Belgrade stands on a ridge where the Sava flows into the Danube, a spot so strategic that armies have fought over it for more than two thousand years. The result is a city of layers, Roman, Ottoman, Habsburg, Yugoslav and Serbian, often within a few streets of each other. Here are the facts and stories that make it special.
10 fun facts about Belgrade
- A white city: Beograd simply means white city, a name recorded since the 9th century and probably inspired by the pale stone of its fortress.
- Celtic and Roman roots: a Celtic tribe, the Scordisci, settled here in the 3rd century BC, and the Romans later turned the site into the fortress town of Singidunum.
- A Turkish name for a Serbian landmark: Kalemegdan, the park around Belgrade Fortress, takes its name from the Turkish words for fortress and field.
- The Victor: Ivan Meštrović's bronze Pobednik, unveiled in 1928 for the tenth anniversary of the breakthrough on the Salonika Front, stands on a column above the rivers. He holds a falcon in his left hand and a sword in his right.
- Tesla's ashes: the Nikola Tesla Museum keeps the inventor's ashes in a gilded sphere, alongside his papers and personal belongings.
- One of the largest Orthodox churches in the world: the Church of Saint Sava stands on the Vračar plateau, where, according to tradition, the Ottoman authorities burned the relics of Saint Sava in 1595. Work on it began in the 1930s and then paused for decades.
- A bohemian street: Skadarlija, a short cobbled street of taverns, was the haunt of writers, painters and actors around 1900, and musicians still play old Belgrade songs there in the evenings.
- A town from another empire: Zemun, now part of Belgrade, was a Habsburg border town facing Ottoman Belgrade for much of its history. Its Gardoš Tower was built in 1896 to celebrate a thousand years of Hungary.
- A lake called the sea: Ada Ciganlija, a river island turned into a peninsula with a long lake, is nicknamed Belgrade's sea, and its beaches fill up on summer weekends.
- A summit that made history: in September 1961 Belgrade hosted the first summit of the Non-Aligned Movement, with leaders such as Tito, Nehru, Nasser and Sukarno.
The tavern called ?
Opposite the Orthodox Cathedral of St Michael stands a low house built in 1823. Prince Miloš Obrenović gave it to a man known as Ećim Toma, who turned it into a kafana, a traditional Serbian tavern. It changed its name several times, and in 1892 its owner wanted to call it By the Cathedral Church. The church authorities objected to a cathedral being named on a tavern sign, so the owner hung a question mark over the door as a temporary solution. It stuck. The kafana is still called ?, and it is described as the oldest traditional tavern in Belgrade that is still open.
Belgrade Fortress, explained
Belgrade Fortress stands on the ridge above the confluence, on a site fortified since Roman times. Most of what you see today dates from the 18th century, when the city passed back and forth between the Austrians and the Ottomans. Inside the walls are a military museum, a clock tower, a deep well and two small churches, Ružica and St Petka, whose spring is believed to heal. The viewpoint by the Victor looks across to Zemun and New Belgrade.
What to eat in Belgrade
- Ćevapi: small grilled minced-meat sausages, served in flatbread with chopped raw onion.
- Pljeskavica: a large, flat grilled patty, Serbia's answer to the burger, often stuffed with cheese.
- Kajmak: a rich, slightly salty dairy spread that goes on bread, ćevapi and almost everything else.
- Burek: flaky pastry filled with meat, cheese or spinach, a breakfast classic with a glass of drinking yoghurt.
- Rakija: fruit brandy, above all šljivovica made from plums. In 2022, Serbia's šljivovica traditions were added to UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage.
Good to know before you go
- Watch the sunset over the confluence from the walls of Kalemegdan, one of the best free views in the city.
- Serbia uses the dinar, not the euro. Both Cyrillic and Latin script are in everyday use, so signs may appear in either.
- Walk along the Danube from the city centre to Zemun for fish restaurants on the river and the view from Gardoš Tower.
- Dress modestly at the Church of Saint Sava, and go down to the crypt, which is covered in gold mosaics.
Explore Belgrade with World City Trail
Our Belgrade scavenger hunt turns these sights into a game you play on your phone. The route leads through the main sights of the city centre and takes around two hours, with about 29 minutes of walking.
At each stop you solve a puzzle and hear a short story, at your own pace. You can start whenever you like.
Play the Belgrade scavenger hunt →
Facts checked in October 2026.