Belgrade marks its holiday

BELGRADE - The Serbian capital celebrated its holiday, the Ascension of Jesus, with a liturgy at the Church of the Ascension and a procession in the city streets on Thursday.

Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Irinej served the liturgy and then led the procession, which included Belgrade Mayor Sinisa Mali and other city officials, through the downtown streets.

The Ascension of Jesus is one of ten Christian holidays dedicated to Jesus Christ, and it is marked on Thursday, 40 days after Easter.

Belgrade marks the Ascension of Jesus every year in memory of 1403 when Despot Stefan Lazarevic declared the city the Serbian capital.

The Ascension of Jesus is also tied to another key event in Serbian history - the adoption of the most important legal document of the Serbian medieval state, Dusan's Code, in 1349.

The current way of marking the day was first established in 1862, and brought back in 1993 after a long break following World War Two.

Photo Tanjug/D. Peternek