Discover the jewel of Belgrade, door to the Western world or gate to the East, city within the city.

 

Throughout the rich history of Balkan region, Zemun strategic location near the confluence of Sava and Danube rivers, placed it in the center of the continued border wars between the Habsburg and the Ottoman empires. Together with the fact that Zemun became one of the Belgrade municipalities less then 100 years ago, todays Zemun architectural, cultural and bohemian identity makes it distinctive part of Serbian capital worth of Your memories.

The uninhabited river islands of Great War Island and Little War Island on the Danube, also belong to the municipality of Zemun. This is where the smallest mammal in Europe was discovered. It is a dworf bat wheying only 4 grams. War islands are also world famous among bird lovers since they are home for dozen of rare endemic bird speices. For the residents of Zemun, Lido city beach on the Great War Island is the place to be during hot summer days.

Lido beach and the rest of the Zemun are closely wathced by symbol of Zemun – Gardos tower, also known as The tower of Janos Hunyadi or Millennium tower. Being the southernmost city in Austria-Hungary, Zemun  was marked by Millenium tower in 1896 to celebrate a thousand years of Hungarian settlement in the Pannonian plain. It was part of the massive construction effort which included buildings in Budapest as well as four millennium towers on four directions of the world. The tower was built on the ruins of the medieval fortress. Todays Gardos is home for many small family owned pubs hosting local ethno or jazz music bands. The main cultural event is Leto na Gardošu (Summer in Gardoš), a series of mostly outdoors theatrical performances, held in July and August each year. The establishment of the Zemun cemetery at Gardoš can be dated to around 1740. Soon, in the mid-1700 there was a complex of three cemeteries at the plateau of the Gardoš hill: Orthodox, Catholic and Jewish cemeteries.

One of the most famous characteristics of  Zemun are the lagums, artificial underground corridors which crisscrosses below the Zemun downtown.

The bank of Danube is turned into Zemunski Kej, officialy the longest promenade in old Yugoslavia, with barges-cafés and its resident DJs, amusement park, jogging and biking tracks stretching all the way to the confluence of Sava and Danube river. Together with the famous Zemun green market, this is the place where You can feel the heartbeat of Zemun and its residents, where You can blend in during Your morning jogging routine, or place where you can simply relax feeding the swans or watching fishermen working on their fishing nets and painting their boats. This harmony is every here and there interrupted with the boats of all styles and sizes loaded with families and friends on their barbecue trip to the Lido beach.

If you prefer slow food and more intimate dining experience, in walking distance you can find White Bear Tavern. First mentioned in 1658, it is the oldest surviving edifice on the urban territory of modern Belgrade, not counting the Belgrade Fortress. In the same neighborhood is restaurant Saran, hotspot for seafood lovers and guest chefs from Adriatic region. But what is five star dining without first class cultural events?

Madlenianum theater, squeezed between hostels, small clothing shops, and family bakeries with centuries of tradition, with its repertoire stretching from Secret Marriage by Domenico Cimarosa to Madam Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini, also became recognizable worldwide by its avant-garde artistic ideas and by concurring undiscovered artistic territories on daily basis. Some of them are the last drama production Lolita, Belgrade dance festival or  BOUBLIL AND CLAUDE-MICHEL SCHÖNBERG’S musicle LES MISÉRABLES.

Theater of such magnitude, with green market allmost in its beckyard, will make You remeber Zemun as place of unrepeatable hug of West and East, right on the spot where biggest Balkan river Sava and one of the biggest  rivers in the world Danube meet.

Zemun is conected to Belgrade downtown with 10 minutes bus ride with public transport lines operating every couple of minutes.

Zemun and its unforgetable 200.000 residents, made of 20 ethnic groups, are inviting You.

Come and join us. Join the fun! Visit Zemun.