Serbian National Museum
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The Serbian National Museum ( Serbian Народни музеј Narodni muzej ) in Belgrade , Serbia was founded in 1844. It is located on Trg republike , where the former city gate Stambol kapija stood. The museum now houses over 400,000 archaeological and art objects, many of which are outstanding masterpieces. After 15 years of closure and a fundamental renovation, the museum reopened on June 28, 2018. On the occasion of the reopening, the museum will be presented in media form worldwide in the promospot "Buđenje" (English Awakening) with the ballet star Serhij Polunin .
history
Before it was built, the famous Belgrade kafana "Dardaneli" was located here, where the cultural and artistic elite of that time came to visit. With the demolition of the old kafana , the transformation of the Trg Republike began.
The building, which today houses the most important museum of the city of Belgrade and the Republic of Serbia, was originally built in 1902–1903 for the needs of the fund management of the mortgage bank, one of the oldest banking institutions in Belgrade. It was built according to the project of the architects Andra Stevanović and Nikola Nestorović as a result of a tender in which they won the first prize. This building was the first to use a certain type of reinforced concrete for the foundation. In fact, during the first work, various pits, wells and cellars were encountered due to the proximity to the former city gate Stambol kapija . The newly constructed two-story object represented a true palace of its time, both in terms of the volume concept of the project in the form of a long, massive block with domes over the central and side risalits, as well as in terms of the academic facade solution based on the principles the neo-renaissance with elements of the neo-baroque on the domes. The greatest attention in the property was devoted to the monumental staircase, while the counter hall, as an elementary room of a bank, has acquired secondary importance. Less than three decades later, with the development of the mortgage bank, the need arose for a fundamental reconstruction of the property. The extension, with a wing and an atrium facing Laze Pačua Street, was built without tendering according to the plans of the architect Vojin Petrović. After the extension contained the same elements as the old property, two monumental staircases and two counter halls were created, while the rooms only merge into one unit on the upper floor in the form of an incessant row of continuous offices. During the Second World War the building of the mortgage bank was bombed and the central part with the dome was destroyed. After the war, the building was given a completely new purpose when one of the most important state cultural institutions took up residence there.
The National Museum moved several times from its founding at the time of the “Defenders of the Constitution” until the end of World War II. Originally it was located in the rooms of the Kapitän Miša building ( 1863 ) and was then moved to the two adjoining houses. These were destroyed during the First World War and the collection was confiscated and looted by the occupier. In the interwar period it did not have its own building, but a private house at 58 Knez Miloš Street was rented for its purposes. In 1935, the Prince Pavle Museum was opened in the New Palace, which was created by merging the History Museum and the Museum of Modern Art. When the New Palace was adapted for the purposes of the Serbian National Assembly , the museum was moved in 1948 to the building of the former stock exchange on the Studentski trg square and partially to the residence of Princess Ljubica, where the court of appeal was temporarily located. The first tender for the museum building planned in the Tašmajdan urban area was opened the following year. The project was worked out by the architect Miladin Prljević, but the idea was abandoned by the decision of the Cominform and the museum moved again, this time to the building of the mortgage bank on Trg Republike, where it officially took its central place, while the bank was evacuated. The first renovation of the building after the war was carried out by the architect Dobroslav Pavlović in 1950. The largest reconstruction of the object and at the same time adaptation to the needs of the future National Museum was carried out from 1965 to 1966 according to the project plans of the architects Aleksandar Deroko, Petar Anagnosti and Zoran Petrović. The central dome was renovated and the middle wing with offices and workrooms was built. In the course of the adjustments, the original counter hall was converted into a library, giving the main entrance with a monumental three-flight staircase, the entrance from Trg Republike, an internal character. The other from Vasina Street, on the other hand, has been given the function of the main entrance to the museum, which is directly connected to the ticket hall. From a functional point of view, the building has experienced a doubling of rooms and communication lines as a result of the extension. In terms of design, however, it has retained its characteristic elements from 1902, so that it is viewed as an integral unit from the visual aspect. The interior expansion from the 1960s was carried out in such a way that it is not visible from the outside and does not disturb the inner flow of the museum exhibition.
Museum today
The main building represents a representative public object, which is characterized by its monumentality, both in terms of dimensions and volume as well as its design solution. The entrance area with its double columns and the magnificent domes stand out in particular. All facades are characterized by polychromy with decorative plastic from the neo-renaissance. The representativeness can be seen in the interior design with rich decoration, worked out by famous artists of the time: Andrea Domenico (known for decorative wall painting, which contributed to the interior design of the building of the Old Castle), Franja Valdman and Bora Kovačević .
Due to its architectural-urbanistic and historical-cultural value, the building of the National Museum was declared a cultural asset of great importance for the Republic of Serbia (Official Gazette “Službeni glasnik SRS” No. 14/79).
Collections
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archeology
The museum has an important prehistoric collection of the Neolithic Starčevo , Vinča and Lepenski-Vir cultures. The sculptures from Lepenski Vir are particularly important . The archaeological section also shows a mummy of an Egyptian priest from the Ptolemaic era, as well as weapons and metallurgical objects from the Celts .
The 1005 objects from the Greek era include ceramics and gold masks. The Roman collection shows in particular archaeological finds from Sirmium , Singidunum , Viminatium , Mediana and Justiniana Prima . The late antique finds are particularly important, including the Belgrade cameo and a bronze head of Constantine the Great .
See also
Web links
Footnotes
Coordinates: 44 ° 49 ′ 0.4 ″ N , 20 ° 27 ′ 34.8 ″ E