Belgrade is one of Europe’s oldest cities. The first settlement is founded here at the strategically important site of the Savas estuary in the Danube approximately 7,000 BC. The forerunner of present-day Belgrade is Singidunum, founded in the 20th century BC. of a Celtic tribe. The town was quickly entrenched and lived under local rule for the first centuries.

The Romans conquered Singidunum shortly after year 0. Also the present Zemun was a Roman city, named Taurunum, and both cities constituted important Roman military border posts. Singidunum was the area’s most important city, and with the arrival of Flavus’ fourth legion in the year 86, the first stone fort was built on the Kalemegdan ridge facing both of the city’s major rivers. In the following centuries, the city’s status was elevated and it became a Roman province.

Later in the Roman period, it became the religious center of the area, where, among other things, the later Roman emperor Flavius ​​Jovianus was born. It was during this time that the city was established as one of the most important modern traffic hubs in the Balkans. The transport routes from the center of the Roman Empire to the many provinces throughout the Balkans passed through Singidunum.

At the break of the Roman Empire in 395, Singidunum became an important East Roman / Byzantine border town to the north. The 400s became tough for the city, which was attacked several times. In 441, the females conquered it and placed it almost totally in ruins. After that event, there were no more Romans in the city.

Singidunum again became Byzantine in 454, but fell again, among other things, in the hands of the Eastern Goths, before returning to Constantinople in 488. Under Emperor Justinian I, in 535, Singidunum was rebuilt and stronger fortified. There was also the time when the first Slavic tribes came to the area; the first Serbs around 630.

The city is mentioned again in the 8th century, this time as Belgrade, the white city – a name believed to originate from the city walls erected in light limestone.

Over the following 200 years, the dominion of Belgrade changed several times. Franks, Bulgarians, Hungarians and finally Byzantines conquered the city, which once again became Byzantine border town.

The Serbs gained power over Belgrade, which became a residential town in 1284, when the Serbian king Dragutin was deployed. At the same time, the power of the Serbian Orthodox Church rose, and the newly built cathedral became a symbol of Serbian strength. The Serbian boom, however, fell short. In 1319, the Hungarians almost completely destroyed the city and the remains became a Hungarian border post against Serbian expansion from the south.

The Ottoman Turks later advanced, and the Hungarians allowed Belgrade to rebuild as a defense against them. Belgrade experienced a tremendous growth in 1403-1427. The city was the new Serbian capital led by the despot Stefan Lazarević, who had received the noble title despot by the Byzantine emperor in 1402. The following year he made Belgrade his capital, and in 1404 he had to accept to be the vassal state of Hungary.

However, the lack of total independence did not prevent the city’s flourishing. Belgrade became the cultural and economic center. New buildings shot up in the city, growing to about 50,000 residents.

The Turks arrived with 100,000 soldiers to Belgrade in 1440. The city was now the most powerful Christian bastion to the south in the Hungarian Empire. Serbia fell to the Turkish Ottomans’ attacks in 1459, but Belgrade only fell after hard fighting in 1521. In the next 150 years there were no fighting in the city, as it was no longer a border town.

At the beginning of the 18th century, the Turks and Austrians fought for Belgrade, and in 1717-1739 the city was under Austrian rule before it was again conquered by the Turks. In 1806, the Serbs overcame the Turks and established an independent Serbia, which was, however, only a reality until 1813. The Turks returned, and despite markedly increased Serbian influence, the Turks first withdrew from the fortress of Kalemegdan in 1867.

Mihailo Obrenović became Serbian king in the new Serbia. At the same time, it was the start of an explosive boom and construction activity in Belgrade that lasted about 50 years. After World War I, Belgrade became the capital of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in Yugoslavia. Throughout World War II, the city was severely damaged.

After the war, reconstruction started under the leadership of longtime Yugoslav state leader Josip Broz Tito. After a period of economic growth in Yugoslavia, the country’s borders were repeatedly changed throughout the 1990s and until 2006, when Belgrade became the capital of Serbia.