Knez Mihailova Street

Knez Mihailova Street is the main pedestrian boulevard of Belgrade, Serbia, a stone-paved promenade of about 700 metres in Stari Grad that runs from Republic Square to the gates of Kalemegdan fortress. Laid out in the 19th century and named for Prince Mihailo Obrenović, it is protected as a cultural monument, and its facades show a mix of Central European styles, with neoclassical, Secession and later buildings side by side. Along the street visitors find cafes with terraces, bookshops, galleries, clothing shops and ice cream counters, as well as the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, the Kapetan Miša Building and the Greek Orthodox-style Church of Saint Michael nearby. The street is open at all hours, while shops generally trade from about 9:00 to 21:00. Walking its full length at an easy pace takes about an hour, longer with coffee stops, and most visitors treat it as the standard first walk in the city and a way into the fortress at the northern end. Street musicians, painters, living statues and pop-up stalls appear in the late afternoon and evening, especially in warm months. Good photo angles are looking down the street toward the fortress from the Republic Square end, and looking back toward the Albania Palace and Republic Square from the Kalemegdan end. Crowds are heaviest on weekend evenings and in summer, when tables spill into the street; early mornings are quiet, with just delivery staff and a few early walkers. Pickpockets can work crowded stretches, so visitors should keep bags closed.