Zeleni Venac

Antiquity

Northern part of modern neighborhood was a Roman necropolis from the 3rd century, the southwestern necropolis of Singidunum, predecessor of modern Belgrade. The remains of the ancient graveyard were discovered during the construction works in the 1930s when the Brankova Street was extended to the Sava river, to make a connection to the King Alexander Bridge, which was finished in 1934. At 16 Brankova Street a roman tomb was discovered in 1931, with ceramics and coins from the period of the emperors Aurelian and Claudius Gothicus. The grave was made from the reused parts of stele. The sandstone plaque has a niche with a human bust and the inscription naming Valerius Longinus as a builder of the memorial for his son, a veteran Valerius Maximinus. There was another tombstone, crushed into pieces, dedicated by Maximinus' wife. Several other well preserved graves were discovered in the direction of the Pop Lukina and Karađorđeva streets.^[3]

Also during the Interbellum, in Kamenička Street, a golden polyhedron shaped earring from the early Middle Ages (Great Migration Period) was discovered. When the foundations for the building of the Medical Association were dug on Zeleni Venac, more than 4 kg of the Late Roman coins were discovered. They originated from the 5th century. Some remains were discovered during the 2018 construction of the hotel at 20 Jug Bogdanova Street.^[3]

Modern period

Zeleni Venac is built in the area that was previously part of the trench which surrounded the Kalemegdan fortress in the 18th century. When the trench was covered, a pond was formed. As Belgrade grew around it, the pond became a popular hunting attraction (for fowls, ducks, etc.) for the inhabitants of Belgrade.

A cemetery, Old Belgrade Cemetery, was located in the area. During the Ottoman period it served as the burial ground for the Belgrade Serbs, until Prince Miloš Obrenović ordered the relocation of the graveyard to Tašmajdan in 1826. The relocation was finished by 1828. The old cemetery was situated along the modern Pop Lukina Street, above the Town's Gate (Varoš Kapija), one of the four gates at the entry points into the town. The cemetery was divided in two sections: Great cemetery (Veliko groblje) on the slope where the modern Brankova Street is, and Plague cemetery (Kužno groblje), close to the Hôtel Palace.^[4][5][6] However, only the deceased who had descendants, especially if they could pay for it, were relocated. The poor and those without offspring were left on the old location.^[3]

The government decided in 1850 to built the National Theatre here.^[7] In the middle of the 19th century the pond was partially drained, but the area proved to be too marshy and unstable and after the foundations were laid down, the idea was abandoned and the theater was constructed on another site. The completely forgotten foundations were rediscovered during the 2005/06 reconstruction of Zeleni Venac. In the early 20th century the pond was drained completely but the remnant of the pond is the large underground water spring under the green market.^[8]

The name of the neighborhood means the green wreath. Venac is usually used in Belgrade's geography in term of a round street (Obilićev Venac, Kosančićev Venac) or a rim of the river (Savski Venac, Dunavski Venac). However, in this case, it is used in the word's initial usage, meaning wreath. On the location of the present McDonald's restaurant in the Brankova Street, for decades was located kafana Zeleni venac whose logo was a green wreath. Belgrade historians still debate whether the neighborhood was named after the kafana or the opposite. Kafana was demolished in the 1960s.^[9] The main landmark of the neighborhood, the Zeleni Venac green market, was open in 1926.

Actor Dragan Maksimović was murdered in Zeleni Venac. On 18 November 2000, a group of skinhead hooligans, supporters of FK Rad, brutally attacked him erroneously assuming he was Romani. Succumbing to the injuries, Maksimović died on 4 February 2001. The perpetrators were never apprehended. On the initiative by film director Goran Marković, a commemorative plaque was placed at Zeleni Venac on 18 November 2006.^[10][11] Inscription on the plaque says: On this place, on 18 November 2000, actor Dragan Maksimović was beaten by the bullies. He didn't manage to survive the consequences of this attack. He died on 4 February 2001. We condemn the violence and don't forget. His Belgraders.^[12]

Zeleni Venac open market

Zeleni Venac Market

The major feature by which Zeleni Venac is known today is the open market of the same name (Serbian: Пијаца Зелени венац, Pijaca Zeleni venac), one of largest in Belgrade. Also one of the major terminal stations of the city's public transportation, with almost 20 bus lines beginning there, is located next to the market.

Originating from 1847, Zeleni Venac is the oldest still active green market in Belgrade and due to its size, longevity and wide varieties of goods that can be bought in it, it has been nicknamed "Queen of the markets" and placed under the state protection.^[18] The market was open in 1926^[9] and was intended to be the central city open market, being closest to the city center. It was the most modern open greenmarket on the Balkans at that time as it included running water, sewage system, brick-walled shops and stores and gauged weighing scales.^[19]

The underground pedestrian passage and a platform for the large public transportation terminus was open on 28 November 1967. Author of the entire project, which regulated one of the busiest crossroads in the city at time with 100,000 vehicles daily, was Olga Divac. The passage is 5 m (16 ft) wide and layered with marble. The exits in the directions of the Prizrenska, Carice Milice and Sremska streets are steps, while it is on the same level as the terminus. Total area of both objects is 5,288 m² (56,920 sq ft).^[20]

A thorough reconstruction of the market, which is supposed to give back the market its original looks, began in June 2005 and was completed in 2007.^[18] As the entire Terazije slope, including Zeleni Venac, is very active mass wasting area, it caused much of the public and academic debate during the reconstruction, especially when massive rains resulted in sliding which ruptured the streets around the market as if they were hit by a very strong earthquake. After the completion, the market will be a multi-leveled, two-stored complex with the lowest section partially below the ground. The communal infrastructure is completely renewed, a special parking lot is built and the area will be protected from future mass wasting.

Municipal government of Savski Venac began turning the underground passage into an exhibition gallery.^[21] For now, it includes 20 exhibition panels set for the official Belgrade holiday, Belgrade Days, in April 2008, but soon individual panel cameras and sound system with loudspeakers for 24-hour-a-day classical music play will be also installed.

Frame of the Beobanka building

Beobanka building

The most protruding feature in the neighborhood is the 13-storey Beobanka building, at the corner of Zeleni Venac and Carice Milice streets. It was built in 1960 and projected by Milica Šterić for the Energoprojekt holding, but later became the property of Beobanka. Šterić was awarded the Sedmojulska nagrada for the project, the highest state prize in Serbia at the time. The bank filed for bankruptcy in 2002, so the building became property of the state in 2007 and of the city of Belgrade in 2012. It is part of the "Old Belgrade" Spatial Cultural-Historical Unit, which is under the "preliminary protection".^[22]

The building has a total floor area of 8,300 m² (89,000 sq ft). It turned out that it has several major inadequacies: it doesn't comply with the modern seismic regulations, the last two floors were added later and are unusable today due to the damages and the entire building has only 5 parking spots. Ministry of justice, which administered the building after 2007, decided to adapt it into the seat of several courts and state agencies. In 2009 the renovation began: the building was emptied, installations and internal walls removed but the works stopped when it was discovered that asbestos has been used for the facade. It wasn't banned when the building was constructed, but in documentation there was no mention of asbestos. Ministry calculated that the reconstruction of the facade and removal of asbestos would cost too much, so they handed over the building to the city in 2012. The building is left in the "stripped" condition, only with outer skeleton. City estimated the value of the building at €5 million and attempted to sell it for the first time in 2014 for €4.9 million but no one was interested. Several other auctions were held, with decreasing price, but they all failed. In the spring of 2016, city lowered the price to €3.1 million, but that auction was postponed and in November 2016 it was announced that the Belgrade branch of the Stuttgart-based Stattwerk architecture firm purchased the edifice for €4,25 million.^[22]

In August 2017, Stattwerk has disclosed its plans for the building, saying that it will be the first energy-efficient skyscraper with green facades in Serbia with different commercial and tourist facilities.^[22][23][24] The official bid for the best project of the completely green building (just sun, wind and geothermal energy) was announced in October 2017,^[25] and the winning project was picked in December. The new, "green skyscraper", projected by architect Jovan Mitrović, will include the green façades, automated underground garage for 500 cars, photovoltaic panels, organic recycling and garden, greenhouse, etc. No dates on the construction were given.^[26] In December 2017, an artistic installation was placed inside the building. Stretching from top to the bottom for 12 floors, it consists of recycled green canvases which form a tree-like structure. Using decorative lights and natural winds, as the building is without windows, it mimics the real, green tree. It is named Biotop.^[27]