BELGRADE
Authors: David Norris
BELGRADE
A CULTURAL HISTORY
David A. Norris
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Copyright © 2009 by David A. Norris
Foreword © 2009 by Svetlana Velmar-Janković
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Co-published in Great Britain by Signal Books
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Norris, David A.
Belgrade : a cultural history / David A. Norris.
p. cm.—(Cityscapes)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–19–537608–1; 978–0–19–537609–8 (pbk.)
1. Belgrade (Serbia)—History. 2. Belgrade (Serbia)—Civilization.
3. Belgrade (Serbia)—Description and travel. I. Title.
DR2118.N67 2008
949.71—dc22 2008025118
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
Chapter One
T
HE FORTRESS ABOVE THE
T
WO
R
IVERS:
T
HE
C
ITY’S
F
OUNDATIONS
Chapter Two
F
ROM
R
EPUBLIC
S
QUARE TO
T
HE
R
IVER
S
AVA:
T
HE
S
ERBIAN
U
PRISINGS AND
L
ATER
Chapter Three
F
ROM
K
NEZ
M
IHAILO
S
TREET TO THE
R
IVER
D
ANUBE
:T
HE
R
OAD TO
M
ODERNIZATION
Chapter Four
T
ERAZIJE AND
K
ING
M
ILAN
S
TREET
: C
APITAL OF
S
ERBIA AND
YUGOSLAVIA
Chapter Five
K
ING
A
LEXANDER
B
OULEVARD AND
T
AšMAJDAN
: T
HE
R
ISING
S
TAR OF
C
OMMUNISM
Chapter Six
K
NEZ
M
ILOš
S
TREET
, D
EDINJE AND
T
OPČIDER
: F
ROM
T
ITO’S
D
EATH TO
C
IVIL
W
AR
Chapter Seven
S
LAVIJA
, E
NGLEZOVAC AND THE
V
RAČAR
P
LATEAU
: B
ELGRADE UNDER A
F
OREIGN
G
AZE
Chapter Eight
T
HE
C
ITY ACROSS THE
R
IVER:
T
WENTY
–F
IRST
C
ENTURY
B
ELGRADE
Foreword
Belgrade is the gateway to the Balkans. It towers over the place where two great rivers meet, the Sava and the Danube. Over the centuries this meeting point has stood for the geographic and political border between the Balkans and the rest of Europe, between East and West. History tells us that this town, lying in the path of all armies who have tried to break in or out of the Balkans, has been destroyed and rebuilt some forty times in the 2,000 years since Christ.