Hiking & History
Žrnov fortress ruins & the mountain trails
Avala · Belgrade
QUICK INFORMATION
- CATEGORY
- Hiking & History
- COUNTRY
- Serbia
- REGION
- Avala · Belgrade
- DURATION
- Half to 1 day
ABOUT THIS ATTRACTION
Below the summit, half-swallowed by oaks, lie the ruins of Žrnov — the fortress that guarded Belgrade’s southern road from the Middle Ages until 1934, when it was dynamited to make room for the Unknown Hero. The remains are slight but atmospheric, and the trails around them make Avala the best half-day hike inside the city: marked paths climb from Pinosava or Ripanj through oak and hornbeam, pass the Monument to the Soviet War Veterans — raised where the 1964 plane crash killed the marshals of two armies — and link the tower, the monument and the picnic meadows in loops of 4 to 12 km.
HISTORY & BACKGROUND
The story behind it
Žrnov watched the road from the 15th century; the Ottomans rebuilt it after 1521 as their southern eye on Belgrade. Its demolition in 1934 — for a war memorial — remains a small scandal of Serbian heritage politics, discussed every time the ruins are written about. The 1964 crash of the Soviet delegation’s plane, en route to Belgrade’s liberation anniversary, killed Marshal Biryuzov and 17 others; the memorial stands on the crash site.
WHAT TO SEE
What to see here
The Žrnov ruins — slight walls in the oaks, best in bare winter light.
The Monument to the Soviet War Veterans on the 1964 crash site.
The marked loop network — 4, 7 and 12 km circuits from the mountain hotel.
GOOD TO KNOW
Facts & Curiosities
Žrnov was dynamited in 1934 to clear the summit for Meštrović’s monument — medieval walls for a war memorial.
The 1964 plane crash on Avala killed Soviet Marshal Sergei Biryuzov and Marshal Sreten Žujović together with 17 others.
Avala’s trails are all inside the city of Belgrade — one of the very few capital mountains with marked networks of 4–12 km loops.
The mountain’s springs fed the Belgrade aqueducts of the Ottoman era; the Picnic Meadows’ wells still run.
MAP & LOCATION
Žrnov fortress ruins & the mountain trails
Žrnov fortress ruins & the mountain trails, Avala, Belgrade, Serbia
44.6940, 20.5090
MORE ATTRACTIONS
More to see in Avala
THINGS TO DO
Things to do nearby
FOOD & DRINK
Where to eat nearby
The mountain hotel terrace — grill and coffee above the oaks
Picnic — the meadows are made for it; bring from the city
Pinosava village kaldrma kafanas on the drive back
ITINERARIES
Day-by-day routes
NEARBY DESTINATIONS
Continue the journey
INTERESTS
Explore by what you love
PART OF
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