Introduction |  |
More than four millennia of harsh Balkan history and a strategic location at the meeting place of two rivers have shaped Belgrade into a proud and beautiful city, where the locals have a refreshingly relaxed approach to life. It’s also a place that takes pleasure seriously, offering one of the best clubbing scenes in Europe and a diverse cultural life.
Looking at Belgrade today, it is hard to believe that it was a NATO bombing target as recently as 1999. Before Yugoslavia’s meltdown in the 1990s, Belgrade was the capital of the most advanced country in the old Eastern Bloc. That is why, unlike other Eastern European countries, most locals speak English, good service is the norm and a positive, can-do attitude generally prevails.
Evidence of the 1999 bombing still exists, most strikingly at the former military headquarters on Kneza Milosa, a sobering bombed-out pile of rubble. The 1990s war was the fourth endured by the city in the 20th century, and its earlier history was equally combative. First settled in 4500 BC, Belgrade is one of Europe’s oldest cities. For much of the last millennium it has stood on the frontier of two major empires, the Habsburg and the Ottoman, whose forces faced each other at the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers.
The original settlements were on a strategic hill called Kalemegdan, now a striking park complex in the heart of the Old Town (Stari Grad), dominated by a 17th-century fortress that affords spectacular views. With its medieval gates, Orthodox churches and Muslim relics, Kalemegdan is the stern embodiment of Belgrade’s bloody past.
The Military Museum (no phone, closed Mon) in Kalemegdan holds 40,000 exhibits dating from ancient times to the NATO bombing, including parts of a downed US Stealth bomber. Kalemegdan also houses the Citadel Museum (no phone, closed Mon) and the Belgrade Zoo.
Kalemegdan is at one end of Kneza Mihaila, an old Roman road that is now a major pedestrian thoroughfare packed with terrace cafés. At the opposite end is Trg Republike, a square with Belgrade’s other main tourist attraction, the National Museum (Trg Republike 1A, no phone, closed Mon). Opened in 1844, the museum’s three floors explore the history of the Serbian people. It also houses a small art collection with works by Picasso and Monet.
Other sites of note include the Balkan opulence of the Palace of Princess Ljubica (Kneza Sime Markovica 8, closed Mon) and the vast Church of St Sava (Kataniceva) in Vracar, the world’s largest Orthodox church.
• Tourist information: TOB (Terazije, in the subway by Albanija Tower, 635 622, www.belgradetourism.org.yu).
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