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Belgrade - Culture

Military Museum

The portion of Belgrade most relevant for the tourist is enclosed between the outer walls of the Kalemegdan fortress and the Republic Square ; an area with a diameter of about 1300 meters. Thus most of the main tourist targets are within walking distance from one another. Traffic in Belgrade is quite heavy, and the public transportation system has, at the moment, a somewhat reduced efficiency, probably because of the difficulties in finding spare parts for the obsolescent buses. For these reasons you should try to plan your visit in such a way that your legs are the essential tool.

To find lively parts of the city, at least in the summer evenings, you need only to walk along the pedestrian road Kneza Mihaila, may be straying on the side alleys looking for cafes, pubs and clubs, until you reach the Republic Square , and then proceed to Skadarlija . During the day, the animated area is somewhat larger, extending on one side to the Kalemegdan park, and on the other side to Terazije , Mose Pijade and the first part of Boulevar revolucije . All these streets and squares still have the same name, while the toponomastic of the city has significantly changed in other cases, as a result of the dissolution of the communist regime and of the Yugoslav federation.

Kalemegdan fortress has a very long history, going back at least to the castrum of Roman times; destroyed several times by successive waves of invaders, was rebuilt as a castle by the Byzantines in the 12th century. Under the Serb Despot Stefan Lazarevic , son of the king Lazar, Belgrade became the capital of the Serbian kingdom; the fortress was strengthened, and the Despot's palace was built within the old castle. A medieval town grew up within the walls of the lower fort (a model is on display on one of the upper terraces).

After the conquest of Belgrade by the Turks (1521), the fortress decayed, but was restored as a military stronghold by the Austrian during their short lived occupation (1717-1739). During the partial independence of Serbia, in the first half of the 19th century, the Kalemegdan fortress was still occupied by a Turkish garrison. In 1862, as an escalation from a fight between Turkish troops and the Serb population, the commander of the Kalemegdan ordered the bombardment of Belgrade. This produced such a backlash in the European public opinion that Serbia succeeded, with the support of the great powers, to obtain the departure of the Turkish troops from Kalemegdan and all the other fortress they still held in Serbia; this resulted in the effective achievement of full independence from the Ottoman empire.

Rather than looking for specific places and monuments, it is more rewarding just to stroll in the parks and along the walls of the Kalemegdan, watching the panorama from the terraces looking toward the rivers Sava and Danav . However, you can see not very well preserved Roman ruins and a Roman well (reconstructed 1731), the tomb of a Pasha, the most ancient gates of the fortress such as the one of the Despot (15th century), the clock tower, the People's Observatory (amateur astronomical observatory), the monument à la France (out of gratitude for the help of the French troops in the 1915-1918 war), the statue of the Winner by Mestrovic . There are three museums/galleries open to the public:

Near the fortress, and even visible from above from the upper fort, is the Zooloski Vrt , the Zoo (+), small but well kept and entertaining; the entrance is however from the Tadeusa Koscuska street. Beyond the fortress, below the ramparts overlooking the confluence of the rivers, is Donji grad , now a park, with several remains of the Turkish times, such as the Amam , now transformed into a planetarium, and the hexagonal tower of Nebojsa kula , a Turkish prison with a grim history of capital executions.

The commercial and cultural centre of the city is along Kneza Mihaila , the pedestrian street dedicated to Prince Michael, the first ruler of a fully independent Serbia. Beginning from Terazije , you find the Belgrade Cultural Centre; nearby, in an underground passage, the Touristic Information Center , which is not very informed. Then the road widens to a square, called locally a terrace, of the Ruski Car (Russian Emperor), full of open air cafes. Turning on the right, you can get to Trg Republike , the Republic Square , with the Narodni muzej and the Narodno pozoriste (National Theatre).

The Kneza Mihaila proceeds with porches, many shops, some monuments in the middle, and in the summer evenings there are always singers and artists performing on the street. Then you can find the French Cultural Center , and also the American one (which at the moment appears to be closed).

On the right there is the faculty of Philosophy and you can go down a few steps, passing among the used book stalls, to Akademski Trg where there is the Plato cafe, book shop and jazz club. From there, you can proceed to the Studentski Trg , the Square of the Students, with the Kolarac Cultural Centre, the Studentski Park and the Faculty of Sciences. This is one of the centres of the students' life, although many more faculties and the University Library are along Boulevar revolucije. The students spend their nights in some of the pubs, cafes and clubs (the difference in terminology is subtle).

Going back to Kneza Mihaila, you find on the left the SANU building of the Serbian Academy of Science and Art, with book shops and galleries; many more private galleries, with exhibitions of paintings and sculptures, are nearby. Then on the left the British Council , and on the right the German Cultural Centre . The last portion of Kneza Mihaila has cafes and restaurants spread on the street, the Faculty of Painting and the City Library, and ends across the street from the entrance of the Kalemegdan park.

In the eastern part of the old city, which used to be a Bohemian (in the sense of Rom, or Tzigan) quarter, there are several streets with interesting shops and well preserved buildings. In particular you should visit Skadarlija , which is the familiar name of the street, whose actual name is Skadarska, and which is immediately east of Republic Square . In this pedestrian only street the appearance of the city, as it was in the 19th and early 20th century. Restaurants and pubs fill most of it with their open air tables, there are art galleries and bakeries open all night, folk groups singing either gypsy music of traditional city music, people dressed in traditional Serb costumes (presumably supported by the local touristy organizations).

This is a place for families, full of children, but also of young couples; a place to taste the typical rostili , that is grill with a pivo (beer), and to spend an evening talking with friends. The few tourists now visiting Belgrade mix with the local people, here more than everywhere else in the city.

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