Belgrade-Smederevo-Krnjevo-Niš-Devil's Town-Prolom Spa-Niška Banja-Ravanica-Belgrade

Day one

Departure from Belgrade in the morning

- Arrival at the town of Smederevo and visit of Smederevo Fortress - Smederevo Fortress stands near the confluence of the Danube and Jezava rivers .It was built in the second quarter of the fifteenth century (from 1428) by the Serbian Despot Đurađ Branković (1427-1456). Fortress is a classic example of “water” type castle (surrounded by the Danube and Jezava Rivers and the South artificial moat that connects two rivers), making it unique in Serbian medieval architecture. The model was taken after the construction of Constantinople and its walls. According to its area of 10ha 41a 14m² with no external walls and towers and 14.5ha with them, it is one of the largest castles in Europe.

- Continuing the journey and arrival to the winery Radovanovic in Krnjevo – At the boulder field hills, small and large Golać, on the slopes above Krnjevo village, vineyards are planted facing south, where for centuries juicy grapes absorb the first rays of morning sun. And just on this spot family Radovanovic started their tradition of wine producing from the best varieties of grapes. This tradition was passed from generation to generation and in 1990 it raised into a “Small cellar” Radovanović, in which the grapes matured under mild autumn sun. Modernly equipped cellars produce wines of protected geographical origin which are declared the top wines by Serbian Ministry of Agriculture.

 

- Wine tasting and lunch break

- Continuing journey

- Arrival to Niš and hotel accommodation.

- Resting time and a visit to Niš Fortress and downtown of Niš - Kazandžijsko sokače - Niš Fortress is a city fortress in the center of Niš on the right bank of the Nišava River. Archeological excavations show that it is over two thousand years old and stands for one of the best preserved fortresses in Serbia and the Balkans. Roman fortification was rebuilt after the 530 by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I (537-565). The historian Procopius says that Justinian’s Niš is "Set and so impregnable to the enemy." Renewed Niš fortress was already under fire of Slavs in 550 year for the first time. Their incursions to Thessaloniki and Constantinopole, through Niš, were recorded in 578, 579, 584, 586 and 587. The Slavs conquered Niš around 615. Ravaged and largely abandoned by Roman population, Niš was left to the Slavs. This marked the beginning of the medieval period and in the tenth century Niš Fortress acquires all characteristics of the medieval fortress.

Kazandžijsko Sokace is the latest living remains of Niš bazaar from a bygone era. The guilds, founded before the end of Ottoman rule and after liberation, were settled here. This was a street (alley) of braziers, barrel makers and weavers while today's Republic Square was the centre of butcher shops of the market-place). On the opposite side, close to today's Pobeda Street, alleys flowed into a chaotic tangle of alleys and Niš bazaar.

- Return for dinner and overnight

 

Day two

- Breakfast 

- Depart to the Devil's Town - Natural Monument "Devil's Town" is composed of two very rare natural phenomena: soil figures as specific forms of very attractive shape and two very acidic water springs with high mineral content have also contributed to its present looks. These phenomena together make the so called "Devil Town" - a world natural wonder. The attractiveness of these two complement the surrounding natural environment that some depict as rather harsh, almost mystical, while there are also remains of a town, old churches, cemeteries, and mining pits. Overall there are 202 earthen figures of different shapes and sizes, from 2 to 15m tall, 0.5 to 3m wide with stone caps on top. They are the result of a specific erosive process that lasts for centuries. Figures are formed, grown, changed and reduced and very slowly disappear and reappear. Under rain, loose soil is dissolved and washed away. However, material under stone tops is protected from the "bombardment" of the rain and rinsing and therefore remains almost intact in the form of the earth pillars. The site of the "Devil's Town" was placed under state protection on the 1959, and in 1995 by the Decree of the Government of the Republic of Serbia is declared the natural property of outstanding value and placed into the first category of protection - MONUMENT OF NATURE.

- Tour of the Devil's Town and rest in the local ethnic restaurant (optional tour of

Prolom Spa) 

- Return to Niš

- Lunch in the restaurant or Sinđelić or Nišlijska tavern

- Leisure time

- Dinner with music at the famous restaurant Sindjelić

- Return to hotel and overnight

Day three

- Breakfast

- Visiting the Skull Tower - The Tower is a monument of the First Serbian Uprising, which was built as retaliation by the Turkish rule in Serbia at the time, built from the skulls of killed Serbian soldiers at the Battle of Čegar. It is located at 4 km from the centre of Niš, on the way to Niška Banja. It is estimated that at the Battle of Čegar, which was fought on 31st May 1809, about 10,000 Turkish soldiers were killed. To justify such a loss, Niš’s Huršid Pasha ordered that the head of Serb victims were to be skinned, filled with straw and sent to Constantinople. Then, in order to intimidate the Serbs he ordered the warning sign on the east side of Niš to be built, as a house of stone and the walls were made of skulls of the Serbian soldiers. The tower was built between June and autumn of 1809, at the former entrance to Niš from the Constantinople side, which is now in the center of the Trošarina city block. It is made up of four support walls (width 4.5m wide and 0.5m thick) that have rested on top of each other, making a hollow, covered form, whose original height was 5m. There were 952 skulls built in, arranged in symmetrical rows. Although the Turks forbade Serbs to remove skulls from walls, many heads were secretly deboned and buried in surrounding cemeteries.

- Visiting Mediana - Mediana (Latin Mediana) is an archaeological site in the eastern part of today's side of the road to Niš - Niška Banja. During the Roman Empire it was a luxurious suburb of Roman town and military camp found, on the banks of river Nišava and thermal springs. There was magnificent imperial summer house with attached villas and other buildings. Constantine and other Roman emperors, who came to Nais, resided in Mediana. Mediana includes luxurious royal estate with a large economy that was built in early fourth century, during the reign of Constantine the Great. Imperial villa (villa with peristyle) of 6,000 square meters, with gorgeous mosaics and beautiful frescoes, ornate pillars, with thermals and granaries, water supply system (aqueduct and the water tower) was spread on about 40 acres of landscaped parks and forests. Many Roman objects were found in Mediana, ceramics and metal and decorative marble. In 1972, archeologists discovered a number of damaged statues in one of the rooms, showing Askelepius, Hygeia, Dionysus, Hercules and the Satyr. At the end of the fourth century Mediana was destroyed by fire. Nais and Mediana were completely destroyed during the invasion of the Huns in 441. In the early eighth century, during the penetration of Slavs and Avars, the imperial

town and the summer palace were abandoned for good.

- Visit to the Niška spa and hot springs, pre-war villa and fountain of the Three Kings - Niška Banja was known at the time among the ancient Romans who arranged the main spring in the second century and raised the bath with two pools of colored marble. During the reign of Emperor Constantine and his successors, the imperial resort in the Mediana had a bathroom with beneficial spa water. In the 1521 Niška Spa was a resting place of the Turkish emperor Suleiman and his army on the road during the capture of Belgrade. In the era of the Ottoman Empire the spa had separate bathrooms for men and women as well as several facilities to accommodate patients. Memorial fountain "Three Kings" in Niška spa show that the healing waters were well known and enjoyed by King Milan, King Aleksandar Obrenović and King Alexander I of Yugoslavia. Alexander left for his his last trip to Marseille from Niška Banja, where he was assassinated in 1934.

 

- Free time at the spa

- Lunch in Niš or in the spa

- Departure for Belgrade

- Visiting the Monastery Ravanica along the way - Ravanica Monastery is located at the foot of the Kučaj Mountains. Ravnica was founded by Prince Lazar, who died in the Battle of Kosovo on St. Vitus Day, on June28, 1389. The church was dedicated to the Lord and surrounded by a solid defensive wall with seven towers. Ravnica was built between 1375 and 1377 and the frescoes were painted several years before the Battle of Kosovo. For its architectural and artistic features, Ravanica Church is the beginning of the Moravian school. The church has an original architectural design created by merging the trefoil base and the model of a cruciform plan with five domes. The church is built of alternate rows of stone and brick, decorated with ceramic-plastic decorative elements.

- Arrival to Belgrade in the evening.

Price upon request 

 

 

- Polazak za Beograd