In this episode of Balkan Trip, we travel to Belgrade, Serbia's capital, where history and culture converge.
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00:00Welcome to Balkan trip, the show that will present you all the most beautiful things that the Balkans offer.
00:14Our journey today begins in Belgrade.
00:17The capital of Serbia is known for good cafes and even better nightlife.
00:23However, today we are going to some peaceful locations that are rich in culture and history.
00:27Let's see what it's about.
00:30Let's go to one of the largest Orthodox churches in the Balkans.
00:40Certainly the third largest in the world.
00:42It is the Church of St. Sava, which is located in the very heart of Belgrade.
00:46This church is visited annually by several thousand tourists from Europe and the world.
00:51Let's go.
00:53At the entrance to this sanctuary, we come across an interesting fact that shows how acceptable and open Orthodoxy is to all people.
01:02At the entrance gate of the Church of St. Sava, there is a prayer in 24 languages.
01:08The idea was that if people were interested in writing in their own language, they would somehow get to know Orthodoxy.
01:17He read an Orthodox prayer in his own language.
01:25By the way, the construction of the Church of St. Sava began more than a hundred years ago.
01:29Today, this church is one of the main symbols of the capital.
01:33The construction of the Church of St. Sava took a little less than a hundred years.
01:38Although the idea is much older, from the 19th century, the construction of the church in these dimensions, as we see it today, began in 1935.
01:49Before we continue to look at the church, let's check a few meters under the floor.
01:57We went down seven meters under the surface, where there is a crypt.
02:03In 2001, the idea came to life for the first time to make another space under the temple, so to speak, a temple under the temple.
02:11The original idea was that Serbian patriarchs would be buried there.
02:17However, later, for certain reasons, that space was expanded, so that we got a part of the church of St. Lazarus here.
02:30And now let's go back to the surface of the temple to see one of the largest domes among the Orthodox churches in the world, which was built in a special way.
02:42The dome of the Church of St. Sava is a concrete-metal construction, which was, so to speak, assembled on the ground, and then raised to a height and mounted on carrying pillars, and weighs about 4,000 tons.
03:01It was an incredible, until then unseen, construction site in our areas, and beyond.
03:10The burning mosaic weighs more than 300 tons, covers over 15,000 square meters.
03:16For many years, dozens of people worked on it, and now pay attention to the central pillar, that is, the chandelier in the middle of the church.
03:24Under the dome, as you said, that space is illuminated by the largest polyele.
03:29One of the largest in Orthodox churches, its diameter is about 30 meters.
03:37This is the temple, the spiritual center of Belgrade, where a large number of believers gather every day and perform services.
03:43The temple visits thousands of tourists every day, both from the country and from abroad.
03:54Belgrade is a city that does not know the seasonal borders.
03:57Its energy and dynamics make it alive and attractive throughout the year, providing a rich palette of cultural, entertainment and tourist content.
04:06If you spend a few days in Belgrade, you will hear how someone praises Kalis, that is, Kalemegdan, as an oasis in the heart of the city.
04:19The areas of the Belgrade Fortress and Kalemegdan Park are the oldest parts of Belgrade.
04:23They are the remains of the old military camps, which were raised at that location because of its military strategic position,
04:30on the border of the fertile Pannonian Nizje and the Balkan Peninsula.
04:35The Belgrade Fortress is the history of the continuity of life in this area for more than 2,000 years.
04:40It was first mentioned as early as 300 BC to continue the life of the present day.
04:45So in one place we can see literally the time of various styles of architecture, building, history, various faiths, nationalities in one place.
04:57From this place there is an unreal view of New Belgrade,
05:01a monument to the victor and the mouth of the Sava River in the largest river in Europe, the Danube.
05:09Since ancient times, the value of the Pannonian plain has been known, so today it is said that it could feed the whole of Europe,
05:17and all these areas of fertile, fertile land could be easily strategically controlled from one single point, and that is the Belgrade Fortress.
05:28One of the most visited attractions of the Belgrade Fortress is certainly the Roman well.
05:33It is not really a well, it was not built by the Romans, so it is not Roman.
05:37It was built at the beginning of the 18th century in the baroque reconstruction of the fortress by the Hadrian Empire,
05:42and it is not a well because there is no source of water, but in fact it is a large cistern where groundwater found its way and filled it with water.
05:50It really serves for water, in the case of a flood, if they stop supplying you with water, so that you do not have your own well to drink,
05:57the flood will not last long and you will have to cross the city even without fighting.
06:04And here on Kalemegdan there is a symbol of Belgrade, the monument to the victor, a monumental work of Ivan Meštrović, about which there is a true story.
06:13It was supposed to be primarily on the terrace in the very center of the city, however, its naivety and its, so to speak, developed musculature was not liked by the then Belgrade ladies and gentlemen,
06:23so they urged it not to be there, and it ended up here, on the Belgrade Fortress, on this plateau, where it actually began to be a symbol of Belgrade, and therefore the Belgrade Fortress.
06:32Belgrade Fortress
06:37In this historical place there is also the Belzovo Fortress, the Fortress of Good Hope, the only fortress located between the walls of some fortress,
06:44and in the fortress there is one of the oldest examples of its kind, the alligator Muja.
06:51We are not sure how old it is, but it was here, on the basis of the Zoo Fortress, the same photos can already be seen that it was quite large.
07:00It is interesting that it survived so many wars, bombings, social upheavals.
07:07Under the cover of the Belgrade Fortress there is also the Church of Ruzica, whose chandeliers are made of a vault of various weapons and officer's swords.
07:14Planetarium, Sahad Kula, Kula Nebojša.
07:18Belgrade Fortress is a kind of museum, where you can see the culture, but also where you can see the historical events that took place throughout history in Belgrade and Serbia.
07:30With its picturesque architecture, rich history and urban approach, Belgrade is a city where you are welcome throughout the year.
07:38We presented you one of the largest Orthodox churches in Europe, the Church of St. Sava,
07:43and we also visited one of the oldest fortresses in the Balkans, the Belgrade Fortress and the Kalemegdan Park.
07:48I am sure that Belgrade will be on your map of travel after these stories.
07:52And we will see you soon with new ideas and stories.