Silicon (e) Valley

Our guide asked us why we though this area was called Silicon Valley.  Rick guessed it had something to do with computers.  Randal joked and said it’s where all the women have silicone implants.  Randal was right.

“At midnight the street of Strahinjica bana on the edge of the old town is packed with people and cruising cars with tinted windscreens. The street is known locally as "Silicon Valley" for the number of surgically-enhanced trophy girlfriends on display.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk

“Cafés and bars in Strahinića Bana Street, locally known as "Silicon Valley", are the fanciest in Belgrade and people usually come here to see and to be seen, especially if you are owner of a smart car and wish to park it ostentatiously close to your chosen venue.” http://www.belgradenet.com/belgrade_cafes.html

Serbia’s nouveaux riches   By Jacky Rowland in Belgrade  Wednesday, 9 February, 2000,

     “The recent killing of the notorious Serb paramilitary leader and gangster, Zeljko "Arkan" Raznatovic, has thrown the spotlight on the new financial elite in Serbia. These are people who have made their money in the last 10 years, through dubious business deals and by busting international sanctions against Belgrade. The huge wealth amassed by this small group of individuals has given them considerable power and has put them above the law.

     The nouveaux riches like to flaunt their money, but they do not want to discuss where it came from.

They call themselves "businessmen" – business which often consists of smuggling, black marketeering and protection rackets. International sanctions which punish ordinary people are enriching these entrepreneurs.  The opposition is screaming for the embargo on oil and other goods to be lifted, but many people in high places are quite happy for it to remain. These people have so much money they don’t know what to do with it. They’ve bought houses, they’ve bought cars, now they want to buy back their youth.

      The nouveaux riches can be found in the few select shopping malls in Belgrade. That is where Italian designer boutiques offer solutions to the dilemma of how to spend one’s cash. The prices here would raise eyebrows even in London: it is easy to spend twice the average monthly Serbian income on a pair of shoes.

There has been an upsurge of interest in cosmetic surgery among Serbian high society.

A number of politicians’ wives have benefited from appearance-enhancing treatments, including breast implants, liposuction and "nose-jobs".

"These people have so much money they don’t know what to do with it," says Bratislav Grubacic, a political analyst.

"They’ve bought houses, they’ve bought cars, now they want to buy back their youth."

     Education and spiritual values don’t count in Serbia today. All that counts is money and material things, and it doesn’t matter how you get them.  There is no shortage of wannabes: young men and young women who see Arkan and his lavish lifestyle as a role model. Many girls have embarked on a career as a model in the hope that their looks will take them places, preferably away from Serbia.  In the meantime, there is at least the chance of earning some decent money: a model can earn more in a day than a factory worker earns in a month.

     "Education and spiritual values don’t count in Serbia today," said Nebojsa Grncarski, a successful male model.   "All that counts is money and material things, and it doesn’t matter how you get them."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/633920.stm

Even in 2014 this pretty much what our tour guides said was true. 

This bar, around the corner from “silicon valley” was popular during days of communism  and is still popular with no stigma attached.  Serbia had ‘soft” communism so it is viewed differently.

The Manak’s House (Manakova kuća) – The house was built in 1830 and has been preserved as the last surviving example of an old Belgrade town house.  It got its name from its owner Manak Mihailović, a merchant from Macedonia. The first floor was used as a residence, while the ground floor housed an inn and a bakery, and later a post office and various tradesmen’s workshops. Today it is a museum housing an ethnographic collection.  http://www.jobeograd.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=79&itemid=102

Manak’s House treasures exceptionally valuable ethnographic memorial collection of Hristifor Crnilović. This house of irregular shape is a venue of the Ethnographic Museum and an example of old urban architecture in the Balkans. Today exhibitions and workshops for learning old trades are being organized here.

Manak’s House originates from the year of 1830 and there are numerous stories about its origin. According to one of such stories, the house was built as a harem of the Turkish aga who left Serbia after the arrival of Prince Miloš Obrenović. For some time the house served as the post office, and later it was bought by Manojlo Manak who opened a bakery and a kafana (traditional tavern) at the ground floor and the first floor he used for living quarters. Nevertheless, the house was named after Manojlo’s cousin from Macedonia and his inheritor, Manak Manojlović.  Its irregular shape was conditioned by the shape of the parcel in Savamala, on the old road that connected this settlement with Varoš kapija (today’s Kraljevića Marka Street, no. 10).  http://www.serbia.com/manaks-house/

Hristifor Crnilović – explorer, painter and collector  http://www.serbia.com/manaks-house/ tells his really interesting story.  “Most of the items from the collection he collected between the two world wars, while working as a teacher in Skopje.  At the beginning of each summer break he would buy a horse and he would visit villages in Macedonia and Southern Serbia. With great passion he collected different items that testify on customs and people living in the late 19th and at the beginning of the 20th century.”

Real zebra crossings.

In Belgrade cars must stop for pedestrians at zebra crossings unless there is a  light also which takes precedence.  Someone had painted real zebras around what is now a children’s school.

The Bajrakli Mosque

     The Bajrakli Mosque in the centre of Belgrade, in Gospodar Jevremova street, got its name from the flag (Turkish, bayrak) that signalled the call to prayer to other mosques. As the endowment of Sultan Suleiman II, it is the only remaining mosque of the many that once existed in Belgrade. It was built between 1660 and 1688 and is of the type with a square floor-plan, single interior space and a dome resting on an octagonal tambour. It is built of stone, except the minaret which is brick. During its history it has been demolished or its function changed a number of times.

     It was originally called Čohadži Mosque, after its benefactor, a textiles (čoha) trader called Hadži-Alija. It was a structure with a single interior space, dome and minaret. During the period of Austrian rule (1717-1739) it was turned into a Catholic church. This period also saw the majority of Belgrade’s mosques destroyed. Upon the return of the Turks it once again became a mosque. Hussein-bey, assistant to Turkish chief commander Ali-pasha, restored it as a place of worship in 1741 and thus for a time it was Hussein-bey’s (or –beg’s) Mosque or Hussein-ćehaja’s Mosque (ćehaja means assistant).

     After its restoration in the 19th century, which was undertaken by Serbian noblemen, it became the central city mosque. Today it is the only active Muslim place of worship in Belgrade.

http://www.serbia.travel/

Our next stop was the Fortress of Belgrade which, once upon a time, was the city of Belgrade, everything within the walls of the city.

http://www.leisureguide.info/portal/index/company/634578?category_id=22  has great photos and tells you everything you might want to know about this Fortress, its gates, walls and buildings. 

The Sava is on the left and the Danube is perpendicular to it on the right.

Belgrade Fortress

     “The Belgrade Fortress was built as a defensive structure on a ridge overlooking the confluence of the Sava and the Danube during the period from the 1st to the 18th century. Today the fortress is a unique museum of the history of Belgrade. The complex is made up of the Belgrade Fortress itself, divided into the Upper and Lower Towns (Gornji/Donji grad) and the Kalemegdan Park.

     Because of its exceptional strategic importance, a fortification – a Roman ‘castrum’ – was erected here at the end of the first century A.D., as a permanent military camp for the Fourth Flavian Legion. After being razed to the ground by the Goths and the Huns, the fortification was rebuilt in the first decades of the sixth century. Less than a century later it was demolished by the Avars and the Slavs.

     Around this fortification on the hill above the Sava and Danube confluence, the ancient settlement of Singidunum grew up, followed by the Slav settlement of Belgrade in the same place. The Belgrade Fortress has frequently been demolished and rebuilt. On top of the Roman walls stand Serbian ramparts on top of which are Turkish and Austrian fortifications. In the 12th century the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Comnenus built a new castle on the Roman ruins. During the first decades of the 14th century this small hill-top fortification was extended as far as the river banks.

     Under the rule of Despot Stefan Lazarević, Belgrade became the new capital of Serbia and was fortified by the addition of the extensive fortifications of the Upper and Lower Town. The Despot’s palace was built in the old castle, and a military harbour was added on the Sava River. An advanced mediaeval city developed within the ramparts.

     A new era began with the Austro-Turkish War. As a key fortification at the heart of the fighting during the 18th century, the Fortress was rebuilt three times. The old castle was demolished and a large part of the mediaeval walls were covered by new fortifications. Under the Austrian occupation from 1717 to 1739, and after the construction of new modern fortifications, the Belgrade Fortress was one of the strongest military strongholds in Europe. It was built to plans drawn up by Colonel Nicolas Doxat de Démoret, a Swiss serving in the Austrian Army. By a quirk of fate the builder of the fortress was shot right in front of the fortress walls at dawn in March 1738, because of the defeat of the army at Niš. Prior to the return of the Turks to Belgrade in 1740, all the newly constructed fortifications were demolished. By the end of the 18th century the Belgrade fortress had taken on its final shape. Nearly all the buildings in the Upper and Lower Towns were destroyed in the fighting during the previous decades and the walls were badly damaged.

     Two streets, Knez Mihailova and Uzun-Mirkova lead to the Belgrade Fortress. The two main gates on that side are the Stambol Gate (Stambol-kapija) (inner and outer) and the Clock Gate (Sahat-kapija). The mediaeval fortress was entered from the east (alongside today’s Zoological Garden), through the Prison Gate (Zindan kapija) and the Despot’s Gate (Despotova kapija) in the Upper Town. The Lower Town is approached via Bulevar vojvode Bojovića (via the Vidin Gate – Vidin-kapija) and from Karađorđeva street (the Dark Gate – Mračna kapija).

www.beogradskatvrdjava.co.rs

Zindan Gate Complex

     “This semicircular fortification – the Zindan Gate Complex was built in the middle of the fifteenth century, in front of the Despot Gate. It consists of arched gates having two rounded towers and a bridge. The gate has, along with massive doors with wings reinforced with iron, auxiliary rooms as well. The Zindan Gates are identical in shape and purpose, but there are not connected in any way. The upper part of the towers ended with tines because of specially built screens, the so-called ‘musarabije’ (meaning “nose for tar”) or ‘masikula’, which were very efficient and functional in repelling the enemy beneath the tower’s walls. The towers had more levels which were interconnected. The Turks used the towers’ basement as dungeons for Christians. Hence the name for the whole complex (Turkish word ‘zindan’ stands for dungeon). The towers were reconstructed in 1938.”  http://www.leisureguide.info/portal/index/company/634578?category_id=22

King Gate

“The gate was built within the south-western rampart, in the period between 1693 and 1696. It got its final shape during the Austrian reconstruction of the Fortress in the first decades of the eighteenth century. The gate has a baroque appearance, with a half-vault and rooms located at the inner side of the rampart. At the outside of the gate there is a bridge tiled with wood bricks which replaced the former construction of wooden bridge in 1928.” http://www.leisureguide.info/

One of the churches within the fortress.

Looking out over the Sava River

This lovely stone building is now the office/workshop of archeologists who Do Not Want Visitors as It’s Not A Museum.  I found this out when I went in to ask.    Too bad because it looked really interesting but then I guess they’d never get work done of some visitor would break something.

The Victor Monument

This is a humorous telling of the Victor monument’s saga, but pretty much matches what our tour guides told us. 

     “The Victor monument, the most famous Belgrade landmark ended up in Kalemegdan by chance. It was previously planned to place the monument in the middle of Terazije square, together with two other smaller  statues as a part of a grandiose monument complex that was supposed to be our

version of Triumphant Arc – a symbol of Serbian victory over the conquerors in the Balkan wars. But, just before everything was ready, the First World War broke out and the plan was postponed, everything but the Victor destroyed or never finished, and the plan had to be changed.  Not only that, but somebody noticed that the monument was, well, naked, and that it didn’t look very

Serbian (I don’t know if they were referring to his nose or something else) so

the city authorities placed him at the most secluded Kalemegdan part they could

think of.  Legend says that his frontal part was pointed towards the defeated

Austro-Hungarian empire and the background towards the Ottoman empire, which indeed makes sense when you think about it.”  http://www.belgraded.com/the-victor-monument-kalemegdan

While at the Fortress we were told the early history of Belgrade and shown the location of the Roman wells.  Many of the tunels under the fortress are blocked off since some teenagers went wandering around in them and not all came out again. 

The Princess lived here while the Prince lived elsewhere with his mistress, or so we were told.

The Residence of Princess Ljubica, built in 1831, is a rare preserved example of architecture from the time of Prince Miloš Obrenović (1783–1860). The wife of Prince Miloš, Princess Ljubica lived there with their sons Milan and Mihailo.

The Residence is presently a museum housing the permanent exhibition “Interiors of Belgrade Homes in the 19th Century”. The development of the modern Serbian state and Belgrade’s transformation from an Oriental city to a modern European town can be traced in the transitions of interior decoration styles in the homes of sovereigns and prominent 19th-century Belgrade families. With its furniture and other household stuff typical of the early 19th-century houses in Belgrade, like benches, the dinner table (sofra), a low round table (sini), a brazier (mangal), and Oriental cookware, the room of Princess Ljubica reflects the earliest stage in that process. It is flanked by the Little Hamam and the Great Hamam (Turkish baths). The Little Hamam, the only room in the Residence adorned with wall paintings, is decorated in the Rococo Revival style. The other interiors presented within the permanent exhibition show the features of various Western and Central European decoration styles that came into use in Serbia throughout the 19th century: Biedermeier, the Second Empire style, Baroque Revival, Rococo, Alt Deutsch, etc. The permanent exhibition also presents 18th- and 19th-century engravings of Belgrade and Serbia, as well as numerous portraits of Serbia’s 19th-century rulers and prominent citizens.

http://www.mgb.org.rs/

St Michael’s Cathedral

The Cathedral Church of St. Michael the Archangel (Serbian: Саборна Црква Св. Архангела Михаила, Saborna Crkva Sv. Arhangela Mihaila) is a Serb Orthodox Christian church in the centre of Belgrade, Serbia. It is one of the most important places of worship in the country. It is commonly known as just Saborna crkva (The Cathedral) among the city residents. http://mybelgrade.net/item/st-michaels-cathedral/

Museum of the Serbian Orthodox Church is housed in the Patriarch’s residence

The Patriarchate (Patrijaršija) building houses this collection of ecclesiastical items, many of which were collected by St Sava, founder of the independent Serbian Orthodox church.

Read more: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/

     Until 1054 AD Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism were branches of the same body—the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. This date marks an important moment in the history of all Christian denominations because it designates the very first major division in Christianity and the beginning of "denominations." Disagreement between these two branches of Christendom had already long existed, but the widening gap between the Roman and Eastern churches increased throughout the first millennium with a progression of worsening disputes.

     On religious matters the two branches disagreed over issues pertaining to the nature of the Holy Spirit, the use of icons in worship and the correct date for celebrating Easter. Cultural differences played a major role too, with the Eastern mindset more inclined toward philosophy, mysticism, and ideology, and the Western outlook guided more by a practical and legal mentality.

     This slow process of separation was encouraged in 330 AD when Emperor Constantine decided to move the capital of the Roman Empire to the city of Byzantium (Byzantine Empire, modern-day Turkey) and called it Constantinople. When he died his two sons divided their rule, one taking the Eastern portion of the empire and ruling from Constantinople and the other taking the western portion, ruling from Rome.

     In 1054 AD a formal split occurred when Pope Leo IX (leader of the Roman branch) excommunicated the Patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Cerularius (leader of the Eastern branch), who in turn condemned the pope in mutual excommunication.

http://christianity.about.com/od/easternorthodoxy/a/orthodoxhistory.htm

Tugba and Emre from Izmir, Turkey were also on the walking tour.  Our guides were sensitive and tactful when speaking of the wars between Yugoslavia and the Ottoman Empire

Question Mark Café  -  see the question mark over the door

The Question Mark Inn (Kafana "?") – This building close to the Cathedral and Patriarch’s Home, in typical Serbian-Balkan style, was built in 1823 from the materials that were then in most common use – wood and clay.  The building has changed owners (including Prince Miloš Obrenovic) and purpose on a number of occasions, but mostly it served as an inn.  Its name varied through the time: "Tomina kafana" ("Toma’s Inn"), "Kod pastira" ("At the Shepherd’s"), "Kod Saborne crkve" ("At the Cathedral"), until eventually the church authorities requested that the inn sign be removed as "a sacrilege against the Church of God." The owner then put up a temporary sign with a question mark which has remained its name to this day. http://www.jobeograd.org/

We had some lunch of bread, Serbian curd cheese, and cabbage rolls. 

This is the route we followed and it took all of the 2.5 hours plus.  Good thing I brought snacks.  DoraMac was located not far from the orange Sport Center on the water.  So we walked from there to Republic Square and then back to the fortress with the tour and then back toward Republic Square where the tour ended.  And then back to Doramac!

Katrina the tour veteran and Dora, with the orange umbrella who was leading her first tour with Katrina to help her out when necessary.

Prince Mihaijlo Obrenovic statue

   This stumped me right away trying to remember the stories we were told and none of us remembered the same stories relating to the lack of a crown on Prince Mihaijlo’s head.  I remember the “story” of the sculptor being so mortified for forgetting the crown that he commit suicide. NOT TRUE.

Rick, Randal and Mary remembered some story about a second statue being made in another town by the same sculptor and that one had a crown.  I can’t find any proof of that.  And then there’s the story about the “horse’s ass “ café or maybe it really is the restaurant behind the horse.

“Favorite thing:  I have been assured that Republic Square is not the literal center of Belgrade but it is only about 100 yards from Terazije which is the official center of Belgrade.  Nevertheless, every time that I have been asked to meet someone in Belgrade it has been either "at the horse statue,"(which is in Republic Square) or at the train/bus station. Many bus lines stop by Republic Square. It is also the site of some of Belgrade’s most recognizable public buildings, including the National Museum and the National Theatre.

"The horse statue" is actually a bronze statue of Prince Michael (or Mihailo) on a horse, by the Italian sculptor Enrico Pazzi. It was erected in 1882 in honor of the Prince’s most important political achievement, the complete expulsion of the Turks from Serbia and liberation of the remaining seven cities within what was then (in 1867) Serbian territory. The names of the cities are carved on plates on the monument, on the statue’s pedestal, and the prince is allegedly sculpted with his hand pointing toward Constantinople, indicating where he wanted the Turks to go. However, his hand actually points to the north-east instead of the south-east, which is the correct direction from Belgrade to Turkey.  In recent years, the honor accorded to Prince Mihailo has declined significantly and the statue is often referred to simply as kod konja (Serbian for ‘at the horse’).  Even the nearby restaurant is named, Kod Konja.”    Republic Square  by etfromnc Written Aug 15, 2011     http://www.virtualtourist.com

There is rather common and morbid legend about the inauguration ceremony – the story says that a child cried "Knez has no cap! He is bareheaded!!!".   Pazzi’s "mistake" was the cause of his suicide. Reality is quite more pleasant – on the inauguration ceremony Pazzi received the Medal of the Knight of the Royal Order of Takovo of II degree from King Milan Obrenovic.  He lived in Florance for 17 more years, and died in 1899, at the age of 80.

http://www.virtualtourist.com/   Our guides told us this story though I’m not sure they said it was a story…..

More tangential trivia….

http://www.theflorentine.net/articles/article-view.asp?issuetocId=6520 interesting article showing how Pazzi’s life intertwined with the poet Dante. 

We were also told the code of a horse’s legs related to statues.  Prince Mihaijlo Obrenovic  was actually assassinated not hurt or killed in battle.   But the code is questionable anyway.

This reply to a letter about the horse’s legs code was written by the Superintendent of the National Park Service in the US. 

“Dear Sir:

Your letter of October 19, 1931 is received and noted.

The story that the posture of the horse in equestrian statues on this battlefield indicates whether the rider was killed, wounded, or unhurt seems to be one of those myths which grow up around historical places and are almost impossible to destroy. Sculptors whom I have consulted assure me there is no such convention connected with the art.

This office does not countenance the story. On the contrary, invariably discourages it. It seems, however, to appeal to some imaginations among both guides and tourists.

If you are in position to supply the name of your guide or the number of his cap, I can possibly stop one from further reciting the myth.

Very truly yours,

E. E. Davis,

Superintendent  National Park Service “

http://npsgnmp.wordpress.com/

National Museum on the left “under-reconstruction and the National Theater on the right.

The museum apparently contains a wonderful collection of prehistoric artifacts, icons, religious books, Serbian and European art.  The renovation has been going on for years and years with the museum remaining closed.  No end in sight apparently which seems a shame but the locals seemed resigned to that.

The small but charming old “Bohemian Quarter”

Once the home of many Serbian poets, writers, artists, and actors, the cobble-stoned Skadarlija (or Skadarska) street today hosts some of the best restaurants in Belgrade, all of which strive to preserve bohemian traditions from the early 19th century. Definitely the place to go if you want to get a feel of the atmosphere of Belgrade’s old times, cruise art galleries, shop for antiques or souvenirs, or taste the best of local food.”

http://www.belgradeeye.com/skadarlija.html

The tale of the origins of Skadarlija tells us that in that

very spot, many a year ago, a mother with her daughter

and son decided to settle down. This was spurred by

the predictions of an old lady, telling of how her children

would become famous, her son a sage and her daughter

a princess. As long years went by and her children

grew up, the prediction of the old woman came true to

the letter, so the mother, somewhat melancholy for her

children leaving, found herself back on the Skadar slope.

She sat and recalled everything and, as if relieved, she

felt her first tears rolling down her cheeks. And so it

began. Evermore, the tears of weariness, emptiness and

joy flowed together, gushed over the meadow and kept

flowing downhill into a tiny stream. The stream slowly

carved the ground, leaving an ever increasing runnel,

like a small river bed. The meandering slope carried the

water downhill. A spring of potable water sprung up in

this very place. In time, people started settling down on

both sides of the stream. At first, these were poor slums,

followed by inns visited by the poor, artists and actors.

Thus the Skadarska Street was born, later well known as

Skadarlija, eventually becoming but a pale shadow of the

former bohemian street. However, the spring still flows

to this day…

Maja Stamenković, Legends of Belgrade, Signature,

Belgrade, 2002

http://www.tob.rs/download/Everlasting%20Skadarlija.pdf  a 22 page pdf file that tells everything you’d want to know about the area.

Skadarlija is the old Bohemian Quarter of Belgrade and dates back to late 19th and early 20th century. It was back then when its kafane (taverns and restaurants) were a meeting place for many of the greatest figures of the cultural scene of the period. It is often compared with the Montmartre in Paris, both for its appearance and the cheerful, vigorous artists’ atmosphere. The area is home to some of Belgrade’s best restaurants, offering the traditional national cuisine, most notably the roštilj (grilled meat) with pivo (beer). Every restaurant has live musicians playing traditional songs. The musicians travel from table to table and the guests often sing along.

Serbian cuisine is very rich with heavy creams and cheeses. The stuffed peppers were a particular favorite of ours, which we enjoyed with each of our meals. I recommend a nighttime stroll around Kalemegdan park to walk off a bit of your meal!  http://jdombstravels.com/

Đura Jakšić ‘s house

Djura Jaksic (1832-1878) was a poet, painter, narrator, play writer, and great patriot. He occasionally spent time in Novi Sad and was friendly with Jasa Ignjatovic (another famous Serbian author…..

A 150 cm. bronze monument, also by Jovan Soldatovic and erected in 1990, stands before Jakšic’s former home in Skadarlija, Belgrade…”  http://www.hyperbyte.net/Jaksic/  is a good introduction to the art and poetry of Djura Jaksic

Birthland

This rocky pile of Serbian earth, which thrusts

Up through the cloud, and menaces the sun,

By the dark wrinkles of its sullen brow

Tells of times infinitely far away

And shows us, as in a silent mimicry,

The deep-sunk furrows on its face engraven.

Ages of darkness-here behold their print

In those black wrinkles, in those pits of gloom.

This pile of stone is like some pyramid

That springs out of the dust towards high heaven,

A heap, no more, of craggy skeletons

Which, in their mortal combat with the foe,

Thy fathers of their own free choice had raised,

Cementing with the blood of patriot hearts

Their shattered bones and sinews – to prepare

For their sons’ sons a place of ambuscade

Whence they, with scornful valor, should hereafter

Await the foe, with all his ravening bands.

Thus far, no farther, to this pile of stone

This mighty ramparts,

Thy unclean foot may chance to penetrate!

Wilt thou dare farther?…Thou shalt hear the thunders

Breaking the quiet of this land of freemen

With horrible clamor; thou shalt understand

Then, in thy coward soul, their dauntless voice;

And then, upon that hard and rocky wall

Shalt break the bald crown of thy shaven pate

In wild distraction and dismay; and yet

Through the dread crash and rattle of that warfare

Shalt hear one single utterance, one thought: –

‘Behold the Serbians’ birthland, now their own!’

http://www.experienceproject.com

Plaque on the wall of Ðura Jakšic’s house in Skadarska (Skadarlija), Belgrade:

Tiny print isn’t a problem; it’s all in Serbian so impossible to read.  The frustration in being and English/Latin alphabet only person.  And Hebrew print; I can recognize the letters of Hebrew print even if I can’t translate most of it anymore.

Little further stands brewery BIP that used to belong to one of the richest Belgrade families, Bajloni. At the very end of the street, you will find Sebilj Fountain, replica of the fountain that stands in Baščaršija in Sarajevo.

Although Skadarlija is not particularly convenient for high heels and tipsy walk, it is still very appealing among visitors of all ages.  http://www.belgradian.com/sightseeing/skadarlija/

Maybe the Brewery? 

Sebilj Fountain

Aleksandar Vitek, architect (Skadarska Street; erected in 1989)

The Sebilj Fountain at the lower end of Skadarlija is a replica of the Sebilj Fountain in Baščaršija, donated to Belgrade by Sarajevo in 1989. According to Ottoman tradition the Sebilj or public fountains were built on squares or crossroads.

http://www.tob.rs/en/see_in.php?id=102

The Sebilj (Bosnian: sebilj – Turkish: sebil) is a kiosk-shaped public fountain made out of wood and stone, usually built at the public squares or intersections of important roads. Such fountains were common in the lands that were ruled by The Ottoman Empire. The particular design of the fountain that will be built in St. Louis is a work of the Bosnian governor under the Ottomans, Hadži-Mehmed-Paša Kukavica, who built Sarajevo’s Sebilj in 1753 in a part of the city called Baščaršija.

The Sebilj in Sarajevo was relocated by Czech architect Alexander Vitek in 1891. He rebuilt the Sebilj with the features of a pseudo-Moorish style of architecture copied from the stone Sebilj in Constantinople (todays Istanbul). That particular Sebilj, built by Vitek, is the one currently located in Sarajevo.

Over the years many copies of Sarajevo’s Sebilj were built throughout the world. The city of Sarajevo gave a Sebilj as a gift to the city of Beograd, Serbia in 1989, and that Sebilj is still located in Beograd’s neighborhood of Skadarlije. Novi Pazar (Serbia), Birmingham (England) and Sarajevo’s sister city Bursa (Turkey), also have each a Sebilj modeled after the one located in Sarajevo. Our great hope is for St. Louis to become a host for such a cultural, architectural and historic monument, as a sign of friendship and great respect between the Bosnian community and all other communities in St. Louis.

http://www.stlbosnians.com/what-is-sebilj/

The fruit and vegetable market

Knez Mihailova street across from the entrance to the Fortress complex.  The City Library is the building on the left.   More about this pedestrian plaza in another email.