AEGEE Beograd
Serbia & Belgrade
AEGEE Europe
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Belgrade
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Belgrade (Serbian, Београд, Beograd  listen), is the capital
of Serbia and Montenegro and Yugoslavia (1918–2003). The city lies on the outfall of the Sava river to the
Danube river in northern central Serbia, at 44.83° N 20.50° E. Population in Belgrade region 2,711,800.
History
For a quick overview of its history see Timeline of Belgrade
Where the Vinca culture existed and dominated the Balkans about 8000 years ago, Belgrade counts as the one of the oldest European
and maybe world cities. Settled in the 3rd century BC by the Celtic before becoming the Roman settlement of Singidunum, the site
passed to the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire.
In 878 the city was renamed Beligrad ("white fortress" or "white town").
Geography
Belgrade is in northern central Serbia, on the outfall of the Sava river to the Danube, surrounded from three sides by
autonomous province of Vojvodina. Old part of city with the Kalemegdan fortress is on a rock ridge between Sava and Danube,
directly at the outfall and was thereby protected by three sides. The center of Belgrade lies on the right bank of Danube,
and on the left bank begins Banat plain with not too dense inhabited suburbs. Between Danube and Sava is the new city
Novi Beograd and a bit upstream of Danube lies Zemun, in the times of the Turkish wars a Habsburg outpost and today a
part of Belgrade.
Climate
The climate of Belgrade is very varied. In the winter a very cold wind, the Kosava, blows from the northeast, which lets
the blood in the veins freeze even if the thermometer indicates only few degrees under the freezing point. On the other hand,
the summer is usually very hot, with temperatures over forty degrees Celsius. Actually the only pleasant months are May, September
and October. But it seems that Belgraders fall in love with their city, and hold that these most diverse variations make the most
beautiful city in the world.
Famous tourist and historical sites are:
Museums
Some of the more prominent museums in Belgrade are:
- National Museum (Trg Republike 1a) - An art museum with a collection of over 300,000 objects. Established in 1844.
- Museum of Natural History - has more than 900.000 items related to nature.
- Museum of Contemporary Art (Usce bb) - Includes works of art produced in Yugoslavia since 1900, around 8540 objects.
- Etnographic Museum of Serbia (Studentski Trg 13) - Museum contains more than 160,000 items presenting rural and urban culture of the Balkans. Established in 1901.
- Nikola Tesla Museum (Krunska 52) - Museum preserves personal items of Nikola Tesla. Includes around 160,000 original documents and around 5,700 other items. Established in 1952.
Names
Following is a list of names of Belgrade through history:
| Name | Explanation |
| Singidun(on) | so named by the Celtic tribe of the Scordisci; dun(on) means 'lodgment, enclosure', Singi is still unexplained but there are some theories; 279 BC |
| Singidunum | Romans latinized Celtic name |
| Beograd | Slavic name; first mentioning in 878 in the letter of Pope John VIII to Boris of Bulgaria |
| Alba Graeca | Latin |
| Fehervar | Hungarian |
| Weissenburg | German |
| Castelbianco | Italian |
| Nandoralba | In medieval Hungary since XIV century |
| Nandorfehervar | In medieval Hungary |
| Landorfehervar | In medieval Hungary |
| Veligradon | Byzantine |
| Veligradi | Greek |
| Dar Ul Jihad (The House of War) | Turkish |
Useful links:
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