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The city of Niš - Sunday, November 7, 2004
Situated in the eastern part of Serbia, Niš, which was also the birthplace of Roman emperor Constantine the Great, is believed to have been inhabited as early as 4000 BC.
The town got its name from the river that runs through it- the Nišava river (named Navissos by the Celts). It is indeed a town with a rich and turbulent history.
Niš is the second greatest city in Serbia, but has a rather small population of 350.000 inhabitants, which is nothing compared to the 2.000.000 citizens of Belgrade, the capital and also the largest Serbian city. Most of the population is Orthodox, there is a tiny Catholic church in the center of town also, but it is run and funded by foreign people. When walking through the city you can also spot a few mosques, which were built by and for the Muslim immigrants.
To be honest the town doesn't offer loads regarding looks; communist architecture, disappearing, still visible traces of bombings, futile attempts of modernization that result only in ruining the few beautiful monuments left unharmed... But if you are able to look past that, I am sure you'll be amazed by what hides behind the icky scenery.
You can take a stroll on the Kej, along the river and perhaps go for coffee on the river's "Porto Bello" raft-bar. If you're a coffee with milk kind of person, make sure you ask to get it in a big cup, otherwise you'll be served a tiny machiatto. If you sit on the left side of the raft, you'll have a view of the town fortress. Intrigued? Go check it out.
Built in the first decades of the 18th century by the Turks, the Niš fortress is considered the most important and best-preserved monument of this kind in the Balkan region. Unfortunately time took its toll and so did the bombings, but reconstruction is in progress and the fort is closer and closer to its original form each day. It is a very nice place to take a long walk through, you can also sit down in one of the pubs at the main gate, check out the galleries or souvenir shops or climb the wall of the fortress and look down at the hurrying ant-like people at the Piaca (market).
Piaca offers all types of vegetables, fruit, spices, clothes, purses, trainers, chewing gum and whatnot. If nothing else, buy a bag of roasted pumpkin seeds. They sell them at 100 dinars a kilo, which would make $0.70 per pound. (If you buy them at a street salesman, you will pay 40 dinars for 100 grams, which makes $0.6 for 3.5 ounces.) Hehehehe... Dinars remind me of good ol' communist Yugoslavia, where inflation was a ceaseless process. My god, we had to pay 80 million dinars for a loaf of bread. Heh, my favorite chewing gum cost 4 million dinars a piece. People were always talking in billions...
Another market like place is buvljak. In our country the term denotes a market in which used stuff and basically junk is sold. Thanks to the currently imprisoned Slobodan Milošević in Serbia a buvljak is a market that sells the same items that are sold in diverse stores in the city, only way cheaper, since the people working there needn't pay such a high rent (they sell at stands) and they also pay lower taxes. Legal? Well, the president approved it. Hmmm...
The Eastern part holds another unique monument left by the Turks. In 1737 Niš fell under the Turkish command again, after being briefly freed by the Austrians. Anger and contempt grew in Serbian hearts and the first Serbian uprising broke out in 1804. It grew and grew until 1809, when the battle on Čegar hill (situated just outside the town) broke out. 3.000 Serbs met 10.000 Turkish heads. The much smaller insurrectionist army didn't stand a chance and when all hope was lost, duke Sindjelić blew up the Serbian powder supply thus killing himself, his own army, but also a great number of enemies. After the battle the Turkish pasha ordered the Ni? people to build a tower out of the skulls of the fallen Serbes, with the skull of Sindjelić all the way on top. The Skull tower, Ćele Kula was built out of 952 Serbian skulls and its purpose was to serve as a warning to the Serbian people. It was left to mercy of nature and the people until the mid 20th century, when a chapel was built over it. During that time, many skulls were either crumbled by the rain and wind, or taken out by relic hunters and curios children. There was even a legend that crumbled skulls from the tower mixed with tea work as a form of contraception, so that the women wouldn't need to worry about having to many children they couldn't afford. In present times, there are only 52 skulls remaining, with the supposed skull of Sindjelić preserved sperately in a glass case.
But enough about history... What makes Niš just as amazing as other European cities is its people; nice, social, glad to receive every tourist with open arms. A big plus would be speaking the language or at least knowing someone who does. Getting around otherwise should be quite a challenge. It's getting easier, though. The signs are mostly in Latin now or bilingual and at least some people at administrative buildings can understand and somewhat speak English. In any case, if you at least try to memorize some words you will get a very pleasing response.
One of the main hang outs are the Kalča shopping mall, the Undergorund shopping alley, and the Bulevar caffes, all of them being situated in the dead center.
The most rewarding experience is most definitely the culinary one. When visiting a house you will probably be served sladko. That is a kind of jam that is served in tiny cups with a glass of water. You are supposed to take a spoon of it and water it down, then put your spoon into the glass. It's sweet ass hell, but I love it.
You can buy your breakfast in a pekara; all kinds of pastry- salty or sweet or in a burekara; in such a place you would of course buy a piece of burek (a kind of cheese pie).
Getting to lunch? My favorite memory of the visit. The best of all was, when we visited a traditional Serbian restaurant with a band playing traditional folk songs and all. Don't mind if I describe the food in
detail. =)
Aperitif: Rakija (a sort of fruit schnapps, alcohol content around 40%, types: pear, peach, plum, etc.)
Hors d'oeuvre: šobska salad (stacked in layers: cucumbers at the bottom, then a layer of their cheese, then a stack of tomatoes and the whole thing sprinkled with grated cheese), urnebes (their cheese mixed together with grilled medium spicy paprika), paprika (scraped hollow and marinated in olive oil, garlic and a bit of vinegar), kolač (a huge ass lepinja- a kind of bun for hamburgers)
Main course: prebranac (cooked beans, onions, carrots, paprika etc with some water baked golden brown), uštipci (minced meat and chunks of sausages mixed together and filled with cheese), pljeskavica (kind of like the meat in burgers), dimljeno (smoked ham) and čevapčiči (meat for burgers shapped into wieneres)
Desert: No room for any. =)
As for beers, the first thing you'll notice is that foreign ones cost twice as much as local beer. But fear not, 'cause local beer is very tasty. Jelen you most definitely want to try. It's the strongest with the alcohol content 5.5%, that is only 0.5% more then the other beers, but boy can you feel the difference. Very full taste and very drinkable. Weifert is also kick ass and so is MB. The beer that is served draught is usually Nikšičko, but I like the rest better. You will also find Skopsko and Laško under the local beers category, though the first one is Macedonian (pretty tasty) and the latter is ours (otherwise awesome, but Serbia only imports Laško Club, which is not all that, if you ask me). I was told there is also a brand called Niško beer and that it's the best beer available on the market, but unfortunately I didn't come across it during my 5 days' stay. :( Bottled beer is served by 0.7 pint and you will spend $1.2 for a local one on average.
I would definitely recommend anyone who comes to the neighborhood to go visit the city of Niš and experience it for themselves. The best way would surely be to stay with a local family. I stayed with one and spent a grand total of 18 dollars in 5 days. They just wouldn't let me pay for anything. Gee whiz! :) Anyways, when in Niš take it easy, check out the sites, befriend some local people, gain some pounds... And don't forget to munch on some roasted pumpkin seeds!! =)
Conversions:
1lb = 0.45kg or 1kg = 2.20lbs
1 US pint = 0.47l or 1l = 2.11 US
- Created:
- Sunday, November 7, 2004 at 8:54 AM
- Last Modified:
- Wednesday, November 10, 2004 at 11:48 PM