Belgrade city guide

With its two large rivers and their confluence, numerous small and large river islands and thickets on the banks, Belgrade is a place where one sometime forgets that he is a capital of a land-locked country. No surprise then that painter Pedja Milosavljević coined the phrase – and named his poetic book after it – “Belgrade, the city on the sea”.

Belgraders seem to be enjoying their rivers more and more. Some go angling, some swimming, others embark on their small boats, many pay a visit to a friend’s floating house and all of them enjoy a walk or a bicycle ride on their banks. However, all of these activities loose their edge if we don’t stop, look, breathe in and enjoy the calming surfaces of the water.

One of the spots where I especially like to do this is at the bottom of the Belgrade Fortress right on the confluence of the River Sava into the Danube. From here you see the Sava and a smaller arm of the Danube, the grove on the other bank as well as those on the Great War Island (Veliko ratno ostrvo). Except for the buzz of the metropolis in the backdrop, the civilization seems to fade away and one is free to imagine far flung places and times gone by. For that extra feel come here at sunset when the muddy water turns almost as red as the brick walls of the fort behind you. Then linger here for a while.