Belgrade

For other uses, see Belgrade (disambiguation).

Template:Serbian citiesBelgrade (Serbian: Beograd, Београд ) is the capital of Serbia and Montenegro. 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 name Beograd (Belgrade) was first mentioned in 878 AD. It has been the capital of Serbia since 1404, and was the capital of Yugoslavia from 1918 until 2003.

The city lies at the confluence of the Sava and Danube in north central Serbia, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. The official population of the Belgrade region is 1,576,124. Unofficially (taking into account the large number of Serbian 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 fourth in the Balkans behind Istanbul, Athens and Bucharest.

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 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.

History

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

Belgrade 1789

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Terazije square 1928

Ružica Church in the Kalemegdan Fortress

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The historical urban core of Belgrade (Stari Grad)

Kralja Milana Street{Stari Grad}

The Victor overlooking New Belgrade at the Kalemegdan Fortress

Clock Tower in the Kalemegdan Fortress

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 630 AD. In 878 the city was renamed Beligrad ("white fortress" or "white town") under the rule of the First Bulgarian Empire. For approximately 400 years, it remained a Bulgarian frontier town, often known as the region of "Belgrade and Branichevo." During that period, however, the city was also a subject to Byzantine rivalry and rule, before it finally emerged as a stronghold of the medieval Serbian kingdom. It was a major traffic point on a crusade route which led from Western Europe to Middle East.

The first Serbian king to rule Belgrade was Dragutin (1276–1282), who received it as a present from the Hungarian king.

After a terrible defeat in the Battle of Kosovo of 1389, the Serbian Empire began to crumble, and by the beginning of next century most of it had been conquered by the Ottoman Empire. However, the Serbian Despotate in the north, with Belgrade as its capital, resisted for another 60 years, the last Christian state in the Balkans to do so. Belgrade flourished under Despot Stefan Lazarević, son of Tsar Lazar Hrebljanović. Its ancient walls were refortified, along with its castles, harbours and churches, resisting surrender to the Ottoman Turks. 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". That resulted in their invasion in 1456 and the Siege of Belgrade. John Hunyadi successfully defended the city from the Ottomans. This war brought the city the reputation of the "Guardian of Christianity" and it was celebrated throughout Europe. At that time Belgrade reached its peak of glory with its population numbering well over 100,000 people of many nations, regulating traffic between East and West, becoming a "Christian Mecca" and a cultural hub for South-Eastern Europe. However, this period was not to last.

Turkish conquest

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 infidels. It was the site of a major rebellion in 1594 (Banat rebellion), 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 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 WWI in 1914 the city has grown to over 100,000, not counting the settlements on the northern sides of Sava and Danube that belonged to Austro-Hungary.

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 [[|Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|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, 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 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 Đinđić was the first democratically elected mayor of Belgrade. The current mayor is Nenad Bogdanović.

Geography

Satellite view of Belgrade

The Despot Stefan Tower in Kalemegdan Fortress, early XV century

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 planes. 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 properly 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 characteristic of Belgrade climate is also Košava - the southeast-east wind, which brings clear and dry weather. 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.

Tourism

The building of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, in Prince Michael Street

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Prince Michael Street

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.

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 councilors 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,

Transportation

Main article: Transportation in Belgrade

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 stations near the downtown area (Vukov spomenik and Karađorđev park) are used by lines 1 and 2, and are situated underground. Construction of three line pre-metro/light rail transit system is scheduled to begin in 2007, while first line should be completed by 2010. Second line from Law school (Faculty of law) to Topcider will begin to construct in 2009.

A new bridge over the Sava River crossing over the tip of Ada Ciganlija island is scheduled to start construction later in 2006 and be completed by 2009, significanlty reducing traffic throughfare passing through the downtown. This new bridge is set to be a part of realization of the larger traffic decongestion project named "Unutrašnji Magistralni Prsten" or Internal magistral ring, which should ease the heavy traffic within the city and complement the new half-circle highway by-pass around Belgrade which has been under construction for a considerable number of years now. The third of the Belgrade's light-rail lines should be crossing the new bridge across Sava connecting the outer parts of New Belgrade with the central areas.

The international airport, Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport (renamed 2006), 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, liftng 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 passanger terminal and another runway, however this may not be plausible in the immediate future.

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

A new central railway station has been under construction since 1977 at the site named Prokop. The new railway station will be called "Beograd Centar"; 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 passanger terminal will be above gound 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.

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.

Belgrade has a military airport at Batajnica, a suburb of Belgrade.

Economy

The city of Belgrade is the administrative, commercial, financial and cultural center of the Republic of Serbia and the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro 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 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 among other areas. 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.

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 Airport serves 17 airlines with scheduled flights to and from major European cities as well as Toronto and the Middle East. Passenger traffic in 2004 was approximately 1.85 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.

Architecture

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Neo-baroque architecture in post-Ottoman Belgrade

Various parts of Belgrade have wildly varying architecture, from the center of Zemun, which is a typical one for a Vojvodina town, 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
• Bajrakli mosque
• Beli Dvor
• Belgrade Arena
• Beograđanka
• Parliament of Serbia and Montenegro
• Temple of Saint Sava
• Genex Tower
• Palace Albania
• Countess Ljubica's Residence
• Count Milos's Residence
• Ušće Tower — Formerly housed the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. Following Nato bombardment, from which only the skeleton of the building survived, it has been redeveloped into an office block.
• Sava Center
• Hotel Moskva

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Republic Square

Some notable streets and squares are:

• Boulevard of King Alexander (formerly Boulevard of the Revolution) — the longest street in Belgrade
• Knez Mihailova
• Skadarlija
• Slavija
• Terazije
• Republic Square
• Kosančićev venac
• Mitrović passage - the shortest street in Belgrade (12 m long, now partioned)

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

Museums

See also: List of museums in Belgrade

Some of the more prominent museums in Belgrade are:

• 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.
• 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 restoration works.
• 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.

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, Sportski zurnal. Other dailes published in the city are Press, Borba, and Kurir.

The populer weekley newspapers published in Belgrade include Vreme, NIN, and Reporter.

In addition to RTS, which is still state owned, Belgrade is home to 3 other commercial television networks with Serbia-wide coverage: B92, Pink, Happy, Košava, Avala, FOX, while channels such as Studio B, BK and TV Politika only cover the greater Belgrade municipal area.

Numerous specialty channels are also on offer: SOS that's focused on sports, music oriented Metropolis, 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; Radio Studio B;

Television Stations:

(partial list)

Art TV; Radio Televizija Srbija - RTS 1, RTS 2, 3K; TV B92; BK TV; TV Kanal D; TV Košava; TV Metropolis; TV Pink; 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;

Names

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
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 name

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 dates back to 1689 and is located in Subotica- Teacher's college). Belgrade educational system is under the control of the Serbian Ministry of Education and Sport, while a minor part is controlled by the Sectretariat 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 emplyees 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:

• University of Belgrade
• University of the Arts
• Braća Karić University
• Singidunum University
• European University
• Megatrend University of Applied Sciences
• Police Academy
• Military Academy

Some notable high schools in Belgrade are:

• The First Belgrade Gymnasium
• The Third Belgrade Gymnasium
• The Fifth Belgrade Gymnasium
• The Ninth Belgrade Gymnasium
• Mathematical Gymnasium
• Philological Gymnasium

Religious buildings in Belgrade

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The Temple of Saint Sava on the Vračar plateau

Belgrade has numerous Serbian Orthodox churches and temples and it is also the seat of the Partiarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Two of its 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 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 stuctures in contemporary Belgrade.

The Jewish community is served by the Belgrade Synagogue, which is the only one 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.

Sport and recreation

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Belgrade Arena

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The Stadium of Red Star Belgrade

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:

• 1939 Belgrade Grand Prix
• Eurobasket 1961
• 1973 European Champions Cup Final (football)
• 1973 World Aquatics Championships
• Eurobasket 1975
• 1976 European Football Championship
• 1979 Korac Cup Final (basketball)
• 1998 Saporta Cup Final (basketball)
• Eurobasket 2005
• 2005 European Volleyball Championship
• 2006 European Waterpolo Championship

The city launched two unsuccessful candidate bids to organize the Summer Olympic Games: for 1992 Summer Olympics it lost to Barcelona, and 1996 Summer Olympics ultimately went to Atlanta.

Belgrade will be the host city of the 2009 Summer Universiade, defeating the cities of Morelia and Poznan.

Sporting arenas include:

• Red Star Stadium
• Partizan Stadium
• Belgrade Arena
• Pionir Hall
• Hala sportova

Ada Ciganlija is an island 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.

Night life

Central Belgade at night, viewed from the Sava river

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 are 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 main stream 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.

File:Belgradenight.jpg

Belgrade at night

Individuals 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.

Honours

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

• Legion of Honour
• War Cross
• Karađorđe's Star with Swords
• Order of National Hero

Sister cities

Belgrade is twinned with the following cities:

Beijing, People's Republic of China Chicago, Illinois, United States Coventry, United Kingdom Madrid, Spain Milano, Italy Buenos Aires, Argentina Stockholm, Sweden

Saint Petersburg, Russia Tripoli, Libya Kuwait City, Kuwait Tel Aviv, Israel Vienna, Austria Tunis, Tunisia Dayton, United States

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.

Belgrade purportedly has the longest dead end street in the world, Južni Bulevar.

See also

• Wikipedia:WikiProject Belgrade
• Timeline of Belgrade
• List of national capitals
• List of Belgrade suburbs
• Belgrade Arena
• University of Belgrade
• Temple of Saint Sava
• Skadarlija
• Ada Ciganlija
• Belgrade Synagogue
• Kalemegdan

External links

• City of Belgrade Official Website
• Interactive map of Belgrade (In Serbian)
• Architecture of Belgrade
• Weather in Belgrade
• Google Maps Satellite image of Belgrade
• Belgrade Public Transport
• Belgrade Airport
• BELAM - Belgrade Metro Project

Events

• Summer Universiade Belgrade 2009

Tourist information

• Tourist Organization of Belgrade
• Belgrade Eye (Tourist information)
• In Your Pocket Belgrade guide(Tourist information)
• Lonely planet Belgrade guide (Tourist information)
• Totally Belgrade (Tourist information)
• Worldroom Belgrade guide(Tourist information)
• Belgrade Inside Out (Tourist information)

Belgrade live-cams

• Belgrade Live-Cam: Republic Square
• Belgrade Live-Cam: New west quarters - "Novi Beograd"
• Belgrade Live-Cam: Nikola Pašić Square

Observation of the construction sites

• BeoBuild (Construction projects and observation of the construction sites)
• Belgrade - Information on planned future skyscrapers and highrises

Photo galleries

• Belgrade Photo Gallery
• Mondophoto.net: 129 Public Domain photos of Belgrade
• BeoBuild Photos (Photos and panoramas of Belgrade)