Belgrad, Serbia and Montenegro

Stari Dvor (Old Palace), Belgrade’s city hall

10 Pictures

Weight of the world, Serbia and Montenegro

Kalamegdan (Калемегдан) fortress, Belgrade, Serbia
Kalamegdan is a park-fortress in the center of Belgrade. The name has Turkish
origin: kala (tower) and megdan (battlefield). The name recalls the turbulent
history of the castle.

The first fortifications are from the 4-5th century. The city, called
Singidunum, was defended be the Roman legion IV Flaviae. It was part of the
limes , the military defense line of the Roman Empire.

The site was called Belgrade (white town) in the 9th century for the first
time. The city kept changing masters, and it was a border town of the
Byzantine Empire, the Bulgarian Empire, Hungary and Serbia. During the Turkish
wars after the battle of Kosovo it became the seat of the Serbian state. It
was also part of the principal Hungarian defense system against the Ottoman
Empire. (The Danube river is the natural border of the Great Plains.)

In 1456, Hungarian and Serbian troops defended the castle during the Siege of
Belgrade (Hungarian Nándorfehérvár). It’s captain, János Hunyadi (Сибињанин
Јанко) saved Central Europe from the Ottoman invasion for 70 years.

Belgrade was part of the Ottoman Empire between 1521 and 1867.

Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro