page_title: History of Belgrade
section_title: Names throughout history
hierarchical_section_title: History of Belgrade / Names throughout history
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of Europe as a queen, printed by Sebastian Munster in Basel in 1570.
context_page_description: The history of Belgrade dates back to at least 7000 BC. One of the largest prehistoric cultures of Europe, the Vinča culture, evolved from the Belgrade area in the 6th millennium BC. In antiquity, Thraco-Dacians inhabited the region, and after 279 BC Celts conquered the city, naming it Singidūn. It was conquered by the Romans during the reign of Augustus, and awarded city rights in the mid 2nd century. It was settled by the Slavs in the 520s, and changed hands several times before it became the capital of King Stefan Dragutin. In 1521 Belgrade was conquered by the Ottoman Empire and became the seat of a sanjak. It frequently passed from Ottoman to Habsburg rule, which saw the destruction of most of the city during the Austro-Ottoman wars. Belgrade was again named the capital of Serbia in 1841. The north of Belgrade remained an Habsburg outpost until 1918, when it was merged into the capital city. As a strategic location, the city was battled over in 115 wars and razed to the ground 44 times. Belgrade was the capital of Yugoslavia from its creation in 1918, to its final dissolution in 2006.
context_section_description: Belgrade has had many names through history, and in nearly all languages the name translates as "the white city" or similar. Serbian name Beograd is a compound of beo ("white, light") and grad ("town, city"), and etymologically corresponds to several other city names spread throughout the Slavdom: Belgorod, Białogard, Biograd etc.
caption: Europa regina map from Münster (1570). Belgrad is one of only 3 cities designated on the map
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