Iva’s Belgrade guidebook
Welcome to Belgrade
Diverse, welcoming and a hell of a lot of fun – everything you never heard about Serbia is true. Best of all, this landlocked country in the heart of the Balkans is still delightfully off the tourist trail.
Outspoken, adventurous, proud and audacious: Belgrade ('White City') is by no means a 'pretty' capital, but its gritty exuberance makes it one of Europe's most happening cities. While it hurtles towards a brighter future, its chaotic past unfolds before your eyes: socialist blocks are squeezed between art nouveau masterpieces, and remnants of the Hapsburg legacy contrast with Ottoman relics and socialist modernist monoliths. This is where the Sava and Danube Rivers kiss, an old-world culture that at once evokes time-capsuled communist-era Yugoslavia and new-world, EU-contending cradle of cool.
Entering from Knez Mihailova and passing through Kalemegdan Park, you first reach the Upper Town whose attractions include the Military Museum, Clock Tower, Damad Ali-Paša's Turbeh, Roman Well and Victor Monument. In the Lower Town, which slopes down towards the river, look out for the Big Gunpowder Magazine, Ružica and Sveta Petka Churches, Old Turkish Bath (Hamam) and Nebojša Tower.
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Kalemegdan
Entering from Knez Mihailova and passing through Kalemegdan Park, you first reach the Upper Town whose attractions include the Military Museum, Clock Tower, Damad Ali-Paša's Turbeh, Roman Well and Victor Monument. In the Lower Town, which slopes down towards the river, look out for the Big Gunpowder Magazine, Ružica and Sveta Petka Churches, Old Turkish Bath (Hamam) and Nebojša Tower.
Lack of funding for renovations kept Serbia's National Museum mostly shuttered for 15 years, but its much ballyhooed 2018 reopening has been a great source of national pride – it awoke from the dead on Vidovdan (28 June), the country's national day – and for good reason. Built in 1903 and reconstructed multiple times over the years, the museum's latest €12 million makeover frames some 5000 sq metres of exhibition space over three floors.
Highlights include works by Croatian Ivan Meštrović, the most celebrated sculptor of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia; archaeological treasures from Roman-era Serbia; and extensive galleries dedicated to both 18th- and 19th-century Serbian art and 20th-century Yugoslavian art. Don't miss the museum's most haunting corner, where Stevan Aleksić's The Burning of the Remains of St Sava (1912) sits sidesaddle to Đorđe Krstić's The Fall of Stalać (1903), two hyper-realistic and menacing oils on canvas.
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Belgrade City Museum
40b ResavskaLack of funding for renovations kept Serbia's National Museum mostly shuttered for 15 years, but its much ballyhooed 2018 reopening has been a great source of national pride – it awoke from the dead on Vidovdan (28 June), the country's national day – and for good reason. Built in 1903 and reconstructed multiple times over the years, the museum's latest €12 million makeover frames some 5000 sq metres of exhibition space over three floors.
Highlights include works by Croatian Ivan Meštrović, the most celebrated sculptor of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia; archaeological treasures from Roman-era Serbia; and extensive galleries dedicated to both 18th- and 19th-century Serbian art and 20th-century Yugoslavian art. Don't miss the museum's most haunting corner, where Stevan Aleksić's The Burning of the Remains of St Sava (1912) sits sidesaddle to Đorđe Krstić's The Fall of Stalać (1903), two hyper-realistic and menacing oils on canvas.
Meet the man on the 100RSD note at one of Belgrade's best museums, where you can release your inner nerd with some wondrously sci-fi-ish interactive elements. Tesla's ashes are kept here in a glowing, golden orb: debate has been raging for years between the museum (and its secular supporters) and the Church as to whether the remains should be moved to Sveti Sava Temple.
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Μουσείο Νίκολα Τέσλα
51 KrunskaMeet the man on the 100RSD note at one of Belgrade's best museums, where you can release your inner nerd with some wondrously sci-fi-ish interactive elements. Tesla's ashes are kept here in a glowing, golden orb: debate has been raging for years between the museum (and its secular supporters) and the Church as to whether the remains should be moved to Sveti Sava Temple.
In summertime, join the hordes of sea-starved locals (up to 250,000 a day) for sun and fun at this artificial island on the Sava. Cool down with a swim, kayak or windsurf after a leap from the 55m bungee tower. Take bus 52 or 53 from Zeleni Venac.
https://www.adaciganlija.rs/en/
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Άντα Τσιγκανλία
In summertime, join the hordes of sea-starved locals (up to 250,000 a day) for sun and fun at this artificial island on the Sava. Cool down with a swim, kayak or windsurf after a leap from the 55m bungee tower. Take bus 52 or 53 from Zeleni Venac.
https://www.adaciganlija.rs/en/
This ambient nook of Belgrade, still standing to this day, is preserved in the area of Skadarska Street around the bohemian Tri šešira inn. These were small houses, but a few of which remain. The house where the Tri šešira inn stands today is typical, built in the second half of the 19th century, the abode of former bohemians. The aqueduct of the Bulbulder waterway with 14 arches once stood in the middle of the mahala, in front of the subsequently built house of Đura Jakšić, as the sole reminder of times gone by. During the 19th century this used to be the Skadar Gate with the Skadar Drinking-Fountain.
The adaptation of Skadarlija began in 1966, based on projects by the architect Uglješa Bogunović. In an attempt to retain this part of old Belgrade, a reconstruction and revitalization of Skadarska Street was performed. The goal was to bring back the features this specific ambient once had, to revive tradition and add contemporary new sights. Traffic was eliminated from Skadarlija, a fountain was erected, the old cobbles, lanterns and candelabra were brought back, the Tri šešira, Dva jelena and Skadarlija inns were added to, while the interiors of the Ima dana, Zlatan bokal and Dva bela goluba were remodelled. The fortune-teller Ljubica reminded of the olden times, entertaining tourists with her predictions, along with the old drummer Šole and painters transferring motifs from Skadarlija onto canvas.
During the seventies Skadarlija became a “sister” to the Parisian Montmartre quarter. A procession of French painters and musicians paraded down our famous street when the charter on cooperation was signed. The following year, our artists returned the visit.
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Skadarlija
24 SkadarskaThis ambient nook of Belgrade, still standing to this day, is preserved in the area of Skadarska Street around the bohemian Tri šešira inn. These were small houses, but a few of which remain. The house where the Tri šešira inn stands today is typical, built in the second half of the 19th century, the abode of former bohemians. The aqueduct of the Bulbulder waterway with 14 arches once stood in the middle of the mahala, in front of the subsequently built house of Đura Jakšić, as the sole reminder of times gone by. During the 19th century this used to be the Skadar Gate with the Skadar Drinking-Fountain.
The adaptation of Skadarlija began in 1966, based on projects by the architect Uglješa Bogunović. In an attempt to retain this part of old Belgrade, a reconstruction and revitalization of Skadarska Street was performed. The goal was to bring back the features this specific ambient once had, to revive tradition and add contemporary new sights. Traffic was eliminated from Skadarlija, a fountain was erected, the old cobbles, lanterns and candelabra were brought back, the Tri šešira, Dva jelena and Skadarlija inns were added to, while the interiors of the Ima dana, Zlatan bokal and Dva bela goluba were remodelled. The fortune-teller Ljubica reminded of the olden times, entertaining tourists with her predictions, along with the old drummer Šole and painters transferring motifs from Skadarlija onto canvas.
During the seventies Skadarlija became a “sister” to the Parisian Montmartre quarter. A procession of French painters and musicians paraded down our famous street when the charter on cooperation was signed. The following year, our artists returned the visit.
Savamala – the queen of Belgrade’s nightlife, the crowning jewel of fun outings and good time, filled up with good clubs, pubs, restaurants, and bars. It’s also a place where urban meets culture, and where casual fun can also have a humane character.
Savamala is one of the first Serbian neighbourhoods, established in the 18th century. Its name is coined from the river Sava, and Turkish word “Mahala”, which means settlement. Today, it’s one of the Belgrade’s most popular nightspots, especially during the winter when “splavs”, floating river clubs aren’t open yet.
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Savamala
Savamala – the queen of Belgrade’s nightlife, the crowning jewel of fun outings and good time, filled up with good clubs, pubs, restaurants, and bars. It’s also a place where urban meets culture, and where casual fun can also have a humane character.
Savamala is one of the first Serbian neighbourhoods, established in the 18th century. Its name is coined from the river Sava, and Turkish word “Mahala”, which means settlement. Today, it’s one of the Belgrade’s most popular nightspots, especially during the winter when “splavs”, floating river clubs aren’t open yet.