Belgrade

Fought over by Byzantium, Austro-Hungary and Bulgaria, Belgrade was captured by Süleyman the Magnificent in 1521 and became the largest city in Ottoman Europe after Istanbul. Following the seige the entire population was transported to Istanbul to what is now the Belgrade Forest. As the capital of Serbia, it has a number of cultural institutions. The National Museum has archaeological and fine art depeartments as well as a Galleruyy of Frescoes, of 1,300 copies of frescoes created between the 11th and mid-15th centuries. The Bajrakli Mosque is the only mosque in the city dating from the Ottoman period. Many Ottoman buildings were demolished after Serbian independence in 1841; the Stambul Gate, where the National Theatre now stands, was among the first. However, some of the old Turkish neighborhoods retain their Turkish names.