bg Belgrade

National Assembly Building

- Trg Nikole Pašića 13 -
The need for a new building to house the National Assembly arrose after the proclamation of the Kingdom of Serbia in 1882. The construction development for the newly erected building were entrusted in 1892 to the Serbian-Bulgarian architect . Due to political turmoil, as well as material reasons, the construction of the building was postponed for several years. Since with the adoption of the new Constitution of 1901, the National Assembly became a bicameral parliament, a new building was needed, which was supposed to unite the National Assembly, the Senate and the State Council under one roof, as well as common rooms, cabinets and an appropriate number of offices. Therefore, in the same year, the Ministry of Construction announced a new tender, which was won by the Serbian architect , whose project was largely based on Jovanović's conceptual designs from 1892.
The building during its construction in 1914
The foundation stone was laid on August 27, 1907, in the presence of King and Crown Prince . The execution of the works was entrusted to the Belgrade contractor Vasa Tešić. Construction proceeded very slowly, so by 1910 only the basement of the building was built. Turbulent historical events had the effect that until the end of the , in 1918, the building was only built up to the level of the first floor. After the end of the war and the formation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, it was decided that the works would be renewed. Due to the death of the architect Jovan Ilkić, the management of the works, which concerned not only changes but also the restoration of lost plans, was entrusted to his son, architect Pavlo Ilkić. The construction continued in 1920, it went also slowly and lasted until 1926 when it was completely suspended.
An old postcard for the occasion of the laying of the foundation stone
The third stage of the Assembly's construction followed the death of King in 1934, from the spring of 1935. The contractor then became the Architectural Department of the Ministry of Construction, and the main designer of this Department was the Russian architect , who made a special contribution to representativeness with the interior design with all the details. In less than two years, the construction was completed and the building of the National Assembly was ceremonially consecrated on October 18, 1936, in the presence of King . The next day, the first session was held in the new building. On March 7, 1945, after the , the building became the venue of the proclamation of the Democratic Federative Yugoslavia, after the - agreement. The biggest state funeral was the funeral of Josip Broz Tito, when the coffin with his body was displayed in the hall of the House of the National Assembly from May 5 to 8, 1980. During this period, numerous citizens and national and foreign delegations paid their respects to him in a parade.
Sketch of a bench for the corridors created by Nikola Krasnov
The symmetrical building, which is built in the styles of Academic and Eclectic, features many domes, some of which are crowned with a while others with a lantern tower. The domes that are furthest apart from each other are beautifully decorated with and . The large central dome is surrounded by decorative vases and top gables, all of which are embellished with festoons. The part underneath this dome is adorned with foliage and even more festoons and features some supportive columns, which are crowned with an Ionic . The same applies to the central , whose columns are crowned with a Composite capital. Around the same height, you can see several other tympanums, which, like the roof , are decorated with . The balustrade above it contains many and in some cases decorative vases.
The interior during the finalization works
The columns and that stretch all the way up from the first until the second floor are either crowned with an Ionic or a Composite capital. A is placed above the circle-top windows, and underneath these same windows, a can be seen with incorporated balusters. The that are located above the main entrance door are brightened up with two angels. A bit lower, you can see a beautifully decorated broken pointed , which is placed on an that's supported by two columns. The building also contains four that contain the head of the Greek statesman and orator in ancient , , the Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, writer, and Academic skeptic, , the Greek goddess , and the Greek politician and general, .
An old postcard that shows the building