Lepenski Vir

Top choice in Serbia


What is now Đerdap National Park was once a major centre for Mesolithic- and Neolithic-era fishing communities, a past that has been wonderfully preserved in this unsung museum overlooking the Danube. Housed – somewhat ironically – within a space-age building, religious and workaday artefacts, sculptures and skeletons dating back as far as 7000 BC are on display here. Perhaps the most impressive is the world-famous Foremother and several other stone sculptures of fish-like idols with human faces.

A fascinating film showing the excavation of the settlement plays on a loop, and there's a 3D simulation of the village as it would have been long ago.

There's no public transport to the archaeological site; if you're not driving, catch a taxi from Donji Milanovac (it's 16km upstream).