If you are a citizen of Belgrade, then you have at least once walked through Taš, sat in the restaurant “Šansa” or watched a sporting event in the stands of Tašmajdan. Did you know that at that moment, a thousand years old cave was a few meters below you? Tašmajdan park is located in the heart of the Serbian capital, between Takovska, Ilije Garašanina and Beogradska streets and Bulevar kralja Aleksandra. “Taš” and “majdan” are Turkish words for mine and stone, so the name of this place means “quarry”.
According to an old testimony, “it can be freely said that all the old buildings in Belgrade were built with this stone extracted here”, but Tašmajdan is important and, somewhat mysterious, for other reasons – right here, under the favorite park of thousands of citizens of Belgrade, most famous capital cave is located. The Tašmajdan cave consists of 3 parts – an ancient mine, a German shelter and a natural cave.
During the Roman rule, stone was extracted from the cave, which was used to build ancient houses, palaces, sarcophagi, tombs, temples, aqueducts… During the rule of the Turks, this cave was better known as the “saltpetre cave”. It got its name because of the extremely high quality saltpetre from which gunpowder was made. During the 19th century, the place served as a shelter from Turkish and Austro-Hungarian cannons. The main entrance to this part of the cave is near the Radio Television of Serbia building.
The other part of the cave is the so-called “Lehr’s cave”, the shelter of the former Wehrmacht general and initiator of bombing of Yugoslavia on April 6th, Alexander von Lehr. According to some estimates, 1.000 people could live in this part. The shelter had enough water and food to be able to feed the soldiers for the next 6 months. It is said that the Gestapo imprisoned the most notorious prisoners here.
The third part of the complex is a natural cave located below the restaurant “Šansa”. It is also mentioned in the writings of the Austro-Hungarian travel writer Felix Kanic, who lived in Serbia between 1860 and 1864.
Other rooms of this intricate complex are randomly arranged under the pool and Tašmajdan park. Entry into them is prohibited. After the World War II some of the corridors were walled up for security reasons, as there were fears that they were mined. It is interesting that Von Lehr was not caught in his cave shelter, but in Slovenia, but it remains a secret which way he fled there. Some state that underground canals start from here, others claim that he went through Zemun.
Exploration of these caves stopped in 1994. We hope that in the coming years it will be possible to provide significant financial resources that are necessary for the Tašmajdan cave to meet all security aspects for the reception of tourists. Until then, the Tašmajdan cave remains one of the most mystical parts of Belgrade and the eternal inspiration of lovers of the ancient secrets of the Serbian capital.