CULTURAL MONUMENTS
Mother of God's Church, 4 Patriarch Rajačić Street
It was bulit due to the efforts of coreligionists, the
Serbs, Tzintzars and Greeks, and was basically completed in
1780. The imposing late baroque church was later added
(1788) a richly carved iconostasis, a work of Aksentije
Marković from Novi Sad, which in 1815 was painted by one of
the most famous Serbian Classicist painters – academic
painter Arsenije Teodorović. In the same year the big bell
(still in existence) was put into its place, reminding of
the Coalition of European emperors over Napoleon. The large
vault-fresco was painted by a Zemun painter Živko Petrović,
and the wall pictures, at al secco technique, by a Russian
painter Andrey Bitsenko – in 1937. In 1822, the Serbian
Orthodox Parish had a two-storey classicist building made in
the churchyard for the Serbian and Greek school. In 1825
Slavonic-Serbian Library (present-day Saint Sava's Library)
was founded in it.
The Home of the Serbian Orthodox Parish, 22 Svetosavska
Street
To the West of the Virgin Mary's Church, at the front of the
three-street block, at the site of the old church-school
building from 1822, in 1909 there was built up a two-storey
building in accordance with the plans drawn by a Zemun civil
engineer Kosta Atanacković-Stanišić, which was an imposing
building at the time, supposed to meet the increased
necessities of the Serbian Orthodox Parish and its school.
This building is fashioned in the spirit of neo-Romanticism
and is characterized by the dissected façade with the main
entrance and the closing cornice fashioned in rich style.
The Remains of the Mediaeval Fort
The remains of the erstwhile rampart are the oldest visible
signs of the ancient history of the town. It is certain that
the protruding part of the loess plateau was inhabited and
fortified in the prehistoric times, as well as in the Roman
times. The fortifications are mentioned in the chronicles
dealing with the First Crusade in 1089, and in the
chronicles of the XII century wars between Byzantium and
Hungary. The existing walls with the four round towers, of
the so-called Gothic type, were erected at the turn of the
XIV and XV centuries, when the Turks broke onto the banks of
the Sava and Danube. In 1521 they laid a siege of Belgrade
and attacked the Zemun defence. The fishermen led by the
brothers Sokobalić were the last to resist. During the
Turkish reign the fort was poorly tended, and when Zemun was
finally seized by Austrian-German army in 1917, the remains
of the rampart lost their importance.
Zemun Millenium Tower on Gardoš
In 1896, in the central part of the square fort, the
Hungarian authorities erected a memorial in the form of a
tower (36m high) to mark the millenium of their sovereignty
and a long belonging of these regions to Hungary. The
Millenium Memorial was damaged in 1914 during the war
between Serbia and Austria-Hungary, and in the postwar
period the damages were repaired. The most recent
restoration was carried out in 1962 and the Memorial was
opened to visitors. In Gardoš Tower there were studios of
two Zemun painters and a tourist office.
Saint Nicholas' Church, 43 Njegoševa Street
It was built up in 1752 at the site of the previous
churches, and has all characteristics of the baroque
churches erected in the times of the Military Border. The
rich multibelt iconostasis was painted in 1762 by an
educated painter Dimitrije Bačević, who was one of the most
outstanding painters of the transition from the traditional
art to the Baroque. The wall pictures and many icons, among
which the ones that are venerated, were painted by Živko
Petrović from Zemun (†1868). In the great 1867 fire the
original bell-tower was burnt down. In the 1870 restoration
there were erected counterphores to stabilize the building
in the south and north façades. In the early 1930-ies,
instead of the old windows with the bars made of the wrought
iron, there were built in the stained-glass windows
according to the designs made by a painter Milenko Đurić.
The stained-glass windows were made in the famous workshop
of the Stanišić family. This church preserves old things,
among them church books and guild banners which are
important to the cultural and economic histories. This is
why the church is a precious cultural monument as a whole.
The Karamata Family House, 17 Karamatina Street
One of the rare city houses in the oldest part of Zemun. It
consists of three parts. The largest and the highest part, a
two-storey house with a high dual roof, was built up by the
rich merchant Kuzman Jovanović. A decade later it was bought
by Dimitrije Karamata, an immigrant from Katranitza (today's
Pigry) in Greek Macedonia, whose son Jovan had a storey
built in the middle part, and according to the spent money
had the house restored as a whole. It was then that this
house with the typical characteristics of the Baroque got
its façade fashioned in the manner of Classicism. This
imposing building is associated with many historical events
and figures. During the 1788/89 war between Austria and
Turkey its residents were Emperor Joseph II, the latter
Emperor Franz I, Field-marshal Lassi, and Field-marshal
Laudon with the Austrian-German Army Supreme Command against
Serbia, i.e. Turkey. During the 1848/49 Serbian rebellion
against Austria it was a residence of Patriarch Joseph
Rajačić and of some members of the Main Committee of Serbian
Vojvodina. Mr Atanasije Karamata took part in the work of
the Committee, and became its cash-keeper (treasurer). the
great Serbian language reformer Vuk Karadžić was a guest in
this house. In the owner's apartment there have been
preserved things dating from different periods. The most
precious of these is a collection of portraits, among which
the portraits of Dimitrije, of the academician Stevan and
his wife Tijana, representing valuable exemplars of the
Serbian painting from the late XVIII century to our modern
times. The collection includes the works of Georgije
Tenecki, Pavel Đurković, Uroš Predić, Pavle Vasić and
others. The Karamata family house is one of the most
important cultural monuments of Zemun and of Belgrade.
Parochial Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Great Square
Street
It was built from 1785 to 1795 at the site of a
reconstructed Turkish mosque. In mid-XIX century it was
restored and finally fashioned in the manner of empire with
the baroque elements. It witnesses the multiconfessional
composition of Zemun's population. The two-storey house of
the Parochial Office and parish priest's apartment date back
to the same time (1787).
City Park
In 1880, at the site of the former Kontumatz, there was
designed Little Park, which was further transformed into the
first city promenade – City Park.
The Kontumatz Churches
They were supposed to meet the needs of the passengers who
were put under the required quarantine. The Orthodox church
of St Archangel Gavril was built as a pious foundation of
the Zemun businessman Teodor-Toša Apostolović. It represents
a modest variety of the baroque style. Its iconostasis was
painted by Zemun painters Dimitrije Bratoglić and Konstantin
Lekić in 1830/31.
The Roman Catholic church of St Rock was built up in 1836
according to the plans of a Zemun builder Joseph Felber.
Lamartine's Column
In between the two churches there stands a stone column set
up in 1933 to mark the 100th anniversary of the stay of a
French statesman and poet Alphonse de Lamartine who spent
some time in Zemun on his way back from the East.
Zemun Grammar School
A magnificient neo-Renaissance three-storey buildng was
built up in 1879 according to the plans of the architect
Nikola Kolar, to accommodate the then Lower
General-Programme Secondary School (founded in 1858), which
later became Great General-Programme School, and Grammar
School. From 1914 to 1916 there was built the new part of
the building according to the plans of a V.R. This part of
the building is fashioned in the manner of post-Secession,
representing one of the first modern architectural
structures in the town. In the joint main entrance of the
west side of the block there is a bust of Nada Dimić, the
former student of Zemun Grammar School and of Trade Academy,
the work of Kosta Angeli Radovani, as well as a memorial
plaque with the names of the secondary-school students who
were killed in the 1941-45 antifascist war. In 2004, in the
area between Grammar School and Infantry Barracks, there was
raised a bust of a poet Branko Radičević (1824-53) on a high
pedestal with occasional text, the work of a sculptor Milan
Besarabić, a former teacher in Zemun Grammar School.
City Boys' School
An imposing two-storey building was built within a free
space in 1913/14 accordng to the plans of renowned
architects Viktor Kovačić and Hugo Erlih. All works were
carried out by Zemun builders and artisans. The
architectural composition is fashioned in the manner of
post-Secession, except for the two entrances which have
characteristics of Neoclassicism. The building as a whole,
including the high dual roof and the lantern with the clock,
represents a significant work of modern architecture within
the expanded nucleus of old Zemun up to the year 1918. Today
it accommodates "Svetozar Miletić" primary school, which
carries on the traditions of the primary school whose
beginnings are associated with the year 1728.
Girls' School
In 1899, within the already formed City Park for the
existing girls' schools – Lower primary school (1822),
Higher girls' school (1884), and Girls' trade school (1894)
– a Zemun businessman Franja Jenč had an independent
three-storey building built in accordance with the plans of
the architect Janko Holjac. It is fashioned in the manner of
historicism and modern architectural solutions. Today it
accommodates "Majka Jugovića" primary school, which carries
on the traditions of the XVIII century Serbian school.
The House of Gino Vulko, 18 Glavna Street
A long house with the courtyard wings provided with arcades
and an open porch, it was built in the late XVIII century
and belonged to a wealthy Greek family, Vulko. Over time it
was altered, but it preserved the characteristics of its own
time. Above the carriage entrance there is a memorial plaque
about the visit of Franz I and the Empress paid to Zemun in
1817. The guest of the imperatorial pair was Belgrade pasha,
Marasili Ali-pasha, in whose retinue was Serbian prince
Miloš Obrenović.
The Hose with a Solar Clock, 23 Glavna Street
A representative two-storey house with a bay window was
built up in 1823 and it belonged to the Greek family Ziko.
On the Dubrovačka Street wing façade there is a solar clock
(from 1828) showing the local time in sunny weather. In this
house Jovan Subotić (†1886), a public figure, writer and
lawyer, lived the last days of his life. A building under
protection, fashioned in the manner of an empire, ranks as
one of the most beautiful in the town.
County Museum in the Spirtas' House, 9 Glavna Street
The high-floor building was built up in mid-XVIII century
for the very rich Spirtas family, originating from Greek
Macedonia, in accordance with the plans designed by a
Viennese architect. In the spirit of the prevailing
Romanticism it was fashioned in the manner of pseudo-Gothic.
With its architectural characteristics and interior it stood
apart from other houses in the town, confirming the social
status of the family members of whom Pavle was rewarded with
the title of a nobleman (1856) and with the right to a
family coat of arms. In 1970 the building was adapted, and
the County Museum (established in 1954) staged the first
permanent exhibition (1971) showing the past of Zemun from
its origins (in the Neolithic) to the first years after
World War II.
Zemun Post Office, 8 Glavna Street
At the sight of a building from the XVIII century, according
to the plans designed by a civil engineer Dragutin Kapus,
there was built up a two-storey building in the
neo-Renaissance style with the decorative elements of
Baroque. With its general view it is one of the most
representative buildings in the old nucleus of the town.
The Printing House of Jovo Karamata, 7 Glavna Street
A residential-office building built up at the turn of XVIII
and XIX centuries, was fashioned in the manner of Baroque
with the elements of Classicism. It belonged to Stefanovićes
of Vilovo. In the groundfloor there are business offices in
which there used to be the Evropa Hotel, and a famous
printing house of Jovo Karamata. Today's building has been
restored and the missing decorations have been brought back.
The House with a Chronogram, 6 Gospodska Street
In the centre of the town there broke out a great fire
during the 1788 war between Austria and Turkey, and many
houses were burnt down. At the site of his former house, the
Jewish merchant Raphael Salamun Folly had a two-storey house
built with a stone plaque above the main gate, whose Latin
inscription says: "This house was turned into ashes. With
God's help and the hard labour of its owner it has been
built up again." The year is hidden, but we get it by
summing up capital letter-numbers – 1792. Over time the
house was altered, but despite that it has preserved many
original elements and therefore it has cultural, historical,
and enivironmental value.
The Marković Family House, 14 Gospodska Street
Although the Markovićs were not the investors, the house is
credited to them. An angular two-storey building, it was
built in the late XVIII century, and fully developed in
1801. It belongs to the type of civil residential-business
houses of the time. It is fashioned in the manner of the
Baroque and empire. In 1944 its façade was cut in two and
the original composition was disrupted. Even today it is in
possession of an important family, whose two members were
elected Lord Mayors of Zemun: merchant Stevan (1878-84) and
lawyer Petar (1907-14 and 1926-30), who was a Zemun
chronicler, painter, and store-keeper.
A Votive Cross of Lazar Urošević
Close at hand, at the crossroads with Magistarski trg, a
rentier Lazar Urošević, in 1863, bequeathed to the town a
marble cross with the fence made of wrought iron, dedicated
to the Serbian brothers and to his parents. In 2003 all
sacral pictures were repainted by the Zemun painter Milovan
Krznarić.
Old City Hall, 3 Magistarski trg
To meet the increased requirements of the municipal
authorities, in accordance with the plans designed by a
local builder Jozef Felber, in the 1826-32 period there was
built up a classicist two-storey building with a shallow
middle rizalit?? ending with a triangle gable. A
symmetrically shaped building, it was added one wing.
Although this altered the original concept, the building
called the New City Hall, now old one, represents an
anthological exemplar of the Classiscist architecture in
Zemun. After 1871 the building was used by the District
Court. Now it is the seat of the Serbian Radical Party
Central Fatherland Board.
The Old Customs House, 26 Zmaj Jovina Street
At the site of the former single-storey house on the bank of
the Danube, in 1871 there was built up an angular two-storey
house fashioned in the manner of Classicism with the
characteristic trianglular gable (tympanum) above the roof
cornice in the middle of the front façade, where there is an
arched stone doorway. This building was one of the biggest
in the border Zemun, and next to it there were warehouses of
the Salt Works. Today it is used as a residential building
and a warehouse.
Ičko's House, 18 Bežanijska Street
Erected in 1793 with the storey formed out of high mansard
roof, this house belongs to the Baroque-Classicism
transition buildings. It accommodated an inn with a hostelry
for men, horses, and carriages, which was later called "At
Kraljević Marko's". Its resident was Petar Ičko, a merchant
and middleman between Belgrade, Salonika and other merchants
who fled from Belgrade to Zemun after the introduction of
the rule of dahias. From 1802 on he was one of outstanding
figures in preparing the First Serbain Uprising (1804). In
liberated Serbia Petar Ičko became a dilpomat, and in 1806
he concluded a peace treaty with the Turkish Court. After
the 1982 fire Ičko's House was completely renewed.
Holy Trinity Church, corner of Holy Trinity and Dobanovačka
Streets
It is situated at Gornja varoš, the first suburb of Zemun
which was established in the last decade of the XVIII
century. It is a small church built up at the site of a
previous modest house of God. It was built up in 1842
according to the plans designed by a local builder Joseph
Felber. The iconostasis was painted by a Zemun painter Živko
Petrović, son of a blacksmith Jovan, who did artisan jobs
for insurgent Serbia. In the church some cult objects have
been preserved, among which are the guild banners of masons
and carpenters. In 1799 the church founded the Serbian
School. Its single-storey buildng from the year 1872 is used
today by an evening school.
Serbian Orthodox Church at Batajnica
Batajnica, a former village and suburb, since 1971 it has
been part of Zemun and of the city of Belgrade. The Serbian
Orthodox Church is situated in the very centre. It was built
up in 1780 in a modest variety of the Baroque, which was
characteristic of the churches in the former Military
Border. The altar icons were painted by Teodor Kračun (XVIII
c.), an important Baroque painter in Vojvodina. In close
vicinity of the Church is a monument to freedom fighters who
were killed in World War Two, the work of a sculptor
Ljubinka Savić-Grasi, and a memorial to 101 people who were
killed in World War One.
Sinagogue at the Corner of Preka Street and 5 Rabina
Alkalaja Street
In 1850, at the site of an old sinagogue, the Ashkenazi Jews
built up a new one which was fashioned in the spirit of
Romanticism. Near the sinagogue there is a single-storey
house, a former Jewish school. This sinagogue is one of rare
monuments reminding of an important Jewish colony, which
played a significant part in economic and urban growth of
Zemun.
Zemun Cemetery on Gardoš
To the north of the Tower there are remains of the northern
defence ramparts of the border town from 1841, which are at
the same time the southern fence of the cemetery established
around 1740 to become the resting place of Orthodox,
Catholic, and Jewish citizens. The cemetery contains many
monuments and memorials reminding of outstanding figures
from political, economic, and cultural histories of the
town. The oldest monument is a Catholic chapel erected at
the time of establishing the cemetery. Its façade is adorned
with memorial plaques, one of which is dedicated to the
commander of Zemun, F. N. Červinka (†1824). Another plaque
has a deep relief of Christ in the fashion of Secession, the
work of Rudolf Valdetz.
Haris's Church of St Demetrius
This church was built up by the Greek families
Petrović-Haris in 1874-76 according to the plans designed by
the famous architect Svetozar Ivačković. It was built in
Serbian-Byzantine fashion. The low iconostasis was painted
by Pavle Simić. Under the church there is a family crypt. In
the fenced in churchyard are buried the remains of 20 Zemun
people, the members of People's Liberation Movement who were
slaughtered in the Ustasha concentration camp of Stara
Gradiška (1944). Close to this burial site there is the
ossuary with a monument erected in 1928 by the Municipality
of Zemun "To the Serbian fighters who lost their lives or
died during World War One". In the north-western part of the
cemetery there is a joint resting place of the fascist
terror victims, where are buried several thousand detainees
of the former Fairground Camp on the left bank of the Sava
River in Belgrade; here you can see the stela with the names
of Zemun Jews who perished from 1941 to 1945.
The House of Dimitrije Davidović, 6 Glavna Street
Originally a residential two-storey building at the corner
of Glavna and Davidovićeva Streets, it was built up in the
last third of the XVIII century, in a modest variety of
civil Classicism. Tradition has it that Dimitrije Davidović,
a journalist, diplomat, statesman, author of the Sretenje
Constitution, father of the Serbian printing, was born in it
in 1789. In 1985, on the occasion of the anniversary
celebration of launching the first Serbain daily, "Novine
serbske", a marble memorial plaque was put onto the
building. In 1989, at Liberation Quay, there was uncovered a
bronze bust of this great man, the work of an unknown
sculptor, to mark the 200th anniversary of his birth.
The Building of the Town Council of Zemun, 1 Magistarski trg
At the site of the City house burnt down in 1867, according
to the project of a civil engineer Dragutin Kapus, in 1886
there was built up a two-storey building of the Town Hall of
Zemun, which at that time had a status of a free town. A
monumental and representative building wuth the middle
rhizalith, decorated with columns, a balcony, and a dome
with the clock, it was fashioned in the spirit of the
neo-Renaissance. However, on April 17, 1944, it was hit by a
bomb of the Anglo-American Air force. The building has been
completely renewed according to the plans of architect Rajko
Tatić from 1946. In 1949 it was expanded toward
Preradovićeva Street, the second floor was built with the
new roof and with the altered middle rhizalith together with
the main entrance. The state-room contains frescoes painted
by Đurđe Teodorović, and the two halls contain mosaics by
artist Milan Jovanović.
Zemun Quay on the Danube
For the purpose of defending the town against the high water
levels there was built up an embankment in the 1886-89
period, and in the early 1890s the Quay became another Zemun
promenade. Later on the embankment level was raised up, and
after World War Two the bank was further set in order up to
the Yugoslavia Hotel; with the building of New Belgrade the
right bank od the Danube was joined to the left bank of the
Sava. The Quay takes pride in the Venice Restaurant. Across
the Danube is Banat region, and in the middle of the river
is Great War Island.
Great War Island on the Danube
It came into being through the sedimentation of the Danube
at the conflunece with the Sava. It is referred to in the
records about the battles around Belgrade in 1521, 1688,
1717, 1788/89 etc. The island contains gardens of the
Agricultural Farm and of the citizens, and it is a habitat
of rare birds. During the bathing season (June-September) a
famous sand beach in the northern part of the island,
"Lido", is very much in use. |
