Jax Stumpes: Passage to Eastern Europe: Belgrade Sava Cathedral (8/22/2021)

Sunday, August 22, 2021 (continued)

Our morning Panoramic Belgrade shore excursion continues:

Graffiti is everywhere (in the world) and we are told
that here in Serbia it is usually apolitical (KSS)

Statue (2021, by Alexander Rukavishnikov) of Prince
Stefan Nemanja, a 12C warrior monk considered to be the
founder of the Serbian state, standing on a damaged Byzantine
helmet although locals claim the statue is on a Kinder Egg
(a popular children's chocolate candy)

The statue is in front of Стара Железничка станица Београд/Old Belgrade Railway Station (1882-1885, by Wilhelm von Flattich and Dragutin Milutinović) that is now supposed to be a museum, but the city government does not seem to have decided which one will relocate here.

Музеј Југославијe/Museum of Yugoslavia (1962) in a
building presented to Josip Broz Tito, then President of
Yugoslavia, to display all the gifts he had received
during his "reign" and now the complex houses his
mausoleum in the 1975 House of Flowers that
originally served as Tito's winter residence

Something unusual stuck in a tree: a burlap bag with a
bunch of dried oak branches, which are traditionally
collected on Christmas Eve morning, then burned at
Christmas Eve dusk; Belgrade has a public bonfire of
oak branches at St Sava Cathedral, where we are now

A few of the Corvus cornix/Hooded or Gray Crows; in
keeping with the behavior to drop molluscs to break them open,
the local crows are said to drop cans of tuna fish to open them

The best view of the Church of St Sava is from afar as it
sits on a hilltop in the center of Belgrade

We keep walking toward St Sava,
passing one of the sleek fire hydrants

Споменик српском научику Николи Тесли/
Monument (2016) to Serbian scientist
Nikola Tesla, looks very much like the statue
donated by Serbia to the Tesla Science Center
at Wardenclyffe, Shoreham, NY

Vendor of Serbian winter wear, on a 99-degree day!

Храм Светог Саве/Church of St Sava (1935-now
almost completed, initially by Bogdan Nestorović and
Aleksandar Derokonow, since 1984 by Branko Pešić) is
modeled on the Hagia Sofia in Instanbul in Byzantine style

The initial difficulty in building the Church of St Sava was that it would have been dedicated to the founder of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the capital of the state of Yugoslavia that encompassed Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. Now with an independent Serbia, that point is moot. The church is located on the legendary spot on the Vračar plateau, where conquering Ottomans publicly placed the relics of St Sava on a pyre to be burned, and scattered the ashes to the wind.

Serbs venerate deceased family members by lighting candles

The candles are placed in water to safely burn out

This Church of St Sava entry door
has inscriptions in four languages and scripts,
Greek, Serbian Cyrillic, Arabic, and Armenian?

Inside the church, there are many icon stands,
this one is of Mary and Child

The icon of St Sava

The Serbian Orthodox venerate the icons by
blessing themselves (a more elaborate
'Sign of the Cross' than by Roman Catholics)
and kiss the icon (no sanitizing between kisses
although some people aimed for the frame)

1) the dome mosaic depicts the Ascension of
Jesus Christ, surrounded by four angels
and the apostles and Mary; 2) below the dome is
a mosaic of Christ Pantocrator/the Almighty; 3)
in the forefront hangs the choros/wheel chandelier
of 20 m/65.6' in diameter, decorated with icons

The mosaics are being financed by the Russian government,
and designed and installed by Russian artists; 24K gold is used
throughout the church, but as only gold plating on crosses (KSS)

In the north transept is a mosaic of The Nativity

In the south transept is a mosaic of an
Archangel welcoming Sts Ermil and
Stratonik, the first Belgrade martyrs

Over the entrance is a mosaic of the Dormition of Mary,
and the choir loft where the singers are the only
congregants allowed to have chairs to sit

The iconostasis is simpler than in Russian Orthodox churches

Floor tile design

Floor tile design (KSS)

Back to the motocoach.

Nearby is the Народна библиотека Србије/National Library
of Serbia (est 1832, building 1973, by Ivo Kurtović)

CAF (Basque) Urbos III articulated tram #1520 (2012)

Former Yugoslav Ministry of Defense (1957-1965, by
Nikola Dobrović) showing parts of Building A that was
bombed by NATO forces in 1999; loose debris was removed
from the central section that once connected the two parts

Did the NATO bombing of strategic sites in Serbia and Belgrade deter the government of Slobodan Milošević from persecuting the Kosovo Albanians, or did it actually cause an increase in the expulsion of Albanians from the then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro)? Only after 78 days did Milošević agree to withdraw Yugoslav troops from Kosovo and allow the region to be "supervised by the United Nations. Kosovo declared independence in 2008.

NATO had intervened once before, in 1995, during the Bosnian War when the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina wanted independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. However, the Bosnian Serbs did not agree with their fellow countrymen, and with the support of the then Socialist Republic of Serbia (still a part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) under Milošević, they fought against the Moslem Bosnians and Herzegovinians. The war ended with an independent Bosnia-Herzegovinia. This time NATO had the blessing of the United Nations, which they did not have in 1999.

In all, Slobodan Milošević was charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity not only in connection with the Kosovo War, but also the Bosnian War and the Croatian War of Independence. He died in prison in The Hague before the trial was concluded.

The changes in Serbia are confusing, and our local guide stated she had four passports: Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia (1945-1963), Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1963-1992), Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1992-2006), and Republic of Serbia (2006-now).

Народна скупштина Републике Србије/National
Assembly of the Republic of Serbia (1907-1936, by
Konstantin Jovanović in Neo-Renaissance and
Neo-Baroque style as the Parliament of Yugoslavia);
in the interim it was the Parliament of Serbia & Montenegro

Теразије/Terazije is considered the main square of
Belgrade, with turn of the century buildings including
Палата Атина/Athens Palace (1902, by Dimitrije T Leko
in Venetian Renaissance style) in the center

Back off the motorcoach, where we walked to Prince Michael Street, the pedestrian shopping street with upmarket boutiques and international brands. We were given 40 minutes of free time and, of course, our focus was purchasing postcards and stamps.

Српска академија наука и уметности/
Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
(founded 1841, building 1914-1924, by
Dragutin Đorđević and Andra Stevanović
in Art Nouveau style); its membership has
included many Nobel laureates

Кнеза Михаила/Prince Michael Street

Народни музеј/National Museum (est 1844, building 1902
as the Mortgage Bank, renovated 1950-1952 for the museum)

Споменик кнезу Михаилу/Prince Michael
Monument (1882, by Enrico Pazzi) to honor
Mihailo Obrenović III, Prince of Serbia,
who was able to gain back several Serbian
cities from the Turks in the 1860s

Look at all those ductless air conditioners
(or at least the condenser units)!

A necktie shop has moved
into an exchange office

Local fruits (mini pears, raspberries,
blueberries, and blackberries)

Tamiko takes advantage of a Делијска чесма/
Delijska Fountain (1987, by Aleksandar Deroko,
a copy of an earlier marble fountain),
only to wet her hands and brow (KSS)