This tour will make you see the big picture of 2,000 years in 90 minutes.
You'll understand Belgrade's epic past and complex present, defined by its fatally strategic location. This is the spot where the historic superpowers and their cultures were clashing for centuries.
Looking from the Fortress, you'll discover different faces of Belgrade:
- Belgrade Old Town, the 19th century capital of Serbia liberating itself from the Ottomans, marked by the cross on the belfry of its cathedral
- New Belgrade, the capital of Socialist Yugoslavia that emerged from the WWII, eager to build a society of equal opportunities for everyone
- Zemun, a town of Austro-Hungarian look and feel, with a tower celebrating a millennium of Hungarian presence in the Pannonian plane;
- Belgrade Waterfront, a 21st century residential area, dividing opinions and classes
Walking across the Fortress, you'll see marks of heritage of various powers that held it: the ancient Romans, the Serbian late-medieval prince, the Ottomans, the Hapsburgs, the Socialist Yugoslavia. You'll discover the tensions and consequences of the historical dramas happening here: clashes of Christian and Ottoman armies in distant past or anxieties of the Cold War.
The Fortress is also the place to learn of importance of WWI for Serbia, as one of the most tragic yet most formative events in its history. We'll tell this storey through the lenses of three different memorials - the iconic Victor monument, the monument of Gratitude to France and the church Ružica.
To balance the epic and often harsh history, the Fortress offers beautiful views over two rivers, a greenish Sava and a blueish Danube, with a lush river island at their confluence, and the greenery of its park.
Should you decide to explore more of the Fortress before or after the tour, there is plenty to visit. For nature explorers there is a zoo, natural history gallery, observatory and dinosaur park. The culture explorers may opt for the Military Museum or the Art Pavilion. The skill seekers can try their hand at archery or tennis.
If you ask us to pick the best times to do the tour, we would probably go for the morning or around sunset. When the panoramic views give their best.
