Construction on the National Assembly of Serbia started in 1907, with the cornerstone being laid by King Petar I. World War I delayed construction, and the original plans to the building were lost. The sculpture, Black Horses Playing, visible in the second photo, was placed in front of the building in 1939. You can see that the building visible in the first photo has been torn down, and that there are a lot of cars around now, whose drivers pay around 100 dinars per liter (approx. $8.00 a gallon) for gasoline, as opposed to the 8 dinars it sold for back in 1934, as in the first photo. But I guess that was a lot then. If you were expecting me to tell you about Serbian politics, you're probably disappointed, for I have yet to figure them out. However, I can tell you that 8 years ago this very day, Slobodan Milosevic's regime finally fell, with protesters storming this building.
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6 comments:
We have a very similar topic for our posts today! I love looking at old photos of Belgrade - so interesting.
I also remember watching the uprising live in 2000 on BBC - regular programming was interrupted for some time. It was a moving day watching that, even for a 16 year old who hadn't even thought about studying Serbian!
Wonderful then and now. I love learning about all my CDP friends' cities ! Thanks, Bibi. YOu do such a grand job my friend!
Thank You Bibi for this text and these two nice photos : ten and now...
See You later.
Maybe a bit OT, but just to add some info abut the artist and the horses:
A sculpture by Toma Rosandić, Igrali se konji vrani (Play of Black Horses), was placed in front of the building in 1939.
And Toma Rosandic was famous:
With the outbreak of World War I, Rosandić left for London where he exhibited at the Grafton Galleries in 1917 and later in Brighton and Edinburgh. After World War II, Rosandić settled in Belgrade.
He founded a prominent school in Belgrade known as the "Master Workshop". Amongst the many artists and public personalities that frequented the workshop was Henry Moore, during his exhibition in Belgrade in March 1955.
I really like these old/new comparisons! A sense of history helps me put things into perspective!
i do so like 'then' and 'now' photos.
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