Republic Square ( Serb. Trg Republika ) is one of the main squares of Belgrade , the capital of Serbia , located in the municipality of Stari Grad .
Content
Location
The square is located in the north-west of the Assembly near the southern tip of Prince Michael’s Street and occupies the space between the restaurant “Gradska Kafana”, the cinema “Jadran”, the National Theater and the concert hall of the Serbian Army.
Description
The modern square appeared after the demolition of the Istanbul Gate in 1866 and the construction of the National Theater in 1869 . The gates were built by Austro-Hungarians at the beginning of the 18th century and stood between the place where the statue of Prince Michael and the theater building is now located. The gates themselves were surrounded by a moat and were so named because of the road leading through them to Istanbul ( Constantinople ). In front of the gates, the Turks executed the guilty subjects, “paradise”, impaling them on a stake. In 1806, one of the commanders of the First Serbian Uprising , Vasa Charapich , was mortally wounded in this place. The street next to the square is named in his memory.
After the establishment of the Serbian government and the destruction of the gate, the theater building remained the only large building for more than 30 years. The area gradually grew from the moment when in 1882 a monument to Prince Michael was erected.
Most of the buildings were destroyed during the German bombing of April 6, 1941 . In November 1944, a monument to Soviet fighters who fell during the liberation of Belgrade was erected on Republic Square [1] . This monument was demolished in 1951 [1] during the period of aggravation of relations between the USSR and Yugoslavia . After World War II, tram tracks were removed from the square. Later the tallest building, the House of the Press, was built.
Monument to Mikhail Obrenovich
The monument to Mikhail Obrenovich by sculptor Enrico Pazzi was erected in 1882. He portrays the prince on horseback and faces south. The pedestal shows cities left by the Ottomans and scenes from Serbian history. [2]
See also
- Monuments of Belgrade
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Moscow - Serbia, Belgrade - Russia. Collection of documents and materials. T. 4. Russian-Serbian relations. 1917-1945 - M., Belgrade: B.i. - p. 510.
- ↑ Republic Square Archival copy dated October 14, 2013 on the Wayback Machine - Belgradian.com (English)