Obilićev Venac

Obilićev Venac (Serbian: "Обилићев венац"), a partial pedestrian and shopping zone, is located in the city center of Belgrade, Serbia, within the "Knez Mihailova Street" spatial unit protected by law, and contains a number of residential and office buildings dating from the year 1900 to 2000.

The Obilićev Venac area - origin of the street

Obilićev Venac is without a doubt one of the old and valuable city monument areas in Belgrade. Connected to Knez Mihailova Street, Kosančićev Venac and the Belgrade Fortress, it forms essentially the only material testimony to the continuity of the city of Belgrade, from its oldest Roman times to today.

In Ancient times the area of the street, due to the specific layout of the terrain, used the highest point as the communication route, namely the ridge that slopes gently downwards towards the Sava riverbank. Thus in later historical times the geographical location of the ridge was the main factor behind the shaping and purpose of Obilićev Venac. The street was certainly set out as far back as the Roman times, when the center of the Singidunum settlement was already located in Knez Mihailova Street. Under the onslaught of Barbarians the area of Obilićev Venac was devastated. The agony of the street's ruination continued throughout the Middle Ages and culminated in the street disappearing from the urban map of Belgrade and turning into a green field.[1]

The street came back to life in the 15th century, during the reign of Despot Stefan Lazarević, primarily due to the reestablishment of what was once the via cardo, i.e. today's Knez Mihailova Street, through which the settlement on the Upper Town plateau was reached.

The revival of Obilićev Venac was temporarily suspended in 1456 because of the Turkish siege of Belgrade, when the area was used to erect tents for the Turkish troops, with the camp of Sultan Mohamed II located behind them, towards Vračar. Six and a half decades later, through the devastated fields at Obilićev Venac, the Turkish conquerors commanded by Suleyman the Magnificent finally conquered Belgrade on August 29, 1521.[2]

Resettlement of the area of this street began in the summer of 1521, and flourished under Bayram Bey (1557–1568). During his reign the so-called "Upper Town" was formed, spreading on both sides of the centrally located Turkish cemetery, between today's Knez Mihailova and Braće Jugovića streets.[3]

Generally speaking, during the Turkish occupation a residential and business "oriental style" quarter arose in this vacant area, with gardens, a meyhane, caravanserai, hospital, fountain and a mosque. Alongside the waterworks route which coincided with Knez Mihailova Street five mosques were built, and around them homonymous quarters were formed, so-called mahalas. Most important was "Ibrahim Bey's" mosque on the corner of Obilićev Venac and Knez Mihailova streets (where the former "TA-TA" later "Robne kuće Beograd" department store once stood).[4] According to the famous geologist and sociologist between the two World Wars Chemso Derwichevitch, this mosque was built between 1572 and 1582.;[5] it was also mentioned at the end of the 17th century by leading European geographers such as Gumpp and the "Italian plans of Belgrade.[6]

Although it is currently unknown who Ibrahim Bey actually was, we can conclude that he was an important figure and that the building of the bimarhane or hospital next to the mosque itself, and of the large caravanserai across from it, where the "Ruski Car" tavern stands today, can both be attributed to him. These buildings for the first time clearly defined the street contours recognizable today [7]

Beginnings of Europeanization of the street - the Austrian Baroque architecture in the 18th century Belgrade

Engraving, Belgrade "The City gf Belgrade in the XVIII century" Obilicev Venac Street and Knez Mihailova Street in Belgrade, XVIII century, circa 1736, Museum of the City of Belgrade.

Numerous attempts of the Austrian Empire to save the "Eastern Christians" from the Ottoman yoke began in the 16th century and intensified from the second half of the 18th century onward. Careful analysis of the "Talijanski Plan" from 1696 reveals that after Belgrade was conquered by Maximilian Emanuel (September 6, 1688) numerous quarters, "mahalas", were torn down, and among them Obilićev Venac was particularly devastated. However, the route of the street still followed the line of Ibrahim Bey's mosque and the caravanserai across the way, where today's "Ruski Car" Tavern is located. But the experiences from this war showed the Turks after they reclaimed Belgrade that they needed to take new protective measures in the form of building a so-called "bastion", which clearly indicates the beginnings of the Belgrade "moat"(Serbian: "Шанац")

Engraving, Belgrade 'The Wurttemberg Palace and Barracks" at Obilicev Venac Street in Belgrade, XVIII century, circa 1738, by Nicolas de Spaar, Vienna State's Archives.

In the summer of 1717 the Austrian army, commanded by Eugene of Savoy, took Belgrade for the second time. The already abandoned mosque of Ibrahim Bey made way for the "Bastion of St. Karl", located where the Hotel Majestic stands today. During the relatively short Austrian rule 1717–1739, through urban planning reconstruction Obilićev Venac acquired its basic and recognizable today's direction, which it retained in the structure of the street until 1867. A number of important public buildings were built in the purest Baroque architecture style during the period of the Austrian presence in Belgrade (1717–1739); among the most important buildings to be quoted were "The Charles VIth Gate" in lower part of the today's Kalemegdan Park and the "Carl Alexander of Wurttemberg Palace and Barracks" on the corner of Obilicev venac and Knez Mihailova streets (today the 'Glamour Perfumes Shop"), etc.[8] The Alexander von Wurttemberg barracks formed the largest building in Belgrade, completely dominating not only the street's but also the city's architecture as a whole. From 1726 the barracks were transformed into the "Governor's of Serbia Palace" but were unfortunately demolished following the surrender of Belgrade in 1739 by the Austrians in accordance with the terms of the Belgrade Peace Agreement signed the same year between the latter and the Turks.

Reconstruction of the street according to plans by Emilijan Josimović

The definite departure of the Turks from Belgrade in 1867 enabled the capital of the young principality to follow the lead of prominent European cities and adopt the concept of a series of connected streets in the form of "rings" which, in the Belgrade example, meticulously followed the route of the "moat". Emilijan Josimović's town reconstruction project from 1867 implemented that concept for the next fifteen years or so, giving Obilićev Venac the appearance it has today.[9]

In 1872, at the same time as Knez Mihailova Street, this street received the name it has today, and together with Kosančićev Venac and Topličin Venac it symbolically preserves the memory of the Middle Ages and the Serbian nobility.[10]

Buildings in Obilićev Venac built in the second half of the 19th century and its most renowned families

The construction and architectural shaping of the street in the period to come was characterized by erection of mostly single-storey academic or eclectic style houses, with gardens and lower levels which, on the even side of the street, reached all the way to Maršala Birjuzova Street. The houses were mainly built by rich merchants or high-ranking civil servants, most of Serbian origin, but some from Aromanian and Jewish families as well, including the Tomanović family (Krsta M. at number 30, today number 24: the parcel was sold by his heirs, (Stanković-Grebenac),to brothers Messrs. Đorđe and Aleksandar Srbić from Savamala, (both engineers), the Simić family (Mijailo and Vasilije at 22, Obilićev Venac), Panđela-Migrić (Kosta, Olivia married to Borivoje Migrić, at number 26), the Ninčić family (Aron and his son '''Momčilo Ninčić''', Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, at 27 Obilićev Venac), the Mitrović family (Jovan and Velizar, at number 25), the Radojković family (owners of the land and house in the location of their subsequently erected building which housed the department store "TATA", nationalised in 1946 by the Joseph Broz called Tito's communist regime, later renamed "NAMA" and "Beograd"). The Antonijević family at number 29 (owners of the land and building in which the old and new "Ruski Car" tavern from 1929 is located), the Notaroš family at number 15, etc.[11]

The dynamic development of Belgrade between 1900 and 1940 completed the spatial forming of Obilićev Venac, replacing most of the houses with multi-storey buildings in the style of Secession, Art Deco and Modernism.

Architecture of cultural and historic value from the 20th century

MIGRIC-PANDJELA's Building, front facade, details
RUSKI CAR, front facade, detail
TANJUG, Belgrade, Obilicev Venac no 2, one of the best examples of the Modern Style Architecture movement in Belgrade, circa 1936
The Miša V. Simić's Building at no. 22, front facade with balconies, detail

A typical example of Secession architecture can be found in the family house of Steva Jovanović Resavac at number 16; also noteworthy are the residential and office buildings of Olivia B. Migrić, née Panđela, at number 26 and of Jovan Antonijević (the "Ruski Car" Tavern) at number 29 which show more than fair knowledge of Art Deco decorative features. At number 2, the Tanjug office building (formerly the "PRIZAD"; from 1944 onwards the HQ of OZNA and UDBA, the secret police of Joseph Broz's (nicknamed Tito), Yugoslavia). Finally, the residential and office buildings of Miša V. Simić at number 22 and the Srbić brothers at number 24, built in 1939 and 1940 according to the design of architect Branislav Marinković (1904-1981) followed by the Hotel Majestic building built by its owner and architect Milan S. Minić are some of the more successful buildings in the style of Modernism in the territory of Belgrade.

Obilicev Venac seen from Zmaj Jovina Street, (photo above) and from the Hotel Majestic (photo below), 1925

As a living organism, Obilićev Venac is continuously developing, but the dominant buildings erected by 1940 remain. They give this street a special brand mark, like an eternal reminder to the unquestionable europeanization of Belgrade through centuries.

Literature

References

  1. ↑ Popović, dr Marko "Područje Knez Mihailove ulice u sklopu urbanog jezgra rimskog Singidunuma", in "Knez Mihailova, zaštita nasleđa - uređenje prostora", (edited by ac. Nedeljko Gvozdenović), Galerija SANU, 1975.; Đorđević, Tihomir "Stanovništvo u Srbiji posle Velike seobe", in "Godišnjica Nikole Čupića", XXXVI, Beograd, 1927.; Krsmanović-Simić, Marko "Fasade Obilićevog venca kroz vreme", catalogue from the exhibition of old and contemporary photographs of facades in Obilićev Venac, at Galerija Grafičkog kolektiva Beograd, October 2003; "Beogradska tvrđava kroz istoriju", catalogue from the exhibition at Galerija SANU December 1969 – March 1970.
  2. ↑ Šabanović, Hazim "Urbani razvitak Beograda od 1521. do 1688. godine", Godišnjak grada Beograda, XVII, Beograd, 1970.
  3. ↑ Đurić-Zamolo, dr Divna "Beograd - kao orijentalna varoš pod Turcima", Muzej Grada Belgrade, 1977.
  4. ↑ see Đurić-Zamolo, dr Divna "Beograd - kao orijentalna varoš pod Turcima", Muzej Grada Beograda, Belgrade 1977.
  5. ↑ see Đurić-Zamolo, dr Divna "Beograd - kao orijentalna varoš pod Turcima", Muzej Grada Belgrade, 1977 and Derwichevitch, Chemso "Evolution de Belgrade", Jouve et Cie., Paris 1939.)
  6. ↑ (http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/~db/0007/bsb00073463/images/.
  7. ↑ see "Taljanski Plan Beograda" in "Obilićev venac kroz vreme", catalogue from the exhibition at the Grafički Kolektiv, Belgrade 2003.
  8. ↑ Vasić, dr Pavle "Barok u Beogradu 1718-1739", in "Oslobođenje gradova u Srbiji od Turaka 1862-1867", SAN, Belgrade, 1970. "Istorija Beograda", I,II i III Tom, (pod uredništvom ak. Vase Čubrilovića), Prosveta, Beograd, 1974.
  9. ↑ Đurić-Zamolo, dr Divna "Graditelji Beograda 1815-1914, Muzej Grada Beograda, 1981.
  10. ↑ see "Arhitektonsko nasleđe grada Beograda I", catalogue of architectural buildings in the territory of Belgrade 1690-1914, ZZZSKGB, Saopštenja, sv.6, Beograd, 1966
  11. ↑ "Adresna knjiga", Beograd, izd. "Bezbednost", 1912.; Gordić, dr Gordana "Arhitektonsko nasleđe grada Beograda I", catalogue of architectural buildings in the territory of Belgrade 1690-1914, ZZZSKGB, Saopštenja, sv.6, Beograd, 1966.
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