Belgrade – meaning 'White City' – is the capital of the Republic of Serbia. Various styles of architecture dominate the city, while its recent resurgence as the leading hub in south-eastern Europe make it a must see destination.
Belgrade is the capital of the Republic of Serbia and is, as such, the country's largest city with a population of 1,981,551 people. It lies on the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers. The city has a long history, dating back to the 4th century BC, when the area was settled by Celtic tribes. Later on, it became the Roman city of Singidunum, and relics of that era can still be seen in the city, particularly at Kalemegdan Fortress. As it entered the Byzantine Empire, Belgrade saw many conflicts, including invasion by the Ottoman Empire, until Serbia finally became independent in the 1800s.
After the First World War, Belgrade became the seat of Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (in 1928, the country changed name to Kingdom of Yugoslavia) until its collapse, and it saw violence again in 1999 with NATO's bombing campaign in response to Serbia's actions in the province of Kosovo.
This often violent history and outside influence has colored much of Belgrade's evolution, which is evident in its culture and architecture. Often caught between the hammer and anvil of clashing empires, the city has taken on a unique character, reminiscent of both Austrian and Turkish influences, with a unique set of Communist elements thrown in as Yugoslavia was expelled from the Eastern Bloc in 1948. Yet, the city has its own spirit, and in it can be found some not only very unique features, but also a healthy joie de vivre in its café culture, nightlife and often Mediterranean flavor in its view of life.
PLACE TO VISIT
The Avala TV Tower (was a 202.87 metre (666 ft) tall telecommunication tower located on Avala mountain near Belgrade, Serbia. It was destroyed in NATO bombardment of Serbia on 29 April 1999. On December 21, 2006, the reconstruction of Avala Tower commenced.
The Bajrakli Mosque (also spelled Bayrakli) is a mosque in Belgrade, located in Gospodar Jevremova street in the neighbourhood of Dorćol. It was built around 1575, and is the only mosque in the Serbian capital out of the 273 that had existed during the time of the Ottoman Empire's rule of Serbia. ("Bayrak" is Turkish for "flag" and "Bayrakli" means "with flag").
Beli dvor is a mansion located in Belgrade, Serbia. The mansion is part of the Royal Compound, a real estate of royal residences and parklands located in Dedinje, an exclusive area of Belgrade. The Royal Dedinje Compound covers an area of over 100 hectares, of which 27 hectares surround the Royal Palace and another 12 hectares the Beli dvor. The service buildings include kitchens, garages, Palace Guard buildings, the administration of the Office of the Marshal of the Royal Court, etc.
The Belgrade Fair – Hall 1, is Belgrade Fair's largest exhibition space. The hall opened to the public in 1957. It was the world's largest dome between 1957 and 1965 and is Europe's largest dome.
Countess Ljubica's Residence in Belgrade was built between 1829 and 1831 by Hadži-Nikola Živković, one of the first modern architects in Serbia. The residence was built on order by count Miloš Obrenović for his wife Ljubica and their sons Milan and Mihailo. It is to this day saved as the most representative city house from the first half of 19th century. Architecturally it contains oriental attributes, the so called Serbian-balkan style, but with elements of classicism decoration which announce the future influence from the west on domestic architecture in the first years of rebuilding the Serbian state.
The Despot Stefan Tower is a structure in Belgrade, Serbia, built ca.1405, a couple of years after the city became the capital of Serbian Despotate under Despot Stefan. Despot Stefan Lazarevic was a son of Lazar of Serbia, last Serbian ruler, who passed away in the Battle of Kosovo on June 28, 1389 in the crucial battle that brought the Serbian Empire to collapse and enabled the Ottoman Turks to penetrare further into the Balkans.
Genex Tower, is a 35-storey skyscraper in Belgrade, Serbia, which was designed in 1977 by Mihajlo Mitrović in the brutalist style. It is formed by two towers connected with a revolving restaurant at the top. It is 115 meters tall and is the second-tallest highrise in Belgrade after Ušće Tower.
The Parliament building is in the city center of Belgrade, on the Nikola Pašić Square, in front of Pioneer's Park. The building is shown on the five thousand Serbian dinar note. The Parliament of Serbia moved into this building on July 23, 2006, after the independence was regained.
Palace Albania is a highrise building in Belgrade, Serbia. It is located at the north-west end of Terazije square. It was finished in 1940. It was designed by Miladin Prljević and Đorđe Lazarević, based on the 1938 project by Branko Bon and Milan Grakalić. It was the first highrise building in Belgrade and for a long time the highest one, domineering the architecture of Belgrade of the time. The origin of its name is traced back to the period before it was built, since a kafana named Albanija previously occupied the same spot.
St. Mark's Church is a Serb Orthodox place of worship in Belgrade, Serbia. The church is located in the Tašmajdan park in Belgrade, near the Parliament of Serbia. There is a small Russian church for Russian Orthodox faithful next to St. Mark's.
The Temple of Saint Sava is the largest Orthodox church in the world, situated in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. The church is dedicated to Saint Sava, founder of the Serbian Orthodox Church and an important figure in medieval Serbia. It is built on the Vračar plateau, on the location where his remains are thought to have been burned in 1595 by the Ottoman Empire's Sinan Pasha.
The Old Palace, the Royal Palace of the Obrenović dynasty of Serbia, presently housing the City Assembly of Belgrade, is located at the corner of Kralja Milana and Dragoslava Jovanovića streets in Belgrade, Serbia.
Ušće Tower is the tallest building in Belgrade, Serbia. It was the tallest building in the Balkans until the construction of the Avaz Twist Tower in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Built in 1964, the glass building overlooks the confluence Danube and Sava rivers from the New Belgrade side. It was originally 105 meters tall and used as the headquarters of the Central Committee of the League of Communists in the former Yugoslavia.
The National Theatre was founded in the latter half of the 19th century. It is located on Republic Square, in Belgrade, Serbia. The National Theatre Belgrade was built in 1869 according to the design of Aleksandar Bugarski, the most productive architect of Belgrade in the XIX century. The decision to construct a special building for the theatre was made by Knez Mihailo Obrenović. The building was a typical theatre building at the time and was particularly reminiscent of La Scala, Milan, with regard to its Renaissance conception and the decorative finish.
Theatre on Terazije is a Broadway-style theatre in the Terazije area of Belgrade, Serbia. It is the only theatre in Serbia which exclusively produces musicals and has produced the Serbian versions of Chicago, Kiss Me, Kate, and many more. Due to its reconstruction, which started in 2003 and ended in 2005, it is also one of the most up-to-date and technologically advanced theatres in Serbia.
Yugoslav drama theatre is a theatre in Belgrade, Serbia. The theatre was established in 1947 with an intention of consolidating actors and writers from all over the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Its first art director was Bojan Stupica. Theatre's Main stage did not operate from 1997 until 2003, as the building had burnt down in a fire. During that time, only Teatar Bojan Stupica operated.
The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts is the most prominent academic institution in Serbia. Since the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts was founded by law (as the Serbian Royal Academy) of November 1, 1886, it has been the highest academic institution in Serbia. According to the Royal Academy Founding Act, King Milan was to appoint the first academic, who would then choose other members of the academy. The names of the first academics were announced by King Milan on April 5, 1887. At
The National Library of Serbia is the national library of Serbia, located in the city of Belgrade, (Vračar municipality). The establishment of the Library is connected to an historical event in February 1832, when Dimitrije Davidović, publisher of the first Serbian newspaper, sent a letter about setting up a Library to Prince Miloš Obrenović. The same year in November, Prince Miloš ordered the Legal Deposit of copies to the National Library.
The National Museum in Belgrade, Serbia was founded in 1844. It is on Republic Square. Since it was founded, its collections have grown drastically. Today, the museum has a collection of over 400,000 objects including many foreign masterpieces. Currently, the museum is closed for renovation costing an estimated 26 million euros. It will get a new exterior and interior. One of the features of the exterior will be the introduction of a glass dome as the roof of the museum, which will allow a controlled amount of sunlight to enter the museum.
The Military Museum in Belgrade was founded in 1878. The museum has over 3000 ancient and modern items. These include Roman swords and helmets, Greek helmets and daggers, Serbian heavy knight's armor, axes, shields, helmets, crossbows, armoured gloves, as well as Western medieval weapons. There are also more modern guns, firearms, and elements of soldier's uniforms and equipment. Diormas, plaques, and displays illustrate the use and historical context of the museum's collection. Recent exhibits address NATO actions against Serbia in the 1990's, including the use of cluster bombs, depleted uranium, and graphite bombs, some of which may have violated international law. A well-known exhibit features parts of a US F-117 stealth aircraft which was downed by Serbian anti-aircraft gunners.
The Museum of Aviation in Belgrade was founded in 1957 as the Yugoslav Aeronautical Museum. The facility is located adjacent to Nikola Tesla Airport. The current facility opened to the public on May 21, 1989. The main collection is housed in an architecturally noteworthy geodesic-based glass building, with additional aircraft displayed on the surrounding grounds. The museum owns over 200 aircraft that have been operated by the Serbian and Yugoslav Air Forces, Aeronautical clubs and Avio-companies, from gliders to helicopters to jet fighters. At any given time, around 50 are on display inside the building.
Museum of Contemporary Art in Belgrade is the art institution which collects and displays work produced since in 1900 in Serbia and former Yugoslavia. The museum also organizes international exhibitions of modern and contemporary art. It was founded in 1958 as the Museum of Modern Art. The permanent exhibition numbers more than 35,000 works of art.
The Nikola Tesla Museum is located in the central area of Belgrade and has more than 160,000 original documents, over 2,000 books and journals, over 1,200 historical technical exhibits, over 1,500 photographs and photo plates of original, technical objects, instruments and apparatus, and over 1,000 plans and drawings. It is named after Nikola Tesla.
The Museum of African Art is a museum located in the urban neighborhood of Senjak in Belgrade, the capital city of Serbia. The museum was founded in 1977 and represents the only museum in the country dedicated to the arts and culture of Africa. Most it's collection comes from the West Africa.
The Museum of the City of Belgrade was founded in 1903. The most important item in the collections is the Belgrade Gospel, printed in 1542 and the first book printed in Belgrade. There are also numerous paintings by Serbian painters Paja Jovanovic, Sava Sumanovic, foreign graphics such as Dürer.
WHAT TO DO
Public Observatory (placed at Kalemegdan fortress) - There are four panoramic telescopes installed for daily observations of the city's panorama. This is the unique place in Belgrade for panoramic observations.
National Museum - located at Republic Square has an enormous collection of world painters.
National Theatre - watch opera, ballet and plays - the main hall is simply amazing. Decorated with gold and artworks.
Visit a splav (literally: raft) – a floating restaurant located along the Sava and Danube rivers. There you can dine and eat with the extra feature of being on the river and enjoying the view.
If you have time visit the Belgrade Arena. It is the second largest arena in Europe and the largest in the Balkans. You will definitely be impressed by the architecture. The 2005 European Basketball Championships were held there.
HOW TO REACH
By plane - Belgrade is serviced by Nikola Tesla International Airport (IATA: BEG), about 12 kilometers west of the city center, and is the home base of Jat Airways – Serbia's flag carrier airline – which flies to nearly 40 destinations worldwide. Other major airlines fly to Belgrade, such as Air France, British Airways and Lufthansa. Discount and no-frills carriers such as Ryanair, EasyJet and Wizz, however, have yet to make their entrance in the Serbian market, which makes the cost of flying to and from the city a bit higher than other destinations, although Germanwings does have a number of less expensive flights to Germany and Norwegian Air is another low cost airline operating to Belgrade.
By train - The Central Train station is located, not surprisingly, in the city center. Most national and international trains stop here. There are several international train connections from Budapest-Vienna and Zagreb-Ljubljana-Munich-Zurich, Normally, trains should not be too late (seldom more than 1 hour), and usually safe. Expect the overnight train from/to Budapest to be overcrowded in summer.
By bus - Belgrade's central bus station is next-door to the central train station, in Ulica Karađorđeva. Whilst coach service to national and international destinations is frequent, departure times are usually reliable, but arrival times may be not. Timetables aren't clearly posted; the timetables that are there are in Serbian only, so ask for information inside the terminal.
Ticket reservations and purchases are made in the terminal building. When buying a bus ticket, you will also receive a token to enter the platform area, for national travel. For international travel, you will be given a paper stub to present at the platform gate.
By car - Coming north from Subotica and Novi Sad, the E-75 motorway is recommended, as well as driving to Belgrade from the south. There is also a major road called Ibarska magistrala, which provides approach from south-west. From the west, use the E-70 motorway. Major roads can be used coming east and north-east from Vršac and Zrenjanin.
Motorways have toll stations, which are moderately priced. As of summer 2007, there is major roadwork on the E-75 motorway north, so expect occasional delays. Serbia's only motorways are parts of E-70 and E-75 roads and the motorway passes right through Belgrade without a bypass, causing large unavoidable traffic jams on the bridge Gazela and intersection Mostar.
By boat - Belgrade lies where the rivers Sava and the Danube meet. Passenger ships enable you to reach every place along the Danube in a very convenient and meditative manner with many fascinating attractions along it, but it is a quite slow and rather expensive way of travelling.
