Yesterday we arrived in Belgrade. The history of any great city is never simple, but Belgrade’s often catastrophic history is truly bewildering in its complexity. Since the greek historian Herodotus first mentioned it 25 centuries ago, the city has been completely destroyed 44 times, witnessed 115 major battles, had 40 different names, and served as a capital of five different states.
Celts, Romans, Huns and the Eastern Roman Empire all had a hand at occupying or razing the city to the ground. During the centuries when Christians fought against the invasion of Islam into Europe, the city was burned many times. In 1941 on Palm Sunday 300 Nazi bombers killed 25,000 people in one morning.
Today it is the capital of Serbia. It’s strategic position at the junction of two rivers has made it a crossroads between the West and the Orient – the Sava runs into the Danube. The two rivers embrace it on two sides and that is why the city has from the ancient times been the guardian of the waterways. Being always on the border between the Eastern Byzantine – Turkish influence and the Western Habsburg tradition, Belgrade displays an intriguing and unique mixture of both.
We first had a city tour by coach.
We then went to Tito’s Tomb – Josip ‘Tito” Broz 1892 – 1980 – and the Museum of Yugoslav.
This is a stone Gusles.
National costumes of Serbia on the left and Croatia on the right.
Serbia National Parliament.
Belgrade Fortress.
Old bunkers are turned into housing.
In the afternoon in our free time we went for a walk through town. Believe it or not this is a café in the main part of the town.
These buildings on the street Kneza Milosa are right next door to the military office and police station that were bombed in 2003 by Nato, it goes to show how precise war can be now they are absolutely unscarred.
This is a Renault R4.
The Train Station
The Judicial Academy.
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