Kneza Miloša street
Clash Royale CLAN TAG#URR8PPP Улица кнеза Милоша | |
 Government of Serbia (front) and the Foreign ministry | |
| Namesake | Miloš Obrenović |
|---|---|
| Location | Belgrade |
Kneza Miloša Street or Ulica kneza Miloša (Serbian Cyrillic: Улица кнеза Милоша; English: Prince Miloš street) is a street in downtown Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It was the main city’s korzo (promenade) and today is one of the major traffic arteries of the city,[1] location of some of the most important national institutions and a street with the largest number of embassies in Belgrade. It stretches through the territory of three municipalities: Stari Grad, Vračar and Savski Venac and was named after prince Miloš Obrenović, the first ruler of modern Serbia (1815-39 and 1858-60).[2]
Contents
1 Location and course
2 History
2.1 Development
2.2 Events
2.3 1999 bombing
3 Characteristics
4 Notable features
4.1 Vicinity of the beginning of the street
4.2 Upper section
4.2.1 Right side
4.2.2 Left side
4.3 Central section
4.3.1 Right side
4.3.2 Left side
4.4 Lower section
4.4.1 Right side
4.4.2 Left side
5 Future
6 References
Location and course
Nemanjina intersection
London section
Kneza Miloša begins at the intersection with Bulevar kralja Aleksandra. It receives the dead end Lazarevića street from the left and crosses the intersections with Andrićev venac street on the right and Krunska on the left, and with the city's main street, Kralja Milana. The next intersection is with the streets Kraljice Natalije on the right and Masarikova on the left, and then it receives Admirala Geprata street from the right. From then on, it crosses the streets Nemanjina, Birčaninova, Vojvode Milenka, Miloša Pocerca, Višegradska and Durmitorska. After 1.87 km (1.16 mi)[1] of a straight line course in a south-westerly direction, the street ends at the Mostar interchange.[3]
History
Development
The street originated during the rule of prince Miloš, and was originally called Topčiderski drum (Topčider road), as it connected the downtown with the Miloš' court in the Topčider wood (Residence of Prince Miloš). It was named after prince Miloš in 1872. At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, Kneza Miloša (or Miloša Velikog (Miloš the Great street) as it was known, was the city's main promenade or korzo. Queen Natalija often walked down the korzo, mingling with the people. At that time, National Assembly of Serbia was located at the intersection with the Kraljice Natalije street, like some of the ministries. The lower section of the street passed between affluent households with gardens and the Military Academy was also located there, whose cadets often paraded down the street. As the tram was introduced to the street, among the first in Belgrade, korzo lost its function. The tram line, Belgrade-Topčider, was a sort of an excursion line, which Queen Natalija also often used, travelling with her son and future king, Alexander I of Serbia. She preferred the tram over the fiacre.[1]
Kneza Miloša is one of 34 streets in downtown Belgrade which have never changed their names since the names were awarded to the streets for the first time in the 19th century.[2]
Events
When Prince Mihailo Obrenović was fatally wounded in Topčider, it was this road through witch the carriage with the wounded prince, rushed downtown to try to save the prince's life. On the corner with Masarikova street, a Communist Spasoje Stević attempted to assassinate the king Alexander I of Yugoslavia in 1921. As the king was in the carriage with the prime minister Nikola Pašić, Stević threw the grenade at the carriage but hit the telegraph line instead. King and prime minister were unharmed, but several pedestrians were wounded.[1]
As it has many representative buildings, some of them were used by the Germans when they occupied Belgrade in 1941. During the 1998 façade cleaning of the building of the Ministry of the foreign affairs, Wehrmacht insignia were discovered below the surface layer.[1]
1999 bombing
Kneza Miloša was heavily bombed by NATO in 1999. On 2/3 April 1999, both Ministry of the Interior buildings (MUP), federal and the republic's one, were bombed. On 29/30 April Ministry of Defense and Serbian General Staff were demolished, Federal MUP was hit again and the building of the Government of Serbia was damaged. On 7/8 May General Staff and Federal MUP were bombed again and on 24/25 May the Republic's MUP.
Characteristics
From the beginning to the end, the street goes downhill, and since it is completely straight, it gives a nice panoramic view down the entire course. The street is 32 m (105 ft) wide, out of which 18.75 m (61.5 ft) is the driveway and 13.25 m (43.5 ft) sidewalks.[1]
In its first section, Kneza Miloša marks the border between Savski Grad and Vračar, until the intersection with Kraljice Natalije/Masarikova, wher eit enters Savski Venac.[3] It goes through and directly connects several old neighborhoods of Belgrade: Tašmajdan, Krunski Venac, Andrićev Venac, London, West Vračar and Mostar. Through its natural extensions on the north (Takovska street) and south (Bulevar Vojvode Putnika), it makes a direct traffic transversal which goes through the entire "Old" Belgrade, in the northeast to southwest direction.
Named after the founder of the Obrenović, prince Miloš, it crosses three other streets named after members of the same dynasty: queen Natalija, king Alexander and king Milan.[1]
Notable features
The street preserved many buildings from the Interbellum. A number of them are protected by the state as cultural and historical monuments.
Vicinity of the beginning of the street
- Tašmajdan Park
- Saint Mark's Church
- Main Post Office Building
- House of the National Assembly of Serbia
- Constitutional Court of Serbia
Upper section
Right side
Pioneers Park and Archaeological Site Pionirski Park; a park and location of the one of the most important archaeologic sites of the ancient Singidunum.
Andrićev Venac; dedicated to the Nobel prize laureate in literature, Ivo Andrić and the seat of the President of Serbia.
Left side
- No. 1; kafana Tri lista duvana (Three tobacco leaves); popular in its own name, it was famous for the first ever telephone call in Serbia, in 1881. Demolished in 1991 for the Hotel Hilton to be built, but because of the Yugoslav Wars, a temporary parking lot was constructed instead. In 2007 building of an 8-storey-tall commercial edifice began which was completed from the outside, but as of 2017 it is still not in use.[4]
- No. 1-a; Music school Stanković; founded in 1911.[5]
- No. 5; Hotel Excelsior; originally built as a clinic in 1921, but instead opened as a hotel in 1924; projected by the Viennese architects, it was used by the Germans as their General Staff in Belgrade during the World War II, then as the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry 1945-48 and since then hotel again.[6]
- corner with the Krunska; Embassy of Turkey.
Central section
Right side
- intersection with the Kralja Milana; once famed kafana "London", which gave name to the entire neighborhood. In the transition mayhem since the 1990s, restaurant was turned into the seat of the Ponzi scheme called the "Dafiment Banka", casino, coffee shop, and as of 2017 it is one of the IDEA supermarkets.
Ascencion Church; built in 1863, damaged in the bombing during the World War II, both by the Germans (in 1941), and by the Allies (in 1944).- No. 20; Building of the Finance Ministry; built in 1889, additional floors added in 1924 and 1959. The 1924 expansion was projected by Nikolay Krasnov.[1][7]
- Finansijski Park, (Financial Park); one of the oldest in Belgrade, renamed to the Park Gavrilo Princip in April 2017.[8]
- A monument to prince Miloš in the park;
- Intersection with Nemanjina; Building of the Government of the Republic of Serbia; projected by Nikolay Krasnov, built 1926-28, upgraded in 1938. Originally, the Finance Ministry.[9]
- No. 24-26; Building of Ministry of Foreign Affairs; originally The Ministry of Forestry and mining and later Ministry of Agriculture and Waters. Projected by Nikolay Krasnov, built 1923-28.
Destroyed Building of the General Staff
Left side
- corner with the Masarikova; The Beograđanka, 101 meters-high skyscraper built 1969-74.
- No. 33-41; Building of the General Staff; projected by Nikola Dobrović and built 1957-65, one of the most representative works of architecture in Belgrade, destroyed in the several attack waves by NATO in 1999 and partially demolished. The future of the complex is not known at the moment. Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (UAE) and Donald Trump showed an interest into building a hotel at the location,[1] but the architects and urbanists are against it, asking for the building to be reconstructed as it was. As of 2017, the northern half of the building is being gradually demolished.
Lower section
Right side
- No. 38: Embassy of Poland;[10]
- No. 50; Embassy of the United States of America; vacated since 2013 when the embassy moved to another location. In 2016 US sold the building to the Israeli investors who announced the plans to completely demolish the building by the end of 2016 and build a hotel but as of 2017 the building is still standing and it's empty.[11]
- No. 62; Embassy of Croatia;[10]
- No. 66; Embassy of Guinea, defunct since the mid 1990s.[1]
- No. 70; Embassy of Romania;[10]
- No. 72; Embassy of Myanmar;[10]
- No. 74-76; Embassy of Germany;[10] new building is due to open in 2018.[1]
- No. 82; Building of the Yugoslav River Shipping; a massive building, built by the German prisoners of war specifically as the seat of UDBA, Yugoslav secret service, in 1946. In 1952 Supreme Court of Yugoslavia moved into the building and Yugoslav River Shipping bought it in 1968.[12]
- No. 92; Building of the Federal Ministry of the Interior; built for UDBA, which moved into the building in 1952, when the older building in No. 82 became too small for its operations. Completely destroyed by NATO in 1999. Several Israeli investors changed the ownership of the lot. In 2016 the clearing up of the lot began and the investors announced they will build a 30-storey-tall tower. It caused a furor in both the public and among the architects. City authorities said that even they don't know what will be built and that only after the land is cleared, city and the investors will see what the project will look like.[13][14][15][16]
Left side
- No. 69; Savski Venac Municipal Building;
- No. 75; Embassy of Canada;[10]
- Mostar Interchange; Building of the Interior Ministry of Serbia; destroyed by NATO in 1999; as of 2017 it is gradually being demolished;
Future
In 2016 city government announced a detailed reconstruction of the Kneza Miloša, based on the look of one of the main Barcelona's avenues, Passeig de Gràcia. Reconstruction should include adding one more traffic lane, green island in the middle of street, thick avenues, widened sidewalks, bicycle paths, underground garage with 427 parking spots and glass, decorative entrances to the garage. The works should begin by the mid-2017 and finish in 2018.[1] The garage will cover an area of 12,100 m2 (130,000 sq ft) with the projected cost of 7 million euros and in August 2017 the building permits were obtained but the works were moved to the spring of 2018,[2] In November 2017, construction of the garages was pushed to 2019.[17]
References
^ abcdefghijkl Dejan Aleksić, Daliborka Mučibabić (14 February 2016). "Topčiderski drum stiže u budućnost" (in Serbian). Politika.
^ abc Dejan Aleksić (5 August 2017), "Podzemna garaža u Kneza Miloša dobila dozvolu", Politika (in Serbian), p. 15
^ ab Beograd - plan grada. M@gic M@p. 2006. ISBN 86-83501-53-1.
^ M.Lj.Popović (23 August 2016). "Od "Tri lista duvana" ostala samo uspomena" (in Serbian). Blic.
^ Muzička škola Stanković - istorijat
^ Hotel Excelsior - history
^ Priča o zgradi Ministarstva finansija
^ Dejan Aleksić (19 April 2017). "Spomenik Sibinjanin Janku na Zemunskom keju, Gagarinu na Novom Beogradu" (in Serbian). Politika.
^ Simbol snage mlade države
^ abcdef Ambasade u Beogradu
^ Dušan Ivković (23 September 2009). "Izraelci kupili zgradu" (in Serbian). Blic.
^ Bojan Bilbija (16 February 2011). "Lekina tvrđava u srcu Beograda" (in Serbian). Politika.
^ "Bageri ispred zgrade Saveznog MUP-a - uskoro kreće rušenje" (in Serbian). Blic. 2 October 2016.
^ Tanjug (18 October 2016). "Ni hotel, ni tržni centar na mestu zgrade Saveznog MUP-a niče stambeno poslovni kompleks" (in Serbian). Blic.
^ "Šta niče umesto zgrade Saveznog MUP-a" (in Serbian). B92. 21 September 2016.
^ Daliborka Mučibabić (25 October 2016). "Mali sa investitorima obišao zgradu bivšeg Saveznog MUP-a" (in Serbian). Politika.
^ Dejan Aleksić (24 November 2017), "Mali: Nisam u kampanji i ne kajem se ni za sta" [Mali: I am not in the campaign and I regret nothing], Politika (in Serbian)