Yesterday I visited Belgrade Fortress and Kalemegdan Park, a famous tourist attraction and the oldest preserved part of the city. It was a very nice and sunny day so I took a lot of photos to share with you. I will start with the Despot Stefan Tower or Castellan Tower and Despot Gate.
Despot Stefan was a Serbian ruler who in the 15th century built a castle with a gate that was once the main gate of the Belgrade fortress and also the only authentically preserved gate in Belgrade.
Belgrade has many gates and each of them has its own story. Despot's gate has its inner and outer part and the gate is reached by a bridge under which there is a moat that had a defensive role.
Together with the gate, the tower forms the most authentic part of medieval Belgrade, which experienced a rise in development during the reign of despot Stefan Lazarevic. During his reign, Serbia was one of the most stable countries in Europe and we can be proud of that moment in the past. It is interesting how over time, instead of progress, regressions occur.
Today, this imposing tower has been turned into a planetarium. The astronomical association from Belgrade has a permanent display of photographs of celestial bodies and explanations of astronomical terms in the tower. Let's go inside to see it.
The aim of this exhibition is to popularize astronomy. The association deals with amateur observation. In addition to the exhibition of pictures related to astronomy, the interior of the tower has preserved authentic parts and is very impressive.
One very interesting thing about this tower is that you can climb to its top and in the evening hours observe the stars in the sky through a telescope.
It is a great experience for both children and adults. Also, from the top of the tower there is an stunning view of Belgrade. From above you can see the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers.
And the part of the Belgrade Fortress that is being reconstructed and works are in progress.
You can also see Kalemegdan Park.
From above there is a view of Nebojsa Tower, which I wrote about in one of my previous posts. It looks so small in the distance.
Recently, a new and modern residential complex was built near the Belgrade Fortress. It does not fit into the medieval environment, but it seems that the construction has become so massive that no one cares anymore whether it will endanger the environment. It is very expensive to buy an apartment in this place.
I enjoyed the view from the tower a bit, because I like to look into the distance, and then went down and continued my walk to other spots that I will write about in my next posts.
Thank you very much for reading.
The images and writing are original and mine.
Greetings!
Jelena