Belgrade

The Belgrade Fortress is the prestart of the present Belgrade. Only after you have visited it, you may realize why Belgrade was under siege and changed its masters so many times and why the East and West cross so powerfully and pationately in it.
A legend says that Jason, the leader of Argonauts, was the first one who saw "the white town above the Danube", sailing on the Istar (the Danube), looking for the Golden Fleece. The Celts were expelled from Singidunum (a complex name consisting of the name of 'Singi'  tribe and the Celtic word for a town 'dunum') by the Romans and the latter constructed a fortress. In the Third Crusade (in 1189), the Crusaders of Friedrich the First Barbarossa found their shelter there. It became the Serbian medieval capital under the rule of Despot Stefan Lazarević. His court and fortress walls resist both sieges and weather impact itself. "The Rampart of Christianity" - Belgrade became Turkish in 1521. The town field in front of the fortress was called Kalemegdan (kale - town and megdan - field) and the hill on which the fortress was constructed was called Ficir Bair (The Hill for Thinking). In the 17th century, Belgrade was alternatively ruled by the  Austrians and Turks and the present ramparts, gates, towers and the 'Roman' Well are mostly from that time. By the town key handover to the Duke Mihailo Obrenović, in 1867, Kalemegdan became Serbian again and lost the importance of a military base.
At present, the Belgrade Fortress and Kalemegdan Park are the meeting point of the worldwide tourists, a beautiful place, from which one has a view to the Sava, the Danube and the Panonian Plain. This fascinating time machine includes the Clock Tower, the Stambol Gate, the Zindan Tower, one of the most beautiful fortresses, under the Turkish name meaning 'the jail', the churches, gates, the Bell Tower, the Down Town with the Nebojša Tower, around which many programs and events take place, various museums, restaurants and its trade mark - the Victor Monument, created by the sculptor Ivan Meštrović.