Belgrade City Tour and visit of the archeological site of Vinca
Full Day guided tour of Belgrade, to explore the capital city of Serbia – one of the oldest cities in Europe, After breakfast we transfer to the Vračar plateau, where we’ll see one of the most important sights of Belgrade – Saint Sava Temple, one of the biggest orthodox temples on the Balkans. In the vicinity is located the National Serbian Library. Continue further to the city center and Slavija Square, St. Mark Church and the Serbian Parliament Building, Republic Square, the National Theatre and National Museum. A walk through the always lively Knez Mihailo Street, main walking and shopping zone, on our way to Kalemegdan, we will visit the Congregational Church. We visit the National and Historical Museum of Serbia, where we can enjoy its archeological collection. The tour will end at Kalemegdan, the most important cultural-historic complex of the city. In the Kalemegdan Park, on the confluence of the rivers Sava and Danube, the Belgrade Fortress raises proudly, and is the witness of the tumultuous history of this ancient city.
Further we drive for about 20 km towards Vinča (Belo brdo) is an archaeological site from the early neolithic period, that gave name to the culture that inhabited the Balkan peninsula and part of Central Europe since the 5.th millennium BC. The Vinča culture was pretty advanced for it’s time, even had an alphabet of their own, which is considered one of the oldest in the world. Recent discoveries showed that their main settlement was composed of well aligned houses forming streets between them. This civilization relied mostly on fishing, early agriculture and mining.
After the visit of Vinca, return to Belgrade. Overnight in Belgrade.

Belgrade – Žica Monastery – Kraljevo
This morning we visit the monastery of Zica, built in 1221. The monastery was founded by first Serbian King Stefan Nemanjić the First-Crowned. Here 7 medieval kings of Serbian Kingdom were crowned. The church along with the whole monastery belongs to the Raška architectural style and has red facades. A popular legend says that for every king crowned here a new entrance to the monastery was opened. Frescoes of the monastery belong to Byzantine school and were made in the beginning of the 13th century during so-called Golden epoch of Serbian art. Architecture and riches of Žiča monastery are the reason why it was included into the „Rout of culture Transromanica“ – rout that binds European heritage of the Romanesque period.
Further we transfer to the city of Kraljevo, where we will spend the afternoon and overnight.
While the city of Kraljevo used to be an important resting point on the trade routes between Dubrovnik and Constantinople as early as in the age of the Roman Empire, it was in the Middle Ages that it truly flourished.The fate of this city is inextricably linked with the fate of the Serbian royal house of Nemanjić, who ruled these parts in the Middle Ages. The present-day street layout of Kraljevo was designed in the 19th Century, when the round-shaped central square and the streets intersecting at a right angle were built, which would become two of the most striking and recognizable features of Kraljevo. Dinner and overtight in Kraljevo.Serbia Archeological Tour.

Kraljevo – Ancient copper tools and prehistoric fashion in Pločnik archeological park – Prokuplje – Mediana Archeological Park – Niš
Today we will visit two important archeological parks in Serbia: Plocnik and Mediana.
While leaving Kraljevo, we transfer towards Pločnik archeological park located near the town of Prokuplje.
Plocnik is famous for two interesting discoveries. In 2007 the archaelogyst found a Neolithic figurine showing a girl in a short skirt and ornate top. According to the figurines, young women were beautifully dressed, in short tops and mini skirts, and wore bracelets around their arms,
Pločnik archeological park is part of the Vinca culture which was Europe’s biggest prehistoric civilization — point to a metropolis with a great degree of sophistication and a taste for art and fashion
While in 2017 the archeologist in Plocnik found 75-century-old copper tools; a discovery which is compelling scientists to reconsider existing theories about where and when man began using metal.
Scientists had previously believed that the mining, extraction and manipulation of copper began in Asia Minor, spreading from there. With the find in Plocnik, parallel and simultaneous developments of those skills in several places now seem more likely, Scientists are debating whether the Plocnik village led the world to the Copper Age in the 6th millennium BC, particularly as remains of primitive copper smelters were recently found not far away, near today’s mines and smelters in Majdanpek and Bor.
After this interesting visit, we travel towards the town of Nis, where we will spend the overnight, Along the way we visit Mediana archeological Park.
Mediana was built built between III and the beginning of IV century on the left bank of the Nišava River, beside one of the most important roads, Via militaris. It was located between urban Naissus and thermal springs of Niska Banja and extended over the area of 40 hectares.
During the 4th century, overpopulated Naissus, surrounded by walls and towers, ceased to be an attractive place for life for its wealthy citizens, so they spent most of their time in their estates in Mediana. They built there new or restored old villas which served for rest and pleasure. Over time, the villas changed their purpose, and from the places for temporary stay, they became places of luxury life outside the city. The central place in Mediana is taken by a villa with a peristyle, the most sumptuous building of residential character. The villa was probably built by order of Emperor Constantine The Great so that he, members of his family and numerous high imperial officials would have a place to stay during their visits to Naissus. The entire complex was enclosed with high walls and was spread over the area of 4.7 hectares, and a seventh of the entire area was tiled with mosaic. Most mosaics had decorative, geometric motifs, and most of them can be still seen in Mediana today. Two mosaics that are best preserved and that draw special attention are mosaics with figural mythological representations of the river god Flavius and the head of Medusa.
Dinner and overnight in Nis. Nis is the third biggest city in Serbia, and its history goes back to the ancient times, and citizens are proud of their most famous ancestor – Roman Emperor Constantine, the one who brought Christianity to the Roman Empire.

Niš – Felix Romuliana Archaeological Site Zaječar – Kladovo
This morning we visit Felix Romuliana Archeological Site, UNESCO heritage. Emperor Galerius built the palace in the 3rd and 4th century A.D., named after his mother Romula, to commemorate the place of his birth. The city comprised of the imperial palace Felix Romuliana, a little temple, a large temple and public baths protected by defensive walls and system of towers.
Buildings are richly decorated with frescoes, mosaics displaying figural and geometric motifs, and decorations of great historical and artistic value. The palace is the example of the unique Roman court architecture and it is its best representative.
The Felix Romuliana palace was never completed, and Roman emperors gave this monumental complex to the Christian church in the 4th century.
We spend the afternoon in the city of Kladovo.Serbia Archeological Tour.

Kladovo – Lepenski Vir Archaeological site –– Viminacium – Smederevo – Belgrade
This morning we take our return transfer towards Belgrade. Along the road we visit Lepenski Vir, an important archaeological site of the Mesolithic Iron Gates culture of the Balkans. The latest radiocarbon and AMS data suggests that the chronology of Lepenski Vir is compressed between 9500/7200–6000 BC.
The site shows evidence of a culture which is more than 8000 years old and which included social interactions, religious practices, architecture, and art, with features and layers of both the Mesolithic and Neolithic period. Archaeologists have unearthed intriguing pieces of stone sculpture at the site, some portraying human-like figures and others which point to an appreciation of astronomical events.
We continue further towards The ancient city of Viminacium, situated at the place where the river Mlava, the ancient Margus, empties itself into the Danube. In the Iron Age, this was the eastern part of the land of the Scordisci, a tribe that belonged to the La Tène civilization and may be called “Celtic”, although there wereThracian and Illyrian influences. A necropolis from the Iron Age has been identified at Pećine, close to Viminacium. The Romans became interested in the region during the Illyrian Wars. It has been argued that the Fourth Legion Scythica stayed in Viminacium (or the neighborhood) during the first half of the reign of the emperor Augustus; the area appears to have been pacified in 12/11. Another unit that may have stayed here for a short while, is the Fourth Legion Flavia Felix, which took part in Domitian’s war against the Dacians after 86.
Further we visit the Golubac fortress, the beginning of the Iron Gates, where a medieval and Turkish fortress cascades down the river gorge.
We continue our transfer towards Belgrade. Before reaching the capital city, we stop for a visit at the Smederevo Fortress, a medieval fortified city in Smederevo, Serbia, which was temporary capital of Serbia in the Middle Ages. It was built between 1427 and 1430 on the order of Despot Đurađ Branković, the ruler of the Serbian Despotate. It was further fortified by the Ottoman Empire, which had taken the city in 1459. Evening and overnight in Belgrade.Serbia Archeological Tour.

Belgrade – Sirmium – Novisad – Belgrade
This morning we visit, Sirmium an archeological site in Vojvodina region; an ancient province of the Roman Empire. First mentioned in the 4th century BC and originally inhabited by the Illyrians and Celts, it was conquered by the Romans in the 1st century BC and subsequently became the capital of the Roman province of Pannonia Inferior. In 294 AD, Sirmium was pronounced one of the four capitals of the Roman Empire. It was also the capital of the Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum and of Pannonia Secunda Province. Sirmium was located on the Sava river, on the site of modern Sremska Mitrovica in Vojvodina province, northern Serbia. The Republic of Serbia declared its site an Archaeological Sites of Exceptional Importance in 1990.
Further we reach Novi Sad, the 2021 European Capital of Culture, where we enjoy the walking tour in the city center, passing through The City Hall, The Cathedral, Assembly of Vojvodina, shopping zone with restaurants and coffee-shops. We continue to visit the Fortress of Petrovaradin, the so-called ‘Danube’s Gibraltar’, where the fortress is located. At the fortress, we will see the clock tower, old fortress walls, and have great views over the Danube, including the many bridges spanning the river.
Evening and overnight in Belgrade.

Belgrade Return
After breakfast, Free time in Belgrade until departure transfer. Flight back home.Serbia Archeological Tour.