It Was Pouring Rain When I Woke Up This Morning But I Headed Out Anyway......

.....and the day turned out to be beautiful.

The hotel had a pretty good breakfast and I went back to the room until about 10:00 when the rain slowed and I grabbed my umbrella and headed back up toward the Kalemegdan Fortress which sits high above the city at the confluence of the Sava and Danube Rivers.

The fortress is really old.  It's thought the Celts were the first to fortify this bluff before they moved on to France and eventually Scotland and Ireland.  The fortress is also huge and has been occupied by Romans, Turks, Hungarians, Austrians, Germans and the Soviets over the centuries.  It did avoid being bombed by NATO IN 1999.

A couple of the several fortified gates into the complex.

The views of the rivers and modern-day Belgrade are really nice.

For two thousand years, various occupying armies have been fortifying and adding to the fortress walls.

One of the few remaining Turkish monuments and remains of the Muslim occupation years--a memorial to a Turkish sultan.

I spent probably three hours prowling around the massive fortifications.  The military museum was closed but I'll probably return tomorrow or at least before I return home.

The Church of St. Petka is located within the fortress over a spring that is considered to have miraculous powers.  The entrance is distinguished by the life-size figures of a Turkish soldier and a Crusader.

The Rose Church of Our Lady is relatively new--the original church was destroyed by the occupying Muslim armies during the Ottoman Period.  Originally designed as a military chapel, the newer building is characterized inside by ornate and beautiful tile mosaics of Christ.  Again, no photos were allowed.

I headed back into town in early afternoon and visited the Knez Mihailova--a street that has been turned into a pedestrian mall with boutique shops and outdoor restaurants.  I had lunch there then walked around just looking mostly at the buildings.  This area of Belgrade is so much nicer that the area I saw around the train station yesterday.

Bought a couple of souvenirs and headed back to the hotel.  Turned out to be a pretty good day.