Where the Sava meets the Danube, the Kalemegdan fortress looks down on Belgrade, for centuries regarded as the gateway to Central Europe. The Ottomans used it as a base for campaigns into Hungary.

1456 and 1521: Taking the gateway

Mehmed II besieged Belgrade in 1456, but the defence led by the Hungarian commander John Hunyadi forced him to lift the siege. The fortress fell only in 1521, in a campaign led by Suleiman the Magnificent soon after he took the throne (see Suleiman the Magnificent). The conquest opened the road to the Battle of Mohács five years later and to the Ottoman advance into Hungary. The name Kalemegdan is generally understood to derive from the Turkish words kale (fortress) and meydan (field, square).

Ottoman Belgrade

Under Ottoman rule Belgrade grew into a Balkan town of mosques, baths, markets and tombs. The Habsburgs held it briefly from 1688 to 1690; Austria captured it again in 1717 and received it formally under the Treaty of Passarowitz in 1718; it returned to the Ottomans through the Treaty of Belgrade in 1739. The Ottoman garrison left the fortress in 1867, when it passed to Serbian control. Belgrade is also where Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha was executed after the defeat at Vienna in 1683 (see Vienna).

The Tomb of Damat Ali Pasha

Inside the fortress, near the Stambol Gate, stands a small octagonal building: the Tomb of Damat Ali Pasha. It is said to commemorate the Grand Vizier who died at the Battle of Petrovaradin in 1716, and is generally dated to the late 18th century. It is among the best-known surviving Ottoman buildings in Belgrade.

What to see today

  • Kalemegdan fortress and park: walls, gates and towers around a large green space, with a view of the Sava–Danube confluence.
  • Tomb of Damat Ali Pasha: an Ottoman-era tomb inside the fortress.
  • Bajrakli Mosque: said to date from the 17th century and often described as the only mosque still standing in the city (Dorćol district).

Tips for visiting

Kalemegdan is an easy walk from the city centre and the park is open to everyone. Two hours are enough for the fortress and the tomb; with the Bajrakli Mosque, plan half a day. Check current visiting hours for the tomb and mosque before you go. For more Ottoman traces in Hungary, see Budapest and Szigetvár.