1965.
1935.
T he largest and most beautiful of Belgrade’s four gates during the period when the city was a Turk- ish town was the famous Stam- bol Gate. It was located between today’s National Theatre and the monument to Prince Mihailo on Republic Square, while it was named after the road that led from there to Istanbul. Despite its beauty, the gate was re- membered as the place where the Turks tortured and killed Serbian rebels. That was why Prince Mihailo Obrenović or- dered in 1866 that it be demolished and replaced with a symbol of progress in- stead of a reminder of the suffering of Belgrade. And back during the 1860s, the streets of Belgrade – which sat on the road between East and West – were dark and narrow, while the world was in- creasingly adapting to Western tastes. That post-liberation time saw a need arise for education, culture and science. The first theatre plays were performed, but the absence of a bespoke space meant that they were performed in inns or hotel halls... That’s why Prince Mihailo prom- ised to build a theatre. He unfortunate- ly didn’t live to see the realisation of his idea, as he was assassinated in Košutn- jak Forest in 1868. Nevertheless, the first play performed in the newly constructed theatre building at the end of 1869 was dedicated to him and called “The Post- humous Glory of Prince Mihailo”. Following the permanent establish- ing of the Serbian government and the demolition of the gate, the area of the square remained unregulated for a long time, with the National Theatre standing for three decades as the only building in the area. And it was after this building that the area of today’s Republic Square was originally called Theatre Square. The symbol of the square today, the mon-
Simbol trga, spomenik knezu Mihailu, izgrađen je 1882. godine, The symbol of the square today, the monument to Prince Mihailo, was erected in 1882
ument to Prince Mihailo, was erected in 1882, so the square began gradual- ly gaining its first contours. It was from here, at the end of 1892, that the first tram ceremoniously embarked on the first Belgrade city transport line, con- necting Kalemegdan and Slavija via The- atre Square. The tram terminal was lo- cated there in the period between the two world wars, before being removed – along with the rails – after World War II. New life was also brought to the square by the Bohemians who gathered in the building that stood on the site of today’s National Museum. Known under the nickname“At the Horse’s Behind”, the cult kafana tavern “Dardaneli” was one of old Belgrade’s most famous taverns. Actors of the National Theatre happily came here at the end of the 19 th centu- ry, and “Dardaneli” became a meeting place for Belgrade intellectuals. There newspaper articles and theatre reviews were written immediately after shows. Regular guests included the likes of Đu- ra Jakšić, Milovan Glišić, Vlada Jovano- vić, Stevan Sremac, Janko Veselinović and Vojislav Ilić. The building of the kafana was de- molished in 1901, only for the building of the Fund Mortgage Bank to emerge two years later – as the original occupant of the building that houses today’s Nation- al Museum. Until World War II, the site beside the National Theatre that’s today occupied by a small park was home to the ‘Kolarac’ tavern and cinema, named after the owner of the building and ben- efactor Ilija Milosavljević Kolarac. Reun- ion Palace, which housed the‘Jadran’cin- ema, was built in 1930. And although its appearance has been a cause of dispute for almost a century, it remains as one of the symbols of the Square. The area today occupied by the
building of Press House had numer- ous dilapidated buildings packed with merchants’ workshops prior to World War II. Most of them were destroyed during the bombing of 6 th April 1941. Upon the conclu- sion of the war, a tomb and mon- ument to the fallen soldiers of the Red Army were situated nearby for a while, only for the remains to lat- er be transferred to the Cemetery of the Liberators of Belgrade. It was during the following years that this square’s largest building emerged - Press House, which houses the Bel- grade Cultural Centre with galler- ies, the International Press Centre, the “City Tavern”... Belgrade’s central square re- cently received a new look, more than a century and a half after its formation was launched. A lavish and spacious pedestrian area has been created, 12 flowerbeds with ornamental trees, four lanes for traf- fic, smart benches with free inter- net, sensors for temperature, air quality and noise, over 100 lights that are controlled remotely and can be adapted to events organ- ised on the Square, a parking area for bicycles etc. Specially adapted granite on the pedestrianised area marks the spot once occupied by Stambol Gate, while individual gran- ite slabs will also mark the origianl burial site of the Red Army soldiers who fell in the fight to liberate Bel- grade in 1944. All of this adorns the new Re- public Square in Belgrade, but it re- mains that same good old place that preserves memories of the history and culture of the capital, but also countless first dates...
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