Cultural tourism is important part of overall tourism experience in Serbia. With layers of history, from Neolith to medieval states and from antique civilizations to Byzantium, Serbia is perfect choice for every history lover. Numerous archeological sites, museums and castles are reopening for tourists and one of the most modern visitor centers in Europe was opened this year in south-east Serbia. Visitor center “Caričin grad” was opened on June 17, 2024 for the purpose of presenting the archaeological site “Caričin grad”, the nature park “Radan planina” as well as tourist attractions and the cultural and historical heritage of the municipality of Lebane.
It is located at the foot of the archaeological site itself, which is very convenient for the professional public in the field of archaeology, Byzantology, history, architecture, art history, Christian religion, military-strategic professions, educational institutions and others who benefit from the proximity of the site to the meeting place.
The Center building has two physically separate parts, one of which is a conference hall and a presentation hall with a souvenir shop. Scientific gatherings, conferences, meetings and presentations are held in the conference hall with 50 seats. In the presentation hall with expert guidance, there are interpretive panels showing how the city looked in the sixth century.
Through the display of replicas of artifacts found on the site, placed in four separate display cases, visitors can see what objects were used by the inhabitants of Justinijana Prima.
The contents highlighted on the interactive totems show the current tourist offer of the municipality of Lebane and the Radan Planina Nature Park. Another service is a view of the Justinijana Prima in virtual reality conditions using VR glasses.
In the souvenir shop there are representative souvenirs about Justinijana Prima archeological site.
In front of these two halls is the amphitheater area, with 360 seats, ideal for performing stage plays in the open air, which is connected to the parking area for buses and cars, with a capacity of about a hundred parking spaces. The entire space is built in the style of a classical Greek amphitheater with excellent acoustics and fits perfectly into the natural environment.
The visitor center Caričin grad is one of the most modern facilities for this purpose in Europe.
As part of the Caričin Grad visitor center, there is also the “Teodora” center building, which offers food and accommodation facilities to visitors. This space is built in the style of an ancient Roman house with an atrium around which nine rooms and a conference hall are arranged. 18 people can be accommodated in two triple and six double rooms. A spacious atrium connects the rooms with the conference hall and is covered by a glass roof that lets in a lot of light.
On the floor below there is a restaurant with a capacity of 40 seats and on the terrace 60 seats. Traditional Serbian cuisine and Leskovac barbecue are served here. Our menu includes dishes characteristic of the south and east of Serbia.
Often guests come just for the homemade pie they call propeć, the meat dish Sprža, the salty spread of Ajvar and Ljutenica peppers, the Leskovac grill and ready meals. A specialty that you can only order there is Justinian’s schnitzel and Teodora’s schnitzel.
The visitor center “Caričin grad” itself was built in order to bring the significance and potential of the archaeological site from the 6th century closer to tourists. This site of exceptional importance represents the remains of the architecture of the early Byzantine church center “Iustiniana Prima”, whose founder was Emperor Justinian the First.
The narrower urban core surrounded by ramparts spread over an area of about 10 hectares and did not undergo any later additions. The wider area covered more than 40 hectares with two more rings of ramparts, along the banks of two rivers:
Svinjaričke and Caričinska with a dam and a lake. The fortress is characterized by the authentic urban design of the cities of the Roman Empire at the beginning of the Byzantine era, with four main gates, forums, thermal baths and other public buildings.
Floor mosaics are of special value, they decorated the floors of basilicas and public baths. This locality is associated with legends that are still retold among the people today, about the emperor who publicly promised his daughter’s hand in marriage to the one who manages to bring water to the city, and how that lucky person was none other than a young pig farmer from a nearby village.
The visitor center was named after the location Caričin Grad, and Empress Teodora was – according to many, the most powerful woman in the history of Byzantium – the empire that lasted for 1000 years. Empress Teodora is the wife of Emperor Justinian and is one of the most influential women of all time.
In the book “Secret History”, which was written by the emperor’s historian Procopius, her personality with a strong character, unwavering will, who ruled equally with the emperor Justinian, is vividly described. Empress Teodora has been the inspiration for many works of art for centuries. It is depicted in novels, films and paintings.
Even today, her fascinating personality seems extravagant. She is the muse immortalized in their works by the artists of the art colony “Caričin grad”, which takes place in July at the locality. Artists from Serbia, countries of the former Yugoslavia, from Europe and sometimes from distant overseas countries participate in the colony.
