When you walk through the Kalemegdan Belgrade Park, you pass through various parts of the Belgrade Fortress within the Upper and Lower Town. And when you find yourself in the Lower town, the path leads you to climb the stairs to two churches - Chapel of St. Petka and Ruzica Church. Since both deserve special attention and are very specific, I will write about them in separate posts. And today I will write about the Chapel of St. Petka.
I started my walk in the Lower town of Kalemegdan.
When you look at the fortress from below, you feel as if you have returned to the Middle Ages and that you will see another world behind the walls.
There are many remains of the Lower town that testify to the turbulent past of this place.
Walking under the fortress, you can see The Victor monument, which is considered a symbol of Belgrade.
From the Lower town, you can climb to the Upper town in several ways through gates, passages, stairs...
The fortress is so big that you can choose a new path every time you walk, and that's very exciting. And when you climb up it looks like this.
But let's go back down again, to the stairs that lead to the Belgrade refuge - the Chapel of St. Petka.
Although I am not religious, as soon as I walk up these stairs I start to feel very strange and incredibly calm. So calm that it makes me happy and carefree.
And I'm not the only one who feels that way. Many people consider the Church of St. Petka a refuge and come to this place guided by faith, a desire for healing, but above all respect.
The church was built over a spring that was considered miraculous since the Middle Ages because, according to legends, the water from the spring cured many people. Even today, water can be taken in the church and people believe in its beneficial effects.
This church has great respect among the Orthodox because it is associated with the cult of St. Petka, the protector of health and especially of women.
The original chapel was built in the 15th century, but was demolished during the Turkish rule. A new chapel like the one we have today was built on the ruins. This chapel hides a lot of secrets that were revealed through excavation. A room with a swimming pool was discovered where the people of Belgrade were baptized. The bones of soldiers killed during the First World War were also found. Many legends are associated with this church, and one of them is that during the war, soldiers hid in it and became invisible.
There are many stories and legends, but the truth is that you feel very good in this place. The view from the church extends to the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers.
And right above the Chapel of St. Petka, there is another church with an interesting story that I will write about in one of the next posts.
Thank you very much for reading.
The images and writing are original and mine.
Greetings!
Jelena