Learn about Yugoslavia and Serbia’s vibrant history and it’s monuments of power, while visiting the most attractive sites in Belgrade – Josip Broz Tito’s mausoleum, Nikola Tesla museum and St. Sava Temple.
Josip Broz Tito Museum and Mausoleum. Tito’s (the leader of ex-Yugoslavia and the Non-Aligned Movement) – greatest strength was his ability to maintain unity throughout the country and hold various fractions together. Following his death, the glue that held the federation together seemed to start becoming unstuck. Within ten years, ethnic divisions and conflict had grown to the extent that civil war was inevitable. Tito’s admirers would say that it was his political genius and powerful personality that held Yugoslavia together for so long. His critics would declare that it was by manipulation and political repression. The real truth is, definitely, somewhere between the two. His grave is at the “House of Flowers” Mausoleum.
Nikola Tesla Museum
Nikola Tesla Museum – is dedicated to honoring and displaying the life and work of Nikola Tesla and his scientist inventions, with original documents, books and exhibits.
Nikola Tesla was a great Serb physicist and inventor who became an international household name. Tesla went on to invent numerous gadgets and devices, many of which were way ahead of his time. Some, such as radio remote-control systems and electricity ignites for petrol engines, are widely used today, while other, such as the ‘electric laxative’, demonstrated an eccentricity that was unlikely to win converts. Many say that if it were not for occasional stubbornness and a poor sense of financial management, Tesla might have ended up as famous as Edison or Einstein. Despite a lack of deserved international recognition, he remains a Serbian national hero, and it is his face that currently decorates the 100 din note.
St. Sava’s Temple
Red Star football Stadium – Red Star’s impressive collection of trophies including UEFA Champions cup of 1991. As well as an impressive display of silverware, there are photographs and newspaper clips relating to the club’s illustrious history. Some of the most famous players from Red Star : Dragan Stojkovic Piksi, Dejan Savicevic, Robert Prosinecki, Dejan Rambo Petkovic, Nemanja Vidic and many more.
Saint Sava’s Temple, the largest orthodox Christian church in the world – just a short walk south to the Vracar neighborhood. The church’s enormous dome can be seen from all over the city, gleaming through Belgrade’s haze in all directions like a lighthouse. Size apart, the church is undeniably a highly impressive structure, a neo-Byzantine colossus with echoes of St. Sophia in Istanbul.