Bohemian Belgrade

The reverie of visiting Belgrade, also known as the Gateway of the Balkans, lasts for a long time to come, writes Sonia Nazareth

Bridging the gap between East and West, a visit to the metropolis is never a journey to just one place, for the population is defined by its divergence. This gritty city, that’s survived a chaotic past, driven by assorted battles for the expansion of empire, and once a communist capsule, is now distinguished by the sheer velocity of its energy and an open cosmopolitan spirit.

The first thing I notice, as I wander the streets around Republic Square, is the freedom from the monopoly of any one architectural style. Here lie remnants of the Habsburg dynasty. There lie Ottoman relics. Everywhere Art Nouveau masterpieces rub shoulders with gritty socialist blocks.
As if accentuating the contrasts, vast parklands elbow the mass of urbanity. Here the National Theater. There the Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences. Walking down the pedestrian boulevard that is Knez Mihailova, it becomes infinitely clear that, while historical buildings here
may be built in size XXL, the city is nevertheless human sized. It is on foot that I reach the ancient Belgrade Fortress.

Crucible of Culture - Novi Sad

Historical

Rising like a phoenix from a dark past, this citadel, that was destroyed over 40 times, chatters of a bloody history of conquest and settlement. But while the past is not forgotten, there’s the distinct surging feeling of hope over history, in a city that’s now running high on a cool quotient. In the Kalemegdan Park, where the Sava and Danube Rivers kiss, I’m turned off the straight-and-narrow, at the sight of floating river clubs that boast a swinging scene, when the sun falls like a low orange ball in the sky.

Summertime proffers a rambunctious scene, especially with the Danube barges rocking along, but I’m told that no matter when one visits Belgrade, every night feels like a weekend. Musical offerings range widely — from jazz to electronic.

But to look at Belgrade only for the offerings of its much-touted nightlife, is really to only scratch the surface of a complex metro. Travellers vote with their feet outside the Nikolai Tesla Museum. Tesla, was best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current electricity supply system. His ashes lie here in a glowing orb. The museum is so popular, that I have to crane my neck to see science come alive through the interactive, technical exhibits on display.

White Swans, Zemun

Stellar

Another obvious city draw is the Church of Saint Sava. This, the largest
orthodox church in the Balkans, with its enormous central dome and building planned in the form of a Greek cross, is always a work in progress. What it lacks in completion, it more than compensates for by its collection of good, golly, gosh art and mosaic work, wallpapering the walls and ceiling.

On the trail of the past, the Museum of Yugoslavia, becomes an essential port of call. The life of President Tito and Belgrade’s communist years are brought to light here — through photographs, films, artefacts and historical documents.

Tito’s Mausoleum can also be visited here, upon sculpture-studded museum grounds.

If you have time for a day trip, take a one-hour drive to nearby Novi Sad. Located on the banks of the Danube, the city is a crucible of culture. A striking historic building like the Petrovaradin Fortress, becomes a venue every July to — EXIT — the largest four-day music festival in South East
Europe. But no matter when you visit, there’s always an artistic buzz.

Galleries, museums and performance venues lie thick on the ground — but especially notable is the Gallery of Matica Srpska, carpeted with stellar Serbian art — ranging from the Byzantine to the modernist.

Back in Belgrade that night, I feel confronted once more by a litany of choices — head to one of the parks that unfold through the city like green banners, or to New Belgrade for a peek at the residential-business part of the city. To the Royal Palace complex or the much-heralded Bohemian district? In the end, I settle for Zemun, a neighbourhood dotted with restaurants on the banks of the Danube. By the river, people appear lost in the loveliness of the sunset and each other. Swans float by. Street musicians play.

At the end of the day there are many scales by which to measure cities, but if one were to assess them for their diversity, energy and ability to overcome a gruelling past — Belgrade’s as large-hearted as they come.