VEDUTES OF THE OLD NI

1931..
, ,
13. II . .

THE POST OFFICE BUILDING

It was built in 1931 as a local branch of Belgrades Mortgage Bank, in
downtown Ni, on the corner of Orlovia Pavla Street and Vodova
Street. From World War II onwards, the building has been used as the
Main Post Oce.

1809., ,
1878. .
50
, 1. 1927. .

THE EGAR MONUMENT

The rst monument marking the place of Stevan Sindjelis trench in the
Battle of egar was built in the shape of a small granite pyramid and revealed in 1878, on which occasion king Milan Obrenovi was present. Todays towershaped monument was built on June 1, 1927, to mark the 50th
anniversary of the liberation from the Turks.

1718., .
1882.,
.
: . ,
, ,
, ,
( ), (
),
.
THE BLOCK OF OLD BUILDINGS ON LIBERATION SQUARE
Todays Liberation Square started to develop faster only after 1718,
when the Turks began to build around the country. The square with
European style objects was initiated in 1882 by the building of Colonel Svetozar Hadis house. Later, the following buildings were built
towards the Niava: the house of watchmaker Stratimir A. Mijovi,
the house of bookseller Milan Andri, the house of merchant Jordan
Zlatkovi, the First General Bank building, the house of merchant Milan Stojanovi, hotel Palas (todays Union), Velika Kasina tavern
(todays Serbia gallery), two multistorey buildings and the Loans
Bank building.

.
. 1905. ,
1903., 1922. .
1925., .
( 1891.)
1920. ,
,
. 1939 .
1940., V .
1941. 190 .

THE FORMER TRADER CENTRE BUILDING

The angular onestorey building is situated on the corner of Generala

Lejanina and Oktobarske Revolucije streets. It was built around 1905 to
be used by the Bank of Ni, founded in 1903 and merged with the Belgrade City Bank in 1922. After 1925, the building was put on sale. The Ni
Youth Trade Union, founded in 1891, bought the building at an auction in
June 1920. The rooms of the building were used as the school, a library, a
reading room, the Trading Assistant club and the Culture and Arts Society Jedinstvo. In 1939, the school part of the building was taken over by
the Railroads Direction and in 1940 it was used as the Fifth Army District
headquarters. In 1941, the Trading School in this building numbered 190
students.

 (, )

. ,
(, , ),

1878. 1882.,
,
1887.
. (19251930.)
, (1935.)
,
.

THE DISTRICT MAGISTRATE (BANOVINA, UNIVERSITY

BUILDING)

The predecessor of todays University building and the prewar Morava

District building is the Ni District Magistrate. Ni district, along with
three other districts (Toplica, Pirot and Vranje), was established as an
administrative unit in southern Serbia right after the liberation from the
Turks in 1878. In 1882, foundations were laid for a specialized Magistrate
building at the spot of todays University building. It was nished and ready
for use in 1887. The building, facing the Niava, had a ground oor and a
rst oor. After WWI (19251930), the old part of the building was added
another storey and in 1935, the semicircular corner part was added, giving the building its present look.

.
. 12. , ,
, 50
19.. ,
12. .
1189. .
, 1878.,
. ( 4 ).
,
. 1928.,
.
THE ST. PANTELEIMON CHURCH
The remains of the twelfth century St. Panteleimon Church with the necropolis are situated in the Pantelej district, about 50 metres away from
the church bearing the same name, which was built towards the end of
the 19th century. Based on the writings of Stefan the First Crowned, the
church was built in the twelfth century by his father Stefan Nemanja. It was
in front of this church that Stefan Nemanja met with the German emperor
Friedrich Barbarossa in 1889. The foundations were laid in April 1878 and
the church was nished in August, on St. Panteleimons Day, after only a
four months work. The rst bell tower beside the church was built out of
wood with the bell taken from the Turkish Sahat Tower in the Fortress. In
1928, todays tall bell tower with three bells was built and placed in front
of the church.

.
,
, .
1737., .
1862. , ,
, .
1878., .
, . .
1926. .
.

THE ST. NIKOLA CHURCH

The origins of the church stretch far back into the past. When the Turkish
reign began, the church was completely destroyed and then rebuilt owing
to the eorts of metropolitan Joamikije, whose seat was in the church. After
the Austrians retreated from Ni in 1737, the Turks converted the church
into a mosque. In 1862, when the Turks lost their power in Belgrade, they
moved to the Palilula district in Ni and helped speed up the building of
the mosque. After the liberation in 1878, the mosque was reconverted to a
church. The minaret was replaced by the bell tower, and the inside changed
to a church. The overall renovation of the St. Nikola Church was made in
1926. According to the folk tales, the church was converted into a mosque
and vice versa six times.

. 1856.,
.
1857., 1872. . 25.2.1878.
, ,
. 1891. 1893.
.
, 28. 1893., . 1937.
.

THE CATHEDRAL

It is situated in the central part of Ni. In midOctober 1856, Joakimije,

the bishop of Ni, laid its foundation stone. The construction began in June
1857 and ended in 1872. The Cathedral was consecrated on February 25,
1878, after which regular liturgies, baptisms, weddings etc. were held in it.
From 1891 to 1893, the tiles were removed from the roof and the whole roof
together with the domes was covered with brass. After the roof works were
nished, it was reconsecrated on June 28, 1893. In 1937, a bell tower was
built above the entrance.

. 14
.
1927. , . .

THE NATIONAL MUSEUM

It is a onestorey building situated in 14, Stanka Paunovia Street, with a

spacious mansard holding a few museums working oces. It was built in
1927 as a mansion for a Ni merchant Veljko A. Stefanovi.

1936.
,
(, )
.

THE NIAVA PALACE

10

A threestorey palace, situated on the corner of Prijezdina and Oblaia

Rada streets,was built in 1936 for a Ni industrialist Duan Stojanovi
Niavac. It is worth noting that this was the rst modern multistorey
building to contain builtin bathrooms and a sewage system.

, ,
. 952 .
1878. . .
1892., ,
. 1938.,
. 58 .

THE SKULL TOWER

After the Battle of egar, the Turks decided to build a tower out of the heads
of the dead Serbian soldiers as a sign of revenge. The tower, containing 952
skulls, was built on the outskirts of Ni, on the road to Constantinople. Up
to the liberation from theTurks in 1878, the tower was uncovered but was
enclosed the same year. In 1892, thanks to the contributions from all over
Serbia, todays chapel was built. In 1938, the monument to Stevan Sindjeli
and the great Battle of egar was built in front of the tower. Today, only 58
skulls are left.

11



THE MORTGAGE BANK BUILDING AND THE MEMORIAL
BUILDING OF OKA JOVANOVI

. . ,
, .
1914.
. . 1921.
1965. .

GORA

At the beginning of Pobede Street, there were two onestorey buildings.

The rst, the angular one, was the property of a merchant and a leaseholder
Gora Kosti. The building was built in 1914 and had three shops in the
ground oor. Adjacent to it was the building of a leaseholder Aleksandar N.
Mihajlovi, built in 1921. Both buildings were torn down in 1965.

12

,
,
. . ,
.
: , ,
.
. .
( I .,
).

OBILIEV CRESCENT

Just before the liberation from the Turks, it was a curved, orientalstyle
street, although with already formed and somewhat developed trading and
artisan shops. On the eve of WWI, it was a wellestablished trading and
artisan street. It gathered people from the middle and the working classes:
shopkeepers, artisans, merchants, and a smaller number of labourers and
peasants. A signicant number of independent artisans lived in this street.
After WWI, the street had around twenty various taverns, which were also
numerous before the war and even during the Turks.

13

22.12.1922.

. 1930., ,
1933., .
,
, , .
II . . 1946.
.

THE TEACHERS CENTRE

On December 22, 1922, the city council allowed an area of land on the corner of, at those days, Stefana Prvovenanog and irila i Metodija streets,
to be used as the building site of the Teachers Centre. In 1930, funds were
raised and the building was nished in 1933, when it was formally opened.
On that occasion, it was announced that the centre would serve as accommodation and study for teachers and their children, as a school museum, a reading room, a students theatre and a movie theatre, all of which
functions it fullled until WWII broke out. In 1946, the memorial building
was renamed into the Educational Workers Centre.

14

1897. ( ).

. 19. 20.
.
1920. . 1960.,
.

THE NATIONAL LIBRARY

It was built in 1897 as a tavern (no data is available on who owned and
designed it). Around that time, the Sindjeli theatre company used it to
perform their plays. In the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th
century, it was the seat of the city council for the longest period. It was
also the municipal court and the rst communist city council after the 1920
elections. It became the National Library in 1960.

VODOVA STREET WITH HOTELS KNJAEVAC AND
EUROPE

15

(1884.). I .
,
. 1979.

THE RAILROAD STATION

The original station building was built in 1884, the same year the Belgrade
Ni railroad track was built. After World War I, another building was added
to it; together, they served as both a passenger and a freight station. The
new railroad station was built in 1979.

II ,

. 1719., 1730. 1619.
,
.
THE BRIDGE IN FRONT OF THE FORTRESS
The Roman stone fortress was probably built around the midsecond century. TheTurkish Fortress was built on the ruins of the ancient and mediaeval fort, from 1719 to 1730. In 1619, Ni Fortress was partially rebuilt and
the Ni stone bridge was built,with a resting booth in the middle.

16

1890. .
.
1891. 1892.
. 1903.,
, 1941.
27. 1914. 16. 1915.
.

THE OFFICERS CLUB BUILDING

It was built right behind the waterfront park in 1890 as the Bulevar tavern, owned by Milan RadosavljeviRaponja. From March 1891 to April
1892, the tavern was used as a stage for the reopened Sindjeli Theatre.
In 1903, the building was bought by the military and used as the Ocers
Club until 1941. Between July 27, 1914 and October 16, 1915, it hosted the
National Assemblys wartime sessions.

SINDJELI SQUARE

17

,
.
,
. 1910. , ,
.

THE MILITARY HOSPITAL SURGICAL PAVILION

It was built as the rst modern hospital facility in Ni and it had a separate
Xray room. During the time this pavilion was being nished, three new
civilian hospitals were beginning to be built. In 1910, the buildings were
nished, followed by the clinics for skin, internal and infectious diseases.

18

. ,
, 1927. .,
.
. II
, 1971. ., ,
.
THE BUILDING OF THE INDUSTRIALIST OKA DIMITRIJEVI
According to the inscription in the attic, it was built in downtown Ni in
1927, for a wealthy Ni industrialist and leaseholder oka Dimitrijevi.
It is a twostorey building with large residential rooms and oces. After
WWII, until 1971, the ground oor was occupied by the Communal Bank
oces and afterwards it was the childrens department store Kekec.

, ,
1885. . 1890.,
, ,
.
. .
15.09.1930.
.
.

THE TOBACCO FACTORY

The Ni Tobacco Factory, the rst such factory in Serbia, was founded by
the Viennese Lender Bank in 1885. In 1890, the factory was taken over by
the state, after the law on the monopoly of tobacco manufacturing, processing and sale was passed. The rst production started in, at those days, the
unprocessed tobacco warehouse in Kraljevia Marka Street. Todays factory
was built in the Red Cross district and put into operation on September 15,
1930. It was built out of reinforced concrete and was one of the rst modern
industrial facilities in Ni.

19

1933. .
.
, . . 22

.

THE PALACE OF THE FURRIER NIKOLA JOVANOVI

It is a twostorey building built in 1933 for a Ni furrier and leaseholder

Nikola Jovanovi, who owned a big store for hats and caps. This building in
22, Svetozara Markovia Street is a representative palace which used to be
occupied by the Professional Society the Physicians Chamber.

. 28, 1931. .
()
.
THE PALACE OF THE BANKER NIKOLI
It is situated in 28, Svetozara Markovia Street and it was built in 1931 as a
family residence of a private bank clerk Milan (Stanoje) Nikoli.

20


24 26 1900. .
. .
28 1927. .
30 . 1894.
. .
. 32
1900. .
THE CORNER OF SVETOZARA MARKOVIA AND POBEDE
STREETS
The buildings in numbers 24 and 26 were built around 1900, and were
owned by a watchmaker Sotir Jankovi and a furrier Nikola Jovanovi,
respectively. The house in number 28, owned by industrialists Krsti and
Milovanovi, was built in 1927. The house in 30, Pobede Street was built in
1894 for a Ni leaseholder Mihajlo Popovi. It is a onestorey building with
two shops in the ground oor. The number 32 house on the very corner
is a onestorey building built in early 1900 and owned by the furrier and
leaseholder Nikola Jovanovi.

21

. . 26, 1930. .
,
1925. .
,
.

THE PALACE OF THE INDUSTRIALIST MILOVANOVI

It is situated in 26, Svetozara Markovia Street and it was built before 1930
as a Ni industrialist Vidoje Milovanovis family residence. In 1925, together with the merchant Dragutin Krsti, he founded the Pomoravlje
chemicals factory, the rst factory to produce paint in southern Serbia.

THE OLD GENDARMERIE BUILDING

22

1914. .
. ,

( ).
1966. .

HOTEL KNJAEVAC

It was built before 1914 and owned by a Ni hotelkeeper Svetozar Petrovi.

It had a large tavern space, around a dozen rooms and a large summer garden with the eaves (later removed) supported by wooden poles. The hotel
was situated in Vodova Street and was torn down in 1966.

1940. ,
.

THE EPISCOPACY BUILDING

It was built in 1940 with motifs from traditional architecture, right next to
theCathedral.

23

. 130.
.
. ()
,
.
. , , ,
. 1955.,
.

THE MARGER TAVERN

It was situated in 130, Pobede Street. Before the liberation from the Turks,
it was an old groundoor inn. After the liberation, a onestorey tavern
was built and games such as dominos and billiards were introduced. The
leaseholder oka marked the drinks and the nished billiard games, so he
was nicknamed Marker and then Marger. Afterwards, when he became
the taverns owner, the tavern itself got this name. It later became the gathering place for artists, actors, clerks, teachers and professors. After having
been torn down in 1955, a new multistorey building was built but the old
name was preserved.

24

19.
.
. .
:
,
. 20. ,
, . ,
. II .
.

DONINA DRINKING FOUNTAIN

Donina drinking fountain was built in the 1860s when hajiDona built it into
the wall of his house on the corner of Rajieva and Dimitrija Dimitrijevia
streets. Allegedly, the water for the fountain was channelled from Kovanluk
quarter. After the liberation from the Turks, it was rebuilt and enhanced: it
had a water pipe, an iron glass on a chain and a stone trough from which
cattle drank. In 1930s, a groundoor residential building was built at
the spot of hajiDonas house. The fountain remained untouched,but was
connected to the municipal water supply. After WWII, the fountain was
dried out but in the 1970s it once again had water.

25

. .
. 1880.
1969. .

VAJCARIJA

It was a groundoor building on the corner of Pobede and Duanova

streets. It held the tavern vajcarija and four shops under one roof. It was
built around 1880 and torn down in 1969.

. , 1948.
. j, .

.
, .

THE OLD HOUSE OF IVKO F. MIHAJLOVIA

Until 1948, at the end of Nade Tomi Street, was a beautiful old ground
oor house of ivko F. Mihajlovi, who served as the inuence for the
character of Ivko in Stevan Sremacs play Ivkos Patron Saint Holiday. It
was built in the time of the Turks in Moravic style with a porch supported
by arched pillars. A big courtyard gate was connected with a wall made of
unbaked brick and covered with tiles.

26

.
. 1878. .
.
19.. ,
, 13 , .
XIX , .

,
, ,
.

KAZANDIJSKO ALLEY

Kazandijsko Alley (ocially called Kopitareva Street) is the only remaining

part of the old business district. According to the map of Ni from March
1878, this part of Ni was the citys artisan district, which came into being in
the beginning of the 19th century. There is mention of thirteen coppersmiths
working in Kazandijska (coppersmiths)district but the real number was
apparently larger. Since the last decade of the 19th century, Kazandijska
district was no longer a strictly coppersmith trade district. After decades of
being pushed into the background by Pobede, Nikole Paia and Duanova
streets and the uncertainty regarding its future, Kazandijsko Alley was revitalized and is currently one of the main tourist attractions in Ni.

27

,
, , ,
, , ,
, , ,
, . 20
.

KING MILAN SQUARE

To the east from Vodova Street and the Orient Hotel, directed in a semi
arch towards the bridge, the following objects were located: Kruevac
tavern, hotel NewYork, Sindjeli hunters tavern, Sloboda alehouse,
uman tavern, tavern Kod oke with overnight lodgings, as well as a
tailors, a hairdressers, a coeeroastingshop, a pastry shop and, in front of
number 20, the rst petrol station followed by the rst taxi station a little
further away.

28

1820. ,
, . A
, ,
.
THE HOUSE OF CHRISTODULO
The house was built around 1820 by hajioka Todorovi, a wealthy Ni
merchant,and was inherited by his soninlaw Nikola Christodulo. The
lawyer Anastas Christodulo, the houses owner living in Belgrade, allowed
the house to be used by the Museum for a minimum compensation.


, 36.
1875. ,
1878. ( )
25 . 1981. ,
.
THE HOUSE OF STAMBOLIJSKIH
It is situated in the downtown area in 36, Nikole Paia Street. A Turk called
Amet Memetovi started its construction and then sold it unnished in
1878 (it was nished the same year) to a Ni merchant Todor StankoviStambolija for twentyve golden liras. In 1981, it was torn down and then
rebuilt.

THE OLD HOUSE IN OBLAIA RADA STREET

29

. 25,
, ,
.
1861. 1864.
1878.,
, .

THE MIIS HOUSE

It is situated in 25, Vodova Street, in what used to be Old Ni, in the Stambolgate quarter, which bears its name from the gate the Turks placed over
a ditch in the middle of todays Sindjeli Square. The house was built for
an anonymous Turk between 1861 and 1864. After the liberation in 1878,
the house was bought from its owner ShamziHanuma by a Ni merchant
oka Mii, whose heirs still live in it.

.

.

PASHAS INN

Pashas Inn was situated in Hunkarczarmala. It had a secret passageway

towards theNiava and was the largest and the most signicant building
within the Fortress.

30


17., ,
,
, .
, ,
.
31
. : ,
. 1879.
.
THE JEWISH QUARTER
In the rst half of the 17th century, as Ni was slowly expanding, Jews started togather in the area of todays Liberation Square and around the junction
in the western part of the business district, near the Niava. Osmanpasha
helped to build a Jewish boarding house in todays Balkanska Street, which
was the rst step towards the Jewish Quarter. The boarding house had 31
rooms on the ground oor and the rst oor and a large lounge. Until Ni
was liberated from the Turks, more buildings were built: the synagogue, a
respectable rabbis house and other Jewish houses. The Jewish Quarter was
burnt in a re in 1879.

31



, ,
.
, .
()
(
).
THE FORTRESS
EDIRNEbalimala was a part of town containing very many taverns, grocery stores, walkways and lowgrade Turkish restaurants. To this list should
be added a number of artisan shops, especially cart makers and blacksmiths.
The other quarter of the town (within the Fortress) was Hunkarczarmala,
in which the governing part of Ni was located: Mithadpashas court and
the Turkish garrison command.
1922.
.
The family house of the industrialist Stavra Cvetkovic, built in 1922 in
Prvog ustanka street

32


6. 1909.
.

() . .
1912., 1912.1914.,
.
1920.. 1920.1922., ,
, .
1919. 1646.
THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BUILDING
At a citizens conference held on September 6, 1909 in the Europe hotel
courtyard, the decision was made that a new grammar school building be
built. The foundations were laid at the spot of Mithadpashas Islahan artisan school in Vodova Street. The foundations were consecrated in 1912
but the construction was stopped when the war began. After the war, having been caught in a re in 1920, the building was nished along with its
side wings between 1920 and 1922 and it continued to work as the rst
grammar school in Ni. In 1919, the school numbered 1646 students.

33


THE KALUPS OLD HOUSE IN PALILULA

The block of old buildings n the corner of Pobede and Kopitareva street

. 7. , 1924. . 1925.

The Presidency building in 7. juli street, the construction of which began
in 1924 and ended in 1925 for the purposes of the branch of the National
Bank

34

 1927. .
()
()
Two corner houses in Dusanova street built in 1927; the property of the
merchant Viden Zivkovic (left) and the baker Aleksandar Jancic (right)

Courthouse in Sindjelic square

35

I, II III

I II

-

2004. .

555