Walking Tour of Belgrade

The three of us wanted to cancel a walking tour of subterranean Belgrade as it was cold and hadn’t stopped snowing since the night before, but idea of just the three of us going on the tour was very appealing.  The meeting point in the city centre was empty until 5 minutes before the walking tour supposed to start when suddenly another 30 people turned up.  Our idea of “being on our own” wasn’t very original!

The first stop was the Roman Hall situated in the City Library at the beginning 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.

We crossed the road and entered Kalemegdan Fortress, scene of many very interesting monuments and so much history squeezed into a small place.  We passed the Monument of Gratitude to France for her help during WWI, and then entered the Upper Town of the fortress through Karadjordje Gate. On the left we passed the impressive Military Museum, passed through the clock gate built by Austrians during their short occupation of Belgrade in 1715. We also stopped briefly at the Turbe (Tomb) of Damad Ali Pasha, one of the few well-preserved monuments of Islamic culture in Belgrade.

The next stop was the most interesting and the most claustrophobic! Just before we were going to take photos of Belgrade’s famous landmark, Victor, we turned right and a small, heavy, rusty door set into a small hillock was opened for us. We went down steep steps into a well-lit, long and narrow corridor. We passed empty rooms with heavy doors like submarine doors, then we went up into a bunker. The celling was low and some of us, including me, felt the lack of oxygen but the story we heard was worth any discomfort. No one knows when the bunkers were built but they were used intensively after WWII. According to records which were opened recently, the Yugoslav army was stationed here, secretly, soldiers on a two-months-on and two-months-off basis. The question was 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. The position of the bunkers is very strategic over the confluence of the Sava and Danube Rivers which explains why their existence was top secret.

From there we moved into the Lower Town of Belgrade Fortress, passing another historic monument, an  endowment of an Ottoman statesman hailing from Bosnia, Sokollu Mehmed Pasha, who was born into a Serbian family in Bosnia and then taken away at an early age by the Ottomans to serve as a janissary.

Next stop on our underground walking tour of Belgrade was the military shelter built by the Austrians during their occupation of Belgrade in 1718, called locally Barutana (Gunpowder).  During the 1990s the area was leased to entrepreneurs who turned it into a night club. Since then the government 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.

Next stop is a long walk to the old, shabby Karadjordjeva Street to see the Vine Lagoon bar. Now if you saw the street you would naturally wonder how you could have a wine bar there. You go into the forecourt of a red garage then enter a lagoon full of corridors, with dark, very low ceilings. This area was known as the delivery place for goods arriving by river which would be pulled by a lift built into the rocks, then distributed all around Belgrade. The remains of the lift can be seen outside the wine bar but also a chimney for the supply of air into the lagoon itself.

Our fascinating walking tour of underground Belgrade finished here with a glass of complimentary wine. The tour lasted two and a half hours and it’s an easy walk but count on lots of steps up and down.

If you would like to experience Belgrade on foot and see this amazing city from underground please send an email to Tara@ReadyClickAndGo.com

St Sava Church - The Hagia Sofia of the Balkans

The photographic icon of Belgrade is St Sava Temple which is still a “work in progress.” Its position, on the grounds of Vracar where the relics of Serbia’s first Archbishop, St Sava, were burned by the Ottoman Turks in the 16th century, is very impressive and is visible from every corner of the city.

The church is built in the Byzantium style with the figure of the cross forming its base and a large central dome above and four semi-domes lower down, with galleries all around supported by an arcade underneath.

Does that sound familiar?

You might have seen this construction somewhere else in Europe?

If you have visited Istanbul and the magnificent Hagia Sofia then you’ll spot its resemblance to St Sava Temple.  Istanbul (once known as Constantinople) was established by the Roman Emperor Constantin (born in Serbia) who decreed that Christianity be the main religion of the Roman Empire. Constantinople, or the New Rome, became the capital of the Byzantine Empire and today the Hagia Sophia is the best surviving example of Byzantine architecture.

St Sava Temple is the largest working Orthodox temple in the world. Is it going to surpass and overshadow the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul? Time will tell.

        For more information about travelling to Belgrade please email Tara@ReadyClickAndGo.com

Museum on Steroids - Museum of Orthodox Church of Serbia

Over the years, the route became a habit – every time I walked down from Knez Mihailova Street towards the Kosancicev venac , I would stop at the Patriarchal Palace and ask to visit the Museum of the Orthodox Church of Serbia, And every time I would get the same reply: “The museum is under construction, reconstruction or it is closed.”  Being an insecure person, I began to think that there was something wrong with me, my dress code, my thirst for a cold beer, for good food and all the things the church says to refrain from.

A few days ago I tried my routine again and a man dressed in a crisp business suite rather than a priest’s robe declared in an authoritative voice “The Museum is open…You need to enter from the door opposite St Michael’s Cathedral.“ Without saying thank you I ran off to the other side of the same building and excitedly pressed a heavy door, pushing it with my whole body and almost falling into what was a garage once upon a time and today was a well-polished entrance hall still smelling of paint. The floor was set in three different colours of marble with distinctive artwork in the shape of circles, something you find in Serbian churches built nowadays. After purchasing a ticket we walked towards the heavy stairs that led us to the museum itself  on the first floor.  The first impression was disappointing. It was a long hall decorated with framed letters, notifications, portraits of church dignitaries, and old photographs from Serbia’s rich past. We walked through very quickly thinking, is that it? At the end of the corridor a lady, dressed in blue, maybe a uniform, walked in front of us and disappeared into a room on the right.  I heard her unlocking the door, switching the lights on and her rubber shoes squeaking through the empty building, she disappeared where she came from. Dispirited and ready to go back we secretly peeked through the door where the lights came from and we stood silent, shocked with the amount of the history laid bare in front of us.  The loud and honest “WOW” made a lady who opened a door chuckle behind us.  Adrenalin and frustration at not being to see the Museum for such a long time kicked in and I started running around trying to see everything at once. Then realising the Museum is not that big only very rich with exhibits I calmed down and started to follow some kind of pattern.

Liturgical books decorated in gold, silver and precious stones dating back from XIV century, the shroud of King Milutin dating from end XIII or beginning XIV c, a silver reliquaries chest dating from XVI c, the sermons of St Isaac of Syria, XIV c, a huge icon of wood, the Adoration of the Wise Men from XVII c, Byzantium crosses and seals, chalices, old sacred vessels, various donations, icons, are squeezed into three connected rooms. Each display had an explanation written in Serbian and English showing the development of the Serbian Orthodox Church through the centuries.  Most of the exhibits come from monasteries scattered around Fruska Gora, from churches around eastern Srem and from donations.

Textiles have a significant presence in the museum and two very interesting pieces of history are the gown of  Prince Lazar dating back to 1389 which is the year of the battle of Kosovo, and a shroud made by the nun Jefimija who is regarded as the first Serbian poetess.

The Museum and the richness of the exhibits are of the standard of the exhibition held in London at the Royal Academy of Art, titled Byzantium. The only difference is that you don’t have to queue here in Belgrade and the entry tickets are much more affordable.  This may change as the Museum of the Orthodox Church of Serbia is just recently opened.

Address: Kralja Petra  nr. 5, entrance from the street Kneza Sime Markovica 6

Open: Weekdays 9-16h, Saturdays, Sundays and Religious Holidays the Museum is Closed

Entrance fee: RSD400 (approx US$5 as per 20th January 2014).

For more information about things to see and do in Belgrade of independent day tours in Belgrade please email Tara@ReadyClickAndGo.com or visit specialist website for day tours, day trips, city tours, travel experiences at www.ReadyClickAndGo.com

Using Public Transport in Belgrade

I don't consider myself pretty but I do like it when people look at me. I don’t know any female who doesn’t! Deep down I wish I was an actress on the stage and have all eyes heavily focusing on me…Yes that is what I would secretly love and that is what I get when getting on public transport in Belgrade. Well when you say public transport you will probably think of the tube or metro but in Belgrade public transport has aggressive OAPs, beggars, Roma musicians, dirt-encrusted windows and ordinary citizens. There are trams and some electric buses but the same adjectives could be used for any of them.

My travelling starts from the bus stop in front of the Palace of Serbia in New Belgrade where I take the number 16 to Old Belgrade just across the Danube River. I may take the bus at different times of the day or week as I am working from home and am not bounded by regular office hours. What I have realised is that:

-       Instructions on how to use BusPlus tickets are written in Cyrillic letters which is the official alphabet of Serbia. There is no explanation in English or any other language so if you decide to use public transport in Belgrade start learning the Serbian alphabet and good luck!

-       Buses are frequent and always full.

-       I never saw disabled person in a wheelchair on public transport in Belgrade.

-       There is never ever an empty seat.

-       If there is empty seat, an OAP will grab it, even though they are on two different sides of the bus.

-       Ticket validation is 21st century while service is in the middle ages. Drivers are underpaid, (sounds familiar?) overworked and some vehicles should be sold for scrap metal, not on the road.

-       People stare at you, intensely, when you enter the bus.

This last remark used to puzzle me and I was always under the impression that the staring was due to my fresh faced looks, my hair style, my coat, bag… I never had so many glances on entering a bus in any part of the world.

Last night I went out with a friend, a local lad, one of few who decided to stay in Belgrade and try to make something of this interesting city.

His first comment on entering the bus was “Don’t validate your ticket. People don’t. The price is too high for the service you get! ”

“What if an inspector comes to check tickets?”

“Just tell them that you will get off at the next stop”

“But…”

“Don’t but – look around you. Most people don’t validate tickets. They all stare at people getting on the bus in case they are the inspector.”

My dream of the stage and me as a famous actress disappeared at the next bus stop.

A TRAM RIDE THROUGH BELGRADE, SERBIA

There are 12 tram lines in Belgrade and the most famous line is tram number 2 which goes in a circle around the core of Belgrade. It’s a fun and cheap way to get an orientation tour of the city. It’s not a touristy place either so you get to see real life in Belgrade.

The first stop is in Kradjordjeva Street which once upon a time had very good architecture and today looks like a graveyard of old buildings. The government doesn’t have the money to invest in refurbishment which is a shame especially as this street overlooks the Port of Belgrade where international cruise companies stop for a night when they visit Belgrade. There is a project called ‘Belgrade on the River Sava’ which plans to refurbish this district, Savamala, and bring it back to its original glory. When this will happen no one knows.

At 11 am when I took my ride, the tram was almost empty except for a few pensioners and skiving students. After duly validating my Buss Pass I took a seat at the back of the tram to watch people getting on and off and to watch old Belgrade pass by.

The first and the most interesting architectural monument is the Belgrade Cooperative Building situated on the right side of Karadjordjeva Street and built between 1905 and 1907. The shape of the building is triangular and it was made of ferro-concrete which was the most fashionable material at that time. The building also boasts the first hall with stairs in Belgrade.  Unfortunately the façade is desperate for a fresh coat of paint or a power wash.

Soon after we come across one of the oldest hotels in Belgrade, the Hotel Bristol, conveniently located close to the Main Bus and Train Stations in Belgrade. The hotel doesn’t feature in tourist guides as it is a military hotel for ex-servicemen from the former Yugoslavia and today it’s a home for many of them who lost their homes after the last war and moved to Belgrade.

After passing a very busy crossroads and the main bus station the tram comes in front of the main Train Station built between 1881 and 1884, one of the major halts on the Istanbul – Vienna route. The building is painted in a yellow which once upon a time was very bright.

The tram from here turns left into Nemanjina Street which hosts the Serbian Government Building which dates from 1928 originally to accommodate the Financial Department of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes as the country was known between the wars. Today all government decisions are made in the hall on the 1st floor. On the opposite side of the Serbian Government Building there is the HQ of JNA (the Yugoslav National Army). It was badly destroyed during the 78 days of bombing in 1999 and it stands as a monument to wrong-headed politics.

Further up you come to the biggest traffic square in Belgrade (and probably in Serbia) where everyone and no one has the right to cross…the situation becomes unbearable during rush hour or if a policeman tries to regulate the traffic. The square is known as Dimitrie Tucovic Square after the establisher of the Social Democratic Party whose remains are buried here. The square is locally known also as Slavia Square. It’s surrounded by small houses probably dating from the  Turkish Era, communist-era tower blocks, a few glass hotels, lots of people running in all possible directions, street sellers and run-down newsagents.

After lots of sudden braking the tram turns right into Belgrade Street. On the left at the beginning of Belgrade Street there is the famous ‘Mitic hole’. The very successful entrepreneur, Mr Mitic, decided to build another store just before WWII. He managed to dig the hole for the foundations only to be stopped by the war and afterwards when the communists came to power they expropriated all his wealth including the building plot.  The hole stayed there for almost 35 years only to be filled in and turned into a park without any trees!

The tram at the end of Belgrade Street just in front of the Law Faculty turns right into the longest inner street in Belgrade, Bulevar of Kralja Aleksandra, named after the last king from the Obrenovic dynasty. The longest street in Belgrade used to be known as Bulevar Oslobođenja (Boulevard of the Liberation) and then Bulevar Revolucije (Boulevard of the Revolution) but Belgraders got irritated by these constant changes and just call it the Boulevard.

The ride is filled with University Buildings – the library and different faculties. Here you can find a fine hotel called the Metropol Palace opened in 1957 and which has hosted a string of celebrities such as Kirk Douglas, Igor Stravinsky, Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Loren, Jack Nicholson…The hotel is reopened recently after a long and expansive renovation.

From the Bulevar Kralja Aleksandra the tram turns left into Ruzveltova Street for a short stretch until it goes again left into Kraljica Marija (Queen Marija) Street, named after the great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria  and wife of King Alexander of Yugoslavia I who was killed in Marseilles in 1934. The story of Queen Maria is one of courage and bravery: she was widowed at the age of 34 with three young boys. She moved back to the UK just before WWII and continued with intensive charity work in Serbia. She died in 1961 after a long illness and almost penniless after being forced to sell family gold in order to pay for medicine. The street of Queen Marija is a typical street in Belgrade, its architecture a combination of all possible epochs from all over the city – Turkish, neo classical, baroque.

Riding on tram number two is like riding through the turbulent history of Belgrade, and we swiftly move from the period between the two world wars into the beginning of WWII by entering 27th March Street. The date commemorates the Military Coup when people said “No” to the Yugoslavian Government who signed a pact with Germany’s Third Reich. The Government swiftly collapsed and Hitler, angry with outcome, decided to bomb Belgrade in an operation called “Punishment”.

From 27th March Street the tram moves slowly into the street named after the first president of the USA, George Washington Street, which is the unofficial border of the oldest part of Belgrade called Dorcol derived from the Turkish word for four roads.  George Washington Street crosses one of the most popular bohemian parts of the city called Skadarska and from there we move into the Tsar Dusan Street named after the first Tsar of Serbia and the beginning of the real old Belgrade.

The tram moves towards the house at number 10 which is the oldest building in Belgrade, it’s simple and recently was used as a bakery. The house was built in 1724 during a ‘short’ Austrian occupation when the Austrian Emperor Charles VI wanted to transfer Belgrade from an oriental to a baroque fortified city. According to some historic documents before they started building the Austrians ordered 37 minarets to be destroyed and most of the Mosques were turned into warehouses.  Today the house at number 10 has lost its spark but it attracts attention as according to some storytellers the house is connected to the Danube River by a tunnel.  House number 11 is also considered as an attraction as it was built in 1924 and today is host to the St Sava Society, and number 13 is St Sava Hall.

Tsar Dusan Street runs parallel to Strahinjica Bana Street in Belgrade, also known as Silicon Valley, nothing to do with IT but more with the amount of silicon used in the upper parts of the girls bodies here.

Dorcol was always a multi-cultural part of Belgrade and here the mix of Muslims and Jews is very well documented. On the right of Tsar Dusan Street there is a long Jewish street stretching all the way to the Danube River. On the left there is Belgrade’s only Mosque built in 1690 which was an endowment of Sultan Suleiman II.

From Tsar Dusan Street the tram turns left into the lower part of Kalemegdan Fortress. If you are lucky you may see a lazy lion from your safe tram seat as you pass Belgrade Zoo in Kalemegdan. The tram slowly climbs towards the pedestrian zone of Knez Mihailova Street and then carefully slides down the other side of the fortress, passing the French and Austrian embassies on the left and the most popular nightclub on the right.

The tram from here goes for a deserved rest or at least tram driver rest.  They park at a little track close to Belgrade Pier. Some people would consider this stop as the first stop but is there one on tram number two’s circular route? How do you know what is the first stop? You can jump on at any stop and have a fantastic history lesson.

Belgrade is not as big as Beijing, or as smart as London or as quirky as New York but Belgrade is a cool city with its history squeezed into such a small space. A Squeezed History of Time on the number two tram.

For more information about Belgrade and day tours in the  fascinating city of Belgrade please  email Tara@readyclickandgo.com or visit our website at www.ReadyClickAndGo.com 

THE MILITARY MUSEUM IN BELGRADE

The cannons and howitzers line up along the ramparts, below in the moat are a dozen or so tanks, and by the doorway a captured Humvee from 1999. Belgrade’s Military Museum is, appropriately enough, located inside the walls of the medieval stronghold, Kalemegdan Fortress, that stands at the confluence of the Danube and Sava Rivers. History has not been kind to Belgrade. Several of the exhibits outside the museum were captured by Tito’s Partisans or the Red Army during WWII when the city was occupied by the Germans, bombed by the Allies and liberated by the Russians. Other even more modern exhibits were captured from the Kosovo Liberation Army and the NATO forces during the conflicts of the 1990s. Inside the museum which costs only 150 RSD (about 1,5 Euro or US$1.50) you walk through time – there are weapons, armour, uniforms, flags and other artefacts from Roman times, the wars with the Turks, right through medieval times and the two world wars. But unfortunately there are very few notices in English up to WWII so you might find it better to hire a Belgrade city guide for half a day or even longer to explain more of the history of Serbia and ultimately, help you understand the country today. The Military Museum is open from 10am to 4pm, Tuesday to Sunday.

The fortress itself beyond the museum is great to explore – for centuries the city of Belgrade was contained within the walls of the citadel and you can still see the great medieval walls, impressive gateways and towers, and two beautiful churches, the Rose Church and the tiny modern chapel of St Petka whose interior walls are covered in bright mosaics. In the summer there are often exhibitions in various sentry rooms set into the walls Down by the Danube is the 15th century Nebojsa Tower which was built to fire cannons on any enemy approaching by boat (usually the Turks who eventually captured the city and occupied Serbia for centuries), and on the other side of the fortress is a pleasant park filled with statues, memorials, souvenir stalls and strolling couples, which leads onto the main pedestrianised street of modern-day Belgrade, Knez Mihalova.

If you would like to book day tour of Belgrade with an English-speaking local guide to show you around the fortress and the city and to improve your understanding of Belgrade and its people, please contactTara@ReadyClickAndGo.com for more details or check our website www.ReadyClickAndGo.com

I think Banksy Should Move to Belgrade!

AT LEAST STRAWBERRIES ARE VERY GOOD AT THIS TIME OF THE YEAR