Beautiful building in Belgrade
O.K. let me just say that Serbian people are good looking people. They are very laid back and relaxed. They girls where whatever they want and are fashionable and well presented. I have seen very few overweight people. They love the sun and being active outside. You don’t get hassled and the city feels quite safe. And it is affordable too.
The cathedral, built in 1837, across the street from my hostel. It has this amazing and beautiful gold steeple top
The buildings in the city are not as old as those you find in Turkey or elsewhere in Europe and many of the old buildings that are around are not maintained and look a little worse for wear but still beautiful in their ruggedness. Most of the architecture is from the 1800s. However the fort in Kalemegdan Park which is also just across from the hostel is from the 1400s. Pictures of that to come.
One of the older buildings being left to nature's devices.
But I still love the city. The main pedestrian street has some beautiful architecture which I still have to go and take pictures of. As for cost, food and drink is pretty cheap. $14 CAD is equal to 1,000 RSD or Serbian dinar. You can get a salad for 250 dinar and a beer for 150 dinar. So relevant costs for similar products and such are cheap here compared to Canada.
Somewhat mammary looking water fountain spouts
Another thing I really like about Belgrade is that there are beautiful substantial water fountains everywhere and you can drink the water. It is not like the River Danube is exceptionally clean when you look at it. So if an older Balkan city the likes of Belgrade can provide drinking fountains everywhere so that you don’t have to keep buying bottled water, why can’t Canadian cities be so efficient. And Canadian cities are certainly richer than Belgrade.
Saint Sava Temple
I went to visit Saint Sava Temple which is the largest Eastern Orthodox Temple in the world. It is built on the site of where Saint Sava’s remains were burnt in 1595. The construction of this Temple started in 1895. It is still not finished and it is quite interesting to go inside and see it in the process of being constructed.
Interior of Saint Sava Temple under construction 120 years on. For scale, you can see the smallest arches near the middle slightly up the wall. The next picture shows the man working on them.
You can just see the man in the furthest arch on the right.
Its scale is enormous. I can just imagine what it will look like once it is finished. It has taken so long to finish due to 7 different wars getting in the way and as such lack of funds.
A young girls looks tiny as she roller blades by Saint Sava Temple
Another interesting building is the building that was bombed by Nato in 1999. It is quite informative to get the Serbian perspective on all the wars that occurred from 1991 – 1995 and then the brief on in 1999. Their history for all the countries that used to be part of Yugoslavia is quite ancient and complicated. However, from my perspective of today, it is a great city to visit, affordable, beautiful in its own right and filled with beautiful people.
The building bombed from 1999. I think it used to be the Military headquarters.
On the topic of unfinnished temples/churches … check out the Sagrada Familia if you get to Barcelona (fascinating city). I think you’d love Gaudi’s still-in-progress church. It’s massive and the architechture mimics nature as much as is possible; it’s a masterpiece. Gaudi’s other structures are worth visiting, too – very natural and playful looking.
Not sure if I will get to Barcelona but if I do I will be sure to check it out.
The Temple is certainly striking and lovely inside. Never imagined Belgrade to be such a beautiful city – all very int eresting.
I think you would like Belgrade. The people are lovely too.
The Saint Sava Temple looks quite imposing. Thanks for posting some pictures.
It must be quite a culture shock for you coming from Africa and arriving in Europe.
I guess culture shock might be an appropriate phrase although it didn’t really shock me as much as it was a warm welcome since I can relate to it better than in Africa.
Thank you very much for all the positive comments on Belgrade. It’s always such a nice feeling to see someone write positive things about my hometown.
I would like to make a small comment on St. Sava. The reason why it’s still under construction is because from 1947 to 2000 all works were stopped.
Communists were atheists and they pretty much prosecuted anyone who was Christian.They even built that nasty library next to it to reduce its impact.
During that time the temple was used as a parking space for trucks. Pretty sad as the temples is rather impressive.
There are some pictures of the pre-2000 state, before the white marble was placed on the facade- it really looked sad.
Once again, thank you.
Thanks for that clarity Nemo. I still have another post to write on Serbia. I have been so impressed by the geography, the people and the culture. It is such a hidden gem to us North Americans who really have not been given very much honest information on the area. I certainly will do my best to spread the word. You were all so welcoming and the food was amazing.
Belgrade is many things, but I hardly think “beautiful” describes it. I find it rather ugly, and can be part of it’s charm – the weird mix of old-world architecture and communistic disasters.
Hate how filthy the city is, terrible air quality, filthy streets, graffiti everywhere, broken-down busses, I could go on.
oops. I hit “post” before I finished. I was going to say that I’m glad you had a nice time. Belgrade is great in very small doses 🙂
Although, now I am in Kotor and it is quite spectacular. I guess it depends what you are looking for.
Hmmm … well I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I found Kuala Lumpur to be more of the mishmash you describe. I did find Kalemegdan beautiful but I love historical forts. And I found the pedestrian street with its architecture quite lovely despite the modernisation. You obviously must not have been to North America where beautiful old buildings are sorely lacking. I actually didn’t find the city filthy. Malaysia was filthy and Nairobi was filthy, but not Belgrade. But I agree, as a visitor you can overlook things that a resident comes to see glaringly. I did have a great time there and the people were great.