Alligned Movement during the Cold War. What you can see, apart from his tomb, are two rooms with his furniture and a selection of gifts he had received from the ordinary people and from foreign dignitaries. Entrance to Tito's Mausoleum is free. It's now history, although the Serbian people will be eternally divided over him and his legacy, of which nothing, or very little remains today, as his Yugoslavia had collapsed in total horror and agony, and his people were brought to the edge of desperation, just ten years after his death in 1980...

Open to visitors from April to October, for a symbolic price, but visitors must be announced beforehand. The entire Compound is huge, and hosts the residence of the Serbian Royal Family of Kara-george-vich. I've split the word up so that foreigners can pronounce it. This family has played an important role in the modern history of Serbia (from the foundation of modern Serbia in 1804 onwards), but was illegally dethroned by the Communists in 1945. The Royal Family has been living in Serbia since 2001, with their civil rights, passports and citizenships restored. The Royal Family has been doing a lot in humanitarian assistance, promoting Serbia as a business and tourist venue, improving the image of Serbia worldwide, giving scholarships to students, and attending events in the fields of culture, arts, and sports, but tries to keep out of day-to-day political issues. The Royal Compound is like a "living museum", or a travel back through time. It features the Royal Palace (Kraljevski dvor) and the White Palace (Beli dvor), with fine pieces of art and other valuables. Some of the rooms are not opened to tourists as they are the private quarters of the Royal Family, but even with the rooms that are open, visitors will be impressed. Here one can see the cruel examples of the VIOLENCE of Communism (to put it mildly), such as the scratched Orthodox icons, or the bullet in the forehead of Christ on the dome of the small Royal Chapel which is a part of the Royal Compound... But, in spite of the fact that many artefacts have been stolen or destroyed by the Communists (books, silverware, family portraits, etc), the Royal Compound is still representative.

The green-domed Parliament is one of the recognizable symbols of Belgrade, as are, for example, the Saint Sava Temple or the Victor Monument. It was constructed from 1906 to 1936. It took so long to construct because of the Balkan wars of 1912-1913 and the First World War (1914-1918), and also due to political and other reasons. It was the Parliament of various incarnations of Yugoslavia ("The Land of the Southern Slavs") which existed from 1918 until 2006, when Serbia once again regained its sovereignty, statehood, and international recognition. Today it is known as the "Dom Narodne skupstine", in English we can just call it the National Assembly of Serbia or the Serbian Parliament.

Here, as elsewhere, the Communists had left their "touch" which can be seen in their revolutionary motifs that had complemented the arts of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The Parliament had witnessed the epic fall of (Slobodan) Milosevic on October 5, 2000. The building was damaged then in a fire, but was restored. It was also renovated last year. The interior was given back its original look from 1936 (as much as possible), while the building itself was modernized with an electronic voting system and other technical-technological tidbits.

The front entrance is embellished by a monumental sculpture of horses at play, authored by Toma Rosandic. The sculpture symbolizes Man's effort to conquer Nature. Impossible, I say, but fitting the megalomaniac appetites of both King Alexander I of (the first) Yugoslavia and President Tito of (the second) Yugoslavia.

The Old Royal Palace was built in 1882 when Serbia was elevated from a semi-independent Principality into a fully independent Kingdom. It is today the City Hall of Belgrade (or the Belgrade City Assembly, as some call it).

Originally, the building was the Palace of the Obrenovich Royal Family, which had marked most of Serbian history in the 19th century, and had, sadly, disappeared from the historical scene in 1903.

Opposite this building is the New Royal Palace, today the Office of the President of Serbia (in Communism it was called the Presidency of Serbia). Built in the 1920s, it was the Palace of the Kara-george-vitch Royal Family, which had later moved to Dedinje. These two Palaces in the downtown area should not be mixed up with the Palaces at Dedinje Hill, which I have already mentioned. Between the City Hall (Old Royal Palace) and the Office of the President (New Royal Palace) is a park and a fountain.

A river island on the Sava River with an artificial lake not far from the center of the city. The lake has an 8 km long gravel beach, which is visited by as many as 300,000 sunbathers and swimmers during the summer on a daily basis. This is a great place for all kinds of outdoor sports and picnics, and there are numerous cafes nearby. More content is added every season, so the place gets more packed each year.

Situated at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, and has from ancient times been a strategically important military position for the capture and defence of Belgrade. Today, the Great War Island houses country chalets and gardens belonging to nature lovers and at the top end is the popular Zemun Lido beach. The Great War Island and the waters around it are an area with exceptional geological features. As a refuge for rare forms of life it is especially of interest for observers of rare and endangered species of birds.

King Peter Street, just sideways from the main pedestrian street, offers some great examples of 19th century architecture. In this street there is the oldest school in Belgrade, the Main Orthodox Cathedral (Serbian - Saborna crkva), the old National Bank of Serbia (there is also the new glass building of the National Bank on another location), the "?" cafe (built in the early 1820s, the oldest restaurant and tavern in Belgrade), the exceptional Alexander Palace Hotel, the fancy "Que Pasa" restaurant, the fancy "Kraljevina" (Kingdom) restaurant, etc. Perpendicular to King Peter Street is the seat of the Serbian Patriarch (the much respected Head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Pavle, who is today 95 years old), and the Residence (Konak) of 19th century Princess Ljubica. Only a few other buildings remain from the Turkish era of the early 19th century. Apart from the mentioned "?" cafe and the mentioned Princess Ljubica Residence, other similarly-styled "Turkish" buildings include the Museum of the First and Second Serbian Uprisings against the Turks (mentioned earlier as the Residence of Prince Milosh Obrenovich), the Manak House (now part of the Ethnographic Museum), the mentioned Vuk and Dositej Museum (which used to be the "Great School" - predecessor to the Belgrade University), and that is it, as far as I know.

Closeby to the "?" cafe, the Main Orthodox Cathedral and the Patriarchate is the TOPLICIN VENAC. This street has many beautiful old houses, and its narrow streets and tranquility will make you think you were transported somewhere to southern Italy. However, at one time, it was not so quiet here. You can still see the remains of the old National Library of Serbia, which Hitler bombed and fully destroyed on April 6, 1941. The building was never rebuilt on purpose. Rather, it stands as a warning of this barbaric attack on a nation's historical and cultural heritage, so that it never happens again, but, sadly, we see every day that it does happen in some corner of the world somewhere... Medieval charters, Turkish-era documents, magazines from the 19th century, old books, manuscripts, maps, Orthodox icons and other items of priceless value, items of centuries of Serbian history, religion and culture, were gone in that one day. One of the most painful visible scars from World War Two, as is the Jajinci Memorial, where the Nazis had killed some 80,000 people... just like some bombed-out buildings whose remains are still standing, but which date back not to the 1940s, but to 1999, and which are the reminders of what Nato had done to us ten years ago... Indeed, Serbian history is so full of pain and suffering of incredible and unimaginable proportions (several hundred years under the Turks, then under the Austrians-Hungarians in WW 1, Germans in WW 2, Communists after WW 2... you name it, and that is not even going back to ancient history), and yet you will discover that Serbs are a genuine, friendly, forgiving people... who keep their heads high with a smile, even though they carry their scars inside, deep inside their souls somewhere...

Avala is a small mountain (511 meters tall) near Belgrade, but it is important to Belgraders.

It is home to the grand Monument to the Unknown Soldier, the work of Croat Ivan Mestrovic, consecrated to the Serbian heroes of the First World War, erected in 1938.

Mt. Avala used to be dominated by a 195 meter TV tower, erected in 1965. It was one of the landmarks of Belgrade, destroyed in 1999 during the Nato bombings. The reconstructed and renovated tower will be a bit taller than its predecessor - 200 meters, and will be opened on October 20, 2009. On that day, Belgraders will get one of the symbols of their city back.

The Kosutnjak woodland park and city picnic spot stretches over 330 hectares. The forest is criss-crossed by numerous paths. The name Kosutnjak probably derives from the female deer (Serbian - kosuta) that used to live here in mass numbers. Until 1903 the dense woodland was a restricted royal hunting ground, but was opened to the public afterwards. This is where Prince Michael Obrenovich was assassinated in 1868.

Belgrade is the new nightlife capital of Europe, known not only by a plethora of restaurants, cafes, clubs in the city itself... but also by a range of floating bars and restaurants located along the Sava and Danube rivers. There you can wine and dine with live music of all sorts, and the extra feature of being on the river and enjoying the view. The "splav" is the Serbian singular, and the "splavovi" is the plural. Mark these words when you visit, chances are you'll need them :)

Once a borderline town between Austria-Hungarian Empire and the Kingdom of Serbia, it is today one of the 17 municipalities of Belgrade. Even though, administratively, it is a part of Belgrade, it somehow has an atmosphere of its own.

In the rest of Belgrade, you will find a mixture of various styles of architecture, seemingly thrown in as if in a giant melting pot, from the ancient Kalemegdan fortress, to the Turkish styled houses, the European-styled 19th century buildings, the dull Communist apartment blocks of the 1970s, to the soul-less Western-styled glass, steel, and marble towers of today's time. But, in Zemun, what you will mostly discover is Austrian-Hungarian architecture of the 19th century. Small streets, small houses, a generally calmer atmosphere than in the rest of Belgrade. Zemun is the perfect little, quiet cousin to the big, noisy city.

The fastest growing municipality of Belgrade is also the fastest growing in entire Serbia, and it currently looks like a huge construction site as new buildings are springing up everywhere, or so it seems. Before World War Two, what we now know as New Belgrade was just marshland. Today, this is what being urban is all about. Gray, tall, dull Communist-styled apartment blocks from the 1960s and 1970s, modern glass towers and shopping malls of today, several-lane boulevards, it's all there, thrown in a jungle of asphalt and concrete. Even though Zemun is close, when you step into New Belgrade, you will feel as though you've stepped into another world, from the 19th century one into the 21st century one. In a strange way, I love both New Belgrade and Zemun, each in its own way, in spite of their totally opposing differences. In New Belgrade you will find most of the big supermarkets (with 25 cash registers) and both the Delta and Usce Western-styled shopping malls. One of its landmarks is the Belgrade Arena, one of the largest sports and concert venues in Europe, as well as the Genex Tower, also known as one of the Gates of Belgrade, a truly huge Communist-styled monster made of concrete...

Thank you! You really should try to make it over there in your lifetime. Belgrade is an incredible city - there is so much history there that it really can make your head spin when you think about it. Belgrade has survived numerous bombings and assaults and attacks and occupations over the centuries from foe and ally alike, and always “comes back” into its own.

Serbia is a great place to visit. And if Belgrade’s history is amazing, then Serbia’s history will REALLY blow your mind. I’ve been there twice, and there’s no way NOT to be aware of the history. Unfortunately, Tito’s regime and the Yugo commies “erased” a lot of the really important and significant 20th century history, but little by little, what’s been “erased” is coming back to life and prominence in its rightful place.

I’m glad you enjoyed the post.

*****

Great pictures and comments. I have Serbian brothers and sisters that have pictures taken in Serbia from years ago. The Tuzla area, and they were talking about each and every picture had it's own story. I loved it

As the stories flew and the slivovitz and cevape were consumed I could just picture the whole area.. I'd love to be able to get there one day.

Belgrade is on the itinerary for our next European visit.

I cannot wait to visit one or two of the famous spas there...like this one...of course after the monasteries...

http://www.visitvrnjackabanja.com/

We hope to go next year, Ako Bog Da! Went 2 years ago with my family and my daughters loved it. I was there in 69 & 82 and my Mom has gone 13 times since June of 65. We love it there.

Thanks for the post!!!!

ps....if my daughter doesn't get into med school in the States, I wouldn't hesitate to send her to B.University

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