Belgrade-1Oct 12, 2018
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Memorial to school children assassinated in retaliation
Fermentation kegs at the Old Royal Winery
Aged wine that had been hidden during German occupation.
We headed to Belgrade stopping first at the Royal Winery Oplenac that was ahead of its time and in high production before the German invasion in 1941. It now produces a limited amount, but did win a couple of Gold Medals at the Belgrade Wine Fair. We then stopped at the church of St George which sits high on a hill in the forest. This is the finial resting place of Karadojordje who started the revolution against the Ottomans in 1804. The crypt holds 24 family members. Belgrade is an old city that is being modernized. When new buildings are inserted next to old, they need to blend in. In the old part of the city, it is almost all pedestrian only. To get to our hotel, that was a year old, we had to walk a block from the bus and drag our suitcases. We toured the Belgrade Fortress (Kalemegdan Citadel) built first by the Romans in 200 AD. It is said the Fortress has been destroyed and rebuilt over 40 times. It is on a hill at the junction of the Sava and Danube Rivers. We ended the day by visiting yet another church, St. Sava also on a hill, in downtown Belgrade. It was designed in the 1,800s , started in 1935, but stopped by the 2nd world war. It is still being worked on it and should be finished soon. The two churches look almost alike, but the Belgrade one has three doors. We are getting to the places where all churches seem to look the same. The finished crypt is impressive. It will be the largest church in the Balkans and will be the worlds biggest Orthodox church.
