52
WIZZ MAGAZINE
OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2012
FEATURE
BELGRADE
If you seek luxury
accommodation,
Townhouse 27
(
+381 (0)11 202 2900,
townhouse27.com)
is a friendly four-star
with chic, minimalist
rooms and an excellent
location close to
the shops on Knez
Mihailova. It all makes
for a pleasant contrast
to leaky tunnels.
SOMETHING
DIFFERENT
staircase down which prisoners were
once marched.
“
We are 35 metres deep now,” says
Markovic´. “To go any deeper we would
need diving gear.” We probe the surface
of the murky water with our torches.
“
There’ll definitely be some skeletons
down there,” he says.
Our organised tour is just one example
of a newfound enthusiasm for Belgrade’s
underground places. One man who has
taken this fascination further than most
is Rade Milic, an archaeologist from the
University of Belgrade. His current project
is called UnderGrad (a play on “Beograd”),
which aims one day to use augmented
reality to provide a guide to what lies
beneath the city.
“
UnderGrad is the first ever scientific
study of underground Belgrade, as it has
only been amateurs up until now,” he says.
“
By exploring the tunnels and what they
were used for we are getting a picture of
our city in past times.”
Rade tells me there are about 140
known underground structures, with many
more still hidden. The hardest part of the
research seems to be that once you find
one tunnel, there’s usually another leading
off it – and another off that.
But then Belgrade is one of the most
invaded cities in Europe, overrun
according to some accounts no less than
46
times. Many of the tunnels were
defensive, or used for storing weapons
and other supplies.
Back in the company of Markovic´ and his
group, we stoop to enter one more tunnel
in the grounds of the ancient fortress.
Brushing past cobwebs we shine our
torches onto World War II motorbikes,
machine guns and ammo crates
“
We shine our
torches onto World
War II motorbikes,
machine guns and
ammo crates”
ZINDAN GATE IS BUT ONE
PART OF THE SPRAWLING
BELGRADE FORTRESS
strewn haphazardly about the place. My
foot nudges a rusted torpedo and I have
to step carefully to avoid tripping over the
Turkish cannonballs that litter the floor.
Markovic´ shines his torch into a corner.
“
Look, another tunnel,” he says, excitedly.
Some, he tells us, are up to a kilometre
long, although many have been blocked.
“
You really have to go in and have a look,”
he says, beckoning us towards the dark,
narrow opening. “You go first,” I say.
To book an underground tour, visit go2Serbia.
net. Belgrade Under Belgrade by Zoran L.J.
Nikolic and Vidoje D. Golubovic (Sluzbeni
Glasnik) has been updated and is currently
being translated into English.
GERMAN BUNKER
DJORDJE BOSKOVIC / CORBIS
