Tag 108.03.2024Freitag

Kalemegdan

Wahrzeichen

On a tall ridge where the Danube and Sava rivers meet, Belgrade Fortress used to contain the entire city and has lived through 2,000 years of conflict. All of that bloodshed seems very distant when you see the young couples arm-in-arm in Kalemegdan Park, watching the sun go down over Zemun. They’ll find perches on the ramparts and secluded cubby holes among the angular remnants of the anti-artillery bastions and ravelins built by the Ottomans in the early modern ages.

Skadarlija

Historisch

Car-free and paved with bumpy cobblestones, Skadarlija has been a bohemian haunt since the 1800s and is Belgrade’s answer to Montmartre. Like its Parisian counterpart, Skadarlija’s glory days were in the early 1900s when famous but cash-strapped Serbian singers, musicians, writers and poets lived, worked and performed here. That Belle Époque spirit lingers in the iron gaslights, restaurant terraces, foliage, awnings and the trompe l’oeil facade on the opposing wall.

Knez Mihailova Street

Besichtigung

Extending diagonally through Stari Grad from the fortress to Republic Square, Knez Mihailova is a pedestrianised street and somewhere for Belgradians to shop and go out. On what is one of the most expensive streets in the city per square metre, Knez Mihailova has upmarket boutiques and international high street brands like Sephora, Zara and Gap. These are joined by scores of restaurant and bars, so if you come almost any time of day or night and you’ll encounter throngs of shoppers, couples or revellers.

3 Setzt

Tag 209.03.2024Samstag

Republic Square

Besichtigung

At the southern end of Knez Mihailova is Republic Square, with some of the city’s most important landmarks and a business district where Belgrade is at its most dynamic. More than 20 trolleybus and bus lines converge at this one place, so it’s the meet-up of choice for many Belgradians. The Serbian National Theatre and National Museum are here, as is the Prince Mihailo Monument.

Church of St Sava

Sehenswert

The largest Orthodox Church in the Balkan region, and the second largest in the world, St Sava is an ever-present monument in Serbia’s capital. High on the Vračar plateau, you can see the church’s white granite and marble walls from any approach to Belgrade, while the 50 bells that sound noon ring out across the city. The temple is built on the site where the Ottoman Grand Vizier Sinan Pasha burned St Sava’s relics after his icon had graced flags during a Serbian uprising in 1594. Construction began in 1935, 340 years after that event, and ended in 1989. The biggest challenge was raising the central dome, all 4,000 tons of which was assembled on the ground and hoisted into place.

Nikola Tesla Museum

Museum

This museum presents the life and work of the great physicist, inventor and electrical engineer and Serbian national hero. The exhibition is in two main sections: The first is a study of Tesla the man, sourcing personal effects, photographs and correspondence to paint a clearer picture of his life and travels. The second is an often interactive exhibition of his work, with either originals, 3D renders or fully-functioning reproductions like an induction coil producing discharges at 500,000 volts.

National Theatre

Kunst

On Republic Square the National Theatre is somewhere to go for a feast of high culture at a very affordable price.

4 Setzt

Tag 310.03.2024Sonntag

Ružica Church

Kirche

The earliest mention is from the 1400s, but it was duly pulled down after the Ottoman Empire conquered Belgrade in 1521. The current building is from the 19th century (requiring a restoration after WWI) and integrates walls from the fort’s old gunpowder magazine.

House of the National Assembly of Serbia

Sehenswert

The seat of Serbia’s National Assembly may well be the finest and most photogenic building in Belgrade.

Zeleni Venac

Besichtigung

There are a few outdoor markets that you could seek out in Belgrade, but Zeleni Venac, known as Queen of the Markets, is the one to keep in mind.

Avala Tower

Besichtigung

This communications tower, the tallest structure in the Balkans, is an easy drive from Belgrade.

Zemunski Kej

Besichtigung

Also known as Kej Oslobođenja, this waterside promenade is the best place in Belgrade to take in the Danube. Starting just below the Gardoš Tower is a long green area, with plane trees and sumptuous views of Europe’s second-longest river just where it joins with the Sava. These banks used to be flooded every year but engineering works have raised the embankment, while the pedestrian path has been widened to accommodate leisurely waterside ambles.

St Mark’s Church

Kirche

This cavernous Neo-Byzantine church is one of the largest in Serbia, and although its outer structure was completed during the 1930s interior works are ongoing. The sublime iconostasis for instance was only completed in the 1990s: The frame is marble, while the icons inside and the painting of the last supper were composed by Đuro Radulović, an academic painter from Belgrade.

6 Setzt