Belgrade’s newest attractions

Belgrade’s newest attractions





1. Virtual Tourist has recently declared Belgrade’s Ada Ciganlija
Island to be the 3rd best island within a city, behind Paris and
Prague. Perfect for picnics and watersports, the island is covered by
trees that muffle the sounds of the city, and it is also the site of
Serbia’s first golf course. The beautifully clean waters of Sava Lake
that lap its gravel beaches are home to many varieties of carp, and can
reach 24 degrees C in the summer, thanks to the warm microclimate here http://www.reuters.c...E6B229Z20101203







2. At the tip of the island you can watch one of Belgrade’s most
eye-catching landmarks taking shape, a new bridge across the Sava River
that will be the largest asymetric single-pylon cable-stayed bridge in
the world. The main span of 376m has no supports actually in the Sava
so as not to restrict shipping even during construction, and the deck
is anchored by 80 stay cables as thick as a man’s arm and a single
pylon 200 metres high – one of the highest points in the city. The
whole bridge including the main span will be nearly a kilometre long
and 45 metres wide with 6 road traffic lanes, 2 railway lines and 2
cycle and pedestrian paths, and it is due for completion in September
2011. http://www.savabridge.com/project.htm



3. Just a few metres higher than Sava Bridge is Mount Avala’s TV
transmitter tower, reopened earlier this year and a popular out-of-town
picnic spot for locals. This new tower is almost identical to the
original that was bombed by NATO in 1999, and money for its
reconstruction was raised by donations from over a million people. It
is slightly taller and much better built however, and is one of few
built as a tripod anywhere in the world. http://serbiatravell...-park-near.html








4. Another tower in Belgrade has been restored and will re-open any day
now, and that is the medieval Nebojsa Tower at the foot of Kalemegdan
Fortress. Renovations were partly funded by Greece as one of their
revolutionary heroes was executed in the tower when it was a prison,
and one of the exhibitions will feature his life. Other exhibitions
will be on the shared history of Serbia and Greece under Turkish
occupation.



5. The Museum of Yugoslav History is hosting an exhibition of modern
art until the 15th February 2011 in the Museum of 25th May, called
Beyond the Iron Curtain. Painting and sculpture by Soviet and Polish
artists from 1945 to 1989, both official and dissident, is on display,
and you can also visit Tito’s tomb, ironically with a great view of the
vast new St Sava Church.

http://readyclickand...ttractions.html

Ada Ciganlija island http://www.beograd.rs/g/1t.gif
http://www.beograd.rs/g/images/eng_ada_spic.jpg
Once and island that has been turned into a peninsula, Ada Ciganlija
lies not far from the mouth of the Sava river, only 4km from the city
center. Covered by thick deciduous forest, and speckled with clearings
and meadows, Ada is now the largest, most beautiful and preferred
outing area, beach and leisure spot of the Belgrader.
Some authors indicate that the name of the island has its origin in the
combination of Celtic words singa (island) and lia (submerged ground),
giving one word singalija. Gradually the spelling changed into
tzingalia, hence Ciganlija. Ada Ciganlija was appreciated as an unusual
natural resource, even back at the time of Karađorđe and prince Miloš
Obrenović, and Ada was proclaimed public domain in 1821, preserving
this status to present day. In 1967 dams were built on both tips of the
island thus giving Belgrade a unique 4,2 km long lake with an the
average width of 200 m and the depth of 4-6 m. During the summer,
nearly 300.000 come here to swim or engage in other recreational
activities. The overall Ada Ciganlija area, which includes the smaller
island of Ada Međica and the surrounding waters is 800 hectares.
Ada Ciganlija is undoubtedly one of the central ecological points
because, thanks to the salutary combination of the effects of the water
areas and complexes of woods, Ada has an unusually specific
microclimate, which is marked by increased humidity of air and somewhat
lower summer daily temperatures compared to the other parts of the
City. The main vegetations of Ada causing such a climate are oak and
birch woods. In the middle of the last century, it was significantly
enriched with new plants of American poplar and manna ash trees. The
wildest parts are covered with uncultivated vegetation, which obstructs
passing through it but, on the other hand, challenges the exploring
passions and adventuristic spirits on this peninsula. Ada Ciganlija
abounds in animal world, whereby the most numerous are the communities
of birds, particularly wild ducks and lapwing gulls, but also pheasants
and eddish hens. Ada is also one of the rare "urban" places where you
can still see a roe or a hare amidst the nature.
http://www.beograd.rs/g/images/eng_ada_vazduh.jpg
The beach on
the left bank of the lake is fully equipped with all necessary
infrastructure objects. Thus it is one of the largest and most
beautiful beaches on artificial lakes in Europe. The lake water is
warmer and cleaner than the river water and thus the lake is highly
suitable for mass recreational activities.


The position, the quality of
the water, the existing equipment and the length of the lake make it an
ideal site for top rank competitions on calm waters. The lake is
suitable for swimming, rowing, kayak, water polo, water diving, sailing
competitions, and several national and international championships were
held here.





On Ada Ciganlija there are also over 50 different open-air sports grounds, among which there are a golf course and a lift for water-skiing.
There are the soccer playing field, tennis, team-handball, volleyball,
and basketball courts, as well as fields for baseball, rugby, and field
hockey. There are also playing grounds for beach volleyball and aqua
soccer and, as to the extreme sports: banji jump, artificial rock wall,
and paintball. For anglers, there is also the lake Ada safari.



Ada Ciganlija also serves as a cultural and entertainment center of Belgrade,
especially during the summer. Numerous manifestations are organized
involving famous writers, actors, singers, cultural societies, choirs,
bands and amateur from different fields. The Ade Ciganlija offer is
completed by dozens of rustic restaurants, floating restaurants and
boat-houses, that preserve the Belgrade bohemian tradition. On the
mainland side of the lake, there's a parking lot for about a thousand
vehicles as well as the marina in the Čukarica channel for boats, yacht
and smaller ships. Ada Ciganlija also has shops, picnic spaces, bowling
alleys, mini-golf courts, horse-drawn carriages, a tourist train,
"pedal boats and canoes, as well as the environment-friendly
electric-powered boat.


http://www.beograd.rs/g/images/eng_1834_marina.jpg