Today was a beautiful April day, probably the warmest day this year for now. The situation with the corona virus is slowly stabilizing. More and more people are on the streets. Slowly everything starts to function as before. I went to the Smederevo fortress to take a walk. Entrance to the fortress is still not allowed, all the gates are locked, so I walked around the fortress.
I crossed the railroad and reached the fortress. Then I made a full circle around the fortress and came to the outer hallway overlooking the Danube.
At the entrance of the long hallway, there are small stairs. On one side of the hallway are the walls of the "Small town" and the "Big town", where the life of the medieval rulers of Serbia took place, when Smederevo was the Serbian capital. On the other side of the hallway are the outer walls of the fortress, which were used to defend against attacks by enemies from the river. I was walking around and thinking how it was to live in a fortress in the fifteenth century.
I believe that it was quite tense at that time to look from the walls through the cubey "windows" intended for soldiers with bows and arrows, as an attack by the enemy army was expected from all sides. I imagined Serbian knights in armor, medieval military equipment, standing with spears and arrows ready for firing.
I enjoyed the view of the blue Danube, small and large ships sailing quietly.
I wondered if the fortress in the fifteenth century had only served to house the army or there had been women and children who could enjoy the view of the Danube during "periods of peace". I imagine women in beautiful long dresses walking the hallways of the fortress. The children were probably enthusiastically jumping and running up stairs and long corridors, playing war with wooden swords.
Life among the cold walls of the fortress was certainly not easy. I felt sad because all the gates are currently locked. I have not entered the fortress since last summer. As soon as they reopen the fortress for visitors, I will immediately go to visit its interior and that will be my next report about Fortress of Smederevo.
With love,
Ljubica.