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Belgrade (Serbian: Београд/Beograd ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Serbia. It is one of the oldest cities in Europe, first settled in the 3rd century BC by the Celts before becoming the Roman settlement of Singidunum. The Slavic name Beograd was first mentioned in 878 AD.The City of Belgrade - Important Years Through City History It has been the capital of Serbia since 1403, and was the capital of various South Slav states from 1918 until 2003, as well as Serbia and Montenegro from 2003 until 2006.source

The city lies at the confluence of the Sava and Danube Rivers in north central Serbia, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkan Peninsula. The official population of the Belgrade region is 1,576,124."Књиге резултата Пописа 2002.": "Књига 1: Национална или етничка припадност - подаци по насељима", page 14. Републички завод за статистику Србије, 2003. Unofficially - taking into account the large number of Serb refugees and displaced persons from Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and the province of Kosovo-Metohia - the population probably surpasses 2 million. It is the largest city on the territory of the former Yugoslavia, and by population ranks third in the Balkans behind Istanbul and Athens.

Belgrade has the status of a separate territorial unit in Serbia, with its own autonomous city government. Its territory is divided into 17 municipalities, each of which has its own local council. Belgrade spreads over 3.6% of the territory of Serbia, and 21% of the Serbian population (excluding that of the Kosovo-Metohia province) lives in the city. It is the central economic hub of Serbia: about a third of all employed workers in Serbia work in Belgrade. Belgrade is also the capital of Serbian culture, education and science, as well as this year's winner of the title South European City of the Future.

Geography

Belgrade is situated in South-Eastern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. It lies at the point where the river Sava merges into the Danube, on the slope between two alluvial plains. The river waters surround it from three sides, and that is why since ancient times it has been the guardian of river passages. Because of its position it was often called "the gate" of the Balkans, and "the door" to Central Europe. The city's main traffic artery stretches from Kalemegdan, along Knez Mihailova Street, and through Terazije to Slavija.

At Knez Mihailova street, the coordinates of Belgrade are marked:

  • 44°49'14" of northern latitude
  • 20°27'44" of eastern longitude
  • altitude 116.75 m.

Belgrade is at the intersection of roads that lead between Eastern and Western Europe. which leads from the Morava-Vardar valley and the Nišava-Marica valley, to the shores of the Aegean Sea, Asia Minor and to the Middle East. The city lies on the Danube River, the sailing route which connects the Western and Central European countries with the countries of South-Eastern and Eastern Europe. After the construction of the artificial lake and the Đerdap power station, Belgrade became a river and sea port. Ships from the Black Sea sail to its docks, and with the opening of the Rhine-Main-Danube canal, Belgrade came to the center of the most important sailing route in Europe: The North Sea - Atlantic - Black Sea route.

Climate

Belgrade has a moderate continental climate, with four seasons. Autumn is longer than spring, with longer sunny and warm periods - the so-called Indian summer. Winter is not so severe, with an average of 21 days of sub-zero temperature. January is the coldest month, with an average temperature of 0.4 °C. Spring is short and rainy. Summer arrives abruptly.

The average annual air temperature, for the period from 1961 to 1990 was 11.9 °C. The hottest months are July (21.7 °C) and August (21.3 °C). The lowest temperature in Belgrade was recorded on January 10, 1893 (-26.2 °C), and the highest on August 12, 1921 and on September 9, 1946 (41.8 °C). The average annual number of days with temperatures higher than 30 °C - the so-called tropical days - is 31 and that of summer days with temperature higher than 25 °C is 95.

The southeast-east wind Košava, which brings clear and dry weather, is characteristic of Belgrade climate. It mostly blows in autumn and winter, in 2-3 days intervals. The average speed of Košava is 25-43 km/h but certain strokes can reach up to 130 km/h. Košava is the strongest air cleaner of Belgrade.

The average annual rainfall on Belgrade and its surroundings is 685 mm. The rainiest months are May and June. The average number of sunny hours over the year is 2.096 hours. There are about 10 hours of sun a day in July and August, while December and January are the cloudiest, with only 2 to 2.3 hours of sun per day. The average number of snowy days is 27; snow cover lasts from 30 to 44 days, and its average thickness is 14 to 25 cm.

History

For an overview of Belgrade's history, see Timeline of Belgrade

The Vinča culture existed in or near Belgrade and dominated the Balkans about 8,000 years ago. Settled in the 3rd century BC by the Celts before becoming the Roman settlement of Singidunum, the site passed to the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire.

Middle Ages

Singidunum experienced occupation by successive invaders of the region—Huns, Sarmatians, Ostrogoths and Avars—before the arrival of the Slavs around AD 630. In 878 the city was renamed Beligrad ("white fortress" or "white town") under the rule of the First Bulgarian Empire. For approximately 400 years the city remained a subject of warfare between Byzantium, the First Bulgarian Empire and Royal Hungary before passing to the Kingdom of Serbia in the 13th century. The first Serbian king to rule Belgrade was Dragutin (1276–1282), who received it as a present from Hungarian king.

Following a terrible defeat in the Battle of Kosovo of 1389, the Serbian Empire began to crumble, the south being conquered by the Ottoman Empire. The north, however, resisted in the form of the Serbian Despotate, with Belgrade as its capital. The city flourished under Despot Stefan Lazarević, son of the last Serbian "emperor" Tsar Lazar Hrebljanović. Its ancient walls were refortified, along with its castles, harbours and churches, which helped to avoid surrender to the Ottoman Turks for almost 70 years. At that time Belgrade became a haven for many Balkan peoples escaping Ottoman control. In 1453, the Serbian Despotate fell to the Ottomans, but Belgrade itself invited in Hungarian kings for protection. The Ottomans, however, wanted Belgrade no matter what the cost as it was considered the "key to the Balkans" and also the "key of Hungary" they invaded in 1456, leading to the famous Siege of Belgrade where the Christian army under John Hunyadi successfully defended the city from the Ottomans. This war led to the celebration of Belgrade around Europe as the "Guardian of Christianity". At this time, considered a peak of Belgrade's glory, the city boasted a diverse population numbering well over 100,000 people. Belgrade regulated the traffic between East and West, becoming a "Christian Mecca" and a cultural hub for South-Eastern Europe.

Turkish conquest

Under Suleyman the Magnificent, in 1521, the fort was recaptured by the Ottoman Turks, and Belgrade remained under Ottoman rule for nearly three centuries. By 1526 Turks had already conquered southern Hungary, by 1541 they held the Hungarian capital, Buda, and by 1563 were already knocking on the door of Western Europe in Vienna. The city of Belgrade deteriorated as its buildings were demolished and robbed by the conquerors. It was the site of a major rebellion in 1594- (Banat Uprising), which was brutally crushed by the Turks, burning the churches and even the coffins of the House of Nemanjić - see Temple of Saint Sava. Thrice occupied by Austria (1688-1690, 1717-1739, 1789-1791), the city was affected by the two Great Serbian Migrations, in which hundreds of thousands of Serbs, led by their patriarchs, retreated together with the Austrians into the Habsburg Empire in 1690 and 1737, settling in today's Vojvodina and Slavonia. The city was also briefly held from 1806 to 1813 by Serbian forces during the First Serbian Uprising against Ottoman rule, and in 1817 it became the capital of the autonomous Principality of Serbia (except in the period from 1818–1839, when Kragujevac was the country's capital).

After independence

With the departure of its Turkish garrison in 1867, Serbia's full independence in 1878 and its transformation into the Kingdom of Serbia in 1882, Belgrade once again became a key city in the Balkans. But despite the opening of a railway to Niš, Serbia's second city, conditions in Serbia as a whole remained those of an overwhelmingly agrarian country, and in 1900 the capital had only 69,000 inhabitants. However, by the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the city had grown to over 100,000, not counting Zemun that belonged to Vojvodina/Austro-Hungary at that time.

After the occupation by Austro-Hungarian and German troops in 1915-1918 during World War I, Belgrade experienced faster growth and significant modernisation as the capital of the new Kingdom of Yugoslavia during the 1920s and 1930s, growing in population to 239,000 by 1931 with the incorporation of the northern suburb of Zemun, formerly on the Austro-Hungarian bank of the river. On April 6, 1941, Belgrade was heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe (killing thousands of people) and Yugoslavia was invaded by German, Italian, Hungarian and Bulgarian forces, aided by domestic Albanians and Croats. Most of the city remained under German occupation until October 20, 1944, when it was liberated by communist Yugoslav Partisans and the Red Army, while the western suburbs were incorporated into Independent State of Croatia. In the post-war period Belgrade grew rapidly as the capital of the renewed Yugoslavia, developing as a major industrial centre. Sarajevo was considered as a candidate for the capital for a short period of time.

In March 1972, Belgrade was at the centre of the last major outbreak of smallpox in Europe. The epidemic, which was contained with enforced quarantine and mass vaccination, was over by late May. On March 9, 1991 massive demonstrations were held against Slobodan Milošević in the city. Two people, high school student Branivoje Milinović and policeman Nedeljko Kosović were killed, and 203 people were injured in the protests, which involved tens of thousands of people. Later that day tanks were deployed onto the streets in order to restore order. Branivoje Milinović (1973–1991), was a 17 year-old Serb high school student. According to his parents, he was just going into the city centre to buy some cassettes when he was killed. Milinović is considered by many to be the first victim of the breakup of Yugoslavia. After elections in 2000, Belgrade was the site of major demonstrations with over half a million people on the streets (800,000 by police estimate,Антонић, Слободан. "Србија после Милошевића". Нова спрска политичка мисао. 15 Mar. 2001 over 1,000,000 according to Misha Glenny Glenny, Misha. Can Serbia's new leaders overcome the legacy of Slobodan Milosevic?. The New Yorker. 30 Oct. 2000) which caused the ousting of president Milošević.

NATO air strikes caused substantial damage to the city during the Kosovo War in 1999. Among the sites bombed were the buildings of the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of the Interior, and the Ministry of Finance, the Presidential Residence, a few television and radio broadcasting stations (RTV Pink, Košava, Radio S, ELMAG) including RTS (Radio Television of Serbia) killing 17 technicians, the Dragiša Mišović Hospital, the Socialist Party of Serbia headquarters, the Jugoslavija Hotel, and the Chinese embassy.

Belgrade has come under some form of attack some 54 times since AD 1, or every 37 years on average. Zoran Djindjic, late Prime Minister of Serbia, was the first democratically elected mayor of Belgrade. The current mayor is Nenad Bogdanović.

Government & Politics

Municipalities

An urban municipality is a part of the territory of the City of Belgrade, in which certain operations of local self-government laid down by the City Charter are run. Pursuant to the Constitution, legislation, present Charter and bylaws of the urban municipality, the citizens participate in conducting operations of the urban municipality through the councillors elected to the City municipal assembly, civil initiative, local citizens’ meeting and referendum.

The bodies of the urban municipality are:

  • Municipal Assembly
  • District Council Chairman
  • Municipal Council

The number of councilors in the Municipal Assembly ranges from 19 to 75 councilors.

The District Council Chairman presides over the Municipal Assembly, and he/she is a chairperson of the Municipal Council. The Municipal Assembly elects the District Council Chairman among the municipal councilors.

The Municipal Council is composed of the District Council Chairman, Deputy District Council Chairman and at the most 7 members. The Municipal Council members are elected by the Municipal Assembly among both councilors and citizens further to the proposal by the District Council Chairman.

The urban municipalities are conditionally divided (in relation to their geographical position and powers) in 10 urban and 7 suburban municipalities:

  1. Barajevo
  2. Voždovac
  3. Vračar
  4. Grocka
  5. Zvezdara
  6. Zemun
  7. Lazarevac
  8. Mladenovac
  9. Novi Beograd
  10. Obrenovac
  11. Palilula
  12. Rakovica
  13. Savski Venac
  14. Sopot
  15. Stari Grad
  16. Surčin
  17. Čukarica

Urban municipalities:
Čukarica, Novi Beograd, Palilula, Rakovica, Savski Venac, Stari Grad, Voždovac, Vračar, Zemun, Zvezdara,
Suburban municipalities:
Barajevo, Grocka, Lazarevac, Mladenovac, Obrenovac, Sopot, Surčin,

Demographics

Ethnicity

Many non-Serbs live in Belgrade, largely as a result of Belgrade having been the capital of the multi-ethnic Yugoslavia.source There have also been many Chinese immigrants in recent years.
Ethnicity Number
Serbs 1,417,187
Yugoslavs 22,161
Montenegrins 21,190
Roma 19,191
Croats 10,381
Macedonians 8,372
Muslims by nationality 4,617
Gorani 3,340
Slovaks 2,199
Slovenes 2,084
Magyars 2,080
Albanians 1,492
Romanians 1,379
Bulgarians 1,272
Bosniaks 1,188
Russians 1,049
Germans 481
Ukrainians 433
Czechs 422
Rusyns 216
Bunjevci 183
Vlachs 71
Others 4,369
Regional identity 586
Undeclared 29,312
Unknown 20,869
TOTAL 1,576,124

Religion

There are also several historic religious communities in Belgrade."Књиге резултата Пописа 2002.": "Књига 3: Вероисповест, матерњи језик и национална или етничка припадност према старости и полу - подаци по општинама", page 12. Републички завод за статистику Србије, 2003.

Religion Number
Eastern Orthodox Christianity (Serb Orthodoxy) 1,429,170
Islam 20,366
Roman Catholicism 16,305
Protestantism 3,796
Judaism 415
Oriental religions 219
Other 3,468
Undeclared 47,349
Atheism 23,240
Believers not belonging to any religion 34
Unknown 31,762
TOTAL 1,576,124

Economy

The city of Belgrade is the administrative, commercial, financial and cultural center of the Republic of Serbia and is situated at the merging point of the Sava and Danube rivers in the center of Southeast Europe.

Serbia is emerging rapidly from over a decade of wars and sanctions that devastated its economy. Four years into this process, Serbia is expected to move through the transition rapidly. Historically the country lacked the heavy state structures of other countries in the region, with a system that in many ways more resembled Western European capitalist states. The economy has already rebounded considerably.

Much progress has been made recently in improving the Serbian business and investment environment. At 10%, Serbia has the lowest corporate tax rate in the region. Reforms are ongoing in business formation, bankruptcy, banking, and secured lending. Belgrade was once a hub of business and cultural activity. It was both the capital of Yugoslavia and the center of the global non-aligned movement.

There has also been an increased tendency to travel and do business across borders in the last decade and a half. This means that Belgrade emerges into a more dynamic travel market than the one it left with the onset of war and sanctions in the early 1990s.

As the capital of a country of over 9 million people, Belgrade is the center of a regional free trade zone with over 40 million. Serbia also has preferential access to EU markets and is uniquely positioned as having tariff-free access to Russia. With its historically strong human capital for the region and improving environment, the country is attracting investors seeking access to the greater area. Foreign investors are returning, and increases in both exports and imports bring foreigners to Belgrade to do business.

Belgrade’s position is strategically important, located at the intersection of European highway and railway networks connecting Europe with Asia. The city is on the confluence of two navigable rivers Sava and Danube, the latter of which provides freight and transportation links to Western Europe and the Black Sea. Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport serves 17 airlines with scheduled flights to and from major European cities as well as Toronto, North Africa and the Middle East. Passenger traffic in 2005 was approximately 2 million passengers, showing strong increases since 2000.

As Belgrade reclaims its position as the cultural and business hub of Southeast Europe, the city offers opportunities to early-stage investors in the hospitality industry. Though possessing a wealth of business and cultural potential that is rapidly being realized, Belgrade lags other cities in both quality accommodation and the presence of international hotel chains. Belgrade is the last major European city without significant investments in modern hotels and without a preponderance of major hotel operators. Interested investors may seek opportunities in greenfield projects, renovations, and management contracts.

Culture

Museums

See also: List of museums in Belgrade.
Some of the more prominent museums in Belgrade are:
  • National Museum (Trg Republike 1a) - an art museum with a collection of over 300,000 objects including foreign masterpieces. Established in 1844. Currently closed for major reconstruction works.
  • Ethnographic Museum (Studentski Trg 13) - the museum contains more than 160,000 items showcasing the rural and urban culture of the Balkans. Established in 1901.
  • Museum of Contemporary Art (Ušće bb) - has a collection of around 8,540 works of art produced in Yugoslavia since 1900.
  • Museum of Natural History - has a collection of more than 900,000 items related to nature.
  • Nikola Tesla Museum (Krunska 52) - the museum preserves the personal items of Nikola Tesla. Includes around 160,000 original documents and around 5,700 other items. Established in 1952.

Education

Belgrade University was founded in 1808 as a Great Academy. It is one of the oldest educational institutions in the country (the oldest higher-education facility - the Teacher's College in Subotica - dates back to 1689). The Belgrade educational system is under the control of the Serbian Ministry of Education and Sport, while a minor part is controlled by the Secretariat of Education. Belgrade has two state universities, and private institutions for higher education are being established as well. There are 195 primary (elementary) schools, and 85 secondary schools. Of the primary schools, there are 162 regular, 14 special, 15 art and 4 adult schools. The secondary schools consist of 51 vocational, 21 gymnasiums, 8 art schools and 5 special schools. There are 300,000 pupils enrolled, managed by 22,000 employees in over 500 buildings, covering around 1.1 km². Belgrade is also the seat of high-level scientific and research institutes covering many fields.

Universities located in Belgrade are:

Some notable high schools in Belgrade are:

Night life

Belgrade offers a rather sophisticated night life. The general atmosphere within the city centre matches the feeling generated in Northern Europe more so than a near-Mediterranean based city. Many clubs and discotheques can be found throughout the city that are open until dawn. The most recognizable nightlife feature of Belgrade is the barges (called "splavs") that are spread along the banks of the Sava and Danube Rivers.

Recently, according to several local, regional and international news magazines, papers and news agencies, notably The New York Times and CNN, Belgrade has become quite the regional night life hub, boasting cheap drinks and accommodation in comparison to the rest of Europe and the regional capitals like Zagreb and Ljubljana. Weekend fun-seeking visitors from Europe and most notably from Croatia and Slovenia revere Belgrade as "the-place-to-be", citing friendly atmosphere, great clubs and bars, cheap drinks, language they can understand and lack of restrictive night life regulation.

Famous spots for the followers of what is often termed alternative or non-mainstream music and cultural trends can enjoy famous and very well established clubs named Akademija located in the basement of the Faculty of Fine Arts located in Knez Mihajlova Street and famed KST (Klub Studenata Tehnike) located in the basement of the University of Belgrade's Faculty of Electrical Engineering building at Kralja Aleksandra Boulevard. One of the most famous sites of alternative cultural happenings in the city is the SKC "Studentski Kulturni Centar" or the student's cultural centre, located in a representative building in Kralja Milana Street right across from Belgrade's highrise landmark Beogradjanka. This centre has a large stage hall where concerts are often held including some of the most famous local and foreign bands. SKC is also very often the site of various art exhibitions, as well as public debates and discussions.

Belgrade also has a small and somewhat secluded gay scene where LGBT people enjoy socializing. Apparently, the city has two permanent gay clubs named X Club and G Club, both located downtown. Additionaly, a number of lively, public LGBT parties are hosted monthly, promoted individually through Serbia's on-line LGBT portal Gay Serbia. There are also few gay and gay-friendly cafes, located downtown. However, intolerance towards sexual minorities is still somewhat common in Belgrade and Serbia.

Those preferring a more traditional Serbian night life experience accompanied by traditional music locally termed "Starogradska" roughly translated into English as the Old Town Music typical of Northern Serbia's urban environments, can opt for a night out at Skadarlija city's old bohemian neighbourhood where poets and artists of Belgrade gathered for centuries. The Skadarska Street and the surrounding neighbourhood are lined with some of Belgrade's best and oldest traditional restaurants dating back to the 19th and early 20th century. The streets are lined with cobalt stones adding to the quaint atmosphere of this Belgrade jewel. At one end of the neighbourhood stands Belgrade's oldest beer brewery founded in late 18th century. Today it is restored and open for the public to enjoy the famous "BIP" beer right from the taps where it has been produced for centuries.

Sport

There are around a thousand sports facilities in Belgrade, many of which are capable of serving all levels of sporting events. Belgrade was a host of many great sport events in its history. Some of them include:

The city launched two unsuccessful candidate bids to organize the Summer Olympic Games: for the 1992 Summer Olympics it was to be decided between Barcelona and Belgrade. Barcelona won. The 1996 Summer Olympics ultimately went to Atlanta.

Belgrade will be the host city of the 2009 Summer Universiade, defeating the cities of Léon and Poznań.

Sporting arenas include:

  • Red Star Stadium
  • Partizan Stadium
  • Belgrade Arena
  • Pioneer Hall
  • Hall of Sports Ada Ciganlija is an island (now connected with the shore creating popular artificial Sava lake) on the Sava river, and Belgrade's biggest sports and recreational complex. It is the most popular destination for Belgraders during the city's hot summers. There are 10 kilometres of long beaches and sports facilities for various sports including golf, rugby, football, basketball, volleyball and tennis. Extreme sports are included, like bungee jumping, water skiing, and there is even a paintball club. There are numerous tracks on the island, where it is possible to ride a bike, take a relaxing walk or jog. Many other recreational facilities are available, including fishing.

    Tourism

    Since 2000, in line with Yugoslavia's revival of diplomatic relations with Western Europe and the USA, Belgrade has been seeing a return of foreign holidaymakers absent since the internal wars of the nineties. Belgrade is again becoming a choice for weekend breaks and more and more foreign tourists are to be found walking the streets of Belgrade.

    Belgrade is also the most important tourism destination in Serbia. International tourism is one of the fastest growing segments of the economy. From 2002 to 2004, revenue generated from international visitors increased from $70 million to $220 million. In 2005 it further rose to $350 million, and by 2008 it is projected to reach $1 billion.

    Full of restaurants, bars, clubs, museums and situated at the confluence of two major rivers, the city has much to offer. It is also well served by air, rail and road links, with reasonable driving distances to many European cities.

    The historic areas and buildings of Belgrade are among the city's premier attractions. They include Skadarlija, the National Museum and adjacent National Theatre, Zemun, Nikola Pašić Square, Terazije, Students' Square, the Kalemegdan Fortress, Prince Michael Street, the Federal Parliament, the Temple of Saint Sava, and the Old Palace. On top of this, there are many parks, monuments, cafes, restaurants and shops; both sides of the river Sava, not to mention views of the city from the Avala Monument, on a hilltop overlooking the city.

    In recent years growing numbers of young people, especially from Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, have visited Belgrade to enjoy the city's nightlife.

    Media

    Belgrade is the most important media hub in Serbia. The city is home to the main headquarters of the national television network Radio Television Serbia - RTS, which is currently in the process of being transformed into a public service broadcaster.

    High-circulation daily newspapers published in Belgrade include Politika, Večernje novosti, Danas, Blic, Glas javnosti, and Sportski zurnal. Other dailies published in the city are Press, Borba, and Kurir.

    The popular weekly newspapers published in Belgrade include Vreme, NIN, and Reporter.

    In addition to RTS, which is still state owned, Belgrade is home to other commercial television networks with Serbia-wide coverage: B92, Pink, Happy/Košava, Avala, and FOX, while channels such as Studio B, BK and TV Politika cover only the greater Belgrade municipal area.

    Numerous specialty channels are also on offer: SOS focuses on sports, Metropolis is music oriented, Art TV covers art-based topics, Cinemania plays movies most of the day, while Happy TV considers pre-school kids as its target audience.

    Radio stations: (partial list) Radio Beograd; Radio Beograd 202; Radio 101; Radio B92; Radio Barajevo; Radio Golf; Radio Indeks; Radio Yugoslavia; Radio Lazarevac; Radio Novosti; Radio Nostalgija; Radio Pingvin; Radio Politika; Radio Top FM; Radio S; *; City Radio

    Television Stations: (partial list) Art TV*; RTS*; TV B92*; Enter TV*; TV Kanal D*; TV Košava*; TV Metropolis*; RTV Pink*; RTV Politika*; TV Sos Kanal*; TV Stankom*; TV Studio B*; Happy TV*

    TV Production companies: Produkcijska Grupa Mreža; Video Nedeljnik VIN; Advance; DТV Production; Total Magic

    Press agencies: Таnјug*; FoNet*; Beta*; Tiker*

    Architecture

    Various parts of Belgrade have wildly varying architecture, from the center of Zemun, which is a typical one for a Central European town (Vojvodina), via still remaining Turkish-styled buildings and street layout of the centre of Belgrade, to modern architecture and layout of Novi Beograd.

    Some distinctive buildings in Belgrade are:

    • Avala TV Tower - once the highest of its kind in the world; currently undergoing reconstruction following its destruction in the NATO bombing of 1999.
    • Bajrakli mosque - one of the oldest mosques in the Balkans.
    • Beli Dvor
    • Belgrade Arena
    • Beograđanka - once the tallest business tower in the Balkans
    • Count Miloš's Residence
    • Countess Ljubica's Residence
    • Genex Tower - the tallest residential building in the Balkans since 1980.
    • Hotel Moskva
    • National Museum
    • National Theatre
    • Palace Albania - built in 1930, the first Balkan skyscraper.
    • Skupština (Parliament)
    • Saborna Crkva
    • Sava Center - the biggest congress hall in the region.
    • Temple of Saint Sava - the world's largest Eastern Orthodox Christian temple.
    • The Old Palace
    • Ušće Tower - Formerly housed the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. Following NATO bombing, from which only the skeleton of the building survived, it has been redeveloped into an office block. Some notable streets and squares are:

      Famous tourist and historical sites from Belgrade include Avala Mountain, the Kalemegdan, the Dedinje ward and Josip Broz Tito's mausoleum, called Kuća Cveća (The House of Flowers) and nearby Topčider and Košutnjak Parks.

      Religious architecture

      Belgrade has numerous Serb Orthodox churches and temples and it is also the seat of the Partiarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Its two most prominent Orthodox Christian places of worship are the Saborna Crkva (the Cathedral Church) and the Temple of St. Sava, the largest Eastern Orthodox church in the world.

      Other notable Belgrade churches include St. Mark's Church, in which rests the body of the first Serbian Emperor, Stefan Dušan. The architecture of this church was greatly inspired by the Gračanica monastery in the province of Kosovo-Metohia. The church of Sveta Ružica in the Kalemegdan Fortress is one of the holiest places in Belgrade for Serbian Orthodox Christians since this was the site where the body of St. Paraskeva was preserved for several years after the Ottoman conquest, before being taken to Romania where it still rests today. St. Paraskeva (Sv. Petka) is one of the most important saints to the Eastern Orthodox Christians.

      Belgrade is the seat of a Catholic archdiocese, with a small Catholic community and several Catholic churches.

      There is also a Muslim community in Belgrade and only one mosque, the Bajrakli Mosque built in 1526 by the Ottoman Sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent. It is one of the oldest surviving structures in contemporary Belgrade.

      The Jewish community is served by the Belgrade Synagogue, which is the only currently active Jewish place of worship in the entire country, although not the only such structure within the city limits.

      Belgrade also had an active Buddhist temple in the first half of the 20th century. It was built by East Russian expatriates fleeing the outcome of the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917.

      Architectural projects under construction

      Since 2002 Belgrade has experienced a major construction boom. So called “Smart Buildings” are being built everywhere – especially in New Belgrade. These are only some of the projects under construction in Belgrade:

      • By the end of the year the City of Belgrade will decide whether to accept the Besix company’s offer to construct the tallest building in Eastern Europe. The company wishes to build a 333-metre skyscraper in New Belgrade with an investment of 250 million euros.

      • The Ušće Tower super centre will start with construction at the end of 2006. Following the construction of the mega market a second twin 130-metre tower should be built.

      • Prokop station project is a mega project that's scheduled to begin in September, resulting in relocation of the main railway station and its railtracks, which will consequently free up building space in Belgrade's inner centre. The entire project is worth an estimated 2 billiion dollars and is going to come to an end within a decade. In March, commission of Serbian railways chosen ,,Trigranit" corporation from Hungary to be carrier of this job. In first year, they will invest about 70 million Euros.

      Infrastructure

      Belgrade stands at the confluence of the Sava and the Danube, two major navigable rivers, and at an important crossroads between Central Europe and the Southern Balkans. This position and the growth of city's population have made the city and its surroundings busy with all kinds of traffic.

      Roads

      Belgrade is connected by motorways to Zagreb to the west, Novi Sad to the north and Niš to the south. The motorways feed traffic into a large interchange in the suburb of Mostar, popularly called petlja ("loop"). A wide boulevard, Ulica Kneza Miloša (Prince Miloš Street) connects the interchange to the city centre.

      A traffic decongestion project named unutrašnji magistralni prsten ("internal magistral ring") is set to begin with the goal of easing the congestion in the city centre and on the motorways.

      Bridges

      There are eight bridges over Sava and one over Danube in and around Belgrade, listed generally from east to west:

      • The road truss bridge over Sava at Obrenovac — 30 km southwest of Belgrade, constructed by Mostogradnja between 1993 and 1999. The total length of the bridge is 912 m. Of this, 460 m passes above the river in five spans, the longest of which is 141 m. The bridge was originally designed to carry only two heating water pipelines, but was later redesigned and built as a road bridge with the two pipelines on side cantilevers.*
      • The railway truss bridge over Sava at Ostružnica — just outside the urbanized area of Belgrade.
      • Motorway girder bridge over Sava at Ostružnica on the motorway to Zagreb — constructed by Mostogradnja between 1990 and 1998. Total length of the bridge is 1,789.6 m, with a 588 m long continuous steel structure crossing the river in five spans. The largest span is 198 m. The bridge was bombed by Nato during Kosovo war in 1999 and fully reconstructed by 2004.
      • Novi železnički most ("new railroad bridge") over Sava — a cable-stayed bridge built in the 1980s.
      • Stari železnički most ("old railroad bridge") over Sava — a truss-bridge.
      • Gazela — a single span motorway bridge over Sava, the main traffic artery into the city.
      • Stari savski most ("old Sava bridge") — a 410 m long road and tram bridge. The main span is a tied arch bridge over 100 m in length. During World War II it was the only bridge to remain intact in Belgrade, and one of the few bridges in Europe which the retreating German forces failed to demolish. In October 1944, the bridge, already laden with explosives and prepared for demolition, was saved by a resistance agent who managed to cut the detonator wires.*.
      • Brankov most ("Branko's bridge") — a 450 m long road girder bridge over Sava, connecting the center of Belgrade to the densely populated residential suburb of Novi Beograd. Originally built as Most kralja Aleksandra ("King Alexander Bridge") in 1934 it was the chaine-bridge. The bridge was destroyed in 1941 and rebuilt after the end of World War II as a single span bridge, at the time it was the longest bridge of that kind in the world. The bridge got the name by popular peot who committed suicide by jumping from the birdge.
      • Pančevački most ("Pančevo bridge") — a 1,075 m long combined road and railroad truss bridge over the Danube, originally built in 1935. It was destroyed during World War II, and rebuilt after the end of the war.

      Construction of a new bridge over Sava, which will cross over the tip of Ada Ciganlija island, is scheduled to start in 2006 and be completed by 2009, significantly reducing traffic passing through the city centre. This new bridge will be a part of the internal magistral ring. The bridge will also carry the third of Belgrade's light-rail lines, connecting the outer parts of New Belgrade with the central areas.

      Commuter transport

      The main public transportation system in Belgrade consists of buses (112 lines), trams (12 lines) and trollybusses (8 lines). In addition, there are 24 taxi companies serving the city. The regional rail system (Beovoz) is operated by the national railway company, and connects Belgrade's suburbs with the urban areas. There are six lines with 41 stations. Two underground stations near the city center (Vukov spomenik and Karađorđev Park) are used by lines 1 and 2, and are situated underground. Construction of a three line pre-metro/light rail transit system is scheduled to begin in 2008, and the first line should be completed by 2010. The construction of the second line from Law School (Faculty of Law) to Topčider will begin in 2009.

      Railways

      The main railway station is situated near the downtown district, and connects Belgrade with many major European cities, such as Istanbul, Venice, Zurich, Athens, Bucharest, Sofia, Vienna, Budapest, Munich, Kiev and Moscow.

      A new central railway station has been under construction since 1977 at the site named Prokop. The new railway station will be called "Beograd Center"; upon its completion all Belgrade rail traffic currently handled by the old railway station situated near the downtown district will be transferred to the new station freeing thousands of square meters of prime real estate along the Sava River and substantially easing the rail travel into Belgrade. After years of delay, this ambitious project is set to be completed in the next few years pending the new international tender for its completion set to be announced by the government at the beginning of March 2006. The train terminals will be situated underground while the vast passenger terminal will be above ground featuring commercial spaces, possibly a hotel and other amenities. Most of the rough work on the station's train terminals has been completed thus far. Belgrade has been restricted in its use of its vast waterfront precisely because of the large rail infrastructure that hug the river banks of the Old Town. Completion of this station is signaling a major boom in Belgrade's waterfront development.

      Metro

      By the beginning of 2008 Belgrade will start construction of a light rail transit system.

      Shipping

      Belgrade has a commercial port on the banks of Danube named Luka Beograd. There is also a tourist port on the banks of the Sava welcoming various river cruise vessels from across Europe. Belgrade has several impromptu sporting marinas near the islands of Ada Ciganlija and Ada Medjica harbouring small sail boats and sporting/recreational vessels. Answering to the need for a real sporting/recreational marina a detailed plan for a marina in Dorćol on the banks of the Danube has been presented to the public, and an international tender for its development has been announced.

      Aviation

      The international airport, Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport, is located 12 km outside the city. It is connected with the city by the Belgrade-Zagreb highway. It provides connections with many cities in Europe, Asia and Africa. Eighteen established international airlines maintain offices at the airport. The number of airlines using the Belgrade Airport is set to increase on January 1, 2007 when the Open skies international agreement goes into effect in Serbia, lifting protectionist restrictions the national airline or the government placed on international airline traffic landing rights. A major expansion of the airport in Belgrade has been detailed with a development deal signed with DynaCorp. Inc. to build a regional air cargo hub. Belgrade airport also plans to build a third passenger terminal and another runway; however this may not be feasible in the immediate future.

      There is also a military airport at Batajnica, a suburb of Belgrade.

      Miscellaneous

      Names through history

      The following is a list of names of Belgrade through history:

      Name Notes
      Singidūn(on) Named by the Celtic tribe of the Scordisci; dūn(on) means 'lodgment, enclosure', Singi is still unexplained but there are some theories; 279 BC
      Singidūnum Romans conquered the city and romanized the Celtic name
      Beograd Slavic name first mentioning in 878 in the letter of Pope John VIII to Boris of Bulgaria which means "City of the West".
      Alba Graeca Latin translation
      Fehérvár Hungarian translation
      Weißenburg German translation
      Castelbianco Italian translation
      Nandoralba In medieval Hungary up to the 14th century
      Nandorfehérvár In medieval Hungary
      Landorfehérvár In medieval Hungary
      Veligradon Byzantine name
      Veligradi, Βελιγράδι Greek name
      Dar Ul Jihad (The House of War) Ottoman name
      Belgrat Turkish name
      Belogrados poleos
      بلغراد Arabic

      Sister cities

      Belgrade is twinned with the following cities:

      Chicago, Illinois, USA - sister city since 2005Coventry, United Kingdom - twin city since 1957Vienna, Austria - sister city since 2003

    Other forms of cooperation and city friendship similar to the twin/sister city programmes:

    Athens, Greece(since November 1966 - Cooperation and friendship agreement)Banja Luka, BiH(since 2005 - Cooperation agreement)
  • Beijing, China (since October 1980 - Cooperation agreement) Berlin, Germany (since November 1978 - Cooperation and friendship agreement) Buenos Aires, Argentina Dayton, United States Podgorica, Montenegro
  • Kuwait City, Kuwait Kyiv, Ukraine (since 2002 - Cooperation agreement) Ljubljana, Slovenia and Zagreb coat of arms.gif Zagreb, Croatia (joint letter of intent 2003)
    • Madrid, SpainMilano, Italy(since 2000)
  • New Delhi, India Rome, Italy (since October 1971 - Cooperation and friendship agreement) Saint Petersburg, Russia Stockholm, Sweden Tel Aviv, Israel Tripoli, Libya
  • Tunis, Tunisia

Honours

The City of Belgrade has received various domestic and international honours, including:

Trivia

There are eight other towns or cities named after Belgrade, and all of them are in the U.S., in the states of Minnesota (two, one in St. Louis County and the other in Stearns County), Montana, Nebraska, Maine, Missouri, North Carolina and Texas. Most of them were named after Belgrade to commemorate the fight between Serbs and Ottoman Empire on the territory of and around Belgrade. See Belgrade (disambiguation)

Belgrade has one of the longest dead end streets in the world, Južni Bulevar (8.2 km).

See also

References

External links

Events

Tourist information

Belgrade live-cams

Observation of the construction sites

Photo galleries

Belgrade | Cities, towns and villages in Serbia | Capitals in Europe | Cities on the Danube | Šumadija | 3rd century BC establishments

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Belgrade".

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