page_title: Belgrade Fortress
section_title: Early Modern
hierarchical_section_title: Belgrade Fortress / History / Early Modern
caption_attribution_description: The Belgrade Fortress was built as a defensive structure on a ridge overlooking the confluence of the Sava and the Danube rivers during the period from the 2nd to the 18th century. Today the fortress is a unique museum of the history of Belgrade. The complex is made up of the Belgrade Fortress itself, divided into the Upper and Lower Town (Gornji/Donji Grad), and the Kalemegdan Park. Because of its exceptional strategic importance, a fortification — a Roman castrum — was erected here in the 2nd century AD, as a permanent military camp for the Fourth Flavian Legion. After being razed to the ground by the Goths and the Huns, the fortification was rebuilt in the first decades of the 6th century. Less than a century later it was demolished by the Avars and the Slavs. Around this fortification on the hill above the Sava and Danube confluence, the ancient settlement of Singidunum grew up, later to become the Slav settlement of Belgrade. The Belgrade Fortress has been demolished and rebuilt on numerous occasions. On top of the Roman walls stand Serbian ramparts and on top of them, Turkish and Austrian fortifications. In the 12th century the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Comnenus built a new castle on the Roman ruins. During the first decades of the 14th century this small hill-top fortification was extended as far as the river banks. Under the rule of Despot Stefan Lazarević, Belgrade became the new capital of Serbia and was reinforced by the addition of extensive fortifications to the Upper and Lower Town. The Despot’s palace was built in the old castle, and a military harbour was added on the Sava river. An advanced mediaeval city developed within the ramparts. A new era began with the Austro-Turkish War. As a key fortification at the heart of the armed conflicts of the 18th century, the Fortress was rebuilt three times. Under the Austrian occupation from 1717 to 1739, and after the construction of new modern fortifications, the Belgrade Fortress was one of the most powerful military strongholds in Europe. It was built according to plans drawn up by Colonel Nicolas Doxat de Démoret, a Swiss serving in the Austrian army. Before the Turks returned to Belgrade in 1740 all the newly constructed fortifications were demolished. By the end of the 18th century the Belgrade fortress had taken on its final form. KALEMEGDAN Kalemegdan, today Belgrade’s most beautiful and largest park, was during the time that the Fortress was Belgrade’s main military stronghold, used to observe and await the enemy in battle. Consequently its name derives from the Turkish words kale meaning ‘fort’ and meydan meaning ‘square’ or ‘field’. The Turks also called Kalemegdan Fikir -bayır which means ‘hill for contemplation’. Kalemegdan contains the Keys of the Belgrade Fortress memorial, the Monument of Gratitude to France, the Cvijeta Zuzorić Art Pavilion, the Music Pavilion, the Great Steps (Veliko Stepenište), the Zoo, a children’s fun fair, and a number of monuments, sculptures, sports facilities, resturants and cafés. Belgrade Fortress today is a cultural property of great importance, and a venue for frequent cultural, artistic and entertainment events [Serbia.travel]
context_page_description: Belgrade Fortress, consists of the old citadel and Kalemegdan Park on the confluence of the River Sava and Danube, in an urban area of modern Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Stari Grad. Belgrade Fortress was declared a Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance in 1979, and is protected by the Republic of Serbia. It is the most visited tourist attraction in Belgrade, with Skadarlija being the second. Since the admission is free, it is estimated that the total number of visitors is over 2 million yearly.
context_section_description: In 1521, 132 years after the Battle of Kosovo, the fortress, like most parts of the Serbian state, was conquered by the Turks and remained (with short periods of the Austrian and Serbian occupation), under the rule of the Ottoman Empire until the year 1867, when the Turks withdrew from Belgrade and Serbia. During the short period of Austrian rule (1718–1738), the fortress was largely rebuilt and modernized. It witnessed the Great Serbian Migration in the 17th century and two Serbian Uprisings in the 19th century, during the Turkish Period.
  During the Austrian occupation of northern Serbia 1717–39, several hospitals were established in Belgrade. The City hospital of Saint John was built within the fortress walls, but its exact location is not known. Emperor Charles VI signed the Belgrade City Statute in 1724 ("Proclamation on organizing German Belgrade"), which mentions city hospital, city pharmacy, medics and midwives. The German municipality had low incomes so it had to ask the state for help and beneficence. The hospital is mentioned in the 1728 Census. It was a hospital already in 1719, later becoming the residence of Thomas Berger, the head of the hospital. After his death, his daughter continued to reside in the building. The hospital (Stattspital) was moved to another location, into the newly constructed building in 1724. A small church was built next to it. This new hospital was quite small, with only 2 rooms, a kitchen and a basement, so it way not be the same city hospital.
  Lazaret or a quarantine hospital is not mentioned in the documents, but it is safe to presume that it had to be formed during the viral outbreaks, as was usual in the time. The procedure in case of outbreaks was probably analog to the existing procedure in Buda, the capital of Hungary. Today unidentified disease ravaged Belgrade in 1730. Viral epidemic killed a lot of people. During the course of only two weeks, just the Jesuits buried 220 people and themselves lost 3 missionaries. The extremely massive plague outbreak hit the city in October 1738. As the Austrian army retreated in front of the advancing Turks, numerous civilians fled to the fortress, many of them being contagious. Having so many people in a cramped space, triage was not possible so the plague spread quickly. There are reports of the dead lying in the streets for days as there was no one to bury them. The Austrian garrison was decimated and the corpses of the soldiers who died of plague were burned with their personal properties.
  After Austria lost the Austro-Turkish War of 1737–1739, northern Serbia, including Belgrade, was returned to the Turks. One of the provisions of the 1739 Treaty of Belgrade stated that Austria had to demolish all the fortifications and military and civilian building it had constructed during the occupation. Many Baroque buildings were demolished within the fortress. However, Austria didn't demolish the buildings outside of the fortress walls. That way, the House at 10 Cara Dušana Street, built 1724–1727, in the neighborhood of Dorćol survived, being today the oldest house in Belgrade.
  The 1837 plague outbreak almost brought to the war between the ruling prince Miloš Obrenović and the Ottomans in the fortress. The outbreak began in Ottoman Empire in 1836, which had no medical protocols of any kind at the time, and prince Miloš blocked the borders immediately imposing the mandatory quarantine. A group of plague infected Ottoman nizams on the way to Belgrade was halted at the border in Aleksinac and placed in the quarantine, but majority of them fled and continued to Belgrade, spreading the plague on its path (Ražanj, Paraćin, Jagodina, Ćićevac) and ultimately reaching the fortress in the spring of 1837. The prince ordered full and strong siege of the fortress by the Serbian guardsmen, cutting the fortress off completely for six weeks. The pasha complained and threatened from inside the fortress, initially hiding and denying the disease, but the fortress Ottomans were reluctant to start military skirmish in this condition. The besieging was successful a
caption: Inner Stambol Gate
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