Belgrade Tourist Guide

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author and editor

Ljubica ]orovi} .....

translator

Marianne Neufeld-Djordjevi} .....

artistic design

Du{an Pavli} .....

publisher

Š Kreativni centar, 2006 Belgrade, Gradi{tanska 8 tel. +381 11 38 20 464 +381 11 38 20 483 +381 11 24 40 659 e-mail: info@kreativnicentar.co.yu www.kreativnicentar.co.yu .....

Ljiljana Marinkovi}, director .....

unique typographical symbols abc

12U

Duxilend /Du{an Pavli} and Slobodan Miladinov/

Beorama ITC /Slobodan Miladinov/

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layout Neboj{a Miti} .....

printed by Grafiprof Belgrade 3rd Ed. 2006 .....

total printing 3000 copies ISBN 86 - 7781 - 242 - 3

LJUBICA ]OROVI]

bac CONTENTS

b

BELGRADE – MYTH AND REALITY g

b

page 8

NAME OF THE WHITE CITY g

page 9

b

TERRITORY OF BELGRADE g

b

page 10–14

PATRON OF BELGRADE g

b

BELGRADE THE AGES g

page 15

THROUGH page 16–43

1 BELGRADE FORTRESS AND g

KALEMEGDAN

page 44–69

2 OLD BELGRADE g

page 70–93

3 DOR]OL AND

BELGRADE PROMONTORY

g

page 94–109

4 TRG REPUBLIKE AND SKADARLIJA g

4

page 110–127

b 5 ASCENDANCY OF BELGRADE g

page 128–151

6 TA[MAJDAN BOUND g

page 152–171

7 SLAVIJA CIRCLE g

page 172–189

8 RAKOVICA,

TOP^IDER, SENJAK... g

page 190–205

9 SUNNY BELGRADE g

page 206–223

0 ZEMUN g

page 224–249

c

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

c

MUSEUMS, GALLERIES...

c

BIBLIOGRAPHY

c

INDEX OF ILLUSTRATIONS...

c

INDEX OF NAMES

D

D

D

page 250–257

page 258–265

page 266–268

D

D

page 269–279

page 280–284

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b d MAP OF BELGRADE

10 D

09 D

S

A

V

A

09 D

BELGRADE FORTRESS and KALEMEGDAN OLD BELGRADE DOR]OL and BELGRADE PROMONTORY TRG REPUBLIKE and SKADARLIJA ASCENDANCY OF BELGRADE TA[MAJDAN BOUND ...

SLAVIJA CIRCLE RAKOVICA, TOP^IDER, SENJAK ...

SUNNY BELGRADE ZEMUN

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09 D 03 D

01 D

D A N U B E

04 D 02 D 09 D

06 D

05 D

07 D 08 D

09 D

08 D

08 D

09 D 7

b BELGRADE – MYTH AND REALITY

Belgrade is a prominent European city whose ramparts rise up on the promontory above the confluence of the Sava and Danube Rivers. Legend has it that one of the four heavenly rivers flows by its walls. The Istrus, the ancient name for the Danube, connects these famous cities whose names begin with the letter B: Be~ (Vienna), Bratislava, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest, Braila ‌ The enlightened Serbian ruler Despot Stefan Lazarevi} (see tour 1 chapter P) dedicated the city of Belgrade to the Holy Mother of God in 1403, according to the special charter, preserved in the works of Constantine the Philosopher, his biographer.

During the centuries of migrations from the East, Belgrade has been one of the most important gates to the West. It rose and fell, along with its builders and its conquerors, serving as a strategic base for passing empires, and at times providing rulers.

There are few cities in Europe that have been destroyed so often, and rebuilt in such a variety of styles, which is why the Belgrade of today is compared to an iceberg. It is as if only one-tenth of its worth and beauty is visible to the observer and nine-tenths is hidden in memoirs and oral history, in the heartbeats of anyone who has walked its streets. And that is why this unique city gives back a hundredfold to anyone who pays it any attention at all.

Become acquainted with your city. In discovering its past, you will better understand what is and what will be, and you will learn about yourself. Take a trip through space and time. Don't allow yourself to pass by and not see, to pass by and not know ...

The Guide gives 10 tours of Belgrade. Each walk takes about three hours and is a pleasurable trip through space and time, along streets, through squares, parks and cultural institutions, museums and galleries.

Your interest and curiosity will breathe new life into the monuments of Belgrade, and we believe that each day you devote to this city will be memorable and satisfying.

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b THE NAME OF THE WHITE CITY

Ancient

sources mention the oldest known name of the city – Singidunum, which is thought to be a compound of the Dacian tribe name Singi and the Celtic dunum, meaning "fortress" or "city". This interpretation is based on two different ethnic roots and comes from the belief that the Singi were the original settlers in this area, but that the name originates after the Celts arrived and mixed with them.

This name is preserved throughout the period of Roman rule. When the empire was divided in 395, Singidunum became part of the Eastern Empire, Byzantium, and the name Singidunum became the Greeksounding Singidon.

Taking advantage of the weak defense of the Byzantine borders in the VI century, the Slavs crossed the Danube in ever-greater numbers and settled on this territory. Built of stone, the city that emerged overlooking the waters was called the White City.

Governments and rulers have come and gone throughout the city's turbulent history, but the name Belgrade, first mentioned in a letter from the Roman Pope John VIII to the Bulgarian Prince Boris, dated April 16, in the year 878, was never changed again.

Belgrade is mentioned in Slavic manuscripts from the XI to the XV centuries. The most important citation is in the Biography of Saint Clement of Ohrid, in the XI century or at the beginning of the XII century, in which we read how Belgrade received and cared for the refugees from Moravia, pupils of the Slavic apostles Saints Cyril and Methodius (A.D. 886), who were instrumental in advancing Slavic literacy.

From the XVI to XIX centuries, Belgrade is referred to in other languages: Alba Graeca, Alba Bulgarica, Bello grado, Nandor Alba, Griechisch Weissenburg, Castelbianco ...

These are all translations of the Slavic word Belgrade.

The city that endured countless great conflicts and battles on its ramparts, one of the oldest cities of Europe, earned other symbolic names throughout the centuries. The best known are: the House of Wars, the Hill of Struggle and Glory, Meditation Hill, the House of Freedom ...

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b TERRITORY OF BELGRADE

GEOGRAPHIC POSITION The geographic coordinates for the city of Belgrade are: 44 49' 14" north latitude and 20 27' 44" east longitude. (These coordinates can be read on the stone pyramid in front of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, see 2/L).

The city lies at the crossroads of eastern and western Europe, roads leading from the Moravsko-Vardarska and Ni{avsko-Mari~ka valleys to the Aegean Sea, to Asia Minor and to the Near East.

The city compass points are:

N

southern

W

(Kragujeva~ki put) Kalemegdan – Terazije – Slavija

E

Pan~evo

S

Belgrade

eastern (Smederevski put, former Carigradski drum) Bulevar Mihaila Pupina (New Belgrade) and Bulevar kralja Aleksandra

Obrenovac

Smederevo

western (Obrenova~ki put and [aba~ki put)

DISTANCE OF BELGRADE FROM EUROPEAN CITIES Oslo 2577 km

Stockholm

Moscow

2622 km

2211 km

Copenhagen

Dublin

2018 km

2657 km

London 2073 km

Amsterdam 1760 km

Warsaw

Berlin

1115 km

Kiev

1489 km

Brussels

Prague

1702 km

901 km

Paris 1834 km

Bern

1316 km

Budapest

Vienna

383 km

Bucharest

621 km

619 km

1361 km

Zagreb 390 km

Barcelona Lisbon 3208 km

1988 km

Madrid 2583 km

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Rome 1280 km

Belgrade Sofia 380 km

Athens 1090 km

Istanbul 928 km

Belgrade is situated on the Danube River, a navigable river connecting the western and central European countries with the countries of southeastern and eastern Europe.

Due to the rotation of the earth on its axis, points on its surface travel through space at different speeds, depending on the latitude. Equatorial places move the fastest, for example Quito, Ecuador, at 463.8 meters/sec. Belgrade is near the 45 latitude and it moves through space at 329.1 meters/sec.

Stari grad

AREA

Novi Beograd

The city covers 36 km², while the metropolitan area is nearly ten times larger – about 322 km².

Palilula

Vra~ar

Zemun

Savski venac

Rakovica Zvezdara

Obrenovac

The circumference of the city is 427 km. The longest north-south line is 92.98 km and the longest east-west is 67.50 km.

^ukarica Vo`dovac Barajevo

Grocka

Sopot Mladenovac

The city is divided into 16 Lazarevac municipalities: - 6 urban (Vra~ar, Zvezdara, Novi Beograd, Rakovica, Savski venac, Stari grad) - 4 mixed (Vo`dovac, Zemun, Palilula, ^ukarica) - 6 suburban (Barajevo, Grocka, Lazarevac, Obrenovac, Mladenovac, Sopot).

The largest municipality is Palilula and the smallest is Vra~ar.

Stari grad

Zemun

Vra~ar

Savski venac ...

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b TERRITORY OF BELGRADE Belgrade municipalities encompass 158 settlements with 1,470 streets, totaling 1,877 km (1984 data). The longest street is Bulevar kralja Aleksandra (8,230 meters) and the shortest is Usko~ko soka~e near Kalemegdan (36 meters).

RELIEF Belgrade lies at 116.75 meters above sea level, on a distinctive hilly promontory, in the northernmost part of the [umadija hills, between Ostru`nica and Grocka. The promontory on which the settlement developed is situated above the confluence of the Sava and Danube Rivers.

The Pannonian Plain stretches north of the Sava and Danube Rivers with the first elevation at a distance of 50 kilometers – the Fru{ka Gora Mountains, 539 m high. The rolling hills of [umadija are to the south, and the highest points are Avala (see 9/!) at 511 meters and Kosmaj at 628 meters.

Owing to the formation of the relief, Belgrade spreads out over many hills: Vra~ar, Lekino brdo, Zvezdara, Dedinje, Banovo brdo, Top~idersko brdo, Kanarevo brdo, Julino brdo, Petlovo brdo ...

The highest point in the city is Holy Trinity Church in Torlak (Vo`dovac) at 303,1 m and the highest point in the metropolitan area is Kosmaj (Mladenovac) at 628 m.

The lowest elevation is Ada Huja Island at 70,15 m.

However, the confluence of the Sava and Danube Rivers is lower at 68 m above sea level. The statue Pobednik in Kalemegdan Park (see 1/M) rises to a height of 113.6 meters – thus, the hill on the promontory above the rivers is over 40 meters high.

RIVER BASIN In addition to the big rivers that flow through the Belgrade region, the Top~iderska, Bole~ka, Begalji~ka, Ostru`ni~ka Rivers flow from the watershed that forms the border of Belgrade with [umadija and empty into the Sava and Danube Rivers.

Belgrade riverbanks stretch for 225 km, of which 161 km are in the city. There are 16 river islands in urban Belgrade, the best known are: Ada Ciganljia, the Veliko ratno Island and Gro~anska ada Island.

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The average temperature is 11.90°C. The lowest temperature in Belgrade was recorded on January 10, 1893: at –26.2°C and the highest on September 9, 1946: at +41.8°C

CLIMATE Belgrade and its environs enjoy moderate continental climate with four seasons. Autumn, with its many sunny days of Miholjsko leto (Indian summer), is longer than the short and rainy spring. Belgrade winters are not usually very severe and summers begin suddenly.

The difference in the mean temperatures of the coldest and hottest months is 22.5° C. There are over 2,096 hours of sunlight per year.

Snow accumulation is from 14 to 25 cm and it covers the ground for 30 to 44 days.

On average, Belgrade has 139 days of precipitation, 27 of them are snow days. The heaviest precipitation occurs in May and June and the lightest in February. Most often it will rain for only one day at a time. The mean of the total annual precipitation for Belgrade in the 20th century was 667.9 mm The most characteristic Belgrade wind bringing clear and dry weather is the southeast or east wind known as Ko{ava.

Ko{ava blows for three, seven or twenty-one days, with an average speed of 25–43 km/h, and may gust up to 130 km/h.

Ko{ava usually blows in the autumn or winter, sweeping through the Danube gorge Djerdap when the air pressure is high over the Ukraine and Bessarabia and low over the Adriatic.

NATURAL RESOURCES Conditions are favorable for the production of all kinds of crops around Belgrade and in the entire Danube Basin – from wheat and industrial plants to many varieties of fruits and vegetables.

The city lies in one of the most fertile, arable regions of Serbia.

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b TERRITORY OF BELGRADE

Both rivers are navigable and contain a rich variety of fish and deposits.

The mineral wealth of Belgrade, although exploited for centuries, is plentiful and diverse. There is basic economic potential in the rich lignite beds.

The greenish mineral avalit was so-named because it was discovered in one of the oldest mines of Avala (see 9/!).

POPULATION According to the 2002 census, the population of Belgrade is 1.576.124.

The largest municipality by population is New Belgrade (217.773) and the smallest is Sopot (23.900).

CAPITAL Belgrade is the capital of the Republic of Serbia.

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b PATRON OF BELGRADE

The city of Belgrade celebrates the great Christian holiday, The Ascension Day, as its patron day.

Every year (resumed in 1992) on the sixth Thursday after Easter, the ceremonial procession starts forth from Vaznesenjska crkva (Ascension Church) (see 5/$), and follows a well-known route. The church is the keeper of the traditions of the patron.

The first stop is at Terazije fountain (see 5/E), to pray for the health of all Belgradians, the second is at the Orthodox Cathedral (see 2/(), to pray for protection from hardship and for peace and progress, and the third stop is in the yard of the Ascension Church, in front of the granite cross (see 5/$) to pray for all of Belgrade's fallen heroes.

A banner of red brocade leads the procession. On one side there is an icon of the Ascension of Christ, and "Municipalities of the city of Belgrade 1938" in gold letters, and on the other side, an icon of Saint Petka and the message: He who celebrates the christened name – is helped by him.

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