KALEMEGDAN

Kalemegdan is the oldest and the biggest Belgrade park. The Turks beside denoting it as "the battle field" also called it Ficir-bajir or a hill for thinking. Situated above the Estuary, together with Belgrade fortress (being Lower and Upper town) it represents the core from which the whole city has developed throughout the centuries. The first fortress was built by Roman legions in 1st century AD, yet it acquired today's shape at the end of 18th century. The walls, gates, wooden crossings and guards' towers of this fortress, at the beginning of 17th century the most modern one, bear witness to the most ferocious battles ever fought in our area. In accordance with the drafts designed by the first Belgrade architect Emilijan Joksimovic, in 1890 the arrangement and expanding of the park started. Kalemegdan incorporates one of the most famous symbols of Belgrade - The Winner, a monument put up in 1928, 14-metre high, a work of Ivan Meštrovic. In author's design, the monument should have been placed in Terazije, as the central part of the fountain built in memory to liberation from Turks. That idea, due to the nakedness of the Winner, did not please Belgrade ladies and some political parties. Until World War II the monument was called The Herald of Victory. Apart from The Winner and The Monument of Gratitude to France, there are also Military Museum, Cvijeta Zuzoric Pavilion, Roman well, sports fields and the zoo at Kalemegdan.

St. SAVAS' TEMPLE
www.hramsvetogsave.com

The construction of a majestic temple in Serbian-Byzantine style, which is situated at the Vracar plateau, at the place where the Turks in 1595 burnt the holy relics of St. Sava, officially started in 1936, although the preparations had begun in the late 1894. The work was continued in 1985, and afterwards was resumed in 2000. The finishes of the temple were realized last year when St. Sava's Square was also arranged, at the moment the most beautiful city park with a large fountain in its central part. The Square is surrounded by the National Library of Serbia, Parish home of the Temple, while the construction of the new SOC Patriarchate building is expected, which will make Vracar plateau spiritual center of Serbian people.

On the 70-meter high tower of the temple of colossal dimensions (91 x 81 meter) there is a central cross of 18 crosses in total, of 10-meter height. The tower is surrounded by four bells of 44-meter height.
In the immediate vicinity of the Temple there is the monument of Duke Karadjordje as well as the park of the same name.

BEOGRADJANKA (PALACE "BEOGRAD")

The building which is one of the first associations to Belgrade. It was built in the heart of Belgrade in the period between 1969 and 1974 by the project of architect Branko Pešic. It is 100 meter high and has 24 floors. At the time of construction the mayor of Belgrade was Mr. Brako Pešic, who together with the architect of the same name signed the Charter laid into the cornerstone.

The term of office of the most popular mayor Mr. Branko Pešic was the longest , from 1964 to 1974 and was proclaimed as the period in which “half of Belgrade” was built – Gazela bridge and Mostar junction, Beogradjanka, sports facilities…

KAPETAN MIŠINO ZDANJE (CAPTAIN MIŠAS’ MANSION)

The mansion of Miša Anastasijevic was built by the project of Jan Nevola from 1858 to 1863. It had been originally designed to be the future court of Ðorde Karadordevic, the grandson of Karadorde who was married to Captain Miša’s youngest daughter Sara. Nevertheless, on February 12 1863, upon the realization of construction, Captain Miša gave his mansion as a gift to “his mother country for educational purposes”. In September 1863 the Great School was moved into the building. For a long time this building was considered to be the biggest and the most beautiful Belgrade building. Nowadays the seat of The University of Belgrade - The University Administration Building and a part of The Faculty of Philosophy are situated within Kapetan Mišino zdanje.

Captain Miša Anastasijevic
(1803. Porec -1885. Bucharest)

Was one of the most eminent Serbs of 19th century. At the age of 30 he becomes Danube Captain and acquires significant commercial benefits from Duke Miloš. His company soon gains monopoly over salt export from Wallachia and Moldavia as well as over corn import and other goods from Austria. At the top of his career, Miša Anastasijevic employed around 10,000 workers and had a fleet of 80 ships. He participated in dynastic conflicts between families Obrenovic and Karadordevic, upon which he left Serbia and moved to Bucharest disappointed when Miloš Obrenovic reassumed the power. He has been remembered as a great benefactor, who apart from education helped The National Theatre, Belgrade reading room, The Church, schools, artists and the poor.

BELGRADE PALACES

There are two court complexes nowadays in Belgrade - City complex, consisting of Old Court and New Court, and Dedinje complex comprising Royal Court and White Court.
Old court and New Court are situated in the very center of the city and between two World wars they were connected by the Court Marshal building, while the magnificent park surrounded the whole complex.

Old Court was built by the project of Aleksandar Bugarski from 1882 till 1884 for the purpose of newly established Serbian Kingdom ruled by the King Milan Obrenovic. From 1903 to 1914 it was a Royal Residence of Karadordevic dynasty. After the renovations due to severe damages suffered during both World wars, the appearance of the court has been greatly changed as compared to the original project .
Nowadays Assembly and mayor’s office are placed within Old Court.

New Court was built in the period of war between 1913 and 1918 and, as Old Court, was severely damaged even before King Aleksandar I officially moved into it in 1922. Till 1929 it was the official residence of King Aleksandar I and Queen Marija. Nowadays it is used as the residence of the President of Serbia.

Court complex in Dedinje built by King Aleksandar I from his personal funds, consists of Royal Court (1924-1929) as an official residence and White Court (1934-1937) built for his sons. Nowadays Royal Court is the home of his Royal Highness Prince Aleksandar and his family.

In the period from April 2 to October 30 the courts are open at weekends for the visits. The registration is held at Travel information center in the subway near “Albanija “ Palace. Contact Phone: 635 622

AVALA

Avala is situated 17km on the south-east of the city center, and being at 511 meter above sea level it is considered to be the nearest Belgrade mountain. Kosmaj (628m) is 55km away and is located within the suburban municipality Mladenovac. Avala was named after the arabic word “havala” (lookout point). Its military-strategic significance was recognized by Romans who built a fortress at the top of the mountain. Serbian medieval town Žrnov, conquered by Turks in 1442 has been developed thanks to the mineral wealth of Avala as an extinguished volcano. Unfortunately, the remains of these fortresses were destroyed in 1934 when the construction of the Monument to Unknown Hero began, the work of Ivan Meštrovic. Till 1999 Avala was also decorated by the unique TV tower of 203-meter height from 1965, which is likely to be rebuilt soon.
Avala represents an ideal Belgrade picnic site with few catering facilities and marvellous recreational facilities, especially for the cyclists.

CAFFE "?"

The oldest Belgrade café is situated in Kralja Petra Street. It is located in the building constructed in the late 1823 to an order of Duke Miloš, becoming as early as in 1826 what it is today to delight of all Belgrade people. It changed many names and owners, in 1892 being “At Saborna Crkva” which was strongly opposed by archpriest of Saborna Crkva Novica Lazarevic. The same night the owner of the café changed the name into “?” as a temporary solution which has remained till nowadays. In the Café “?” the first game of billiards was played and the first reading room “Serbian newspapers” was established. The symbol of the Café is its round wooden tables and low chairs which have preserved their original shape.

NATIONAL MUSEUM
www.narodnimuzej.org.yu

The building of the National Museum is located in Republic Square, in the immediate vicinity of the Monument of Duke Mihailo. The Museum was established on May 10 1844 by decree of the Minister of Education from that time Jovan Sterija Popovic. Having changed locations and names it moved to its today’s magnificent building not before 1950. The Museum also incorporates: Fresco Gallery (Cara Uroša 20), Museum of Vuk and Dositej (Gospodar Jevremova 21), Memorial Museum Nadežda and Rastko Petrovic (Ljube Stojanovica 25), Lepenski Vir Museum (Donji Milanovac) and Ðerdap Archeological Museum (Kladovo).

The Museum Collection consists of more than 400,000 archeological and historical-artistic items. A special place among them have Lepenski Vir, Vinca statues, Miroslav Gospel, the paintings of Paja Jovanovic and Sava Šumanovic. Unfortunately, due to the reasons of dilapidated premises of the building and the necessity to renovate the museum the standing exhibition has been recalled for the public till further notice.

THE NATIONAL THEATRE
www.narodnopozoriste.co.yu

The National Theatre buildung is situated at Republic Square. It was built between 1868 and 1869 as an emulation of Scala of Milan, being together with Kapetan Mišino zdanje the most beautiful construction in Serbia.

The renovation and significant expansion were realized in 1986. The theatre consists of 3 ensembles – Drama, Opera and Ballet of The National Theatre. Within the theatre there are 3 stages: Grand Stage, Raša Pavlovic Stage, and 5th-Floor Stage.

KONAK OF DUKE MILOŠ

It was built in 1834 on Topcider. The house was the residence of Duke Miloš partly during the first and the whole of the second period of his power. The original interior of the house has been preserved till nowadays. One of the most splendid Belgrade parks lies in front of the house, with a magnificent 160 year-old plane tree.

KONAK OF DUCHESS LJUBICA

It is located in Knez Sima Markovic Street, near Saborna Crkva and Patriarchate Court. It was built in 1831 as a residence of Duke Miloš’s family - Duchess Ljubica and sons, Princes Milan and Mihailo. Nowadays it belongs to Museum of the city of Belgrade and represents one of the best preserved buildings from the first half of 19th century. The standing exhibition consists of original furniture. From 1841 till 1863 Licej, the forerunner of University of Belgrade was situated in the House.

TASMAJDAN

The Turkish quarry (tash-majdan) is favourite park of Belgrade people nowadays. The park assumed its present appearance with wide lanes and flowerbeds during the fifties of the previous century. It is famous for its Tašmajdan rock below which a well-known stadium and open swimming pools are located.
Tašmajdan area also incorporates St. Marco’s Church, which was put up in 1940 at the place of an old church from 1835. Within the Church, which vusually resembles Gracanica Monastery, holy relics of Emperor Dušan rest as well as rich icon collection.

ADA CIGANLIJA
www.adaciganlija.co.yu

Ada Ciganlija is the most famous of 16 Belgrade river islands. Moreover, it is the most popular Belgrade picnic spot, of which daily visit exceeds 300,000 swimmers during the summer. In 1967 Ada became peninsula, and the former river branch was turned into Sava lake of around 4 km length. The unique eco-oasis, covered with thick deciduous woods is inhabited by rich variety of animal species. Furthermore, there is also an artificial lake on the island, called Ada Safari, with major carp species for sports fishermen delight.
Ada Ciganlija incorporates 50 top-quality sports fields for more than 20 different sports, amongst which are golf, baseball, rugby, paintball, water skiing, aquasoccer, bungee jumping, free-climbing…
Ada’s attractions also include a number of cafes, the train and the port.

BOTANICAL GARDEN “JEVREMOVAC“

Botanical Garden was established in 1874, at the proposal of Josif Pancic, its first managing director. In 1889 King Milan Obrenovic gave the Royal garden land to Grand School (a forerunner of Belgrade University), provided that the future garden was called Jevremovac, after King Milan’s grandfather. Nowadays the garden is an integral part of the courses of The Faculty of Biology, The University of Belgrade.
Plant volume of the garden accounts for more than 2,000 species of trees, bushes and herbaceous plants, in around 5ha area. The central part comprises The Conservatory from 1892, at the time one of the most beautiful in Europe, of which renovation is gladly expected.
Botanical Garden “Jevremovac” also possesses a precious Herbarium with around 120,000 volumes, as well as a library with more than 13,000 entries.
The Garden is opened for public during the whole year and is located in 43 Takovska Street.

THE NATIONAL LIBRARY
www.nbs.bg.ac.yu

The National Library of Serbia, established in 1832, represents the oldest cultural institution in our country. It is located in one of the most famous buildings in Belgrade, in 1 Skerlic Street, near Karadorde Park. During both World wars the library was severely damaged, and the book volume destruction signifies irreparable loss for Serbian cultural heritage. Nowadays The National Library funds and collections include more than 5 million various publications.
The members of the Library, with professional assistance and in accordance with the conditions, may use all NLS funds, do data bases research, and enjoy interlibrary exchange programmes.
The publications that are part of NLS funds may be used exclusively within the reading rooms of NLS. The Central reading room has 272 seats, and there are also Periodical reading room, E-reading room, Scientific reading room, of which working hours are from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.. Furthermore, a number of lectures, seminars, exhibitions, concerts are organized in the Library.

LIBRARY OF THE CITY OF BELGRADE
www.bgb.org.yu

Library of the city of Belgrade is the largest library of borrowing nature, of which network covers the entire Belgrade territory. It was established in 1928, but its origins reach as far back as in 1836 when the Library of Belgrade, only a small town at the time, was established as well as in 1846 when the former Belgrade reading room was established. LB is a head library for the city territory comprising 13 municipal libraries. Library fund consists of around 500,000 publications. The members may borrow the books from the fund, use reading rooms of Art Department, Periodicals Department and Multimedia Department. Within the library building there are also Roman Hall, Gallery and Vuk Hall which are used for scientific meetings, promotions, conferences, exhibitions etc. Since 1986 The Library is located in 56 Knez Mihailova Street.

THE ZOO
www.beozoovrt.co.yu

It was established in the late 1936. Nowadays it has more than 2,000 animal species, thus being a real oasis in the city center - The Garden of good hope. It is magnificently arranged, although space-limited, thanks to the insatiable energy of all the employees with Mr. Vuk Bojovic at the top, a sculptor and a bohemian who has been the managing director of the zoo for 19 years. The working hours of the zoo are from 8.00 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the winter and from 8 a.m. to 8.30 p.m. during the summer.