Gardoš Tower (Millennium Tower), Zemun

Gardoš Tower, also called the Millennium Tower, rises on the highest point of Gardoš hill in Zemun, a municipality of Belgrade, Serbia, at Sibinjanin Janka 1. Zemun was a Habsburg border town until 1918, facing Ottoman and later Serbian Belgrade across the Sava, and the tower was built in 1896 to mark a thousand years since the arrival of the Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin. The architect was Franz Pfaff, and the tower was designed in a Hungarian Romantic style on the site of an older fortress, the Zemun Fortress, which had stood on the hill since the Middle Ages and was used by Hungarian, Ottoman and Habsburg forces. The brick tower is about 36 metres tall, with a stone base and a conical roof, and it has narrow windows and a corner turret that resemble those of a medieval keep. A gallery at the top gives a wide view of the Danube, the Great War Island and the older parts of Belgrade. The tower sits in a quiet residential quarter of steep cobbled lanes lined with 18th and 19th-century houses, which is among the best preserved Habsburg-era districts of the city. Several restorations have taken place, most recently with repairs to the roof and masonry. Interior access follows irregular opening hours, and visitors are advised to check locally before climbing. The surrounding hilltop is open at all times and is a popular place for walks and evening views. Zemun's Danube promenade, the Church of St Nicholas and the old market lie at the foot of the hill, and the walk up takes about 15 minutes.