Many places and 3 countries - Part II, Nis, Serbia

Nis is an interesting city. It is not as beautiful as other Serbian cities such as Novi Sad or Belgrade but is a very interesting place where centuries of history meet and which is a real crossroad to other cities and countries. Nis is located in Southern Serbia, 2 hours driving from Vranje and it is considered as the most important regional center of administration, culture, history, economy and universty in South East Serbia.

Nis is the birth place of the emperor Constantine the Great who supported Christianity. One of the most interesting things to see in Nis is the Mediana residence dating from the 4th century. This archeological Roman site, even if protecting amazing mosaics with sand (which doesn't allow to see it) is worthy to see and is a beautiful memorial of thousands years ago. The estate occupies 40 hectares and exhibits the remains of a granary, craft center, villas, thermae, and the remains of an ancient villa.

Another interesting monument in Nis is the Skull Tower. The guide told us the story of this tower which was appearently built after a battle called Cegar. The turks prepared the construction of the tower made of skulls. As the battle and the explosion resulted in twice more Turks dead than Serbians, the Pasha of Nis ordered that the heads of Serbs should be collected, skinned and built into this tower. The heads were stuffed with cotton and sent to Constantinople, as a warning to anyone rising against the Ottoman Empire. 

Roman site (Mediana Temple)

An old Mosque used as an art gallery

In the Kafana

Old Serbian songs in Kafana

In the main square

The hunter telling his unrealistic story - Bohemian quarter

Fruit Pizza at the fortress

Inside the Concentration Camp from II WW

                         The Concentration Camp                         

This concentration camp is one of the few fully preserved fascist camps in Europe. It provides authentic testimony of to the perils of Serbians, Romani, amd Jewish population, communists, partisans and supporters of the liberation movement, who were incarcerated here during the German occupation of Serbia between 1941 and 1945. One well-knowned story of this camp is the massive escape of the 12th February 1942 organised by the prisoners. Out of 150 inmates who attempted to flee, 108 managed to escape. After this successful escape, and another in December 1942, this camp became a real venue of death. Inside the main building, where the prisoners were kept, many pictures, objects, passports remain kept over there and it is possible to see messages left on the walls from the prisoners themselves, in case they would ever been searched by family or friends.