Roman Well Attraction

Belgrade Attractions - Roman well from the list Belgrade Attractions is located below the plateau of the Upper Town at Kalemegdan, comfortably placed and cleverly hidden from the eyes of passers by, behind a black, iron gate. It is believed that the well from the list Belgrade Attractions was built during the Austrian rule of Belgrade between 1717 and 1731, however, there are scriptures and legends that contradict this theory. One of them is the story from the time of Despot Stefan, whose biographer mentions the Roman well as a place of storage of food in the 14th century. In 1660, a Turkish writer, Ćelibija mentioned the Roman well as a grain silo.
It is known that Kalemegdan was the home of a Roman fort, however, and it is not excluded that the well was made during their reign.

Many legends are linked to the Roman well, but definitely the most interesting one is the story that says this mysterious well is the navel of the world, similar to Delphi. This ancient greek tradition speaks of Zeus who wanted to know where the center of the earth is, and let two white eagles, which met halfway, at the center point of the Earth. The legend follows the story of the Romans, who considered that it was in this place, the meeting of the two eagles, where Orpheus found a passage to Hades.
However, according to the data on the construction of the Roman Well, no passage and no well existed in that time.

Today, the bottom of the well is filled with water, however once it was a prison, and for some that prison became the eternal resting place.
One story tells of cruel punishments of Turkish conspirators against the Austrian rule. In 1494, the Roman well was prison to 37 conspirators, the Hungarian Grand Duke Pavle ordered to starve and keep them in bottom of the well until they went crazy. When that happened, the austrians lowered weapons and the conspirators killed and devoured each other.

Roman well was dug in limestone rock that is impermeable to water, no underground streams were found. It was unknown how the Roman well filled with water. When building the Habsburg engineers were trying to reach underground water, and in trying to reach it they came to the level of the riverbed of the Sava, however, underground water was not found.
It was later found that the well accumulates surface water flowing into it, and it functions functions more like a tank than a well.
The depth of the Roman well is 60 meters, and its size is about 3.5 meters. To get to the bottom of the Roman one goes through two spiral corridors located in the wall of the well. A total of 208 steps leads to the bottom of the well, and on every ninth step there is a resting place. The spiral stairs at the bottom are connected by semicircular hallway.

Working hours of the Roman well is 11am to 7pm daily, from Monday to Sunday. Ticket price is 120.00 dinars, and discounted tickets are 60.00 dinars for students and pensioners.