2013-7-10 - Belgrade City and Nikola Tesla Museum - Serbia

8:30 AM on 7/10/13 we took a bus to Belgrade City & also visited the Kalemeghan Fortress, (which is now a beautiful park) & the Cathedral of St. Sava.
"When Serbian rule began in 1284, control of the city had already changed hands countless times, & the Crusades had left it in ruins. The Serbians made Belgrade their capital as well as their economic, cultural & religious center. They erected churches, a citadel, a palace, a hospital & a library before they were forced to surrender to the Hungarians & expelled. The Turks took over in 1521 & soon lost, regained, lost, regained, lost, regained & lost control to the Austrians...In 1867, the Turks left Belgrade for good & the city was finally back in the hands of Serbia." 

Kalemegdan Fortress

Old moat now for recreational activities (tennis, basketball etc)

 

 

Inside the fortress

 

Tomb of Damat Ali Pasha, the Martyr

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Views of the Danube

 

 

"The Yugoslav Wars were fought in Slovenia (1991), Croatia (1991-1995), Bosnia (1992-1995), & Kosovo (1998-1999);  there was also an insurgency in Macedonia (2001). Altogether the wars resulted in the deaths of more than 130,000 people & incidents of mass murder, ethnic genocide , systomatic rape & torture are still being address by the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. In February of 2003, Belgrade became the capital of the State Union of Serbia & Montenegro; When Montenegro declared independence in May, 2006, Belgrade took its place as the capital of the Republic Serbia."

Wayne went to the Tesla Museum - he didn't take the 'good' camera, so the pictures aren't as crisp.

 



 Model of a transmit/receive station in Colorado Springs

 

 

 Static charge generator

 

 

ZAPP !!!!

Demonstration of his static charge generator

 

 

"The Cathedral of Saint Sava or Temple of Saint Sava is a Serbian Orthodox church located in Vračar, Belgrade, Serbia. It is the largest Orthodox church in the world & ranks amongst the ten largest church buildings in the world. The church is dedicated to Saint Sava, the founder of the Serbian Orthodox Church & an important figure in medieval Serbia. It is built on the Vračar plateau, on the location where it is alleged that his remains were burned in 1595 by the Ottoman Empire's Sinan Pasha. From its location, it dominates Belgrade's cityscape, and is perhaps the most monumental building in the city. The building of the church structure is being financed exclusively by donations. The parish home is nearby, as will be the planned patriarchal building.
The building is not a cathedral in the technical ecclesiastical sense, as it is not the seat of a bishop (the seat of the Metropolitan bishop of Belgrade is St. Michael's Cathedral). In Serbian it is called a hram (temple), which is in Eastern Orthodoxy another name for a church.  In English, it is usually called a cathedral because of its size and importance, though basilica may be a more appropriate name.".

 

 

 

  Cathedral of Saint Sava or Temple of Saint Sava 

 

 

 Cathedral of St.Sava

 

 

Still under construction - they say it will take at least another 15 yrs to completion 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Ceremony taking place in the little chapel next to the Cathedral of St. Sava (see picture above)

 

 

 



 

 

Prince Michael @ square of the Republic

 

Winnie sitting on the art forms in the city

 Wayne trying to find & figure out the correct money to buy batteries

Serbian Lady

Viking provided shuttle service from the boat to city center until 5:30pm-free time for all. Before dinner, there was a lecture about "Serbia today".  After dinner, we enjoyed Serbian folkoric songs & dances in the lounge. The boat left Belgrade for Vukovar, Croatia at 11pm. 



 

(These night pics aren't my best - I eventually found a more appropriate setting)



DANUBE FLORA & FAUNA

"The Danube River basin, including its tributaries, has been called Europe's backbone of biodiversity - it's home to some 2,000 plant & 5,000 animal species.  More than 100 species of fish can be found in the Danube; sturgeon...mackerel, carp, catfish, perch, pike, barbel, crucian, bream, bleak, chub, nase, Balon's ruffe, Danube salmon & streber & more. Most of the Danube sturgeon species yield fine black roe, commonly know as caviar; as a result, the native sturgeon are endangered & catching them is banned."