Krunski Venac

Krunski Venac
Крунски Венац
Urban neighbourhood
Krunski Venac
Location within Belgrade
Coordinates: 44°48′16″N 20°28′17″E / 44.804497°N 20.471250°E / 44.804497; 20.471250Coordinates: 44°48′16″N 20°28′17″E / 44.804497°N 20.471250°E / 44.804497; 20.471250
Country  Serbia
Region Belgrade
Municipality Vračar
Time zone UTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST) UTC+2 (CEST)
Area code +381(0)11
Car plates BG
Krunski Venac in 1906
Former Genčić House, today the Museum of Nikola Tesla

Krunski Venac (Serbian: Крунски Венац) is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Vračar.

Location

Krunski Venac is located along the Krunska street after which the neighborhood got its name (Serbian for "crown street"), in the northern part of Vračar, stretches to the neighborhood of Kalenić.[1]

History

One of the best preserved sections of "Old Belgrade", Krunska street is considered to be one of the most distinguished areas in Belgrade, after the Civil Engineering Law from 1900 allowed only villa-type houses to be built in the area of Krunski Venac. From 1900 to 1903 the street was named after queen Draga.[2]

In 1880s, the later famous kafana Tri lista duvana ("Three tobacco leaves") was opened on the corner of the Kneza Miloša street and Bulevar Kralja Aleksandra. A bit later, the first telephone exchange in Belgrade was installed in the venue.[3]

The name of the neighbourhood, just like the adjoining Grantovac, later fell into obscurity and is not used much today. One of the rare official usage is for one of the exchanges of Telekom Srbija.

In August 2018 part of the neighborhood was placed under the protection.[4] Concurrently, private investors announced partial demolition of the eastern section of the neighborhood (around the streets of Topolska, Petrovgradska and Vojvode Dragomira) and construction of several highrise buildings in the area. Inhabitants of Vračar organized, protesting against the project and stressing the necessity of preserving such refined ambient entireties. Architect Bojan Kovačević, president of the Serbian Academy of Architecture, said that "there are parts of the city which are docile units, and which can't resist the pressures from the investors. In the Topolska Street, someone is trying to capitalize on the ambient fineness by constructing the buildings which kill that very fineness".[5] Deputy mayor Goran Vesić said that he supports the motion for preserving the old neighborhood.[4]

Still, the demolition began. In September 2018, the 1927 villa, designed by Milan Štangl, was demolished. It was considered one of the earliest representatives of the moderna in Belgrade. It was demolished to make way for a residential building.[6] Only after it was demolished, the city decided to draft the detailed regulatory plan for the eastern section of the neighborhood which stipulates that the façades of the new buildings must be in accordance with the "ambient unit" of the neighborhood, and can't have modern glass-like façades, for example.[7]

Characteristics

Nikola Tesla Museum

The Nikola Tesla Museum is located in the neighbourhood. On 12 July 2007 Tesla's fountain was opened on a lawn outside the Museum, marking the 115th anniversary of the "Belgrade Waterworks", the city's official plumbing and sewage company. It was made after the original project of Nikola Tesla, patented in 1913, using a pump which uses very little electricity. It took 25 years for researchers to fully understand Tesla's idea and create a fountain like this. At the time, Tesla collaborated on the design of the fountain with the famed US stained glass artist Louis Comfort Tiffany.[8]

Students Polyclinic

On the corner with the Braće Nedić street, one of the "most elegant" buildings in Belgrade was built in 1923/24, with the purpose of being the largest and the most modern privately owned health institute in the Balkans. During the heavy „Easter bombing“ of Belgrade by the Allies on 16 April 1944. the hospital was hit and over 50 people were killed, including 22 mothers and 22 newborns, several visiting family members and several medical workers. Since the mid 1950s the "Institute for the student's health protection Belgrade" has been located in the building, which is colloquially known as the Students' polyclinic. Memorial plaque for the 1944 event was dedicated on 16 May 2017.[9]

References

  1. ↑ Miloš Lazić (12 June 2018). "Kafana po glavi stanovnika" [Kafana per capita]. Politika (in Serbian). p. 15.
  2. ↑ Marija Brakočević & Dejan Aleksić (21 February 2016). "Bulevar kralja Aleksandra – moderna avenija sa šarmom prošlosti" (in Serbian). Politika.
  3. ↑ Goran Vesić (14 September 2018). "Прва европска кафана - у Београду" [First European kafana - in Belgrade]. Politika (in Serbian). p. 12.
  4. 1 2 Beoinfo (4 September 2018). "Vesić: Podržavam zahtev, sačuvati ambijentalne celine grada" [Vesić: I support the motion, we should preserve the ambient parts of the city] (in Serbian). N1.
  5. ↑ "Kovačević: Pitomi delovi grada pod pritiskom investitora" [Kovačević: Docile parts of the city under the investors' pressure] (in Serbian). N1. 27 August 2018.
  6. ↑ N1, FoNet (12 September 2018). "Počelo rušenje vile iz 1927. godine u Topolskoj" [Demolition of the 1927 villa in Topolska began] (in Serbian). N1.
  7. ↑ Branka Vasiljević, Dejan Aleksić (26 September 2018). "Престоница добија предуѕеће за метро" [Capital got a subway company]. Politika (in Serbian). p. 14.
  8. ↑ Politika daily, July 13, 2007, page 44
  9. ↑ A.V. (17 May 2017), "Devet i po decemija poliklinike u Krunskoj", Politika (in Serbian), p. 17
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