Tašmajdan Park ( / Tašmajdanski park), colloquially Tašmajdan () or simply just Taš (Serbian Cyrillic: Таш, literally: Tash), is a public park and the surrounding urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Palilula.

In 2010–2011 the entire park saw its largest reconstruction since its creation in 1954. In November 2021, the park was declared a cultural monument and placed under protection. With the adjoining faculty buildings, it forms "Tašmajdan and University Center" protected spatial cultural-historical unit.

Location

thumb|Tašmajdan park

Tašmajdan begins southeast of Belgrade's designated center, Terazije, covering the extreme south-west corner of the Palilula municipality, bordering the municipalities of Vračar on the south and Stari Grad on the west. In a narrower sense, Tašmajdan occupies the area bounded by the streets of Takovska on the north-west, Ilije Garašanina on the northeast, Beogradska on the southeast and Bulevar kralja Aleksandra. The majority of the area is occupied by the park itself (central, east, west) while the northern and extreme western sections are urbanised. In a wider sense, it occupies the additional area to the north (between Ilije Garašanina and 27. marta streets) and east (between Beogradska and Karnedžijeva streets) The latter is also known as Little Tašmajdan. Tašmajdan is bordered by the neighborhoods of Palilula on the northeast, while it extends into the neighborhoods of Vukov Spomenik, Krunski Venac and Nikola Pašić Square on the east, south and west, respectively.

Administration

The neighborhood of Tašmajdan forms a local community (mesna zajednica), sub-municipal administrative unit within Palilula. It had a population of 4,887 in 1981, 4,373 in 1991, 4,018 in 2002, and 3,073 in 2011.

History

thumb|Map of Urban local communities of Belgrade in Palilula municipality

Antiquity

Almost two millennia ago, Romans were extracting stone from the quarry located in the area for the building of Belgrade's predecessor, Singidunum and for many surviving sarcophagi from that period. It was recorded that the Romans used this stone for the construction of the city's aqueduct in 69 AD. The castrum of Singidunum had tall walls, built from the white Tašmajdan limestone. After the Slavs settled in the area, because of the white stones of the fortress they named the city Beligrad, or "white city".

The quarry remained operational during Ottoman period, thus giving the name to the entire location (Turkish taş, stone and maydan, mine), though it was also used for the extraction of saltpeter by Ilija Milosavljević Kolarac, which was used in the gunpowder production. Due to the proximity to the town, basically all stone buildings and walls in Belgrade from Ottoman period were built from the stone extracted here.

Little Vračar

Some historians believe that this is the actual place where the remains of the Serbian Saint Sava were burned at the stake on 29 April 1595 by the Ottoman grand vizier Sinan Pasha (area known as Little Vračar) and not the Vračar hill itself or Crveni Krst, another alternative site. Little Vračar () occupied the area along the Tsarigrad Road, starting from the modern crossroad of the Takovska Street and Bulevar Kralja Aleksandra. Sinan Pasha transported the remains from the Mileševa monastery in the golden casket and later scattered the ashes over Tašmajdan. Historians who claim that Tašmajdan is the right location include Jovan Rajić and Sreten Popović.

19th century

thumb|right|Tašmajdan old cemetery, 1856

During the First Serbian Uprising and the subsequent Siege of Belgrade in autumn of 1806, leader of the Uprising Karađorđe set his camp in Tašmajdan and conducted the liberation of Belgrade from there. He has done so, as from this location, up to the Stambol Gate of the Belgrade Fortress, there was an open field. One of the heroes of the uprising, Vasa Čarapić, was wounded at Stambol Gate and died in Karađorđe's tent in Tašmajdan.

Cemetery

After the successful Second Serbian Uprising when Serbian prince Miloš Obrenović ordered the building of a new town around the old Kalemegdan fortress (Savamala neighborhood), he also ordered that the old Serbian cemetery from Varoš Kapija (near Zeleni Venac) be moved to Tašmajdan, which was done in 1828.

In the mid-19th century, near the modern crossroads with the Takovska Street (named Ratarska then), was where city ended at the time, and the fields began. The Batal mosque was located there, giving its name to the developing neighborhood. Kafana Valjevo was located where the Czech embassy is today. At the crossroad was the house of the Savić family, used as a medical facility and across it was the Marić pharmacy. Next to the pharmacy was a curvy road which was leading to the Tašmajdan cemetery. The cemetery wasn't divided into parcels, but had numerous narrow, crossed paths, grown into bushes. This was also the location of Fišeklija, a series of gunpowder stores, where gunpowder was sold in fišeks, cone-shaped bags made from waxed paper. The stores developed in the second half of the 19th century, after Prince Miloš ordered for gunpowder stores to be removed outside of the city due to the safety reasons.

Already in 1880, city newspapers were reporting on the bad condition of the Tašmajdan cemetery. The burial lots were purchased in the Saint Mark's Church, which became quite wealthy, but the cemetery was neglected. Also, as the land was owned by the church, city administration had no interest into arranging the cemetery itself. Part of the cemetery on the side of the Takovska, belonged to the Catholics and the Lutherans. The hill in the direction of modern Seismology Institute was allocated for the graves of soldiers, drowning victims, suicides and non-Christians in general, except for the Jews, who had their own cemetery. Newspapers described the cemetery and the surrounding area as the "shelter for rascals and danglers, who tear the flowers, steal monuments, defile graves with slurs and in other ways, so that cemetery is an abomination of Belgrade where there is no any piety for the deceased".

Also, as the city expanded, cemetery became inadequate. One the one side, it became too small for the function of the city's main graveyard. On the other, once projected to be on the outskirts of the city, as Belgrade grew, Tašmajdan practically became downtown and close to the Royal court. The first official initiative for the removal of the cemetery came in 1871 from Mihailo Jovanović, Metropolitan of Belgrade. As the city was in the financial crisis at the time and was not able to buy such a large lot for the new cemetery, mayor of Belgrade Vladan Đorđević donated a patch of his land to the city for the purpose of establishing a new cemetery. City government officially obtained land in 1882 and gradual restriction of burials was conducted until it was fully closed 1901. It was moved to the newly built Belgrade New Cemetery, several blocks to the east, beginning from 1886 and the moving was finally completed in 1927 with park being planted instead of the old cemetery.

This was the usual practice in the Balkan history in general (the old, reused materials are called spolije) as there are numerous Greek, Roman and Byzantine remains in the region. Still, citizens protested when former tombstones were used for the works on the fortress. One of the stone benches was made in such a manner, that the name of the deceased, Aksentije Jovanović, was clearly visible, together with the carved cross and skull and crossbones.

The Belgrade's first general urban plan, adopted in 1923 and approved in 1924, envisioned construction of the city's municipal hall at the crossroads of the boulevard and Takovska, but the Main Post Office Palace was built instead. The post office itself was to be built on the lot next to this one, but it turned out it was a church land. So the post office was built on the neighboring lot, though completely following the design from the plan, while the Church of Saint Mark was later built on the church parcel planned for the post office. The plan also included the Ministry of the Foreign Affairs Building in Tašmajdan itself, but it wasn't built either.

A tennis court was located on Tašmajdan during World War II. As basketball was played on the clay at the time, local guys began playing basketball there. In 1942–44, a group of 4 players was formed: Bora Stanković (1925), Aleksandar Nikolić (1924–2000), Radomir Šaper (1925–98) and Nebojša Popović (1923–2001). After the war, the group became founding fathers of the "Yugoslav school of basketball". Later, Stanković became secretary general of FIBA, Nikolić was a coach, labeled the "Father of Yugoslav basketball" while Šaper and Popović turned to administrative positions. All four are FIBA Hall of Fame inductees.

After the war, new Communist authorities planned to build a massive building of Arts Museum in Tašmajdan. An architectural design competition was organized in 1948, which was won by Nikola Dobrović, but then it was decided his design is "formalist, excessively massive, and fortress-like". Miladin Prljević was given the task of reducing the project, so he downsized it from five huge buildings to two, one to exhibit paintings and sculptures, and the other for medieval collection. This was still deemed too expensive and it was decided to form a park instead. The construction of the park began in 1950 and the opening ceremony was held in May 1954. The seedlings were transported by the horse wagons from the nursery gardens in Krnjača and from Zagreb's Forestry Faculty.

In 1961, the first olympic-size swimming pool in Belgrade was built in Tašmajdan, within the complex of the sports center. At the time, the complex also included Belgrade Tennis Club, amusement park, "Avala" cinema, Fire Brigade and its fire lookout tower.

Since the 1970s, venues in Tašmajdan became some of the most popular hotspots of Belgrade's night life. In 1971, "Cepelin" ("Zeppelin"), the best and the most famous disco in Yugoslavia was opened. It was located at 28 Ilije Garašanina Street. Its opening was described as the "rushing off" of the Belgrade night life. At the opening night, almost all of the state and military top officials and members of the diplomatic corps, were present. The caviar was served from the Josip Broz Tito's plates. At the peak of its popularity, "Cepelin" had 10,000 members. It had three dance floors, state of the art sound system and the interior was patterned after the famed London club "Lavalbon": floors covered with the black artificial leather, dominant brass ornaments, luxurious séparées, plush covered armchairs, twenty different types of mirrors, one thousand colored lightbulbs, and strobe lights above each dance floor. It also had blacklights, projector which emitted psychedelic music videos on the walls which were mostly black. The rooms were stuffy and the colors of the lights changed depending on the DJ who was working that night. Parts of the walls and furniture were in red, with colorful flower prints. The club was located next to the Fifth Gymnasium and sponsored by the Tašmajdan Sports and Recreation Center. It was opened by Saša Nikolić and had working hours of 16:00–21:00 (matinée, for the minors) and 21:00–24:00, for adult visitors, with strict rules on not allowing the minors to stay during the later program. DJs, including Saša Radosavljević and Raša Petrović, were located in the glass booth above the dance podium. It was renovated and expanded in the mid-1970s and included live performances from the most popular Yugoslav rock bands. Most frequent performers was Korni Grupa. "Cepelin" was closed in 1980.

In the 1980s, "Taš" replaced "Cepelin". The club had the so-called "Chivas booths", which introduced whiskey as a symbol of prestige in the Belgrade's night life.

1999 NATO bombing

Tašmajdan was bombed again during the 1999 NATO bombing of Serbia when several objects in Tašmajdan park were badly hit:

  • 23 April 1999 – At 2:06 NATO aircraft struck with missiles the building of the Serbian Broadcasting Corporation (RTS) situated in Tašmajdan park. Part of the building collapsed, trapping people who were working in the building that night. Sixteen people were killed while many were trapped for days. The building of the Russian church nearby was also seriously damaged.
  • 24 April 1999 – A children's theatre "Duško Radović" in the heart of Tašmajdan park was badly damaged due to its close proximity to neighbouring buildings that were bombed.
  • 30 June 1999 – A heart-like shaped monument was erected by the city of Belgrade for all the children that have died in the bombing. The monument says "We were just children" in English and Serbian.

<gallery class="center">

Image:Споменик страдалим Србима на простору бивше Југославије од 1991-2000.,Ташмајдан,Биоград.jpg|Monument for Serbian war victims 1991-2000

Image:RTS building bombed, Belgrade.jpg|The bombed RTS building still stands in this condition to date (5 October 2005)

Image:Radio Television of Serbia headquarters in Tašmajdan Park.jpg|New building of RTS also located in Tašmajdan

Image:Memorial in Tašmajdan park (DSC04689).jpg|Monument to children that have died during the NATO bombing campaign (located in the centre of Tašmajdan park)

File:Tašmajdan Park- Flags at Theatre Entrance.jpg|The theatre which was badly damaged during the bombing—now displaying flags of Europe for the "Joy of Europe" dancing contest

</gallery>

The rubble was removed but the ruined section of the building was left as it is. A small memorial was placed in the park, called "Why?" (Zašto?). City administration proposed architectural-urban complex, even an underground garage, but family members of the victims rejected it. City conducted a design competition in 2013, with 40 applicants, selecting a design by the "Neoarhitekte" bureau (Snežana Vesnić, Vladimir Milenković, Tatjana Stratimirović). The project included conservation of the remaining ruins, and creation of one continuous "discretely symbolic" and "suggestively poetic" memorial complex with the existing "Why?" memorial. Though never officially abandoned, the project never materialized. Family members of the victims opposed to the stipulation in the competition that memorial text will blame only the NATO and not the executives of the television (then general manager Dragoljub Milanović served 10 years for not relocating the workers in time). Officially, the problem is due to the ownership issues, as some lots are owned by the city, and some by the state, so the project got lost in the bureaucracy.

21st century

Urbanists drafted a detailed regulatory plan for the park in 2001. They concluded that both restaurants (Madera and Poslednja Šansa) and a group of houses across the Law Faculty, shouldn't be in the park area. The only edifice which is completely surrounded by the park, and which should be preserved, was the Seismology Institute (churches are located at the edges of the park). Still, it was decided that nothing will be demolished, that nothing can be built in the park, that existing edifices will be kept "as long as they stand" and that they can't be enlarged and annexed, either in width or height. While Poslednja Šansa was described as a small object, while Madera was described by the urbanists as the "boil" in the park. In October 2019, under suspicious conditions, the leaseholder of Poslednja Šansa since 1991 was expelled and Predrag Ranković Peconi, controversial business figure who has been acquiring hospitality venues in Belgrade in the past two decades, was announced as the new tenant. Sports Center, which owns the venue, claims the name will be preserved and the statue of poet Vasko Popa will be erected in the restaurant's yard.

In June 2010, it was announced that the park will be completely reconstructed as a gift of Azerbaijan to Belgrade. The park has been reopened in June 2011 after throughout renovation, including the installation of a coloured fountain broadcasting classical music. As a sign of gratitude Belgrade has erected a monument to the former president of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev in the park. Reconstruction included the rebuilding of the paths, removal of sick trees and planting of new ones, construction of two children playgrounds and a special area for the pensioners. Two public toilets and park infrastructure were renovated, the video surveillance system was installed and the statue of the writer Milorad Pavić was erected.

As of 2013, Tašmajdan Park had 1,100 individual trees from 61 different species and covered and area of . The plateau was finished in February 2018.

In June 2018 it was announced that a monument to Patriarch Pavle, head of the Serbian Orthodox Church from 1990 to 2009, will be erected on the green area between the newly finished plateau and the tram stop in Tašmajdan Park. The tall bronze monument was authored by Zoran Maleš. It was placed in the park on 13 November 2018 and dedicated on 15 November, an anniversary of Pavle's death. Maleš said that he wanted to show the etherealness of Pavle, who was deemed among Serbs as the "walking saint". He also added that he was influenced by the photos of patriarch commuting by the trams – it showed his mundane approach to life, using the public transportation, and he indeed often travelled to this spot when he was visiting the Church of Saint Mark. However, the sculpture of the patriarch in the sitting position, but without a chair, throne or anything that he is sitting on, garnered negative public reaction. The Serbian Orthodox Church said that this is a public monument and that they will not judge it, but that it plans to erect a proper, monumental sculpture of Patriarch Pavle in the churchyard of the Rakovica Monastery, where he was buried.

Right across the park, at the corner of the Resavska Street and Bulevar kralja Aleksandra, a memorial plaque in memory of assassination of Galip Balkar (1937-83), Turkish ambassador to Yugoslavia, was unveiled on 8 October 2019. Assassination occurred on 9 March 1983 and the plaque commemorates both the ambassador, and student Željko Milivojević, who was also killed by the assassins while trying to apprehend them. In July 2020 city announced erection of the monument to novelist Miloš Crnjanski in the park's main alley. The sculpture, sculptured by Miloš Komad, was selected in March 2022.

Landmarks

Protection

With the surrounding area, Tašmajdan forms the cultural-historical complex Old Belgrade (), while the park itself is in the zone of the protected natural area of Miocene Sandbank-Tašmajdan (). The protected geological natural monument was established in 1968, and after the revision and reconfirmation in 2021, today covers . It is placed in the category III of protection. Exposed cliffs from the Miocene period show layers from the period of existence of the ancient Pannonian Sea. The exposed sandbank in the north and northeast section of the park, consists of three sections. The most recognizable section is seen from the western stands of the Tašmajdan stadium. Section 2 is below the stadium, while the third section includes caves (see Underworld section below).

The ridge extends all the way to Kalemegdan, ending with cliffs above the mouth of the Sava into the Danube. It consists of the Badenian limestone layers on top of the Lower Cretaceous Urgonian Limestone. This type of limestone became known as . It is rich in fossils, which include seashells, sea snails, and sea urchins.

Churches

thumb|Church of Saint Mark rising above the park

Small Palilulska church (church of Palilula) was built in 1835. It was destroyed in the German bombing of Belgrade on 6 April 1941. The Serbian Orthodox Church of Saint Mark was built in 1931–1940, in the medieval Serbo-Byzantine style, patterned after the Gračanica monastery. The Serbian Emperor Stefan Dušan is buried inside, along with the Serbian Patriarch German. Next to it is a small Russian Orthodox church of the Holy Trinity, built in 1924, inside of which the Russian general Pyotr Wrangel is buried.

Other

thumb|Tašmajdan's fountain with monument to [[Milorad Pavić (writer)|Milorad Pavić and Heydar Aliev]]

thumb|Statue of [[Desanka Maksimović at Tašmajdan]]

  • RTS main building in Takovska and Aberdareva streets. Previously, the television headquarters were located on the Belgrade Fair. After the first phase of the construction was finished, Dnevnik, central daily news, began transmitting from Tašmajdan on 20 July 1967.
  • the main post office building of the national post office company Pošta Srbije, built in 1934, in Takovska street.
  • The University of Belgrade's Law School, in Bulevar kralja Aleksandra.
  • Hotel "Taš", opened in March 1969.
  • Metropol Hotel Belgrade, in Bulevar kralja Aleksandra.
  • statue of Desanka Maksimović, leading Serbian poet, erected in 2007.
  • statue of Milorad Pavić, Serbian writer, author of the Dictionary of the Khazars, erected in 2011.
  • children's amusement park.
  • many rock pigeons can be seen in the park, popular among the birdwatchers.
  • roundabout of the tram line number 6.

Little Tašmajdan

Little Tašmajdan () is the eastern extension of the park, across Beogradska street which forms its western border, while Ilije Garašanina and Karnedžijeva streets form its northern and eastern borders, respectively. The southern section of the complex is the location of the Law Faculty and Hotel Metropol.

The park has undergone a renovation in 2006. Concrete walkways have been placed (6,000 square metres), and new stairways lighting have been installed. In the centre of the park a playing area for children has been constructed. Near the children's area there is a fountain which has also been renovated and 30 new benches have been placed in the park as well.

Marking 80th anniversary of his death, a monument to the Russian émigré architect Nikolay Krasnov was dedicated in the park. Krasnov designed some of the most representative public buildings in Belgrade during the Interbellum. A stone monument, representing Krasnov sitting at the drawing desk, is work of Nebojša Savović Nes. The monument, work of Russian sculptor Sergey Nikitin, was first announced for September 2016. The planned location was the Manjež park, but this plan never went through. The monument is ultimately placed in the Little Tašmajdan, across the building of the Archive of Serbia, which was designed by Krasnov.

Underworld

Geologically, the rocks on Tašmajdan are 13,5 million years old, and the ridge was probably a low island during the existence of the inner Pannonian Sea. Fossils from this period have been found and are kept at the Museum of Natural History. The caves under Tašmajdan are 6 to 8 million years old.

It was a major hiding place for the local population during the 1914–1915 bombing of Belgrade by the Austro-Hungarian army in World War I and German bombing in April 1941. During World War II, the caves were the headquarters of Alexander Löhr, head of the German Air forces in Serbia, and colloquially called "Löhr’s cave"., The accessible sections of the underground are some below the park. The project includes construction of 50 underground aquariums with about 1,000 cubic meters of water in the period of 9 years. Over 900 marine animals were supposed to be placed in the natural environment provided by the caves. The project was initially backed by the Ministry of trade in the Government of Serbia and Belgrade City Assembly (the only problem appeared to be the building permit), but the project, which was promised to be "more than just exhibit space" and announcing "the return of Pannonian Sea to Belgrade" was abandoned.