Nemanjina Street

Nemanjina Street (Serbian: Немањина улица / Nemanjina ulica, English: Nemanja Street) is a very important thoroughfare in downtown Belgrade, Serbia, in the Savski Venac municipality. After the completion of the construction of the Railway station in 1884, it became one of the city's main infrastructure links. The street got its name in 1896, when it was named after a Serbian ruler from the 12th century, Stefan Nemanja.

Nemanjina Street
The Serbian Government building in Nemanjina Street
Native nameНемањина улица  (Serbian)
NamesakeStefan Nemanja
LocationBelgrade
Coordinates44°48′18″N 20°27′41″E

Location
The new headquarters of the National bank of Serbia in Nemanjina Street

The street stretches from the Slavija Square, downhill to the Savamala neighborhood. It passes through the neighborhood of West Vračar, next to the parks of Manjež and Park Gavrilo Princip and numerous administrative buildings including the government, ministries, army headquarters and hospitals. On the lower end it finishes at the Belgrade Main railway station. It crosses several other important city streets, like Kneza Miloša street and Balkanska street.[1][2]

History

Originally, direction of the future street, due to its steepness, was a creek through which the pond on Slavija drained down into the Gypsy Pond in Savamala.[3] The stream was named Vračarski potok.[4]

One of the first permanent cinemas in Belgrade, in the kafana "Crna Mačka" (Black Cat), was opened in the Nemanjina Street after 1909.[5]

2005-2006 reconstruction

In the winter of 2005, the reconstruction of the street began. It was one of the most important projects for the City of Belgrade. Not only did it have to close one of the most populous streets, but workers had to work at great speeds to complete the projects. It was an unprecedented case that such a massive work was done during the winter. The closing of the Nemanjina caused a major disturbance in the traffic, especially in the routes of the public transportation lines. After 5 months, when the project was finished in the spring of 2006, the new tram rails have been put in, the new pathways constructed, a new parking lot was opened in the street, and the drainage underneath the street was changed and modernized.[6]

Features

Nemanjina Street is located in one of the most important places in Belgrade. It connects Belgrade's main railway station with the popular Slavija Square. Many of the most important administrative buildings in Belgrade are located in Nemanjina Street. The Yugoslav Ministry of Defence building that was bombed in 1999 during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, as well as the new building of the National Bank of Serbia are placed here. The building of Serbian Government in front of which Serbian prime minister Zoran Đinđić was assassinated March 12, 2003 is also located in this street.

Buildings

Home of the Workers Chamber (1928)

A massive building at No. 28 was built in 1928. It was designed by Svetislav Putnik, in the style of Academism. It was declared a cultural monument in January 2019.[7]

Railway Museum (1931)

Railway Museum in Nemanjina Street

At No. 6, on the corner with the Hajduk Veljkov Venac, there is another massive building, location of various railway companies, Railway Museum and Institute of Transportation CIP. Section of Savamala on which the building was built was called Old Šivara ("Old Sewing Place"). Decision on building new government buildings was made during the government of Nikola Pašić and the first project was drafted in 1921 by architect Svetozar Jovanović. Minister of Transportation Svetislav Milosavljević acquired funding. and construction lasted from 1927 to 1931. Construction was immediately halted as the land was full of groundwater springs. Project was changed to include draining of the terrain, deep foundations of reinforced concrete and, construction-wise, division into 8 independent blocks.[8]

The object is built of bricks, artificial stone and load-bearing construction of reinforced concrete. Façade is ornamented with stone sculptures, authored by Toma Rosandić, Lojze Dolinar, Dragomir Arambašić, Živojin Lukić and Risto Stijović. The most distinctive architectural detail is the tower-clock above the central section of the main façade, with sculptures of Atlases. Base covers 4,200 m2 (45,000 sq ft), while the total floor area of 860 rooms covers 33,000 m2 (360,000 sq ft).[8]

The building was described as one of the supreme architectural works in Belgrade during Interbellum. It was declared a cultural monument in 2007, as part of the protected complex "Area along the Kneza Miloša Street". Reconstruction of the façade began in September 2019, and will be finished in 2021.[8]

Monument to Stefan Nemanja

In December 2015, prime minister Aleksandar Vučić asked, as a "citizen", for a monument to Stefan Nemanja to be erected in the Manjež park, which is located at the central part of the street.[9] Promptly, in less than two weeks, city hall voted to construct the monument and even formed a committee for this specific monument. Dedication was scheduled for 2016 or early 2017.[10] In April 2017 it was announced that the monument will be located 100 m (330 ft) down the street, in the clearing in front of the demolished Yugoslav Ministry of Defense building. International design competition was also announced. In September 2017 city administration decided that the monument will be located at the lower ending section of the street, on the square of Savski Trg across the Main railway station which is envisioned as the future Museum of the Medieval Serbia. International design competition was finished only in March 2018 and the winner was Russian sculptor Aleksandr Rukavishnikov. The monument should be dedicated in the first half of 2019.[11]

References
  1. Tamara Marinković-Radošević (2007). Beograd - plan i vodič. Belgrade: Geokarta. ISBN 86-459-0006-8.
  2. Beograd - plan grada. Smedrevska Palanka: M@gic M@p. 2006. ISBN 86-83501-53-1.
  3. Dragoljub Acković (December 2008), "Šest vekova Roma u Beograde – part XV, Veselje do kasno u noć", Politika (in Serbian)
  4. Dragana Jokić Stamenković (28 May 2011), "Beograd na dvesta sputanih voda", Politika (in Serbian)
  5. Goran Vesić (27 September 2019). Браћа Лимијер заувек у Београду [Lumière brothers forever in Belgrade]. Politika (in Serbian). p. 14.
  6. Dejan Aleksić (18 September 2017), "Gunđalo se i kada su sređivane Nemanjina, „Gazela"...", Politika (in Serbian)
  7. Daliborka Mučibabić (31 January 2019). "Prvo moderno stambeno naselje postalo kulturno dobro" [First modern residential neighborhood declared a cultural monument]. Politika (in Serbian). p. 14.
  8. Dejan Aleksić (28 October 2019). Освежавање фасаде здања железничких предузећа [Refreshment of the railway companies building's façade]. Politika (in Serbian). p. 15.
  9. Tanjug (17 December 2015). "Vučić moli Beograd da podigne spomenik Stefanu Nemanji" [Vučić pleads the city of Belgrade to erect the monument to Stefan Nemanja]. N1 (in Serbian).
  10. Tanjug (28 December 2015). "Stefan Nemanja dobija spomenik u parku Manjež" [Stefan Nemanja gets a monument in the Manjež park]. N1 (in Serbian).
  11. Daliborka Mučibabić (17 March 2018). "Spomen-obeležje Stefanu Nemanji radiće ruski vajar" [A memorial to Stefan Nemanja will be sculptured by the Russian sculptor]. Politika (in Serbian). p. 15.
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