Although just yesterday I shared with the Hive community a picture of the first signs of spring in my city, the achenes on the branches have grown, are about to bloom, today I continued my walk, and spent part of the day outside.
Since I live in a big city, I have very few places where I can spend a little longer without walking around in circles. These are several parks, river banks, and our famous Kalemegdan fortress.
The fortress is far from the settlement where I live, so I reached it by car, which I left in the parking lot in the Lower town.
The Lower town is part of the fortress, which is actually outside the walls of the fortress, below the fortified town.
The Upper town (fortified on a hill) can be reached through several gates, ascending by steps, through ramparts.
This ascent was not difficult for me today, but I imagine🤔
The Middle Ages, heavy armor on me, and I'm going to conquer such a fortress, a bow over my shoulder, a quiver for arrows on my back, a heavy sword hung around my belt, and an ax for close combat in my hand.
With such equipment, I believe I would have stayed forever under those walls, especially if you take into account the dexterity of the archers of that time.
Even today's ones are not bad, they hit the target in the center.
I pass one of the best-preserved gates of the Lower Town, the Charles VI Gate.
At the foot of the fortress, on the right side of the passage that you have to pass through to enter the upper town, there is a building of an unusual shape, with a domed roof.
Built in the middle of the 19th century, as a Turkish bath, after 100 years of its turbulent history, it was turned into a Planetarium in 1960 and some years later. At that time, it was the largest planetarium in this part of Europe...
But we will talk about it another time.
I cross the rampart with stone steps and climb towards the famous Kalemegdan churches, "Sveta Petka" and "Ružica".
After taking a photo of the beautiful mosaic on the exterior walls of the church dedicated to Sveta Petka and after lighting the candles, I go to an interesting, but awe-inspiring place.
In the very corner of the walls, next to the steel cross, there is a door with a golden wreath and a board.
It is the ossuary of Serbian soldiers who died in the defense of Belgrade from the Austro-Hungarian forces in the First World War.
In silence, I pay my respects to the fallen warriors and climb further towards the upper city.
It was easy to imagine the life of our ancestors in the Middle Ages, when these walls, rough stone and ramparts that protected the city were frozen.
I cross the wooden bridge between the two towers, go through the gate and go out into the Upper town.
Immediately after exiting the upper town, there, on the right, is the National Observatory.
A tower that offers a beautiful view of the city and on clear nights, you can observe the stars with a telescope.
I leave the visit to the observatory for another occasion and take a leisurely stroll around the Upper town, with a well-deserved break after conquering the fortified town.
Now, easy with hands in pockets, it would certainly not have been so simple 300 or 400 years ago...).
I will come back to the Upper town another time and show you all the interesting things there..
Have a nice #WednesdayWalk, my Hive friends.
