Ritam grada
Rhythm of the city
Od ćevapa do butkice u kiselom kupusu, ovde se služe specijaliteti za koje su se recepti decenijama prenosili sa kolena na koleno / From ćevapi kebabs to pork knuckle in sauerkraut, here they serve specialities made according to recipes that have been passed down from generation to generation for decades.
Its owners and names have changed during the course of its ex- istence. It was first called “Kod pasti- ra” [By the Shepherd], then “Kod Saborne crkve” [By the Cathedral Church], but when this name was considered an insult to the church, a question mark appeared on the tavern, as a temporary name. That “?” has remained from the 19 th cen- tury until today. It is known that great Serbian language reformer Vuk Stefanović Karadžić frequented this tavern and that it was the first reading room of newspaper Srpske Novine [Serbian News]. The first game of billiards in Belgrade was played at “?”. It is also known that this was the only tav- ern to ban smoking. It wasn’t even permitted to smoke in front of the house, according to a ban imposed by Prince Miloš, who “abolished” tobacco smoke there in 1824 due to its close proximity of the Cathe- dral Church. Protective works have been un- dertaken on this building several times, under the supervision of the Belgrade City Institute for the Pro- tection of Cultural Monuments, but its purpose has never changed. As it was in bygone times, it today re- mains a gathering place for impor- tant figures in the life of the city, but also numerous foreigners who are inexorably drawn to visit the oldest kafana in the capital.
BELGRADE'S OLDEST KAFANA TAVERN Question Mark celebrates its 195 th birthday
loš Obrenović, by Naum Ičko, the son of Petar Ičko, famous for the peace treaty known as Ičko’s Peace. It was the property of Prince Mi- loš until 1826, when he gifted it to his personal doctor, Ećim Tomo Kostić. It was subsequently turned into a tavern, which was a port of call for many important Belgrade personalities. A one-storey building in the Bal- kan style, it was built by master ma- sons from Greece in the old way, us- ing wooden beams, while the design was the work of an unknown archi- tect. There are two bay windows on the main facade.
Najstarija kafana u Beogradu je 1946. godine proglašena za spomenik kulture Belgrade‘s oldest kafana tavern was declared a monument of culture in 1946 tion Mark] tavern is one of 16 mon- uments of culture in Belgrade’s Kral- ja Petra Street. The house was built in 1823, at the behest of Prince Mi- FROM 1826, WHEN IT WAS CONVERTED INTO A tavern, un- til today, almost two centuries lat- er, the arrangement of the space and its appearance have remained almost the same, making this house one of only a few structures that have remained almost complete- ly unchanged architecturally - as a typical urban house from the be- ginning of the 19 th century The famous Znak Pitanja [Ques-
Tekst/Words: Ana Sibinović, etnolog, Zavod za zaštitu spomenika kulture grada Beograda Fotografije / Photography: Zavod, iStock, Đ. Kojadinović
Belgrade » Beograd | 69
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