Day 01
Niš Historical Landmarks and City Walk
- Connect with your tour guide at King Milan Square to start the program.
- Begin by visiting the historical site of Skull Tower. Hurshid Pasha's (head commander of the Turkish army and the city of Niš) idea of building a tower made out of human (Serbian) skulls on one of the main city roads - the eastern entrance gate - had tremendous consequences for the future of this part of Serbia.
- Following the visit to Skull Tower, take a ride back toward the city center to understand the story of the Second World War and the foundation of the concentration-death camp shortly after the German troops occupied the city. It has been recorded that more than 30,000 men, women, and children were imprisoned here during those four long years. Ten thousand of them were shot and killed on the spot or on nearby Bubanj Hill. The unique interior and exterior of this site, which was shortly afterwards turned into a museum, served as a great inspiration for domestic movie directors and film producers.
- The end of the visit to the concentration camp marks the beginning of the walking tour. Explore the Fortress of Niš, the largest historical monument and by far the biggest medieval heritage site in the city, with an area of more than 22 hectares (54 acres). It was built in the early 18th century and today represents one of the most beautiful and well-preserved fortresses on the Balkan Peninsula. A walking tour inside the fortress will take you through 2,000 years of the city's history.
- Then, continue across the bridge toward King Milan Square and Obrenovićeva pedestrian street, all the way to Tinkers Alley, an old and unique part of a former Ottoman-era street from the 17th and 18th centuries.
- Also visit the main building of the University of Niš, City Hall, the monument dedicated to Nadežda Petrović - one of Serbia's greatest painters and the founder of the famous art colony in Sićevo Gorge - the monument dedicated to the victims of the Bulgarian army in 1821, the Monument of the Liberators of Niš, the old town center with buildings from the 18th and 19th centuries, Stevan Sremac Square, and the monument dedicated to Stevan Sremac and the famous city hunter Kalča.
End of program.
