Cool Spots Around Belgrade.

Cool Spots Around Belgrade.

August 2019 & October 2020 – August 2021.

Well, here we are again. After 16 individual location reports from around the Serbian capital it’s time to wrap up the best of the rest from across the city. And boy do we have a lot to get through. So much so that I need to spread everything out across two articles. So maybe make a brew, buckle up and come with me for this first batch of Cool Spots Around Belgrade.

There really is only one place to start. Belgrade is a great city for green spaces with fascinating backstories. Indeed I have already published single pieces on the wonderful Tašmajdan Park, Park of Friendship and Topčider Park. Next I’m gonna take you to Karađorđe’s Park, a place that will always be special for Sladja and I.

In August 2019 I flew to Belgrade from London to hang out with Sladja for the first time. We had rented a small Airbnb apartment that was literally a 1-minute walk from Karađorđe’s Park. This was the very first place we explored together on what turned out to be a glorious 11 days of walking, talking and getting to know each other. 

Karađorđe’s Park is a relatively small and understated space. However, it holds just as much historic weight as some of its larger brothers and sisters. Considered by some as the oldest park in the city, it dates back to 1806 when the Serbian Army established a camp here during the First Serbian Uprising.

Cool Spots Around Belgrade.

Those who died for Belgrade’s eventual liberation lie buried here in a scattering of beautiful gravestones. Shortly after their burials local authorities began planting chestnut trees and the first seeds of today’s park were sown. 

When we later came back to Belgrade to live for 10 months during the pandemic, I would often go jogging through Karađorđe’s Park. Moreover, I’ll never forget the stroll we took here on the evening of our wedding. Family members had departed, so it was just us two making our way through the light rain before seeking shelter under a gazebo.

Another lovely corner of Belgrade greenery that’s well worth a visit is Pioneers Park. Once a blob of marshland, its history as a landscaped area began in the 1830s when the politician and businessman Stojan Simić built a house and garden here. 

In 1843 the land was purchased by none other than Serbia’s ruling prince Alexander Karađorđević. In fact, he and his wife Princess Persida spent years turning it into a delightful royal garden. 

Later, in the 1880s, King Milan I built a new royal palace to the side of the garden. The celebrated Serbian architect Alexander Bugarski designed the lavish home in a variety of styles, including renaissance and baroque. The palace served as the official residence of the Obrenović dynasty until 1903. Today it operates as Belgrade’s City Assembly.

The Old Royal Palace.

Pioneers Park has been a public garden since 1944. It is a lovely green pocket that attracts joggers, yoga groups and young mothers, kids in hand. A place where old men come to chew the fat over the latest Partizan Belgrade result. And where dog walkers oversee the daily pant and poop.

Occasionally, you might catch a pair of young lovers relaxing on a bench.

One curious spot in the park that visitors shouldn’t miss is this unusual memorial known as the Observation Post of the Serbian Army High Command on Kajmakčalan. In September 1916 the Serbian Army enjoyed a famous mountaintop victory over the Bulgarians at the Battle of Kaymakchalan. In high spirits, the surviving soldiers set off on the long gruelling march back to Belgrade. 

As the story goes, (and many dispute its veracity!) the soldiers hauled all the stone blocks from their mountain watchtower back to Serbia as a memento of their victory! With the tower having been reassembled in the park, a number of brass memorial plaques were later added in tribute to the Serbian generals who fought in the First World War.

Cool Spots Around Belgrade.

In addition to the Old Royal Palace, there are a few other notable buildings situated around Pioneers Park that I’d like to draw your attention to. The first is the Neo-Baroque House of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, completed in 1936.

Like so many of the city’s old buildings, it has had something of a turbulent history. Not least when The Nazis turned the building into their command centre for southeastern Europe following their invasion of Yugoslavia in 1941.

Photo courtesy of Krumb77.

The second, a far more modest affair, is the lovely little Tuckwood Cineplex. This is where Sladja and I went on our first movie date together. Opened in 1999, Tuckwood became the city’s first new film house after the collapse of Yugoslavia in the early 90s.

The interior is thoroughly charming with friendly English-speaking staff and museum-like movie memorabilia on the walls. Our visit played out with an afternoon viewing of Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Tuckwood Cineplex.

Belgrade is home to numerous atmospheric city squares. One of the prettiest is Nikola Pašić Square, which dates back to the 1950s. It takes its name from Nikola Pašić, a man who served as Belgrade Mayor, Prime Minister of Yugoslavia and Prime minister of Serbia. 

With a large fountain and a cluster of handsome plane trees, the square comes into its own in the summer months. A great spot to cool off by the water or under the branches at one of many outdoor cafes.

Sipping on a flat white, this is a great opportunity to take in some of Belgrade’s finest buildings. My favourite is the dramatic Agrarian Bank Building, a curved, angular delight that stands as a fine example of so-called interwar architecture. Constructed between 1932 and 1934, it started out as HQ for the Privileged Agrarian Bank before transitioning into today’s Historical Museum of Serbia in 1963.

The Agrarian Bank Building.

Nikola Pašić Square often plays host to events, performances, gatherings and even a protest or two. On our first visit we stopped to chat with some volunteers at a dog protection charity. They had brought a number of unfortunate canines to the square who were available for adoption.

This little guy, who can only walk with the assistance of a fitted frame, was heartbreakingly adorable. I can’t be certain which charity it was, though a bit of research shows that it was most likely Serbia’s Forgotten Paws or Pico’s Pack.

Another grand plaza, originally laid out in 1866, is the massive Republic Square, one of the Serbian capital’s busiest spots. It is home to The National Museum of Serbia, a sprawling 3-floor exhibition that holds over 400.000 objects.

We spent several afternoons wandering around the National Museum’s various sections. The first floor, for example, is largely dedicated to archaeology with absorbing exhibitions on the first inhabitants of The Balkans and excavated Roman treasures.

We also had a blast diving deep into the works of Serbia’s most iconic realist painters, such as Uroš Predić and Paja Jovanović.

Cool Spots Around Belgrade.

One of my favourite paintings, however, is the hilarious First Serbian Gymnastic Society. It was painted in 1859 by the artist Stevan “Steva” Todorović. Amazingly, it was none other than Todorović himself who founded the organisation two years earlier. Do you reckon they worked out on those rings fully dressed in ties, shirts, waistcoats, pressed trousers and polished boots? 

I don’t usually include main commercial streets in my city guides. Neither Sladja nor I are much into shopping and we often find such places over-touristy and soulless. But if truth be told I’ve always had a soft spot for Knez Mihailova Street, Belgrade’s vibrant 1000-metre pedestrianised shopping zone.

Home to a number of buildings dating back to the 1870s, Knez Mihailova enjoys a rich history. As a result, the government put the entire street under a protected status in the 196os.

Take a walk down here on any given day and there’s always something going on. One evening we took in some Serbian pop with breakdancing from a young couple. On another day, some classical music from a trio of local students. Plus there are usually street artists, buskers and accordion players doing their thing for tips.

Knez Mihailova Street.

As for the shops, I must give a special mention to Luna Clothing Boutique, where Sladja bought her wedding dress. Indeed they have a broad range of modern female clothing at affordable prices. Oh, and the staff didn’t completely ruin our day, which is always a Belgrade bonus.

For lovers of literature meanwhile, Knez Mihailova is also home to Belgrade’s oldest surviving bookshop. Opening its doors for the first time in 1901, Geca Kon Bookstore takes its name from the legendary publisher Geca Kon.

Born in Hungary to Serbian parents in 1873, Kon moved to Belgrade in the late 1880s in order to seek his fortune. Having worked in various bookstores, he decided to strike out alone in 1901 with the formation of his own publishing house, Prosveta.

I wonder if Kon truly realised how groundbreaking his new business would become. After all, his store became the first to make school textbooks widely available. Furthermore, it led the way in mass publishing the works of iconic Serbian writers, as well as encyclopedias and erotica.

Geca Kon Bookstore.

Kon subsequently became one of the wealthiest and well-connected men in Serbia. Some say he was the first man seen driving around the city in a luxury car. This was an automobile he once lent to the Serbian government so that Czech President Edvard Beneš could be driven around Belgrade in style during a state visit. 

Several online sources claim that Kon was not a pleasant man. In fact, they say he treated his workers poorly and paid them the lowest wage possible. What’s more, he did little to no philanthropic work and was infamously late with royalty payments to writers.

When Belgrade became occupied during World War II, The Nazis closed the store, burned thousands of books and arrested Kon. While there are no solid records on what exactly happened to him, several historians believe Nazi soldiers killed Kon in a mass execution at the Serbian village of Jabuka.

After the war the bookstore reopened and began flourishing once more. Another memorial worth seeking out within the shop is this tribute to Velimir Starčević, who served as the store’s manager for 42 years between 1975 and 2014. He was also an author in his own right, having published a biography about Geca Kon. The memorial shows his old desk, hat, typewriter and telephone.

Cool Spots Around Belgrade.

That’s it for my first Cool Spots edition on the varied delights of visiting the Serbian capital. I’ll be back soon with a concluding collection of locations worth checking out. Until then…

Like this? Check out my many articles from across Belgrade.

You may also enjoy my pieces from all over Serbia.

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