BELGRADE
Although Belgrade, is a very old city, known as Singidunum in the Roman
times, it hasn't got many monuments from the past. It has been the target of
many invaders throughout its history, so that was destroyed and rebuilt many
times. There are almost no structures dating back to the old Roman times or
medieval monuments. There are some monuments dating back to the times under
Turkish rule. The best preserved of the latter is Kalemegdan, the old core
of the Belgrade fortress. Apart from some Roman foundations and walls dating
back to Despot Stefan's period (early 15th century), almost all
its other fortifications were built in the 18th century by the
Austrians. The complex system of extensive heavy ramparts, towers, bridges,
turrets, moats and passages encompasses a number of fine fortress gateways,
a clock tower, an old Roman well, and the Ruzica Church in the upper part;
and a baroque gateway and the medieval Nebojsa Tower in the lower part. The
fortress has been turned into a city park offering a wide variety of
monuments from more recent times. Particularly attractive is a sculpture by
Ivan Mestrovic
- Pobednik (The Victor). The Military Museum in Kalemegdan, has a large
collection of weapons and documents illustrating the history of Belgrade
and Yugoslavia from the earliest times to date.
Landmarks in the vicinity od Kalemegdan are the Cathedral Church (Saborna
crkva), from the first half of the l9th century, the Princess Ljubica
mansion (Konak kneginje Ljubice) - the court of renewed Serbia's first
Prince - built in 1831, the Bajrakli Mosque, from the 17th
century, and the building of Serbia's first school of higher learning, which
now houses the Dositej Obradovic and Vuk Karadzic Museum, dedicated to the
two founders of modern Serbian culture. Noteworthy among Belgrade's museums
is the National Museum, with its rich prehistoric and classical collections,
medieval section and art gallery , the Ethnographic Museum, the Gallery of
Frescoes and the Museum of the Serbian Orthodox Church. |