Visit four Fortress in Serbia, all on the Danube River

Petrovadin Fortress, known for its “reverse clock” with the longer hand showing the hours instead of minutes in order to help local fisherman to see the time from a distance, is located on the Danube River, in Novi Sad. The construction of the Fortress was started in 1692 by Charles Eugene de Croy, a field marshal who fought against the Ottoman Turks in their attack on Belgrade.

The first mention of a fortress on this spot was made by the Romans who made a military base to protect their eastern borders. When King Bella IV of Hungary brought over the French monks who had built Belakut Monastery on the ruins of a Roman military camp, the whole area changed dramatically. The monastery was built between 1247 and 1252 and was “live” until the Middle Ages. Today’s look of Petrovardin Fortress dates from 1687 when the Austrian Army captured the fortress after 150 years of Ottoman occupations. The fortress is well known for its complicated system of underground tunnels, spread over four levels and 16000 meters long.

You can visit Petrovardin Fortress on a day tour from Belgrade or from a cruise on the Danube River.

Cruising on the Danube River your next stop is going to be in Belgrade at Kalemegdan Fortress orBelgrade Fortress situated at the confluence of the Sava and Danube Rivers and it’s divided into a park and fortress. Originally the fortress was a military compound established by the Romans to defend its eastern borders from the barbarians. Easy accessibility by rivers made the military compound grow into very important city, Singidunum, on the crossroads between east and west, and today known as Belgrade. As a result Kalemegdan Fortress is full of historic monuments spanning the centuries. The Roman influence is easily visible at the entry to the Fortress, in the basement of City Library where Roman water pipes were discovered during refurbishment. The first Serbian church, St Ruzica,  is located within the fortress. Within the park you can see the Turbe (Tomb) of Damad Ali Pasha, one of the few well-preserved monuments of Islamic culture in Belgrade, and the military shelter built by the Austrians during their occupation of Belgrade in 1718, called locally Barutana (Gunpowder).

The Victor, a monument is dedicated to victories in WWI is located on the main plateau and it’s a work by the famous Croatian sculptor Ivan Mestorovic. Behind the monument in the greenery of the park there is bunker from WWII in used as late as 1997.

Walking through Kalemegdan Fortress is like walking through history. Unfortunately the Fortress was refused UNESCO World Heritage status as there is a military establishment in use on the site – the Military Museum.

Continue cruising downstream on the Danube River and visit Smederevo Fortress the best preserved building of medieval Serbia, built between 1427 and 1430 by the Despot Djuradj Branakovic. The fortress is surrounded by water on three sides – from the Danube River on one side, the Jezeva River on another, and on the third by a canal across the promontory. All along the edge of the fortress high bastioned walls were erected every 200 feet. The northern part of the fortress is the Little Forte which was home to Djordje and his wife and where the wall of great hall still stands, the windows still look across the Danube towards Hungary. The Forte was the second line of defence behind the moat with four richly decorated bastions. One of them is engraved with a cross and the year 6938 which is the year of the beginning of the world according to Greek Orthodoxy.

The fortress was badly damaged during WWII from bombing by the Allies and an explosion in the ammunition store used by the Germans. Smedervo Fortress may lack the splendour of the Petrovardin and Kalemegdan Fortresses but its history makes it up for it. Today the Fortress is used for festivals and concerts which take place within the inner part of the fortress where a stage was built.

If you have time I would suggest you cross the train track (Smederevo Train Station is adjacent to the fortress’s southern walls) and visit Smederevo Museum which is very rich in local history dating back to the Roman period.

Further downstream on the border with Romania there is another gem of a fortress called Golubac which is strategically located where the Danube River is at its narrowest and forms the so-called Iron Gate Gorge. Again, the first mention of Golubac Fortress dates back to the Roman era when there was a military site. Golubac Fortress was a border between different empires, the Turkish, Hungarian, Serb and Austrian, and as such was witness to many battles. It changed hands regularly until 1867 when it was given to the Serbs.

Golubac Fortress consists of 10 towers which are 20 -25 m high. Some of the towers are in good condition, others lack some walls. The last time I visited was in 2009, and Golubac Fortress, although it attracts lots of tourists and there was a project to restore it to its former glory, is still undeveloped. If you have time try to reach the towers in the upper compound which is the oldest part of the fortress. The oldest tower, tower number 1, is situated here and it’s called Sesir Kula or Hat Tower and you can see the Serbian church inside. Also the views over the Danube River are amazing from here.

Golubac Fortress is reachable on a day tour from Belgrade. If you decide to drive to the Fortress visitViminicium, another Roman base, and the Silver Lake were you can stop for a nice lunch.

If you are travelling to Serbia and would like to visit any of the Fortress listed here ReadyClickAndGo can offer customised day trips with your own guide, car and driver.  Private day trips throughout Balkans and Asia are also available, visit www.ReadyClickAndGo.com or email Tara@ReadyClickAndGo.com 

Visit Belgrade Fortress

History of Belgrade Fortress

Present-day Belgrade and its must-see fortress are located on the right bank of River Sava and was originally established as a Roman military camp to protect its eastern borders from the Barbarians. The IV legion, Flaviae, were based here and as they were often victorious they were nicknamed the ‘lucky’ legion. In the 2nd century AD the settlement around the camp was granted municipality status which meant that its inhabitants enjoyed the same rights as all Roman citizens. When the Roman Empire was divided into West and East, Singidunum become a part of the Eastern Roman Empire, Byzantium, and become known as Singidon.

When Attila the Hun conquered the Balkan Peninsula, he destroyed everything in front of him including Singidon. The local guides in Belgrade say that Attila the Hun was buried at the confluence of the Sava and Danube just below Belgrade fortress. But if you go to Szeged, a charming Hungarian town, the local guides say the same.

The Roman Emperor Justinian I, realising the importance of the border town, ordered the re-building of Singidon to make it strong and impenetrable. An influx of Slovene immigrants from Russia moved into the city  and called it Belgrade, the White City, due to the white stone the city was built from.

Belgrade became the capital of the Serbian state in 1404 and the ruler, known as the Despot, rebuilt the fort.  Mehmed II, ruler of the Turkish Ottomans, attacked Belgrade three times and the city became known as “Antemurale Christianitatis”, the defender of Christianity.

The Turks finally conquered Belgrade in 1521 and made it a strong military base for future military raids into Western Europe. The fortress was renamed Kalemegdan, (kale – city and megdan – field) and you can still see two remaining Ottoman constructions, the first being the fountain of Mehmed Pasha Sokolovic in the lower town, the other the tomb of Damad Ali Pasha situated in the upper town.
Over the next few centuries Kalemegdan Fortress shuttles between Austrian and Turkish occupation, and you can still see traces of both on the walls of the fortress. The Turkish used a rough white rock and stuck it in the walls while the Austrians used red bricks which are visible in the lower part of the fortress, especially around the powder magazine built by them during their occupation from 1717 to 1739. During the 1990s the area was leased to entrepreneurs who turned it into a night club. Since then the government has realised the importance of the place and made it into a museum. Today it’s a nice exhibition area hosting the National Museum’s Collection of Stone Monuments. This rich display is gathered from different part of Serbia and consists of Roman sarcophagi, gravestones and altars.

One of the constructions left by the Austrians is a well which most people think was built by the Romans. The architecture of the well is typically Austrian who used red bricks, and its original function was probably to make a silo or water tank for army supplies. The presence of the water in the well led many to believe that its construction could have been connected to the Sava River but research in 1940 disproved the idea.  To visit the Roman Well you need to pay a token entrance fee.

Another Austrian structure is Clock Tower build above the Clock Gate. When the Austrians occupied Belgrade they decided to move the clock gate few meters to the right and at a certain angle in order to defend the town more effectively. Today you can see the difference in building materials used by Austrian and Turkish architects by looking at this gate.

What to See at Belgrade Fortress

The fortress is divided into four parts which are interconnecting through 18 gates. The most famous and the most photographed site of Belgrade is Zindan Gate located between the Despot and Leopold Gates. It’s easily recognised as it lies between two towers which were used as dungeons, zindan in Turkish.

From Zindan Gate you can easily walk towards the Lower Town of Belgrade Fortress and visit two Orthodox churches, St Ruzica and St Petka. The St Ruzica church bells were created from the melted down bronze statue of Archduke Franz Ferdinand which was supposed to be erected at today’s Monument of Gratitude to France in Kalemegdan Park. When Gavrilo Princip killed the Archduke in Sarajevo the Serbian Government decided to melt down the bronze and use it for the church bells. Today Serbians joke that you can still hear the Archduke over Belgrade!

St Petka Church is worth a visit as the interiors are lined with colourful modern mosaics – try to avoid Fridays which is the saint’s day and the church is packed. The entrance is free.

From the platform outside St Petka Church you can see the dilapidated Charles VI Gate and refurbished Nebojsa Tower. It looks very close by and you can certainly walk and visit it but getting back can be tough as you have to walk uphill. Also you need to pay an entrance fee for the Nebojsa Tower which is not good value for money. The exhibition is a combination of historical facts and technology.

From the Lower Town you can walk back through the Zidan and Despot Gates, passing the Belgrade Planetarium on your right which used to be a hamam. In front of it you can see the upper section of the fortress with beautiful views of the confluence of the Sava and Danube Rivers. On the main plateau there is a tall statue of Victor. The original idea was to have it in the city centre but because of his nakedness which could shock the female population, the city planners decided to have him here instead. He is holding a falcon in the left hand and a sword in the right. It’s a work by the famous Croatian sculptor Ivan Mestrovic and is dedicated to victories in WWI.

Behind the Victor’s back there is a small hill covered with trees but you have to look carefully to notice the hill. It’s a very interesting place as it’s a bunker from WWII which was used until 1990. You may notice the small, heavy, rusty doors which are locked. In order to visit the bunker you need to book a licensed guide. We visited and wouldn’t recommend it to anyone claustrophobic. According to records which were opened recently, the Yugoslav army was stationed here, secretly, soldiers on a two-month-on, two-month-off basis. The question is, how did they manage to sneak into the bunkers unnoticed next to the most touristy area of Belgrade without anyone noticing? Old Belgraders remember that this area was closed off every two months for ‘renovations’ but in reality it was closed off for the army and supplies to get into the bunkers.

If you have time I would suggest you visit the Military Museum which is situated in Kalemegdan Park. The largest exhibition area is dedicated to WWI and “glorious” WWII when Serbia was one of the few countries fighting the fascists.  You need to pay an entrance fee but it’s worth visiting.

Opposite the Clock Gate is a house which used to be a watch tower, then Mason headquarters and today is used as an exhibition space. The National Museum has been closed for renovations for the last 20 years but they haven’t started yet and as a result there are lots of good exhibitions around the city, including in this building. You can have a short and pleasant stopover here. You have to pay an entrance fee but its well worth it.

If you decide to exit Belgrade Fortress by turning left from here and walking along the basketball polygon you come to Belgrade Zoo.  If you decide to turn right you will come across the imposing Monument of Gratitude to France who helped the Serbian Army during WWI, and then into the famous Knez Mihailova Street.

And to round up the whole history of Belgrade Fortress we suggest you visit the City Library on the right side of Knez Mihailova Street. The building used to be the most famous hotel in Belgrade, the Serbian Crown, which was due to be converted into the city library. Architects dug out the basement only to find the foundations of a wall and tower of the main city gate from Roman times, part of the northern defences of the 2nd or 3rd century BC, and around which the settlement of Signidunum (present-day Belgrade) grew.  There is a small collection of sculptures, altars and gravestones in the Roman Hall but what is most fascinating is the water pipe which transferred water 10 km away. It is said that when the Ottomans (the present-day Turks) occupied Belgrade and found the pipes they decided to gather all the workers who were working on maintenance and take them back to Constantinople, (present-day Istanbul) to maintain their Roman water pipes.

The most asked question we get is about the opening times of Belgrade Fortress.  Belgrade Fortress is a combination of monuments of historical importance, museums, places of interest, religious buildings and parks. You can enter Belgrade Fortress any time of day but you won’t be able to visit the Military Museum at 8 pm or go to the Church of St Petka. You would be able to walk around the Belgrade Fortress and take night photos of the confluence of the Sava and Danube Rivers. Opening times of each place at Belgrade Fortress are different and you better check them before visit.

Belgrade Fortress is a timeless piece of history, important not just for Serbian but European history too. It certainly deserves to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site!

For a private guided tour of Belgrade Fortress please email Tara@ReadyClickAndGo.com

The Chapel of Peace, Sremski Karlovci

Around 50 miles north of the capital city of Serbia, Belgrade, on the slopes of the Fruska Gora National Park and on the right bank of the Danube River, is one of Serbia’s most important spiritual and cultural towns, Sremski Karlovci, a small town easily accessible on a day tour from Belgrade.

Since 1713, this place has been the seat of the Serbian Archbishops so don’t be surprised if among the sea of tourists from different countries you come across a group of black-robed Orthodox priests come to visit the ornate 19th century Archbishop’s Residence. Especially famous for its good wines and honey (which both you can taste at various establishments around the town), its local dessert kuglof (a fruity, spiced cake), its beautiful baroque architecture and very nice inhabitants, Sremski Karlovci is also well known for its contribution to history books since it was here that the term ‘round table’ was first used when describing the signing of a peace agreement. The first peace agreement to be so described was signed here in 1699 between the Turkish, Polish, Venetians and Austrians, and it was thrashed out around a round table on a site a little way out of the town which is commemorated by a circular building, the Chapel of Peace, that has four doors, one for each party to the treaty.

According to the caretaker of the Chapel of Peace, a well-informed and talkative chap, this unusual building is beginning to be popular with visitors again since the EC decided to invest in its reconstruction on the condition that it opened its fourth door behind the altar, the so-called Turkish Door. When we came to visit the Chapel of Peace there was no one to greet us except strong winds and closed doors. We, like history-hungry peeping toms, looked through the windows and keyholes trying to catch a glimpse of the past. Suddenly a tall guy appeared in front of us telling us to go to the opposite side of building and he would open the door for us. It seemed strange that he did not tell us to enter the building with him, but later he explained that he only carries the key for the Turkish door as most visitors are from Turkey – as we were Christian we could only enter the building by one of the other doors. Inside there is an altar which covers the Turkish door (the chapel was built by the Catholics of the town), and there used to be an organ but it was damaged by the rather careless builders who restored the building recently. The windows are distinctive – on the first floor they are made in the shape of the Dutch flag and on the ground floor they represent the Union Jack – both England and Holland were the ‘international peacekeepers’ overseeing the peace agreement of 1699. The whole building is painted yellow inside and out, the staircase to the first floor is original but covered in paint stains and refurbishment is ongoing.

The Chapel of Peace is a witness to a significant historic event, but nowadays is sadly underused – it would make a wonderful space for concerts and exhibitions, and is definitely well worth the stroll from the town centre along the quiet residential streets.

For more information about day tours in Serbia please email Tara@ReadyClickAndGo.com or check our website atwww.ReadyClickAndGo.com

Smederevo Fortress, Serbia

In 1428 the Turkish Empire was at war with Hungary and sent a demand to Djordje Brankovic, ruler of Serbia, to sever all connections with Hungary, to send an army to join Turkey and to hand over his daughter Maria with a dowry of Serbian land. Djorjde Brankovic promised to meet all demands but in return asked if he could build a fortification on the Danube near Smederevo against the Hungarians. Strangely enough the Turks didn’t realise at that point that the same fortification could be used by the Hungarians to enter the Turkish Empire or that the Serbs could escape across the river in case of attack. Permission was granted. The fortification was finished in record time, in 2 years.

Before marrying his daughter Maria to the Sultan, Djordje married another one off to the heir to the Hungarian throne, securing an important ally and was then able to start negotiating with the Venetians about joining forces to attack the Turkish Ottoman Empire. But by this time the Sultan realised the potential danger of the union between Serbia, Hungary and Venice and decided in 1439 to capture the Smederevo fortress. They couldn’t capture it outright but they besieged it for three months until the fortress surrendered.  Djordje managed to escape the country by boat over Danube into Hungary, to his estate at Tokay where he planted vines from Smederevo which eventually produced the famous Tokay wine.

The Fortress of Smederevo had to be reinforced and work started in 1444 when Djordje returned to Smederevo and lasted until 1456.  The fortress was surrounded by water on three sides - from the Danube River on one side, the Jezeva River on another, and on a third by a canal across the promontory. All along the edge of the fortress high bastioned walls were erected every 200 feet. The northern part of the fortress is the Little Forte which was home to Djordje and his wife and where the wall of great hall still stands, the windows still look across the Danube towards Hungary. The Forte was the second line of defence behind the moat with four richly decorated bastions. One of them is engraved with a cross and the year 6938 which is the year of the beginning of the world according to Greek Orthodoxy.

Djordje Brankovic was getting old and not keeping up with new developments whereas the Sultan was more progressive. In April 1453 the Sultan fired the first guns at the centre of Byzantium Empire, Constantinople and after five weeks of heavy bombardment “the pearl of east”  become Turkish. The Sultan, nicknamed the Conqueror, continued his expansion to the West and Serbia and in 1454 issued an ultimatum to Djordje Brankovic who ignored it until the fortress was strengthened. Unfortunately the fortress was never ready for cannons and the plague which killed the king. He left his wife who died under suspicious circumstances and his son who died in 1458 but not before he married one of his daughters to the Bosnian king, Stefan Tomasevic, who entered Smederevo at the end of the same year and become the last ruler of medieval Serbia. He changed his religion to Roman Catholicism which for the Orthodox Serb was worst betrayal of his kingdom. The Serbs started negotiating with the Sultan and scared King Stefan Tomasevic fled for his life from Smederevo with his family. The doors of Smederevo Fortress were open to Mahomet the Conquerer on 20th June 1459 and for the next three hundred and fifty years Serbia ceased to exist.

The fortress today has best preserved buildings of medieval Serbia, still standing proudly above the Danube despite damage during WWII from bombing by the Allies and an explosion in the ammunition store used by the Germans.  Smederevo fortress is easily accessible on a day tour from Belgrade. For more information about day tours to Smederevo or anywhere in Serbia please email Tara@ReadyClickAndGo.com

Kovačica, centre of Naive Art in Serbia

We crossed the only bridge in Belgrade over the Danube River – the old metal, heavy thing built in 1935.  Once on the other side of Belgrade we continued towards Pancevo city, well known for its accident-prone factories which sometimes pollute the whole of Belgrade. As it was Sunday, the day for the local antiques market, we couldn’t resist stopping for a quick browse for a “good deal”. We didn’t get anything except an old CD for 50p which worked until song number four. Regardless, we considered it a good deal.

Crossing the Danube River means entering the flat Pannonia Plain where you orientate yourself only by the next tree or lonely house.  Considering that the official alphabet in Serbia is Cyrillic and that road signs are rare then that tree or house takes on more importance during your journey. Nature at this time of year (May 2012) generously painted everything in a lush green cloaking the trees and houses from sight. Everything looked the same especially for four city girls. Confused and tired by the oppressive heat we decided to stop along the way at Salas, called Sekin Salas which means Sisters Ranch. If you want to experience the real Serbia you should try to stay at one of the many ranches which offer a combination of rural Serbia with good food, clean air and lots of activities – horse riding, fishing, cooking classes…embroidery classes…During our hour stop we managed to meet the loveable Rasha, a ginger corgi who we considered stealing away, but after realising that Rasha has friends on the Ranch – three cats, two goats, a pheasant, an over-protective chicken with eight yellow chicks and two more dogs lazily asleep in the front garden - we decided that Rasha had a better life than we did, so we left him in his natural surroundings.

 

After refreshments and taking photos of everything that represented the old, disappearing Serbia that was so generously on display in the house, we continued driving towards Kovacica, a place well known for its Slovak naive art.

The Museum of Naive Folk Art is situated centrally on the main street. The Museum itself is very small but very rich in the numbers of paintings they own so the exhibition keeps changing all the time. The first one to strike you is a huge, colourful and lively painting by Jan Glozik illustrating the 200 years since the Slovak people moved from what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire to the eastern border, nowadays Serbia, by order of the Emperor. The painting consists of 200 people representing each year since they moved to this part of the world. If you have a very good eye you can see a self-portrait of the painter incorporated into the maze of colours. 

The left side of the museum has an exhibition of another famous naïve art painter, Martin Janos, whose paintings emphasise the hands and feet and thereby the hard manual work on the farms of the region. The third room is dedicated to the Queen of naïve art, Zuzana Halupova. There are 31 paintings exhibited here, most of them oil on canvas. She, as with Martin Janos, has a leitmotif which is that each painting has a girl in a pink skirt somewhere in it. Zuzana never had kids of her own and so she put one in every one of her paintings. She was member of the children’s charity UNICEF and in 1974 she painted the UNICEF Christmas Card which was sold worldwide.  She left more than 1000 paintings to the museum but due to the lack of the space only a certain number can be shown. There are talks about a new, bigger Museum to be opened in a different location.

Outside the Museum there is a courtyard with three galleries, in one of them you can have your own portrait painted. All the galleries are run by local painters who can tell you about local life and how they have preserved their culture and traditions for over 200 years.   Mr Pavel Babka , a successful painter who exhibits all around the world and is the owner of the largest gallery, pointed out that even when a painter becomes worldwide successful, he still stays in Kovacica, within very strong Slovak Community.

After a good three hours at this artists’ colony we bought a couple of pictures that were most memorable to us, and decided to sit outside the Museum on a bench colourfully painted in bright flowers. Two local ladies dressed in Slovakian costume passed us slowly on bicycles. The only sign reminding us that we were in Serbia and not Slovakia was a road sign with the street name in Cyrillic.

 To create your own perfect day tour of  Kovačica email Tara at Tara@ReadyClickAndGo.com for ideas and we can customise a tour to suit you with a private guide to show you around. See our website www.ReadyClickAndGo.com for sample sightseeing tours of Serbia.

Zemun Today

Visit to the Spa in Serbia - Visit to the Vrnjacka Banja

I had decided to spend ten days in Vrnjacka Banja which is a spa situated in central Serbia, 200 km south of Belgrade close to Mount Goc and in the valleys of the Vrnjacka and  Lipovacka rivers. 

The return bus fare to Vrnjacka Spa is 850 dinar which is about £8 including the seat reservation. With your tickets and seat reservations you will get a small coin which gives you access to the departure platform for the bus. The buses are comfortable, clean and with air conditioning which is very important during the hot months of summer. At the moment, the Serbian Government is investing a huge amount of money in the motorways. Driving though the countryside is very pleasant, picturesque and during May when everything is in full bloom, very lush. The journey lasts around 3 ½ hours with short stops in the cities of Kraljevo and Krusevac to pick up other passengers. There are no toilets on the bus and the only snag is that you have to rush out of the bus station in either city, buy one of the special coins from the ticket office where queues could be a mile long, then run to the toilet! If you haven’t told your driver about your toilet excursion there is a good possibility he will leave without you!

We booked one of the best hotels in Vrnjacka Banja called The Breza, which was one of the hotels built for senior army officers. As times changed the hotel lost its glory but it’s still functional.  Officially the hotel has 3 stars but I think it should be rated lower, or refurbished. The carpets are not very clean, the hallways are dark, almost dirty, and the electric wires in some rooms look very scary – connected by isolation tape. My bed was a mattress which was ripped in the middle (I only found that out on our last day). We stayed in one of the apartments which overlooked the promenade and the park. Outside our windows there was a small balcony covered in the grass and fems. We had a TV in the room which during the day had only two channels and both of those in Serbian but during the evening you could get CNN. Our phone line was working and the fridge made a really strange noise so we decided not to use it at all. The bathroom was huge but really 1970s style. After a week the receptionist moved us to a different room which was much better – spacious, with a better mattress, a sofa, and extra bed. The TV worked during the day but we didn’t have a fridge. I preferred this room. The hotel has an indoor swimming pool, internet room with fast connection, library, restaurant and a room for table tennis, and, most importantly, a hairdresser – a cheap and good hairdresser. A cut and blow dry is only £4!!! The hotel accepts major credit cards but they prefer cash.  Breakfast is very basic – eggs, cheap salami, bread, cheese, butter, marmalade, jam, tea and coffee. As we were on half board we decided to have dinner as well which was freshly made, with different dishes every day and two choices. Also the staff was so friendly they would give you anything you asked for and if you are spoiled like me then you are in heaven. During our stay the hotel hosted two big conferences with people from all around Europe. The hotel was very accommodating and staff marvellous: hard working and always ready to put guests first. For that reason I am planning to go back and stay with in the Hotel Breza again regardless as to whether there are newer, more westernised, or better equipped hotels in the area.

I decided to take my mum on this trip to Vrnjacka Banja as she had a operation there years ago and the doctor recommended that she visits a spa regularly.

The Romans first came here for their health between the 2^nd and 4^th centuries, calling it AQUAE ORCINAE. The natural mineral waters here are an intrinsic part of the treatments – either by drinking them, inhaling steam, bathing, colonic irrigation and so on. You see a doctor when you arrive, and he prescribes the best utilization of the spa waters for you.    

      

The central part of Vrnjacka spa is a well kept park, and we found there a memorial to the British doctors and nurses who helped Serbian soldiers during WWI. 

Just outside the park is a castle called Belimirovic which is today a museum with three permanent exhibitions: photographs from 1914- 1918, a room with furniture before WWI and an exhibition of Easter eggs. Also concerts, ad hoc exhibitions, and plays take place here during the summer in an event called “100 days – 100 cultural happenings. On the opposite side of the castle on a small hill, there is the oldest building in Vrnjacka Banja- the Church of the Nativity of the Holy Mother of God built in 1834 by Prince Milos Obrenovic, and well preserved.

The tourist office at Vrnjacka Banja is on the main street and easy to find. The girls are very well informed and happy to help with any enquires. As it was out of season I asked to hire a bike and she recommended a person near the Hotel Kralj whose main business is to repair old bicycles. He was happy to rent me one, in good condition, pink, girly as he said for 90 dinar which is £1 an hour on condition that I gave him some form of ID. I gave him my driving licence. He looked in his 70s but very fit for a man of his age. He also recommended a route to take. Of course I didn’t get a helmet - they are not obligatory in Serbia. Cycling up to the Hotel Borjak which is just outside Vranjcka Banja and in the hills wasn’t easy. Firstly I didn’t have a map and secondly I asked a small kid for directions who just said yes and brought me almost to the Goc Mountain which is opposite of where I wanted to be. An elderly lady sitting outside her house advised me in a motherly way that bikes are not for girls and that I was too far away anyway, which made me to turn back and cycle downslide which was a fantastic feeling. Nature is pristine here, and you can easily sit in the middle of the forest watching birds or admiring stones packed with different minerals. On the way down I stopped at a restaurant on the river and with a huge garden. It was very refreshing and I had 2 course meal for less then £8 including drinks and tips. 

The next day I arranged to visit the Zica Monastery which is around 25 km outside Banja.

The Zica Monastery is an endowment of King Stefan the First Crowned and built between 1208 and 1220. Zica was the first seat of the autonomous Serbian Archbishops and it was there that 7 medieval Serbian rulers were crowned. It is painted in red – the royal colour of Serbia. The most significant part of the church is formed by the latest frescoes painted between 1309 and 1316. Nearly nothing has been saved from the once rich monastery treasury except the holy relic – the right arm of St. John the Forerunner laid in silver, which was brought to the monastery by St. Sava. Today it is preserved in St. Mary's Cathedral in Sienna. The Monastery was heavily bombed during WWII by the Germans and set on fire during their occupation.  Today it is a women’s monastery and there is only one fifth of the frescos left. The nuns support themselves by working on the land, making teas and honey which they sell. Worship takes place every day at 5 pm and I would recommend it to anyone. The singing is beautiful and the acoustics in the church are very good. The whole atmosphere is made more mysterious by closing the entry doors and the ancient rituals at the end of prayers.

There are other Monasteries in close proximity to Vrnjacka Banja such us Ljubostnja , Studenica and newish one - Sv Petka. Also it is possible to organise a wine tour and horse riding.

Evening life in Vrnjacka Banja includes lots of walking up and down or sitting in the gardens of so many cafés and restaurants. Alternatively you can listen to live music, a concert or go to the cinema. Or even better just go to bed!                                       

For more information regarding travelling in Serbia please email Tara@ReadyClickAndGo.com