Belgrade » Beograd | 73 Knez Miloševa ulica iz razglednica Sergeja Dimitrijevića Prince Miloš’s street on a postcard by Sergej Dimitrijević ARCH I T ECT UR A L H I STORY OF T HE CAP I TA L C I T Y Belgrade’s rise via KnezaMiloša Street It was in this very street, whichwas then called Topičiderski Drum, that European principles of urban planning and architecturewere introduced to Serbia for the first time. It was with these changes that the city slowly began to become a real European capital We can today observe the riseof Belgrade in the emergence and developmentof KnezaMilošaStreet.With its characteristicarchitecturalstock, itpreserves all themonumental buildings of Belgradeandthestoriesofthepoliticalaspirationsofvariousregimes,stateambitions,political ideologies, economic current events, architectural tendencies, styles and famous builders. The reign of Prince Miloš Obrenović represented a period of the increasinglydecisive rejectionof Turkishmodels andturning towards themodernEurope. ImmediatelyuponSerbia gaining autonomy and the prince inheritinghisprincelydignity, Slovakarchitect FranzJanke arrived inBelgrade fromVienna, taskedwith devising an urban plan for the then uninhabitedVračar part of Belgrade. It was according to his plan that the thenTopčiderski Drum, today’sKnezaMiloša Street, was arranged and regulated. According to Janke’s plan, the streets intersected at right angles, unlike the TurkishBelgradewith its irregular networkof streets. Accordingtotheprince’s idea, thestreet that isnownamedafter himshould form thestate, administrativeandmilitary centre of the Serbian Belgrade. The prince’s residenceandcourtwasbuilt ontheareaoccupiedbytoday’sGavrilo Princip Park, then the Great Barrackswere erected across the street, only for the Vaznasenjska [Ascension]Church, theStateCouncilbuilding, the Military Academy and the MinistryofArmedForces all tohave beenbuilt by the endof the 19th century.The Prince’s Palace, alongwith the aforementioned military facilities on the corner ofNemanjina and KnezaMilošastreets,weredestroyed duringWorldWar II bombing raids. The court of Prince Miloš was completed in 1836, with the garden-park landscaped at the same time. It was there that the prince built a baths - hammam. With the departure of Prince Miloš and his sonMihailo’s subsequent exile, the entire complex was handed over to the state to house the Ministry of Finance of the Principality of Serbia. The park would continue to be called the Financial Park, after this institution, until 2017.Whenhe returnedfromexile, PrinceMihailodeclared that this parkwas for the people, and so Belgrade gained its first public park, in July 1864. Along with the construction of theserepresentativeedifices, thefirst residential buildings already began being erected here in the middle of the 19th century. Miloš would often allocate plots for free, on condition thatconstructionbeginimmediately. Over time, this street would be further ennobled by Atanasije Nikolić creating tree lines along both sides. Alsotestifying to theprestigious characterof this street is the fact that
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