Belgrade Trip – Monument to Stefan Nemanja

The building at the rear is the former central railway station, closed in 2018 for the creation of the enormous Belgrade Waterfront project (more on which later). The subtle little monument that was unveiled in January 2021, in what was a traffic island and car park, is of Stefan Nemanja (1114ish – 1199) who is seen as the founder of Serbia. The Waterfront project is controversial, but it has certainly seen the modernisation and improvement of certain areas of the city, this is rather a pleasant place to sit now.

Some people thought that it was a bit much, but President Aleksandar Vučić said at the opening that attempts to remove it (although I’m not sure many people would seriously think it would be removed) would fail as it represented “the anchor of the whole Serbian nation”. A Government press release said at the time:

“Vučić pointed out that today’s ceremony is not just an act of unveiling the monument, but an act of taking care of oneself and one’s identity. To stand here means repentance for all the years during which we forgot about him, but also the awareness that we have finally discovered the root from Serbia was created, stated Vučić.”

It’s an intricate design, the whole monument was designed by the Russian sculptor Alexander Rukavishnikov.

This is meant to represent a Byzantine helmet, although some commentators thought that it was more akin to a Kinder chocolate egg. I like it though, looking at photos of what this area used to look like, it feels like a focal point now. The 75 ton monument isn’t exactly subtle, but there’s sometimes a place for slight excess….. What they do with the former railway station is more interesting, it would have made a rather lovely national railway museum, but it appears now to be the new home of the Historical Museum of Serbia.