Andrićev Venac

Novi Dvor - Presidency of Serbia

Andrićev Venac (Cyrillic: Андрићев Венац, pronounced [ǎːndritɕeʋ ʋěːnats]) is a street and the surrounding urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Stari Grad. As the official seat of the President of Serbia is located in it, it became synonymous for the politics of the president.

Location

Andrićev Venac in winter at night

Andrićev Venac is encompassing a corner of the Kralja Milana and Kneza Miloša, two main streets in downtown Belgrade while the rest is bound by the street-promenade of the same name. It is some 400 meters away from Terazije, Belgrade's downtown. It extends into the neighborhood of London in the south, into Terazije in the west, Krunski Venac in the east, "Pionirski Park" in the north and the Square of Nikola Pašić in the north-west.

Characteristics

The central area is a pedestrian zone, a short paved promenade which connects "Pionirski Park" and "Kralja Milana" street. Andrićev Venac is named after Yugoslav Nobel laureate in literature, Ivo Andrić. The promenade has benches, artistic candelabra, lime trees (Green Crimean linden, "Tilia euchlora Koch.", which are under the state protection), and an artificial, marble step-like stream originating from a fountain and a monument to Andrić. However, the writers own bequest, the Ivo Andrić Foundation, is not located here but in Dorćol. The entire area has been given an artistic character as several galleries ("Galerija Ozone") and bookstores are located along the eastern side of the promenade.

The entire western side of the promenade is occupied by the building of the Presidency of Serbia, also known as Novi Dvor (New Palace), the official seat of the president of the republic. Novi Dvor was built between 1913 and 1918 on a project by Stojan Titelbah, as a new palace for King Peter I Karađorđević and it is separated just by a lawn from Stari Dvor (Old Palace), used by the previous rulers of Serbia, the Obrenović dynasty. Peter I died in 1921 and it was his son, King Alexander I of Yugoslavia who was the first tenant, from 1922. Novi Dvor was official palace of Yugoslavia until Alexander's assassination in Marseilles in 1934, after which the Royal Court was moved to Beli Dvor (White Palace) in Dedinje. From 1974 Novi Dvor had been used as an office for the Presidency of Serbia, a collective governing body, and since 1991 it has been the official seat of the President of Serbia.

External links

• Novi Dvor