Park Gavrilo Princip

Park Gavrilo Princip
Парк Гаврила Принципа
Monument to Prince Miloš
Location within Belgrade
Location Savski Venac, Belgrade
Coordinates 44°48′27″N 20°27′34″E / 44.807539°N 20.459557°E / 44.807539; 20.459557Coordinates: 44°48′27″N 20°27′34″E / 44.807539°N 20.459557°E / 44.807539; 20.459557
Open All year

Park Gavrilo Princip (Serbian: Парк Гаврила Принципа, translit. Park Gavrila Principa) is a park in Belgrade, a capital of Serbia. Originating from 1836, it is one of the oldest parks in the city and in 1864 it was declared the first public park in Belgrade. Named Financial Park until 2017, it is located in the municipality of Savski Venac.

Location

Park Gavrilo Princip is located in the northern part of Savski Venac. It stretches between the streets of Kneza Miloša on the east, Admirala Geprata on the north, Balkanska on the west and Nemanjina on the south. It is embedded between the buildings of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, Finance Ministry and Supreme Court of Cassation.[1]

Name and history

Residence of prince Miloš in downtown Belgrade was located across the Cathedral Church, where the Patriarchal See of the Serbian Orthodox Church is today. As Turks were still residing in the Belgrade Fortress, in order to move further away from them, prince Miloš began building another residence on 25 August 1829. He has chosen an uninhabited area along the Topčider road, modern Kneza Miloša street. The residence, planned as the sojourn for his sons Milan and Mihailo, was finished in 1836 and included a large garden, nucleus of the future park. The building had one floor, it was long and spacious, built in the typical architectural style of the day and faced towards the Sava river. Prince used it to entertain his foreign guests. At that time, inhabitants of Belgrade called the garden Sovetski Park (Council's Park), as it was closed for the general public and only the government ministers and counselors were allowed into it. After both princes, Miloš in 1839 and his son Mihailo in 1842, went into exile, both the residence and the garden were handed over to the state which in turn vested it to the Finance Ministry, so gradually it became known as the Financial Park. It was an English style park. Prince Mihailo, who returned to the throne in 1860, in July 1864 declared the Financial Park a "people's park", that is, the first public park in Belgrade.[2][3]

Parts of park were demolished in time. In 1889 for the building where the modern Finance Ministry is located, and in 1926 when construction of the present building of the Government began. Park was hit in the German bombing of Belgrade in 1941. Even though the modern park is on its original location, its present appearance originates completely from the period after World War II. The park covers an area of 1.95 hectares (4.8 acres) today. It went through a complete reconstruction in 2004, after which a monument to prince Miloš was erected in the park. Another refurbishment ensued in 2011 and in 2015 a monument to Gavrilo Princip was constructed. On 18 April 2017, Belgrade City Assembly officially changed its name to Park Gavrilo Princip.[2][4]

References

  1. ↑ Beograd - plan grada. M@gic M@p. 2006. ISBN 86-83501-53-1.
  2. 1 2 Branka Vasiljević (26 April 2017), "Park Gavrila Principa i Aleksandrov - oaze u srcu grada", Politika (in Serbian), p. 16
  3. ↑ Branka Vasiljević (23 June 2013), "Prestonički parkovi - mladići od šezdeset leta", Politika (in Serbian)
  4. ↑ Dejan Aleksić (19 April 2017). "Spomenik Sibinjanin Janku na Zemunskom keju, Gagarinu na Novom Beogradu" (in Serbian). Politika.
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