A Balkan roadway to the East

For centuries Serbia has been the scene of frequent wars, devastation, fires and mass-migrations using the roads leading from Europe to the East and vice-versa. Roman roads and towns span six centuries. This has left behind a rich cultural and historical legacy.

Serbia has four cultural monuments inscribed in the list of UNESCO World Heritage. One of the most important categories of preserved monument in Serbia are the Orthodox monasteries founded in the period from the 12th to the 17th century. The Mileševa Monastery at Prijepolje.

The White Angel.  Part of the Resurrection fresco, painted in 1230 at the Mileševa Monastery, it depicts an archangel at the entrance of Christ's empty tomb, announcing the Easter morning resurrection to the mourning women.

Cuisine

Serbian cooking combines Balkan, Mediterranean, Turkish and Central European cuisines. During the centuries of Ottoman rule, tastes were influenced by rich oriental cuisine. Some of the most traditional Serbian dishes have common roots with those of Greece and Turkey. Centuries of Austro-Hungarian influence also left its legacy, especially of rich desserts. Serbian national dishes include pljeskavica (a ground beef flat cake), ćevapi (grilled minced meat), and sarma (a wrap with various fillings).

The national drink is šljivovica (plum brandy).

Famous people

* Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) was the electrical engineer who invented the AC (alternating current) induction motor, which made the universal transmission and distribution of electricity possible.
* Jasmina Vujić is an internationally recognised expert in the advanced method development for nuclear reactor analysis and design, as well as for medical applications of radiation.
* Novak Đoković is the Serbian tennis ace whose brilliance has pushed him to the top of the men’s professional game.
* Monika Seleš  Also a tennis player, who was born and raised in Novi Sad, Vojvodina, from an ethnic Hungarian family. In 1990 she won the French Open at age 16 and was stabbed during a match in 1993. She was recognised as the World no.1 in women's professional tennis.  Her father Károly was a cartoonist employed by both Serb and Magyar newspapers, and in training would draw her cartoons to make tennis more fun.
* Milla Jovovich  (Milica Jovović) was born in 1975 in Kiev, Ukraine, to a Serbian pædiatrician and a famous Russian actress. She became one of the world's best known film actress, playing in such movies as The Fifth Element, The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc and Resident Evil.